Colonial Prisons in Algeria, 1954–1962

Abstract

French colonialism in Algeria adopted all material and human means in order to eliminate the Algerian element and replace it with the European element. Its brutality increased after the outbreak of the Algerian Liberation Revolution in 1954, through the construction of prisons and detention centres across the entire national territory, in cities and villages alike. The aim was to instil terror in the Algerians by using the most abhorrent methods of torture, such as electricity, fire, flogging, amputation, and starvation, with the ultimate purpose of eliminating the revolution in its cradle before it could achieve its objectives. Despite this, Algerians endured with patience all the tribulations they faced in the detention centres, sustained by their faith in the national cause and their commitment to the principle of “freedom or martyrdom.” The traces of that historical era still bear witness to what tyrannical France inflicted upon a defenceless people, evidenced by the testimonies of detainees who remain alive today and still bear the marks of physical and psychological torture, as well as by the physical remnants represented in prisons across several provinces of the country, the most important of which is Serkaji Prison in the capital.