Gaëtan Mootoo
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Gaëtan Mootoo (29 September 1952 – 25 May 2018) was a Mauritian human rights activist, researcher responsible for
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
in the
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
organization.


Biography

Coming from a poor family of
Curepipe Curepipe () also known as ''La Ville-Lumière'' (The City of Light), is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the eastern part also lies in the Moka District. The town is administered by the Municipal Council of Curepipe. ...
, he became a
teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
and engaged in
social organization In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and social groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, s ...
s in his country: Institute for Development and Progress, Fiat movement, Christian Movement for Socialism. In 1978, he studied at the
University of Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis (french: Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis) is a public university in Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public institution. It is one of the th ...
, the subject being
French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than Fr ...
and completed his degree in
Science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...
. He then promoted science in Mauritius.


Work at Amnesty International

Having married Martyne Perrot (1985),
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
at the CNRS, he was hired by Amnesty International in 1986 and became a
researcher Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
for this organization, in charge of
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
. Until his
death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
, he investigated
abuses Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
,
injustices Injustice is a quality relating to unfairness or undeserved outcomes. The term may be applied in reference to a particular event or situation, or to a larger status quo. In Western philosophy and jurisprudence, injustice is very commonly—but ...
,
state crime In criminology, state crime is activity or failures to acts that break the state's own criminal law or public international law. For these purposes, Ross (2000b) defines a "state" as the elected and appointed officials, the bureaucracy, and the ...
s and
human rights abuses Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
(
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 ...
,
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
,
forced marriages Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...
, etc.) in this part of the world, especially in
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 ...
, in
Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
,
Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
,
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
,
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
, and spoke out for the oppressed people. In February 1998, Amnesty published Terror in Casamance, one of the first exclusive investigations carried out by Mootoo. The report detailed the misdeeds of both the Senegalese army and of those fighting for the independence of the southern province of Senegal. “It's a pack of lies and contradictions,” bellowed the president
Abdou Diouf Abdou Diouf ( ; Serer: ; born 7 September 1935)Biography at Socialist Party website
. “Amnesty International are a bunch of irresponsible gangsters.” May 1999, working with two other researchers, Mootoo was behind a report on the Togolese regime headed by
Gnassingbé Eyadema Gnassingbé is an African name which may refer to: *Faure Gnassingbé, President of Togo (2005–present) *Kpatcha Gnassingbé, Togolese politician *Gnassingbé Eyadéma, President of Togo (1967–2005) See also *Gnassingbé Eyadéma International ...
which claimed that one year earlier, during the presidential election of June 1998, hundreds of handcuffed opponents had been thrown from airplanes into the sea.
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
, a supporter of Gnassingbé Eyadema, condemned the report as an attempt at manipulation, while the authorities in Lomé threatened to take legal action against Amnesty. According to a Senegalese human rights advocate, Alioune Tine, “Gaëtan had a political side, and his efforts have made a huge contribution to the process of democratic change in Africa.”


Suicide and Amnesty's secret payout to Mootoo's family

Mootoo killed himself at Amnesty International's Paris office on the night of 25 May 2018, calling into question the deterioration of working conditions in Amnesty International. The French authorities have ruled that Mootoo's death was a workplace accident and a review by James Laddie, QC, a specialist in employment law, said that a “serious failure of management” had contributed to his suicide. An internal inquiry, launched by Amnesty France following a petition from Mootoo's colleagues and published in the
autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...
of 2018, confirms that the global reorganization of Amnesty International has resulted in a disruption of practices and the marginalisation of field researchers such as Gaetan Mootoo. Documents from the Amnesty France inquiry concluded that the international secretariat, Mootoo's employers, did “not carry out sufficient support work”. The investigators concluded: “Gaëtan Mootoo did not find solutions to adapt to the different changes to the international secretariat, which did not carry out sufficient support work, which would have enabled him to find his place in the new organization. However, he repeatedly asked for help without suitable actions being taken to meet his needs.”. In another report commissioned by Amnesty International from the London barrister, James Laddie, Laddie wrote, “I am stunned to note that Gaëtan was obliged to face a certain level of hostility at work. Specifically, relations between himself and the deputy director of the French section were poor. According to several witnesses, she did not make any effort at politeness, she encouraged his colleagues to ignore Gaëtan during the working day, and she referred to him in disparaging terms, notably calling him ‘the hobo’.” Laddie's review stated that Mootoo's management failed to find an adequate role for him in the organization and instead preferred to ignore the researcher. "No room was found for Mootoo to perform some kind of mentoring or researcher training role in which his undoubted gifts and experience could be put to good use". "The possibility of such a role was discussed, and <...> Minar Pimple asked Anna Neistat (Senior Director for Research) on several occasions whether a role could be found for Gaëtan within the Research Directorate. It appears that no serious consideration was given to this". The two reviews of Mootoo's death were followed by a survey by the Konterra group with a team of psychologists. The survey was commissioned by Amnesty's international secretariat, the official employer of Mootoo. The Konterra report stated that Amnesty International had a toxic work culture and that workers frequently cited mental and physical health issues as the direct result of their work for the organization. Elaborating on this the report mentioned that bullying, public humiliation and other abuses of power are common place and routine practice by Amnesty's management. By October 2019 five of the seven members of the senior leadership team at Amnesty's international secretariat left the organization with "generous" redundancy packages. This included Anna Neistat, who was Gaetan Mootoo's senior manager directly implicated in the independent report on Mootoo's death. After none of the managers responsible of bullying at Amnesty were held accountable a group of workers petitioned for Amnesty's Secretary General
Kumi Naidoo Kumi Naidoo (b 1965 in Durban, South Africa) is a human rights and climate justice activist. He was International Executive Director of Greenpeace International (from 2009 through 2015) and Secretary General of Amnesty International (from 2018 ...
to resign. On 5 December 2019 Naidoo resigned from his post of Amnesty's Secretary General citing ill health and appointing Julie Verhaar as an interim Secretary General. In their petition, workers demanded her immediate resignation as well. In September 2020 The Times reported that Amnesty International paid £800,000 in compensation over the workplace suicide of Mootoo and demanded his family keep the deal secret. The pre-trial agreement between London-based Amnesty's International Secretariat and Motoo's wife was reached on the condition that she keeps the deal secret by signing NDA. This was done particularly to prevent discussing the settlement with the press or on social media. The Times believes that the payout is the largest made by Amnesty in an employment matter and will provide support for Mr Mootoo's widow, Martyne Perrot, and son, Robin. Ms Perrot had filed a legal complaint over Amnesty's conduct but the settlement avoids a court case that could have caused serious damage to its reputation. The arrangement led to criticism on social media, with people asking why an organisation such as Amnesty would condone the use of non-disclosure agreements. Shaista Aziz, co-founder of the feminist advocacy group NGO Safe Space, questioned on Twitter why the “world's leading human rights organisation” was employing such contracts. The source of the money was unknown. Amnesty stated that the payout to Motoo's family "will not be made from donations or membership fees".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mootoo, Gaëtan Amnesty International people 1952 births 2018 deaths