François-Xavier Verschave (28 October 1945, in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

– 29 June 2005, in

Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; frp, Velorbana) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after ...

) was primarily known as one of the founders of the French

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

'' Survie'' ("Survival"), over which he presided since 1995, and as coiner of the term ''

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 ...

'', an expression for

France's neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, ...

, a specific type of

neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, ...

which has been imposed upon the former

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

of the French Empire by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Verschave also researched the concept of

global public good In traditional usage, a global public good (or global good) is a public good available on a more-or-less worldwide basis. There are many challenges to the traditional definition, which have far-reaching implications in the age of globalization. D ...

s and the economic theories of famous historian

Fernand Braudel Fernand Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian and leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' ...

. ''Survie'' was created in 1983 by the ''Manifeste des 54 prix Nobel'' ("Manifesto of 54 Nobel Prizes") as an NGO advocating against underdevelopment.

Biography

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

by training, François-Xavier Verschave was responsible from 1983 for economic policy and employment policy at Saint-Fons municipality, located in the suburbs of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

. President of ''Survie'' since 1995, he was also editor of its monthly newsletter ''Billets d'Afrique et d'ailleurs''.

''La Françafrique''

François-Xavier Verschave forged the term ''Françafrique'' as a parody of the term "''France-Afrique''" used by

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...

, former president of Côte d'Ivoire (1960–1993), to boast of the good relations between the imperial power and the newly independent countries. Verschave's famous books ''La Françafrique'' (1999) and ''Noir silence'' (2000) have become standard works for anyone interested in the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed H ...

specifically, and generally the dissimulated policies followed by the French Republic in former colonies, in particular by opponents - who haven't always been political adversaries - French president Jacques Chirac and right-wing MP Charles Pasqua, involved in the Angolagate. After the publication of ''Noir silence'', which also criticized Jacques Chirac's role in the ''Françafrique'', Verschave was targeted by

Denis Sassou-Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer. He became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as p ...

, head of the Republic of the Congo,

Idriss Déby Idriss Déby Itno ' (18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the president of Chad from 1990 until his death in 2021. Déby was a member of the Bidayat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. A high-ranki ...

, president of Chad, and Omar Bongo, president of

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

since 1967 and Africa's longest serving ruler at the time. Represented by a controversial lawyer

Jacques Vergès Jacques Vergès (5 March 1925 – 15 August 2013) was a Siamese-born French lawyer and anti-colonial activist. Vergès began as a fighter in the French Resistance during World War II, under Charles de Gaulle's Free French forces. After becoming ...

, they all accused him of "offense toward a foreign state leader", on the basis of the 1881 law on the Freedom of the Press, a crime which is reminiscent of lese majesty, as the attorney general observed. However, Verschave was acquitted; the crime of "offense toward a foreign state leader" was judged contrary to the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...

(ECHR). The author of ''Noir silence'' accused Omar Bongo of crimes against humanity, Idriss Déby of corruption and of being an "assassin", and Sassou Nguesso of corruption. Because of the alleged charges, the trial was only based on Verschave's "good faith", and not on the truthfulness of his allegations. Thereafter, he was not allowed to prove his allegations, which was judged contrary to the ECHR. However, the trial did permit various opponents of the ''Françafrique'' to testify:

Ngarlejy Yorongar Ngarlejy Koji Yorongar le Moinban is a Chadian politician. He is the Executive Federal Coordinator of the Federation, Action for the Republic (in French: ''Fédération, action pour la république'' or FAR), a radical opposition party, as well as ...

, opponent of

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 u ...

and then Idriss Déby, who spoke of the "eleven times" he was arrested and "tortured" during Déby's eight-years long rule. MP Charles Pasqua also sued Verschave for " libel", which resulted in the author paying symbolic damages of one franc.

Bibliography

*''Nord-Sud : de l’aide au contrat. Pour un développement équitable'', 1991, Syros, 1991, 243 p. *''L’aide publique au développement'', with Anne-Sophie BOISGALLAIS, 1994, Syros, 150 p. *''Libres leçons de Braudel. Passerelles pour une société non excluante'', 1994, Syros, 221 p. *''Complicité de génocide ? La politique de la France au Rwanda'', 1994, La Découverte, 178 p. *''La Françafrique : Le plus long scandale de la République'', 1999, Stock, 380 p. *''Noir silence'', 2000, Les Arènes, 595 p. *''Noir procès : offense à chefs d'État'', 2001, Les Arènes, 382 p. *''Noir Chirac'', 2002, Les Arènes, 310 p. *''De la Françafrique à la Mafiafrique'', 2004, Tribord, 70 p. *''Au mépris des peuples : Le néocolonialisme franco-africain, entretien avec Philippe Hauser'', 2004, La Fabrique, 120 p. *"''L’envers de la dette. Criminalité politique et économique au Congo-Brazza et en Angola''", ''in ''Dossier noir de la politique africaine de la France'' n° 16, 2001, Agone, 225 p. *''Les Pillards de la forêt. Exploitations criminelles en Afrique'', in ''Dossier noir de la politique africaine de la France n° 17'', avec Arnaud Labrousse, 2002, Agone, 192 p. *''La santé mondiale entre racket et bien public, collectif'', 2004, éditions Charles Léopold Meyer, 346 p. *''L'horreur qui nous prend au visage : L'État français et le génocide, Rapport de la Commission d’enquête citoyenne sur le rôle de la France dans le génocide des Tutsi au Rwanda'', with Laure Coret, 2005, Karthala, 586 p. *''Négrophobie, réponse aux "Négrologues", journalistes françafricains et autres falsificateurs de l'information'', with Odile Tobner and Boubacar Boris Diop, 2005, Les Arènes, 200 p. (a book opposed to reporter Stephen Smith's ''Négrologie'' and his claims that France wasn't involved in the Rwandan genocide) *''Billets d'Afrique'', ''Survie'' 's mensual letter François-Xavier Verschave also coordinated the ''Dossiers Noirs de la politique africaine de la France'', edited by ''Survie'' and ''Agir ici'', at editing houses ''L’Harmattan'' and ''Agone''. Verschave gave the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

of all his books to ''Survie''.

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