October 17, 1961: Macron did not speak of a “state crime”, and that shocks – The HuffPost

MEMORY – All for that. This is what the intellectuals, activists and politicians of Emmanuel Macron’s speech, sixty years after the violent repression of the Algerians by the police headed by Maurice Papon in Paris, October 17, 1961.

On the eve of this anniversary, the Head of State effectively recognized “crimes inexcusable for the Republic” and pointed to the guilt and responsibility of the then prefect of police.

Except that he has no press release issued by the presidency, admitted any breach by the police, nor even named those responsible for the atrocities committed against peaceful activists who then denounced a discriminatory obligation to stay at home from 8:30 p.m.

Deaths without killers?

“Surprisingly, the current president only concedes the sole individual responsibility of Papon, erasing the other culprits, the police headquarters not even being mentioned in the presidential press release”, for example rebelled, in addition from a tribune to JDD, the deputy LFI of Seine-Saint-Denis Alexis Corbière.

“The president recognizes the dead, but does not say who are the killers?”, He laments again about a drama which has officially made a hundred deaths “and, probably, two or three times more”, as the elected official reminds us.

Alexis Corbière concludes his text thus: “Emmanuel Macron must still recognize the massacre of Algerians for what it was: a state crime”.

A register on which the rebellious deputy is far from alone. Saturday, October 16, the evening of Emmanuel Macron’s position, the political scientist and historian Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, for example, joined him. on the set of our colleagues from franceinfo, explaining that the head of state had “taken a small step to avoid having to take a bigger one”.

A racist state policy

“What is missing is the precise qualification of what was committed, that is to say a state crime”, proclaimed the academic, specialist in particular in issues related to the French colonial era. “To attribute the sole responsibility for what was generally perpetrated in October 1961 to Maurice Papon is an Elyos fable. No historian and none of those interested in the way the police operate in crisis situations thinks that he could have acted without the approval of his superiors, the Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister of the United States. period, Michel Debré. ”

Still on franceinfo, Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison again recalls that France had at the time implemented a racist policy of discrimination since only those who were then called “French Muslims of Algeria” were concerned by the curfew measure. And to regret again a trompe-l’oeil statement from Emmanuel Macron, “made so as not to have to go further”.

“In the declaration that was made, there is nothing specific that was said on access to archives,” explains for example the researcher, a sign according to him that as for many historians for 60 years, blockages policies prevent and should continue to prevent full light being shed on the tragic events of 1961.

Maurice Papon, the only culprit

An idea that also came back on Saturday from the side of Algerian activists and those who demand recognition of a state crime. Rahim Rezigat, 81, formerly of the French federation of the National Liberation Front (FLN), present at an action led by SOS Racisme on this anniversary date, for example regretted to Agence France Presse that the President of the Republic had “Played on words” to tack without offending the sensitivity of part of his electorate and not recognizing state responsibility.

Same story on the side of Dominique Sopo, the president of SOS Racisme, who castigated the “policy of small steps” of Emmanuel Macron as well as a “reluctance” in the non-evocation of colonialism. The “crime is reduced to the responsibility of Maurice Papon”, in the prose of the Head of State, but “it was not a State within the State” still assures the association leader.

“We hoped for more. Papon did not act alone: ​​we tortured, we massacred in the heart of Paris and up there, they were aware ”, added, still for AFP, Mimouna Hadjam, spokesperson for the association Africa93 which also claims “recognition of a state crime” after the events of October 17. “Why are the river archives, for example, not yet open so that the truth is out?”

During the demonstration which brought together a few hundred people this Sunday, October 17 in Paris, posters also pointed out this point: “The # 17 October1961 we killed and tortured in the heart of Paris. It is not about a “stroke of madness” of the prefect Papon. This is a state crime, ”tweeted Julien Bayou, secretary general of EELV. “The president missed the opportunity to take one more step towards reconciliation,” lamented the party’s presidential candidate Yannick Jadot.

Requests and regrets which clearly show that despite the gesture made on Saturday, October 16, 2021 by Emmanuel Macron in favor of memory, there is still a long way to go.

See also on the HuffPost: “In the photos of October 17, 1961, I have always looked for my father’s face”