African leaders call for formal recognition and reparations for colonial-era crimes

African leaders meeting in Algiers on Sunday called for colonial-era crimes to be formally recognized, criminalized and compensated for through an African Union-backed reparations process.

The AU resolution was passed a summit in May, that pushed to define colonisation as a crime against humanity. Current international law does not explicitly outlaw the practice.

Participants stressed the massive economic damage done by colonisation in…