Macron admits systematic torture by France in Algeria war, as he grapples with a brutal colonial legacy

France formally acknowledged its military’s systemic use of torture in the Algerian War in the 1950s and 1960s, a step forward in grappling with its colonial legacy.

President Emmanuel Macron issued the statement in the context of a call for clarity about the fate of Maurice Audin, a 25-year-old mathematician and anti-colonial activist who was tortured by the French army and disappeared in 1957, during Algeria’s bloody struggle for independence from France.

Audin’s death is a specific case, but it represents a cruel system put in place at the state level, the Elysee Palace said. “His disappearance was made possible by a system that … allowed law enforcement to arrest, detain and question any ‘suspect’ for the purpose of a more effective fight against the opponent,” read Macron’s statement.

Benjamin Stora, a leading French historian of Algeria, said Macron’s recognition represented a move away from “the silence of the father” stance that has characterised France’s relationship to its colonial past for decades.

“It permits us to advance,” he said. “To exit from denial and to advance in the service of truth.” Stora accompanied Macron Thursday afternoon on an official visit to Audin’s widow, Josette Audin, 87.

Macron, 40, is the first French president born after the war and has shown a rare willingness to wade into the memory of Algeria, arguably the most sensitive chapter in the French experience of the 20th century and one that has had a profound influence on the country’s current political institutions.