Camille Gourvenec - Wikipedia
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Camille Gourvenec | |
|---|---|
| Born | Chad |
| Died | 1978 |
| Service / branch | SDECE (France) |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands | Nomad and National Guard |
Camille Gourvenec (died 1978) was an officer of the French external intelligence service SDECE, possibly with the rank of colonel, who, from 1966, was seconded as security adviser to President François Tombalbaye of Chad, and was therefore effectively head of Tombalbaye's security and intelligence service. He had previously served with the French forces in Algeria. It has been alleged that he was a key member of the Françafrique network, led by Jacques Foccart.
Gourvenec was employed in Chad in the late 1960s during the Civil War, in which France intervened through Opération Bison and Opération Limousin [fr]. A veteran of the Indochinese and Algerian wars, he employed violent tactics against suspected FROLINAT members and sympathizers among the population.[1]
It was alleged that he was personally involved in the interrogation (under torture) of numerous opponents of Tombalbaye's regime, and also implicated in the killing of others, including Outel Bono.[1]
His deputy was Commandant Pierre Galopin, who was executed in 1975 by Hissène Habré, after he had been sent to negotiate the release of Françoise Claustre.
Gourvenec also commanded Chad's Nomad and National Guard and may have had advance warning of the 1975 coup which toppled Tombalbaye but he did not intervene.
He died in 1978.
- ^ a b Borrel, Thomas; Boukari-Yabara, Amzat; Collombat, Benoît; Deltombe, Thomas (2023). "La folie des grandeurs. Armes, pétrole et nucléaire". Une histoire de la Françafrique: L'empire qui ne veut pas mourir. Paris: Seuil. pp. 425 and 433. ISBN 9782757897751.
- François-Xavier Verschave, La Françafrique - Le plus long scandale de la République, Stock, pages 155-172 [1]