By Dr. Kivumbi Earnest Benjamin, L.H.D. (Hon.) Updated at 2325 on Monday 17th Nov 2025

African leaders, jurists, and experts will gather in Algiers from 30 November to 1 December to advance a unified continental agenda on historical justice, restitution, and reparations.

ALGIERS— Algeria is set to host a major continental gathering, the International Conference on the Crimes of Colonialism in Africa, scheduled for 30 November to 1 December 2025 in Algiers. The high-level event is organized in line with the African Union (AU) Assembly Decision 903(XXXVIII), adopted in February 2025, which endorsed President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s proposal to convene a conference dedicated to advancing the 2025 AU Theme of the Year: “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations.”

Rooted in Algeria’s own long struggle against colonialism, the conference underscores the country’s long-standing commitment to defending the dignity, memory, and rights of African peoples. Under the leadership of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Algeria has been championing efforts to criminalize colonialism, slavery, racial segregation, and apartheid as crimes against humanity, in accordance with AU recommendations.

The two-day meeting will bring together ministers, jurists, historians, academics, and experts from across Africa, the Caribbean, and other regions of the world. Delegates will work toward a unified African position on historical justice, reparations, the restitution of cultural heritage, and the preservation of collective memory.

Discussions will explore the human, cultural, economic, environmental, and legal dimensions of colonialism, with a particular focus on intergenerational trauma. Key issues include the destruction and spoliation of African cultural heritage, inequitable economic models imposed during colonial rule, nuclear testing carried out on African populations, and legal mechanisms for criminalizing colonialism. Participants will also assess pathways for establishing a permanent African mechanism for reparations and restitution.

As the host nation, Algeria aims to strengthen Africa’s institutional framework for historical justice by providing a platform to elevate global recognition of colonial crimes and to promote tangible reparative actions.

A major anticipated outcome of the conference is the adoption of the “Algiers Declaration”, expected to serve as a continental reference for codifying colonial crimes, recognising their impacts, and shaping an African strategy on justice and reparations. The declaration will be presented to the AU Summit in February 2026 for consideration and endorsement.

Through this ambitious initiative, Algeria reaffirms its leading role in championing historical justice on the continent. The country seeks to support African aspirations for reparations, ensure the preservation of historical memory, and promote a shared identity built on dignity, solidarity, and justice.

In 2023, The German president expressed “shame” for the colonial atrocities his country inflicted on Tanzania.

German forces killed almost 300,000 people during the Maji Maji rebellion in the early 1900s, one of the bloodiest anti-colonial uprisings.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was speaking at a museum in Songea, where the uprising took place.

“I would like to ask for forgiveness for what Germans did to your ancestors here,” he said.

“What happened here is our shared history, the history of your ancestors and the history of our ancestors in Germany.”

Belgium’s King Philippe in 2020 expressed his “deepest regrets” to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the abuses committed under colonial rule. It marks a first in Belgium’s history, but the king stopped short of an apology.

“I want to express my deepest regrets for these wounds of the past whose pain is reawakened today by the discrimination still present in our societies,” Philippe said in a letter to President Felix Tshisekedi on the 60th anniversary of DRC’s independence.

Historians say as many as 10 million Africans from areas in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo were killed, mutilated or died of disease as they worked on rubber plantations belonging to Belgium’s King Leopold II, King Philippe’s great-great grandfather.

Photos show how colonial officials amputated and mutilated Congolese people, including children, as punishment.