On October 17 1961, thousands of Algerian immigrants living in Paris took to the streets in support of the national liberation struggle being waged in Algeria against France by the FLN (Front Libération National - National Liberation Front). In response, the Paris police department violently broke up the demonstations, as well as took other severe actions related to the demonstrations. While the police originally claimed that only three deaths resulted from the conflict, historians estimate that between 32 and 200 demonstrators died. With almost no media coverage at the time, the events surrounding the massacre, as well as the death toll, were almost unknown both in France and worldwide for decades. For this reason, there is no generally-used name to designate these events.
The Paris Massacre of 1961 appears to have been intentional. Official documentation and eyewitnesses within the Paris police department suggest that the massacre was directed by its police chief, Maurice Papon. Police records show that Papon called for officers in one station to be 'subversive' in quelling the demonstrations, and assured them protection from prosecution if they participated. Many demonstrators died when they were violently herded by police into the River Seine, with some thrown from bridges after being beaten unconscious. Other demonstrators were killed within the courtyard of the Paris police headquarters after being arrested and delivered there in police buses. Officers who participated in the courtyard killings took the precaution to remove identification numbers from their uniforms, while senior officers ignored pleas by other policemen who were shocked when witnessing the brutality. Silence regarding the events within the police headquarters was further enforced by threats of reprisals from participating officers.
Despite the extent of the massacre and publicness of the evidence - anecdotes tell of piles of bodies in the street, as well bodies being found downriver for weeks afterwards - the paucity of objective press coverage at the time of the massacre was likely due to two factors: successful censorship of the media by several levels of the French government, and biased reporting by major media outlets in countries that were supportive of the French government's policy regarding Algeria. Some censorship was enforced by the Paris government due to concerns about responsibilities within the Paris police department for the massacre, while other censorship was enforced by the French national government because of concerns about its deteriorating position in Algeria's war for independence. Furthermore, coverage of the massacre by major British and American media sources, such as The Times, TIME magazine and The New York Times, downplayed the severity of the massacre as well as the Paris government's responsibility for the events.
Given the high number of victims - the decades-long silence on the massacre is a testament to the fragile state of civil rights and justice when people and governments feel threatened by events beyond their control. While the national French government acknowledged in 1998 that the massacre occurred, its official report states that 40 people died because of the massacre. To date, no-one has been prosecuted for participation in the killings.
Forty years after the massacre, in 2001, the event was officially acknowledged by the city of Paris with the placement and unveiling of a memorial plaque near the Saint Michel bridge . This resulted from work by the French Socialist Party local government. At the unveiling of the plague, Bertrand Delanoe, the Socialist Party Mayor of Paris , cited the need for France to come to terms with this event in order to move forward with unity. Centrist and right-wing French politics, as well as the police union, objected to the plaque on various grounds (increased threat of civil unrest, toleration of terrorism, and encouragment of disrespect for the police).
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