France officially recognised the killings of 1961 Paris Massacre

France on 17 October 2012 for the first time officially acknowledged the killings of hundreds of unarmed Algerians in the 1961 Paris Massacre. In a communiqué (communication) that was published by the Elysee Palace, a statement by the President Francois Hollande stated about the killing of the Algerians protestors, protesting for their Independence on 17 October 2012 in a bloody repression. He also paid homage to the victims after 51 years of the incident.

Algeria, the North African Country, won its independence in 1962, after fighting 8 years long brutal war in which about a million people died. The official declaration in relation to the acknowledgement of the killings came a week before Mr. Hollande’s visit to Algeria.

About the Incident:

Maurice Papon, the French Nazi sympathizer and the then Prefect of Paris imposed a curfew on Algerians living in France. The Leaders of Algeria tried to challenge the curfew with a protest that was to be done in a peaceful manner. The Protestors on 17 October 1961 were rounded up in Paris on tne order of Papon and tortured and beaten up brutally. Many of them were thrown alive in River Seine with their hands tied at their back.

The 1961 Massacre of Paris can be compared to Jalianwala Bagh Masscare in which General Dyer ordered killing of unarmed civilians protesting against colonial presence in the India.