Torture en Algérie : le geste historique d’Emmanuel Macron

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Le chef de l’Etat reconnaît la responsabilité de l’Etat dans la mort de Maurice Audin, un mathématicien militant de l’indépendance de l’Algérie tué en 1957.

La décision est historique et pourrait être à Emmanuel Macron ce que le Vél’d’Hiv fut à Jacques Chirac. Après plusieurs mois de réflexion, le chef de l’Etat a décidé de reconnaître la responsabilité de l’Etat français dans la mort de Maurice Audin, ce mathématicien communiste, militant de l’indépendance de l’Algérie, arrêté le 11 juin 1957 en pleine bataille d’Alger, torturé par l’armée française et disparu sans laisser de traces.

« Le président de la République a (…) décidé qu’il était temps que la nation accomplisse un travail de vérité sur ce sujet, a annoncé l’Elysée, jeudi 13 septembre. Il reconnaît, au nom de la République française, que Maurice Audin a été torturé puis exécuté ou torturé à mort par des militaires qui l’avaient arrêté à son domicile. » Emmanuel Macron devait se rendre jeudi à Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis), afin de rencontrer la veuve de l’universitaire, Josette Audin, aujourd’hui âgée de 87 ans, et l’informer de sa décision.

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The Joint Force of the G5 Sahel: An Appropriate Response to Combat Terrorism?

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Introduction

The Joint Force of the Group of Five of the Sahel (Force Conjointe du G5 Sahel or FC-G5S) is the latest initiative by African member states to reduce the threat of terrorism in the Sahel, a region that is often framed as an arc of instability. The FC-G5S – which includes Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad – was authorised by the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) on 13 April 2017 for a 12-month period, and was later – on 20 June 2017 – welcomed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). It was reauthorised by the AU PSC for a 12-month period on 12 April 2018.

This article focuses on the security pillar of the G5 Sahel, by examining the FC-G5S mandate to combat terrorism in the Sahel. After a brief background, the article provides an overview of the main jihadist protagonists in the Sahel, demonstrating that some of these groups emerge and thrive, due to distinctly local, societal problems, and should not only be viewed through the prism of terrorism. The article then examines the FC-G5S counterterrorism (CT) strategy and the conceptualisation and configuration of the force itself, and argues that currently there is a danger of advancing a security-first stabilisation strategy through relying on military-led CT operations to contain and deter the threat of terrorist groups. This approach depoliticises these groups, and risks reducing emphasis on the local, sociopolitical and economic factors that have enabled violent extremism to take root in the first place.

Background

The FC-G5S is the military force that falls under the auspices of the Group of Five of the Sahel, a subregional organisation formed in February 2014 to bolster cooperation around development and to unify collective action against common threats such as terrorism and organised crime. It can be categorised as what the AU calls “ad hoc security initiatives” – coalitions that are authorised but not mandated by the PSC, and which create security pacts to enable their forces to conduct cross-border operations to target common threats.

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Published by NATASJA RUPESINGHE on ACCORD