French governors repeatedly ordered torture prohibited before the Battle of Algiers

Evidence

In 1949, for instance, Governor-General Naegelen in an official circular ordered: “strong-arm techniques must be absolutely prohibited as a method of investigation. I am determined to punish with the utmost severity not only those members of the public service found guilty of using violence but also their superiors.” In 1955 Mendès-France declared categorically that all “excesses” “must stop everywhere and at once”, and Soustelle during his stewardship issued strict instructions that “every offence against human dignity…be rigorously forbidden”, and in his memoirs he insists that any proven cases of brutality or summary executions “did not rest without punishment”. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 581 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

And this is what happened. Because of the numbers of suspects involved, the D.O.P. “experts” often had to rely on outside help; “in certain cases”, admits Massu, “each of the regimental interrogation teams of the 10th Paratroop Division was obliged to have recourse to violence”. It was at this point, one might say, that torture became institutionalised in the army in Algeria. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 592 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

The death of Ben M’hidi left, alive and at liberty, only Belkacem Krim out of the original neuf historiques of the F.L.N. Like an unsightly molehill, it also threw up the whole ugly but hitherto largely subterranean issue of the maltreatment of rebel suspects, of torture and summary executions; or what, in another context and depending upon the point of view, might perhaps be termed “war crimes”, and what in France came simply to be known as la torture. From the Battle of Algiers onwards this was to become a growing canker for France, leaving behind a poison that would linger in the French system long after the war itself had ended. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 580 (#responds-to, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: French governors repeatedly and publicly prohibited torture in Algeria despite its prevalence — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 581; Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 592; The Battle of Algiers exposed torture as a lasting poison for France — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 580 (+2 more)

Related

• French governors repeatedly and publicly prohibited torture in Algeria despite its prevalence (similarity 0.92)
• Post-1959 torture in Algeria became a private, unsanctioned practice. (similarity 0.91)
• Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers (similarity 0.88)
• The Battle of Algiers exposed torture as a lasting poison for France (similarity 0.88)
• The French Revolution abolished torture outright before Algeria reignited it (similarity 0.86)
• Torture in Algeria left a lingering poison in the French system (similarity 0.86)
• Torture boomeranged against France in the Algerian war (similarity 0.85)
• Torture’s contested truth made it a lasting canker for France (similarity 0.84)
• Massu admitted Algerian torture existed but denied it was institutionalized (similarity 0.83)
• Torture won the Battle of Algiers but lost the war for France (similarity 0.83)
• Torture was effective in winning the short-term battle of Algiers (similarity 0.83)
• Torture was the chief factor in France’s defeat. (similarity 0.82)
• Torture more than any single factor caused France’s Algerian defeat (similarity 0.82)
• Perpetrators of torture carried its moral damage home to France in person (similarity 0.82)
• A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture in 1955 (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• French governors repeatedly and publicly prohibited torture in Algeria despite its prevalence #corroborates (0.85) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 581
• Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers #qualifies (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 592
• The Battle of Algiers exposed torture as a lasting poison for France #responds-to (0.25) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 580
• Catholic writers and journals led the early French anti-torture campaign in Algeria #responds-to (0.20) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 729
• French protests against torture deepened the army’s contempt for the Fourth Republic #responds-to (0.20) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 735