François-Xavier Verschave (28 October 1945 – 29 June 2005) was primarily known as one of the founders of the French NGO '' Survie'' ("Survival"), over which he presided since 1995, and as coiner of the term '' Françafrique'', an expression for France's neocolonialism, a specific type of

neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the control by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony) through indirect means. The term ''neocolonialism'' was first used after World War II to refer to ...

which has been imposed upon the former

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

of the French Empire by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Verschave also researched the concept of

global public good In traditional usage, a global public good (or global good) is a Public good (economics), 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 ...

s and the economic theories of famous historian

Fernand Braudel Fernand Paul Achille Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' (1955–79), and the un ...

. ''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 sciences, 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 ...

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 (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. 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 an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the first List of heads of state of Ivory Coast, pr ...

, former president of

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

(1960–1993), to boast of the good relations between the imperial power and the newly independent countries. Verschave's famous books ''La Françafrique'' (1998) and ''Noir silence'' (2000) have become standard works for anyone interested in the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

specifically, and generally the dissimulated policies followed by the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in former colonies, in particular by opponents - who haven't always been political adversaries - French President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

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, head of the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

Idriss Déby Idriss Déby Itno ( '; 18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the sixth List of heads of state of Chad, president of Chad from 1991 until his death in 2021 during the 2021 Northern Chad offensive, No ...

, president of

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

, and

Omar Bongo Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon from 1967 until Death and state funeral of Omar Bongo, his death in 2009. A member of the Gabonese De ...

, president of

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

since 1967 and Africa's longest serving ruler at the time. Represented by a controversial lawyer Jacques Vergès, 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 a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

(ECHR). The author of ''Noir silence'' accused Omar Bongo of

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

, 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, opponent of Hissène Habré 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 Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

", 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'', 1998, 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 legal 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, ...

of all his books to ''Survie''.

Notes

References

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