Camille Gourvenec (died 1978) was an officer of the French external intelligence service SDECE, possibly with the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

, who, from 1966, was seconded as security adviser to President

François Tombalbaye François Tombalbaye ( ar, فرنسوا تومبالباي '; 15 June 1918 – 13 April 1975), also known as N'Garta Tombalbaye, was a Chadian politician who served as the first President of Chad from the country's independence in 1960 until ...

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

, and was therefore effectively head of Tombalbaye's security and intelligence service. He had previously served with the French forces in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. It has been alleged that he was a key member of the

Françafrique In international relations, () is France's sphere of influence (or in French, meaning 'backyard') over former French and Belgian colonies in sub-Saharan Africa. The term was derived from the expression , which was used by the first president ...

network, led by

Jacques Foccart Jacques Foccart (31 August 1913 – 19 March 1997) was a French businessman and politician, best known as a chief adviser to President of France, French presidents on African affairs. He was also a co-founder of the Gaullist Party, Gaullist Servi ...

Career

It was alleged that he was personally involved in the interrogation (under

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

) of numerous opponents of Tombalbaye's regime, and also implicated in the killing of others, including

Outel Bono Outel Bono (1934 – 26 August 1973) was a Chadian medical doctor and politician. He was medical director of the hospital in Chad's capital, Fort-Lamy (now N'Djamena), in 1963 when he was arrested for plotting against the government of President ...

. His deputy was Commandant

Pierre Galopin Pierre Galopin was a French military officer who came to international attention when he was captured by a group of Chadian rebels, led by Hissène Habré, on 4 August 1974 in the Tibesti mountains, in the middle of the Sahara desert. He was tried ...

, who was executed in 1975 by

Hissène Habré Hissène Habré (Arabic: ''Ḥusaīn Ḥabrī'', Chadian Arabic: ; ; 13 August 1942 – 24 August 2021), also spelled Hissen Habré, was a Chadian politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 5th president of Chad from 1982 unt ...

, after he had been sent to negotiate the release of

Françoise Claustre Françoise Claustre (8 February 1937 – 3 September 2006), was a French archaeologist. Life and career Claustre was taken hostage by a group of Chadian rebels, led by Hissène Habré, on 20 April 1974, at Bardaï, in the Tibesti Mountain ...

. Gourvenec also commanded Chad's

Nomad and National Guard The National and Nomadic Guard of Chad () is one of five defence and security forces in Chad. (The others are the Army, the Gendarmerie, the Police and the Judicial Police.) Article 200 of the Constitution of 1996 states that the duties of the ...

and may have had advance warning of the coup which toppled Tombalbaye in 1975 but he did not intervene. He died in 1978.

References

* François-Xavier Verschave, ''La Françafrique - Le plus long scandale de la République, Stock'', pages 155-17

External links

The killing of Outel Bono
(''in French'')

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourvenec, Camille Year of birth missing 1978 deaths Chadian military personnel French spies