Jacques Vergès, the Devil's Advocate

Jacques Vergès, Devil’s Advocate A Psychohistory of Vergès’ Judicial Strategy Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal April 2012 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Civil Law © Jonathan Widell, 2012 Abstract This study undertakes a psychohistory of French criminal defence lawyer Jacques Vergès’ judicial strategy. .His initial articulation of his judicial strategy in his book De la stratégie judiciaire in 1968 continues to inform his legal career, in which he has defended a number of controversial clients, most notably that of Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie in the 1987 trial. Vergès distinguished two types of judicial strategy in his 1968 book: rupture and connivence. Both strategies should be understood out of Vergès’ Marxist influences. This study looks into the coherence of his career in light of his initial articulation of judicial strategy and explores the shift in emphasis of his strategy from the defence of a cause to that of a person. The study adopts a three-level approach. It considers, first, Vergès’ discourse of his strategy, second, the world politics that shaped his discourse, and third, Vergès’ biography. First, Vergès’ strategy grew out of the duality of rupture and connivence and transformed into what we call devil’s advocacy, in which Vergès pits an accused (as an individual) against the justice system. Devil’s advocacy culminated in his defence of Barbie. After his defence of Barbie, Vergès pitted himself against the justice system so that his own notoriety was reflected to his clients rather than the other way around. Second, Vergès’ major intellectual and political influence was Communism. Although he left the Communist Party of France in 1957, at the time when he began his legal defence of Algerian militants during the Algerian War of Independence, the ongoing political reorientations and resulting splits in the communist movement did not allow him to disavow communism altogether. The split that took place between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China in the early-1960’s allowed him to align his political views with the Chinese interpretation of communism and he has not relinquished his affinity to Chinese communism since the 1960’s. On the contrary, he has conformed to the dramatic changes that Chinese communism underwent since Mao’s rule. The study argues that those changes shaped Vergès’ psychological outlook, which entailed the development of a so-called African personality. It in turn provided the impetus for the further development of his judicial strategy beyond the initial duality of rupture and connivence. Third, this study focuses on his childhood and youth in the French colonies, first in Indochina and then in the Island of Réunion. Vergès colonial background has informed his political choices, which in turn have informed his legal practice. His overarching commitment is anticolonialism, which has manifested itself in various forms since his childhood. In his youth, it took the form of Stalinism, and communism in general. His Stalinism intermingled with his loyalty to De Gaulle during the Second World War. After Stalin’s death in 1953, he aligned himself with the Maoist objective of perpetuating revolutions in colonies. In the course of his defence of Barbie, his anticolonialism revolved around his comparison of the French colonial regime to Nazism. 2 Résumé Cette étude est une psycho-histoire de la stratégie judiciaire du pénaliste français Jacques Vergès. La conceptualisation initiale de sa stratégie judicaire De la stratégie judiciaire de l'année 1968 continue d'influencer sa carrière judiciaire, y inclut sa défense de plusieurs clients controversés, surtout l'officier de Gestapo Klaus Barbie au cours de son procès en 1987. Vergès distingue deux types de stratégie judiciaire dans son livre de 1968: la rupture et la connivence. Les deux stratégies doivent être comprises à la lumière des influences marxistes de Vergès. Cette étude examine la cohérence de sa carrière à la lumière de la conceptualisation initiale de la stratégie judiciaire et explore le ré-positionnement de sa stratégie de la défense d'une cause à celle d'une personne. Cette étude assume une approche à trois niveaux. Premièrement, elle examine le discours de Vergès concernant sa stratégie, deuxièmement, la politique mondiale qui a façonné son discours et, troisièmement, la biographie de Vergès. Premièrement, la stratégie de Vergès a évolué de la dualité de la rupture et connivence et s'est transformé en ce que nous appelons la stratégie de l’avocat du diable, dans laquelle Vergès oppose l'accusé (comme individu) contre le système judiciaire. La stratégie de l’avocat du diable a atteint son sommet dans la défense de Barbie. Après