François-Xavier Verschave , (born with Lille the October 28th 1945 and deceased with Villeurbanne the June 29th 2005), was a economist of formation. His/her father was a Journaliste Gaulliste and his mother Infirmière.

He was since 1983 the person in charge of the questions of economy, employment and social innovation to the Town hall of Saint-Fons, a commune of the Lyons suburbs. He was married and father of three children.

François-Xavier Verschave was founding member of the association Survie, which it chaired since 1995. He was also publication director of the monthly letter of association: Tickets of Africa and besides .

Impassioned Franco-African relations, François-Xavier Verschave in particular forged and described the concept of “Françafrique”, term parodying the expression the " France-Africa " of Felix Houphouët-Boigny. The “Françafrique” is this occult shutter of the policy of the France in Africa. Its two principal works on the question, Françafrique (Stock, 1999) and Black silence (Arenas, 2000), became references for Survie association. This last was worth to him a lawsuit for offense with foreign Heads of State (law on the freedom of the press of 1881) which declared it not culprit, taking into account the absence of “punishable intention” and of the legal context of the business.

It also provided an important research task on the concept of Public Biens on a worldwide scale and the economic theories of Fernand Braudel.

It is brutally deceased of a Cancer of the pancreas fulgurating discovered four months earlier.

Cooperating in Algeria

François-Xavier Verschave worked like French co-operator in Algeria at the “Management of the surface transports”. He worked with “a not very banal duet”: Énarque Djelloul Benlhadj, Algerian of FLN, and a black Foot, Jacques Lengrand, who had fought the FLN and was dispossessed of his heritage made up of one of the principal haulage companies Algerian (the Blidéens Coaches). These two “enemy” personalities had decided to link their efforts “to rebuild” Algerian transport.

President of association Survival (1995-2005)

Survie is an association of citizens which has militated publicly for 20 years so that:

• the reorientation of the money of the government aid to the development,

• is put a term at the drifts described as underground and dishonouring by the association of the Franco-African policy,
• is set up of the mechanisms of prevention and repression of the crimes against humanity and of genocide.

In 2005, it counts 1650 members and a score of local groups in France.

Under the impulse of François-Xavier Verschave, and Sharon Courtoux, Survie will increase its number of members. Its books Françafrique, the longest scandal of the Republic and Noir silence were sold with several ten thousands of specimens according to its editors.

Its admirors of Survival sees in him a capacity of synthesis which was essential naturally, even if they reproach him sometimes discussions very tended and long within association.

The integrality of its royalties were transferred with Survie association. He regarded his production of writer as a consubstancielle action with his responsibility in the combat for Survival.

He succeeds the head of Survival to Jean Carbonare

Cofounder of a company of insertion

Before writing “Françafrique”, François-Xavier Verschave had founded, with a friend priest, with Villeurbanne in the Années 1970, a made up joinery for half of valid workers and other half of psychic handicapped workers to help them to find a dignity by work. The company of Artibois joinery always functions. François-Xavier Verschave had two personal motivations in this company: to fight the social injustice which strikes the mentally ills and to return to the root of a concrete economic activity through a small company.

Following an industrial accident, it reorientated its professional life and returned towards an activity more centered on its economic competences to the Town hall of Saint-Fons (cf its work Françafrique).

Lawsuits

Lawsuit of three Heads of State

This lawsuit related to the book Black silence and reported in Black lawsuit , was brought by three Heads of African States “friendly of France”, Omar Bongo, Idriss Déby, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, for offense with Head of foreign State against François-Xavier Verschave and Laurent Beccaria, director of the publisher which published the work.

Defended by Master Jacques Vergès, the three Heads of State had to incline themselves in front of French justice in first authority and were déboutés in call on the bottom and the form. Indeed, the court laid out that to conform to the European Convention of safeguard of the human rights, the offense of offense with Head of foreign State must be made up of a punishable intention, which was not shown. Nevertheless, the court remained careful on the veracity of the facts brought back by defense, and will note in its waited: “ it appears that the versed documents and the testimonys collected during the procedure, which do not have vocation to establish the complete and perfect proof allegations contained in the work, and which must be accommodated with the prudence which is appropriate for the analyzes of people of which some are openly hostile to the Heads of State blamed, establish not only the importance and the topicality of the subjects evoked but also the serious one of the investigations carried out. ”

The Heads of déboutés States did not carry the business in Cassation.

Lawsuit of Charles Pasqua

Charles Pasqua gained in 1999 a lawsuit in slandering against François-Xavier Verschave who was condemned to frank the symbolic system for his book Françafrique where he showed Charles Pasqua to have covered the delivery of the Carlos terrorist against “a support with the operations of " cleaning ethnique" Sudanese mode”. The court will note in its waited until Mr Verschave “ failed to fulfil his obligation prudence ” by personalizing “ the political responsibility of France and introducing Mr Pasqua, Minister of Interior Department, like accomplice of the most abominable crimes ”.

Reproaches

François-Xavier Verschave wrote his books in particular starting from the press. He went rather little in Africa, which, according to the journalist of the Monde , did not interest it. The newspaper Le Monde of the 2 July 3rd, 2005, will also note that it “ cut out the articles glanés on the right and on the left, listened to those which returned visit to association and, without embarrassing checking too much, made this raw material the paste of its works ”. His/her friends point out in answer that it would have been difficult to him to be also dilettante and to publish books having such a repercussion.

Generally François-Xavier Verschave recognizes indeed in the book Noir Lawsuits which he wrote his books starting from the press, of the documentation and testimonys of Africans victims of the dictatorships and taken refuge in Europe. Its ground of investigation was not initially Africa, but the French leading class. The object of its investigation being the French policy in Africa it considered that its combat was to be held in France. Its detractors reproached him for not making of investigation of ground in Africa. According to Survival in Alsace , Verschave “would have travelled in Africa on several occasions”, that is to say with the Cameroun, the Rwanda and the Senegal. They were voyages from short duration. It was also co-operating in Algérie in the years 1960 during two years.

François-Xavier Verschave will even recognize his little of voyage while declaring: “ I do not need to go there (to Black Africa) to know what occurs there. Not more than Fernand Braudel did not need to live in the the Mediterranean 16th century to reconstitute the history of it”. Me Rods, speaking about its lack of experience of ground will say: “ Mr Verschave is Tintin which does not go to the Congo of fear of meeting the lion ”.

In its edition of the 2 July 3rd, 2005, the newspaper Le Monde will publish a obituary to which will react the Survie association whose François-Xavier Verschave was president.

Survie association sees there a certain rancour vis-a-vis the lawsuit gained by François Xavier Verschave and lost by lawyer Me Rods and the Heads of African States which had initiated it. (source quoted by Acrimed) The drafting of the monthly magazine Billets of Africa of this association publishes: “ obituary published by " Monde" , under the feather of Jean-Pierre Tuquoi (Notebook, Saturday, July 2, 2005), appears with the beginning more courteous but the last paragraphs are of a rare ill will. But Jean-Pierre Tuquoi does nothing but obligingly repeat here the allegations of their defender, the tenor of the Jacques Vergès bar. ”

After its death, the journalists Pierre Péan ( Black furies, lying white , ED. Beech/Thousand and One Nights, 2005) and Charles Onana ( Secrecies of international justice , ED. Duboiris, 2005, second part, chapter 6) highly denounced the methods F. - X. Verschave, shown intellectual dishonesty, of handling, factual errors, of kindness for the patriotic Front Rwandan, and of a certain form of neocolonialism (“the large white wizard” bringing the fine words to the Blacks).