French soldiers murder Ivoirian prisoner

The brutality of French imperialism in the Algerian war for independence, when it killed 1 million Algerians from 1954 to 1962 in a vain attempt to maintain its colony, is part of the historical background of the current struggle in France.

But Algeria wasn’t France’s only colony in Africa. The Ivory Coast, although without the oil and natural gas riches of Algeria, was one of France’s most profitable possessions. More French lived there after its formal independence than before.

In 2002, a rebellion broke out and France rushed in troops to prop up its clients. The fighting was sharp. Finally, an Ivoirian plane bombed the French barracks, causing eight deaths.

A stalemate was arrived at. The French troops and their clients have been holding the south, while the rebels hold the north.

In May, an Ivoirian named Firmin Mahe was wounded and captured after allegedly being in a firefight with French soldiers. While he was being transported to prison in a French armored car, soldiers put a plastic bag over his head and he suffocated to death.

On Nov. 3 the French minister of defense formally reprimanded Gen. Henri Poncet, commander of the French forces, and his assistant, Gen. Renaud de Malaus sene, for covering up the murder, and removed them from their commands. This is the heaviest punishment they can receive.

A judicial inquiry has also been opened in a gesture to public opinion in France and in the Ivory Coast.

The viciousness with which the French ruling class defends its interests abroad is also reflected in how it treats the people who immigrate from those areas.

—G. Dunkel