sa défense de Barbie, Vergès s'est opposé lui-même contre le système judiciaire de sorte que sa notoriété a plutôt été reflétée à ses clients que le contraire. Deuxièmement, Vergès a été influencé intellectuellement et politiquement par le communisme. Même s'il avait quitté le Parti Communiste de France en 1957, tandis qu'il commençait sa défense judiciaire de militants algériens pendant la Guerre d’Algérie, les réorientations politiques et les ruptures au sein du mouvement communiste ne lui ont pas permis de désavouer le communisme. La rupture qui s'est effectuée entre l'Union soviétique et la République populaire de Chine au début des années 1980 lui a permis d'aligner ses vues politiques avec l'interprétation chinoise du communisme et la République populaire de Chine. Au contraire, il s'est conformé aux changements dramatiques éprouvé par le communisme chinois depuis le règne de Mao. Cette étude avance l'argument que ces changements ont façonné la vision psychologique de Vergès, qui a entraîné le développement de la soi-disant personnalité africaine. À son tour, elle a propulsé le développement de sa stratégie judiciaire au-delà de sa dualité initiale entre la rupture et la connivence. Troisièmement, cette étude examine son enfance et son adolescence dans les colonies français, premier en Indochine et puis à l'Île de Réunion. Le passé de colonisé de Vergès a influencé ses choix politiques, qui à son tour ont influencé sa pratique judiciaire. Son engagement primordial est l'anticolonialisme qui s'est manifesté sous formes diverses depuis son enfance. Dans son adolescence, l’anticolonialisme a pris la forme du stalinisme et du communisme en général. Son stalinisme a pénétré sa loyauté à De Gaulle pendant la Seconde guerre mondiale. Après la mort de Staline en 1953, il s'est aligné avec l'objectif maoïste de perpétuer des révolutions dans les colonies. Au cours de sa défense de Barbie, son anticolonialisme s'est axé sur sa comparaison entre le régime colonial français et le nazisme. 3 Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the untiring help that I have received from my supervisor Professor Mark Antaki during the entire research and writing process. I also express my gratitude to Professor Blaine Baker for his generous support over the years, in particular for imparting to me his profound historical perspective, as well as to the members of the Advisory Thesis Committee, Professors Desmond Manderson and Roderick Macdonald, for their valuable insights. I thank Jacques Vergès, Fr. Alain de la Morandais, General Maurice Faivre, Nicole Guiraud, Elizabeth Rottenberg, John Milbank, Erik van Ree, and others for their e-mail correspondence. I thank Antonio Artuso, Sylvain Archambault, and many others for helping me to grasp the essence of communism. Éric Feugé and Laureline Darques have generously answered my questions about psychology and psychiatry. Cécile Ngo Holl provided me with an African perspective to world events and history. Louise-Marie Picard helped me with transcribing Vergès’ French TV interview. Reynold and Jean Dominique have resolved the complex printing issues at the diverse stages of my project. Last but not least, I wish thank my wife Mina Widell for all her support, including sharing with me her experiences of living in a communist one-party system. 4 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 7 1.1. De la stratégie judiciaire .............................................................................................. 9 1.2. The Importance Attached to Vergès’ Strategy by Foucault and Derrida .................. 15 1.2.1. Derrida and the Coherence of Vergès’ Discourse ................................................. 17 1.2.2. Foucault: Vergès’ Discourse in Historical Context ............................................... 20 1.3. Biographical Approach to Vergès’ Strategy ............................................................. 22 1.3.1. Psychohistorical approach ..................................................................................... 22 1.3.2. The social psychology of connivence and rupture ................................................ 27 1.4. Key Concepts in their Intellectual Historical Setting ................................................ 31 1.4.1 Strategy versus tactics ........................................................................................... 31 1.4.2. Vergès’ conceptualization of rupture and connivence .......................................... 35 1.5. The key sources ......................................................................................................... 38 1.6. Outline ......................................................................................................................

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