There is hot news in the Laine-Legrand case: the
two archivists of the City Archives of Paris, who in 1999 had the guts
to reveal the truth rather than abide with the secrecy their superiors (and
many of their French colleagues) would have put in the first place. Since then
they have been coldshouldered. See http://perso.wanadoo.fr/felina/
PLEASE sign the petition NOW!
Since this is all in French, I copy (below) some
of the history as it appeared in 1999 on this Archives listserv.
Theo Thomassen wrote a beautiful article, putting
the Laine-Legrand case in the context of archival professionalism and ethics.
His article Archivists between knowledge and power can be downloaded
from http://www.archiefschool.nl/bibliotheek/pub.htm#ove
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On 3 March 1999 Bob Schmidt posted the
following on the Archives listserv:
I thought that archivists in the United
States would be interested in a case
currently going on in Paris and the sanctions that one of your French colleagues is facing. Included in this message is the original post as it appeared on H-FRANCE, and I have added a translation of the article in Liberation. >I attach below a report in today's
Liberation (25 Feb. 1999) about
>Brigitte Laine and the trouble she is in because of her testimony at the >trial of Jean-Luc Einaudi who is being sued for libel by the convicted war >criminal Maurice Papon. On 17 October 1961 the Paris police (Papon was >then Prefect) massacred something like 100-200 peaceful Arab protesters. > >Many historians who have worked at the Archives de Paris have been helped >over the years by Ms. Laine and I know that she has many friends among the >members of the Society for French Historical Studies. Perhaps it would be >helpful if the Society, at its upcoming meeting, voted a resolution of >support for Ms. Laine and her brave stand in testifying for Einaudi and >against Papon (by revealing what the archives have to say about the >affair). > > > For having testified at the beginning of February in the defamation trial of Maurice Papon against the writer Jean-Luc Einaudi about the events of October 17, 1961, Brigitte Laine, curator at the Archives de Paris, is now facing the threat of disciplinary sanctions. Einaudi had claimed that police repression
that day in 1961 against
demonstrations by North Africans constituted "a massacre" perpetrated "by police forces under the order of Maurice Papon." The [former] senior official [...] was suing Jean-Luc Einaudi for libel. At the time of the hearing, Brigitte Laine, curator currently on secondment to the City of Paris, in charge of judicial archives, was summoned to appear. She revealed that 103 pretrial investigation files (concerning 130 people) had been initiated between September and December 1961, thus contradicting the official position of the - much lower - number of disappeared. A breach of the duty to confidentiality,
according to the administration,
"an act of civic duty," according to Jean-Luc Einaudi, who yesterday held a press conference at the Paris headquarters of MRAP (Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Between Peoples). The threats of sanction? "A derisory and appalling operation aimed at keeping the lid on this recovery of historical truth," said the historian. [...] According to him, the threat is all the more biased since Brigitte Laine has not released information from the files or from the archives to the Bar. She has only corroborated statements of Jean-Luc Einaudi. The curator, tiny and reserved, detailed
the sanctions that weigh on her:
"An administrative investigation will be opened. At worst, a disciplinary council and penal proceedings. But I am optimistic? It is the position of the City of Paris, on which I depend, that worries me most. They are threatening to suspend my post. Why is the City taking this story to heart? October 1961, that's an affair of State!" >
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>Michael D. Sibalis >Associate Professor >Department of History >Wilfrid Laurier University >Waterloo, Ontario >CANADA N2L 3C5 On 4 Mar 1999 I added:
The French "Brigitte Laine case" deserves
the attention of all
archivists and other keepers of memory institutions. What she did was NOT revealing the content of any restricted document, but citing from a register kept by the court, a document which under French law is open after 30 years. The official positions of the French Archives Directorate and the French Association of Archivists (who accuse ms. Laine of divulging secret documents) seems to be unfair and based upon untrue information. The Frennch Association accuses ms. Laine of misconduct, citing article 7 of the Code of Ethics of the International Council on Archives (" Archivists should respect both access and privacy, and act within the boundaries of relevant legislation" ). But article 8 of the same code prescribes "Archivists should use the special trust given to them in the general interest and avoiud using their position to ubfairly benefit themselves or others". Then follows: Archivists must refrain from activities which might prejudice their professional integrity, objectivity and impartiality. My opinion, on the basis of the information I received so far, is that this is prima facie not a clear cut case of whistle blowing, since Ms. Laine acted within her professional domain and according to the law. Had she not told the court about the existence of the files, she would have committed a sin in view of article 8. Eric Ketelaar
Professor of Archivistics University of Amsterdam Oude Turfmarkt 141 NL 1012 GC Amsterdam Phone +31 20 525 2013 Fax +31 20 525 2097 email ketelaar@hum.uva.nl www.hum.uva.nl/bai/home/eketelaar/home.htm |