French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday condemned as "inexcusable" a deadly crackdown by Paris police on a 1961 protest by Algerians whose scale was covered up for decades, disappointing activists who hoped for an even stronger recognition of responsibility.

Macron told relatives of victims on the 60th anniversary of the bloodshed that "crimes" were committed on the night of October 17, 1961 under the command of the notorious Paris police chief Maurice Papon.

Algerians arrested during the demonstration in Paris on October 17, 1961 are searched before boarding a plane bound for Algeria
Algerians arrested during the demonstration in Paris on October 17, 1961 are searched before boarding a plane bound for Algeria AFP / -

He acknowledged that several dozen protesters had been killed, "their bodies thrown into the River Seine" and paid tribute to their memory.

The precise number of victims has never been made clear and some activists fear several hundred could have been killed.

Macron "recognised the facts: that the crimes committed that night under Maurice Papon are inexcusable for the Republic", the Elysee said.

Maurice Papon, who was Paris police chief at the time of the 1961 protest and was later found to have collaborated with the Nazis in WWII
Maurice Papon, who was Paris police chief at the time of the 1961 protest and was later found to have collaborated with the Nazis in WWII HARCOURT / -

"This tragedy was long hushed-up, denied or concealed," it added in a statement.

Algerian President Abdelmadjidn Tebboune said there was "strong concern for treating issues of history and memory without complacency or compromising principles, and with a sharp sense of responsibility", free from "the dominance of arrogant colonialist thought", his office said in a statement.

The deadly 1961 crackdown revealed the horror of "massacres and crimes against humanity that will remain engraved in the collective memory", he said in a statement released by his office.

Emmanuel Macron is the first French president born in the post-colonial era
Emmanuel Macron is the first French president born in the post-colonial era POOL / Ludovic MARIN

"There were bodies on all sides, I was very afraid", recalled Bachir Ben-Aissa Saadi, who took part in the rally and was 14 years old at the time.

French historian Benjamin Stora presented a report earlier this year in which he urged a truth commission over the Algerian war
French historian Benjamin Stora presented a report earlier this year in which he urged a truth commission over the Algerian war AFP / JOEL SAGET

The rally was called in the final year of France's increasingly violent attempt to retain Algeria as a north African colony, and in the middle of a bombing campaign targeting mainland France by pro-independence militants.

Papon was in the 1980s revealed to have been a collaborator with the occupying Nazis in World War II and complicit in the deportation of Jews. He was convicted of crimes against humanity but later released.

IMAGES French President Emmanuel Macron takes part in commemorations of the massacre by Paris police of protesters at a rally 60 years ago against France's rule in its then-colony Algeria. In a statement from the Élysée Palace, the head of state condemn
IMAGES French President Emmanuel Macron takes part in commemorations of the massacre by Paris police of protesters at a rally 60 years ago against France's rule in its then-colony Algeria. In a statement from the Élysée Palace, the head of state condemned as "inexcusable" the "crimes" that were committed on the night of October 17, 1961, under the command of the notorious Paris police chief Maurice Papon. AGENCY POOL

Macron, the first French president to attend a memorial ceremony for those killed, observed a minute of silence in their memory at the Bezons bridge over the Seine on the outskirts of Paris where the protest started.

His comments that crimes were committed went further than predecessor Francois Hollande, who acknowledged in 2012 that the protesting Algerians had been "killed during a bloody repression".

The president, France's first leader born after the colonial era, has made a priority of historical reconciliation and forging a modern relationship with former colonies.

But Macron, who is expected to seek re-election next year, is wary about provoking a backlash from political opponents.

His far-right electoral opponents, nationalists Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, are outspoken critics of efforts to acknowledge or show repentance for past crimes.

Historian Emmanuel Blanchard told AFP that Macron's comments represented "progress" and had gone "much further" than those made by Hollande in 2012.

But he took issue with the decision to pin responsibility on Papon alone, saying that then prime minister Michel Debre and president Charles de Gaulle had not been held to account over the ensuing cover-up or the fact Papon would remain Paris police chief until 1967.

The statement by Macron "is progress but not complete. We hoped for more," Mimouna Hadjam of the Africa93 anti-racism association told AFP.

"Papon did not act alone. People were tortured, massacred in the heart of Paris and those high up knew," Hadjam added.

Domonique Sopo, the head of SOS Racism, said while the comments were welcome, Macron was showing a tendency of taking "small steps" on such issues by reducing responsibility to Papon alone.

The 1961 protests were called in response to a strict curfew imposed on Algerians to prevent the underground FLN resistance movement from collecting funds following a spate of deadly attacks on French police officers.