Tunisia’s parliament has rejected a bid calling on France to apologise for crimes committed during and after colonial rule. This matter took 15 hours of debate. The bill, which demanded from France that “compensation to the Tunisian state and to all those who suffered the pain and severe effects of colonisation,” was put forward by the centrist Al-Karama coalition, which holds 19 of the 217 seats in parliament.
Legislators from the association attended the session, which ran into the night, wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan: “Murder and torture, the brutality of French colonialism”. Seifeddine Makhlouf, president of Al-Karama said, “We are not recognised by any bitterness or hatred, but such apologies will heal the wounds of the past.”
He also used the example of Germany, which apologised to France after the Nazi occupation, noting that the two countries “are now allies and the leading partners in Europe”.
Data source: Parliament of Tunisia