Socialist Worker - Tue 11 Oct 2011
BST Issue No. 2273
Fifty years ago police in Paris killed over 200 Algerian protesters
and threw their bodies into the River Seine. Historian Jean-Luc Einaudi
exposed the murders in his book The Battle of Paris. He spoke to
Sellouma from France’s New Anticapitalist Party
The protesters killed on 17
October 1961 were calling for Algerian independence. Could you describe
the political situation in France leading up to the massacre?
The Algerians were fighting for independence, led by the National
Liberation Front (FLN). The war in Algeria had lasted seven years and
had serious repercussions within France itself.
France was then home to around 350,000 Algerians—130,000 of whom lived in or near Paris. The FLN had a large French section.
Talks between France and the provisional FLN government were
suspended in July 1961. Both sides expected that these talks would
eventually resume, and sought to consolidate their positions.
One faction of the French government had been lobbying for a more repressive strategy. In August it was given a free hand.
In France itself raids became much more frequent—particularly from
the Auxiliary Police Force (FPA), which was formed of Algerians with a
score to settle with the FLN. They tortured people in basements and
empty hotels.
READ MORE....
No comments:
Post a Comment