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January 15, 2015<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/01/15/the-french-role-in-the-use-and-export-of-torture/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/01/15/the-french-role-in-the-use-and-export-of-torture/</a><br>
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<div class="subheadlinestyle"><b><big><big>We Must Denounce</big></big></b></div>
<h1 class="article-title">The French Role in the Use and Export of
Torture</h1>
<div class="mainauthorstyle">by CESAR CHELALA<br>
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<div>As the world is reacting with justified condemnation to the
tragic events in Paris, the same condemnation should be
extended to industrialized countries that have resorted to
violence and torture in their recent history. In addition,
those countries not only have used these techniques themselves
but have exported them to other countries.</div>
<div><br>
France is a case in point. There is ample evidence of the
widespread use of torture and assassination of political
opponents during that country’s occupation of Algeria. Less
well-known, however, is that French military officers trained
the Argentine military in the psychological and physical
torture of political prisoners in Argentina.<br>
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<div>In December 2013 died in France French General Paul
Aussaresses, who was responsible for executions and torture of
prisoners during the Algerian war for independence. A French
judge, Roger Le Loire, when investigating the disappearance of
French citizens in Argentina during the last military regime,
interrogated Gen. Paul Aussaresses about his knowledge of
torture techniques provided by his soldiers to the Argentine
military.<br>
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<div>Aussaresses’ testimony helped draw a picture of the French
military’s role in teaching torture to their Argentine
colleagues. Aussaresses defended his use of torture during the
Algerian War in the book “The Battle of the Casbah,” and
argued for torture in the fight against al-Qaida. “I express
regrets,” he said in a 2001 interview, “But I cannot express
remorse. That implies guilt. I consider I did my difficult
duty of a soldier implicated in a difficult mission.”</div>
<div>Aussaresses stated that the French government insisted that
the French military in Algeria “liquidate the FLN (Front de
Liberation Nationale) as quickly as possible.” Following the
controversy fueled by his statements, he was stripped of his
rank, the right to wear his uniform and his Légion d’honneur.<br>
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<div>Aussaresses had close links with the Brazilian military.
According to Gen. Manuel Contreras, former head of the Chilean
DINA (Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia), Chilean officers
were trained in Brazil by Aussaresses. He also advised South
American militaries on battles against counterinsurgency and
on the use of torture.<br>
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<div>Lt. Col. Roger Trinquier was reportedly the architect of
brutal repression in Algeria and the development of the
concept of “modern war.” One of that concept’s basic tenets
was the “secrecy doctrine,” which was to cause havoc in
Argentina during the last military regime that ruled that
country.<br>
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<div>An important premise of that doctrine was the need to
maintain strict secrecy with regard to the detention of
political prisoners, as well as their death, and to ensure the
elimination of all corpses. Many were dumped in the ocean;
some later washed ashore on Argentine and Uruguayan beaches<br>
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<div>The use of military personnel dressed as civilians, looking
for political opponents to interrogate and torture, was a
technique implemented by the French in Indochina and Algeria,
and later exported to Argentina through French military
advisers. In Argentina, these techniques led to the
“disappearance” of some 30,000 political prisoners in the
1970s, almost all of whom are still unaccounted for.<br>
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<div>The justification, according to French officials for this
“assistance” is that it had been requested by the Argentine
government. As Pierre Messmer, a former Gaullist prime
minister, stated, “Argentina wanted the advisers so we gave
them what they wanted. Argentina is an independent country and
there was no reason for us to deny their request.” He was thus
indicating that training in repression wasn’t the isolated
decision of a few but a definite state policy.<br>
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<div>If there is a moral to this sad story, it is that no
country, no matter how technically advanced, is free of the
dangers inherent in the use of brutal repressive techniques
and their export. And it is the duty of informed citizens to
denounce these vicious policies.<br>
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<div><em><b>César Chelala</b> is a winner of an Overseas Press
Club of America award and a national journalism award from
Argentina. </em></div>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
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