Cases of abuse and killings involving minors will now be open to further scrutiny after decades of campaigning.
France is to make access to its archives on the Algerian war more flexible, by authorising consultation of files involving minors, according to a decree published on Sunday in the Journal Officiel.
Historians and families have been calling for the move for decades.
In December 2021, following announcements made by Emmanuel Macron in March 2021, France opened its legal archives relating to the war, covering the period between 1 November 1954 and 31 December 1966, fifteen years ahead of the legal deadline.
But in practice, access to these documents remained "as difficult as ever" for families and researchers, lamented historian Marc André in an article in Le Monde in November 2022.
One of the main obstacles was the exclusion of files involving minors – those under the age of 21, per legislation in force at the time – which were still subject to the 100-year classification period. Because of this limitation, coupled with several others, "the majority of files are closed", noted the historian.
Source: Belga
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