Algeria: Toxic colonisation

What the report says

Al Jazeera has published a 51-minute documentary, “Algeria: Toxic colonisation,” examining evidence that the French military used chemical weapons during Algeria’s war of independence. According to the film, archival material and testimony from former French soldiers and Algerian fighters indicate that French forces deployed chemical agents despite international restrictions, including the 1925 Geneva Protocol.

The documentary cites research by historian Christophe Lafaye, including a 1956 letter from a senior army commander to the French government that referred to the use of “chemical means.” Al Jazeera reports that France created a Special Weapons Unit in December 1956 and used CN2D gas, associated with World War I-era chemical warfare, against Algerian fighters hiding in mountain caves.

The film says there may have been between 8,000 and 10,000 such incidents, while only 440 attacks have been documented to date. It highlights an attack at Ghar Ben Shatouh in March 1959 as among the deadliest, reporting an estimated 150 civilian deaths. The documentary also notes that France did not formally ban chemical weapons until 1993, decades after Algeria gained independence.

The report matters because it adds to continuing historical scrutiny of French colonial rule in Algeria and the conduct of the 1954-1962 independence war. While Al Jazeera frames the evidence as showing violations of international law, the details presented in the public article come from the documentary’s described documents, expert research and witness accounts.