In 1933, on the heights of Adrar Saghro, the Amazigh tribes of the Aït-Atta put up a heroic resistance against the French colonial army, becoming one of the major symbols of the struggle for dignity, land, and freedom. Nearly a century later, while this memory remains vivid among their descendants, the tribute paid in Alnif to the colonial forces—without any acknowledgment of the suffering inflicted on the indigenous populations—reopens a historical wound that has never healed.
The World Amazigh Congress denounces an act that ignores the truth, obscures the victims, and deeply offends the conscience of the Amazigh people, who are committed to a just, shared memory that respects the resistance movements that shaped their history.
Between February 13 and March 25, 1933, the Saghro mountain in southeastern Morocco was the stage for the famous Battle of Bougafer, which pitted French colonial troops against the fierce resistance of the Amazigh women and men of the Aït-Atta tribes.
Under the leadership of their courageous chiefs, including Assou Oubasslam, around ten thousand Amazigh men and women heroically resisted for more than forty days against over 80,000 French soldiers and their allies, the Moroccan Goumiers.
The fighters of the Aït-Atta, entrenched at Bougafer, only agreed to negotiate a truce after intensive aerial bombings by the French air force stationed in Ouarzazate.
The Battle of Bougafer has remained forever etched in the collective memory of the Aït-Atta tribes and all Amazighs as a high place of resistance against the French colonial invasion and a symbol of dignity that honors younger generations.
On February 12, 2026, we learned with dismay that in the center of the town of Alnif, in the Tinghir Province near Adrar Saghro, French and Moroccan authorities held an inauguration ceremony for the restoration of the French cemetery known as “Lmdint n Iromin.” This cemetery houses the graves of French soldiers and Moroccan Goumiers mobilized by the French colonial army against the indigenous Amazigh resistance fighters.
Thus, nearly a century later, on the lands of the Amazigh Aït-Atta tribes, France, along with its Moroccan allies, returns to the scene of its crimes—and worse still—to pay tribute to its army and its auxiliaries, without a single word for the indigenous women and men whom this French army killed, wounded, and colonized.
France could have seized this opportunity to propose an event to the Aït-Atta during which it would have recognized its colonial crimes and invited the indigenous Amazighs to build a future based on mutual respect and cooperation. But instead of friendship, France chose once again to treat the indigenous tribes with contempt, which is unacceptable and outrageous.
Standing alongside the Aït-Atta, the World Amazigh Congress firmly denounces and condemns France’s colonialist behavior, particularly the following facts:
- The lack of official recognition of the colonial crimes committed by France in the territories of the Aït-Atta,
- The absence of any steps toward an apology, justice, or reconciliation,
- The tribute paid exclusively to the colonial aggressors against the indigenous Amazighs, with no respect for the innocent victims.
Moroccan authorities, both local and central, must also be denounced for their complicity in organizing this shameful ceremony in Alnif. Morocco authorized the former colonizers and their Goumiers to celebrate their crimes on the land of their victims. In doing so, the Moroccan State has gravely failed in its duty to protect and honor the memory of the Amazigh resistance fighters and the dignity of their descendants.
Consequently, the World Amazigh Congress demands an independent investigation to determine responsibilities and penalize the Moroccan decision-makers who allowed this despicable masquerade. The investigation must notably establish who authorized this project and why the local population, the direct descendants of the Bougafer fighters, was not consulted.
The memory of the Amazigh people must not be weaponized for diplomatic, political, tourism, communication, or any other purposes.
As an international organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of Amazigh rights, the World Amazigh Congress expresses its full solidarity with the descendants of the fighters of the Aït-Atta tribes. It demands a project for the location, identification, and restoration of the graves of the Amazigh resistance fighters who fell at the Bougafer site and in other battlegrounds against colonialism.
This memory work must imperatively be carried out with the effective participation of the indigenous Amazigh populations concerned.
The locations, historical figures, and feats of arms associated with the Amazigh resistance must be properly cataloged by specialists, protected, promoted, brought to public awareness, and integrated into school curricula for educational purposes.
The WAC calls for civic vigilance from the Amazigh people, institutional responsibility, and transitional justice regarding memory that aligns with historical truth.
Paris, 12.02.2976 – 24.02.2026 The CMA Bureau.