Algerian Revolution: Despite French Promises, Access To Archives Remains Difficult
Despite the assertion of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, that all historians have access to the archives related to the liberation revolution in Algeria (or the Algerian war according to French historical and political literature), based on the decree of December 22, 2021, as well as his statement on August 25, which falls into the same context, but those promises are still far from embodiment.
This call was made by the French historian, Marc André, who expressed his discontent with the decisions taken in the name of the French state, and yet they remain just empty slogans, prompting him to describe what is happening in this file as “the political exploitation of the issue of the archive,” as it was published in his article for the French newspaper “Le Monde”.
Marc André expressed his concern saying: “Th insistence on accessing historical archives testifies to the political instrumentalization of the question of archives. Because despite the repeated intention to “open”, “simplify” or “facilitate” access to documents related to this war, in practice, it remains difficult both for families and for historians”.
“Between the speeches that accompany political action and the realities on the ground, the gap is such large that one wonders even if the so-called “general derogation” decree was not drafted at the crossroads of two misunderstandings: the war in Algeria and that of its archives. Multiple contradictions arise, leading to restrictive administrative practices with counterproductive social, scientific and political consequences”.
In his article, the historian talked about some of the cases he witnessed: “Let us cite the case of a daughter of an Algerian prisoner against whom a death sentence was announced, who decided a month ago to go to the National Archives to consult the investigation file reconstructing her father’s network and that of his appeal for clemency, both theoretically accessible. She can’t access archives because this father, tried in 1960 at the age of 20 years and 6 months, was a minor (he was under 21) at the time of the events. The daughter of another man (who faced the death penalty) was also deprived of access to the archives in October not because her father was a minor at the time of his arrest, but because his fellow soldiers were minors. Admittedly, the decree provides that documents relating to minors remain subject to a period of communicability of one hundred years (twenty-five years in the event of death), but this raises several problems”.
“By taking up the legal majority of the time, historical ignorance symbolically redoubles the violence against a “minor” who, like many others of his age, was not tried by a juvenile court but appeared before a military court: sufficiently of age at the time to have his head cut off, he is now sufficiently minor to see his file subtracted from the general derogation”.
The matter becomes more suspicious when the French authorities distinguish between the archives related to World War II and the Algerian war (the liberation revolution). It is noted, however, that there is the general exception in the first case, which was made in 2015, in no way excluded resistance fighters and collaborators between the ages of 18 and 21 from its scope, without this posing any problem since then.
The French historian tries to find the reasons for this exception, which the French authorities often attributed to the “Algerian war”, and concludes with the real reason, in his opinion, which is represented in the “oppressive logic (in the Algerian case), which was practised by the occupation army on the Algerians, and through it the practices of intelligence services; “If we add the other paragraphs of the decree relating to documents that may affect the security of persons involved in intelligence activities or the privacy of the sexual life of persons, the majority of files are closed”, he added. “Here too, the ignorance of the Algerian War and its archives is manifest: the repressive logic being based on intelligence, the investigations are teeming with indicators or informants; and sex life is scrutinized as much by the police or psychiatric experts as the sexual violence observed, but not recognized at the end of the procedures”.
Although the spirit of the decree confirms the opening of the archive to all, the literal text tends to be closed, says the historian and this contradiction would lead to a problem, especially when it comes to families compared to academics, as it is difficult for families to reach what they are looking for because they do not know in advance whether they can access the required document, which needs urgent measures to address these obstacles.
Through the foregoing details, the so-called “general” exception becomes clear for what it is in the issue of accessing the archives in the Algerian case, as the historian said, which limits the pace of research related to memory and history, according to the objectives of the French president.