French authorities in Algeria impose stern measures to punish and control the whole Muslim population in the aftermath of the 1871 uprising.

France confiscates more than five hundred thousand hectares of tribal land and places the Kabylie region under a regime d' exception (extraordinary rule), which denies the due process guaranteed French nationals.

A special indigenat (native code) lists as offenses acts such as insolence and unauthorized assembly not punishable by French law, and the normal jurisdiction of the cudah is sharply restricted.

The governor general is empowered to jail suspects for up to five years without trial.

The argument is made in defense of these exceptional measures that the French penal code as applied to Frenchmen is too permissive to control Muslims.