Paris has reportedly expressed its openness to bilateral collaboration, but failed to acknowledge responsibility for atrocities in Niger
France is willing to discuss restitution over crimes committed by its troops in Niger during the colonial era, The Guardian reported on Tuesday, citing a document from the office of France’s permanent representative to the UN.
French troops belonging to Mission Afrique Centrale (MAC) burned villages and looted cultural artifacts in Niger in a bid to make the West African country a colony more than a century ago. The officers, under the command of Captains Paul Voulet and Julien Chanoine, killed thousands of unarmed people and looted supplies, terrorizing locals into compliance during the 1899 violence.
“Although France was aware of the atrocities at the time, no MAC officer has ever been held responsible for these crimes,” Bernard Duhaime, a UN special rapporteur working on a complaint by four Nigerien communities representing descendants of victims, reportedly said.
“France has not conducted any official inquiry or acknowledged the horrors inflicted on the communities affected,” he added in a letter two months ago.
In response, Paris has said it “remains open to bilateral dialogue with the Nigerien authorities, as well as to any collaboration concerning provenance research or patrimonial cooperation,” but stopped short of acknowledging responsibility for the atrocities.
The French government claimed the relevant treaties were ratified after the colonial-era incidents, adding that it has not received restitution requests from Niamey regarding looted artifacts or human remains.
The African Union has declared 2025 the year of reparations.
France has in recent years begun to confront its colonial past in Africa, amid tense relations with its former colonies. In 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged his country’s role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Paris has also recognized the 1945 massacre of tens of thousands of Algerian civilians in Sétif.
Relations between France and Niger have deteriorated amid a surge of anti-French sentiment across several former colonies. After a military coup in July 2023, Niger’s new regime followed the lead of allies in Burkina Faso and Mali, severing defense ties and expelling French troops. The three Sahel states have accused Paris of aggression and sponsoring terrorism in a region gripped by a deadly decade-long jihadist insurgency.
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