Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Massacres And Soap From Human Bones | French Terror in Algeria

France occupied Algeria for 132 years between 1830 and 1962, during which it killied over 1.5 million Algerians. Abdelmadjid Cheikhi, an advisor to Algeria's president Tebboune has accused France of having used the bones of slain Algerians to produce soap. Algeria was "a real field of experiments for the brutal practices that France later applied in other colonies, especially the African ones." He added that France's dark colonial history has pushed it to "obliterate it in all ways," including by destroying historical archives and obstructing Algeria's efforts to recover colonial records and the remains of anti-colonial fighters. Cheikhi also alleged that France moved its archives from Paris and Aix-en-Provence to "unknown places" in order to avoid scrutiny.
 
French soldiers standing around 45,000 Algerian men, women and children
massacred in the region of Setif, Guelma and Kherrata.

The release of colonial archives, Cheikhy contended, would "discredit France and the image it is trying to promote as a civilised country based on democracy and respect for human rights." Earlier this year, Algeria buried the remains of 24 resistance fighters returned from Paris after more than a century and a half as it marked the 58th anniversary of its independence from France. The skulls of the fighters, shot and decapitated in the early years of the French occupation, were laid to rest during an emotional ceremony at El Alia cemetery.

 
In February 1960 France tested its first atomic bomb, exposing over 24,000 Algerians to radiation. It is difficult to imagine the real losses caused by the resulting pollution. Up until today the exact and complete locations of all test sites, areas and aquifers of disposal of nuclear waste remain unknown to Algeria. But it is safe to say that France doesn't care. 

Friday, December 18, 2015

China In Africa

Credits: South China Morning Post (Dec 18, 2015) - Enlarge
While the United States wastes billions on ill-advised foreign adventures and destabilizing wars of choice, China has slowly been accumulating a massive amount of resources around the world. Over the last decade, China has increasingly poured billions of dollars of foreign direct investment capital into Africa. China has now invested in 46 of 54 African countries, mainly with a focus on metals, energy, and infrastructure. So far, 2013 has been the peak of Chinese investment, with the equivalent of USD 44 billion spent. Investments in 2015 up until June have totaled USD 17.8 billion, and are on pace to reach USD 42 billion by the end of this year. 

In fact, just last week, South Africa hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Johannesburg for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). During the conference, the Chinese President announced the budget for African cooperation would be tripled to a USD 60 billion package. This includes USD 5 billion of aid and interest-free loans, USD 35 billion of preferential loans and export credit, and USD 20 billion of capital to be divided between three Africa-focused funds. China's overall trade with Africa topped USD 200 billion last year but has slowed over the past two years as the weakening Chinese economy demands fewer of the continent's oil, copper and other raw materials. Chinese-built roads, bridges and power installations are found across Africa, often paid for in resources or through loans from China. There are about a million Chinese living in Africa, mostly engaged in commercial work, according to the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Africa.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015