Table of Contents

Introduction
Torture
International Human Rights Law
Mission Civilisatrice: Ideology, Practice, Implications
Methodology
Narrative of Projected Chapters
Discourse of the French Government
Protection of the Individual by State
France's System of Justice with respect to Algeria
International Legal Norms
Government Responses to Accounts of Torture
Charles de Gaulle
Discourse of the French Military
Substantive Content
Arrangement of Chapter
Discourse of Soldiers
Discourse of the Commanders
Discourse of the Intellectuals
"Intellectuals" in Context
Universalism
Intellectuals as a Political Factor
Wartime Activities of Intellectuals
Availability of Public Information on Torture
Discourse of Intellectuals
Discourse of Intellectuals Who Were Tortured
Conclusions
Summary and Conclusions
The Civilizing Mission's Historic Underevaluation
The Civilizing Mission in French Theory and Practice on Rights
The Civilizing Mission Ideology and Torture
Antinomies of the Ideology
Rights in France
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

RITA MARAN writes on torture as a violation of international law on human rights. She is a founding member and member of the Board of Directors of Human Rights Advocates, a California-based organization accredited to the United Nations. She organizes public forums and brings the subject of torture into public discussion on radio and television in England, Europe and Africa, and the United States. Her Ph.D. in international human rights law is from the University of California. She is completing another book on torture as a political tool for governing.

Reviews

?From the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789, through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, and the European Convention on Human Rights 1950, France has subscribed to the right of an individual to be protected from torture. How, then, did France condone the use of torture in the Algerian War? Maran's well-researched study describes the reasons for torture and the tension that accompanied this change in French ideology. The French mission civilisatrice to Algeria was badly damaged when French national law failed to protect the right to be secure from torture. For torture to occur, the victim must be seen as subhuman by the torturer.' Torture supported by the French state was rationalized as a regrettably necessary tactic during the Algerian War. Questions of French politics superseded questions of French law. There is not another book on North Africa that addresses the problem of torture from an ideological perspective. In this day of emphasis on human rights throughout the world, Maran's book will be a valuable addition to both undergraduate and graduate libraries.?-Choice

?Maran's treatment of French torture in Algeria is entirely relevant to people in the United States today.?-The Nation

?The scope and impact of this work is almost belied by its subtitle. This is far more than another book on a trendy subject (and alas a commonly accepted practice) viewed in the context of a long ago war. Dr. Maran is a human rights activist' who is unusually well equipped by training and experience to take a balanced and dispassionate view of this aspect of the Algerian War. . . . This is a beautifully crafted, carefully researched and throrughly documented work framed around a refreshingly non-legal methodology, a social scientist's approach that is no less valid and effective for its being an alternative approach. . . . This work, a study on the ideological institutionalization of torture as an accepted if submerged part of war, and especially "civil" war, has much to say about present-day international society.?-International Journal of Legal Information

?This book is one result of [Maran's] scholarly work. . . . This book is an examination of the French civilizing mission and its contradictions with respect to torture tactics used in the French-Algerian War . . . The strength of the book is in its attempt to link the ideology of the civilizing mission and notions of international law and morality to the actualities of the combat environment in Algeria. . . . this book adds to the literature on tactics an behavior in revolutionary wars. . . .?-Perspectives on Political Science

"This book is one result of ÝMaran's¨ scholarly work. . . . This book is an examination of the French civilizing mission and its contradictions with respect to torture tactics used in the French-Algerian War . . . The strength of the book is in its attempt to link the ideology of the civilizing mission and notions of international law and morality to the actualities of the combat environment in Algeria. . . . this book adds to the literature on tactics an behavior in revolutionary wars. . . ."-Perspectives on Political Science

"Maran's treatment of French torture in Algeria is entirely relevant to people in the United States today."-The Nation

"The scope and impact of this work is almost belied by its subtitle. This is far more than another book on a trendy subject (and alas a commonly accepted practice) viewed in the context of a long ago war. Dr. Maran is a human rights activist' who is unusually well equipped by training and experience to take a balanced and dispassionate view of this aspect of the Algerian War. . . . This is a beautifully crafted, carefully researched and throrughly documented work framed around a refreshingly non-legal methodology, a social scientist's approach that is no less valid and effective for its being an alternative approach. . . . This work, a study on the ideological institutionalization of torture as an accepted if submerged part of war, and especially "civil" war, has much to say about present-day international society."-International Journal of Legal Information

"This book is one result of [Maran's] scholarly work. . . . This book is an examination of the French civilizing mission and its contradictions with respect to torture tactics used in the French-Algerian War . . . The strength of the book is in its attempt to link the ideology of the civilizing mission and notions of international law and morality to the actualities of the combat environment in Algeria. . . . this book adds to the literature on tactics an behavior in revolutionary wars. . . ."-Perspectives on Political Science

"From the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789, through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, and the European Convention on Human Rights 1950, France has subscribed to the right of an individual to be protected from torture. How, then, did France condone the use of torture in the Algerian War? Maran's well-researched study describes the reasons for torture and the tension that accompanied this change in French ideology. The French mission civilisatrice to Algeria was badly damaged when French national law failed to protect the right to be secure from torture. For torture to occur, the victim must be seen as subhuman by the torturer.' Torture supported by the French state was rationalized as a regrettably necessary tactic during the Algerian War. Questions of French politics superseded questions of French law. There is not another book on North Africa that addresses the problem of torture from an ideological perspective. In this day of emphasis on human rights throughout the world, Maran's book will be a valuable addition to both undergraduate and graduate libraries."-Choice