Edmond Jouve

in Léo Matarasso, Seminario del 6 dicembre 2008, Cedetim, Parigi

I met Léo at the Amiens symposium in 1977. He had contacted me on the recommendation of Professor Alain Fenet to ask me to address “The emergence of a right of peoples in international relations”, which I did. This paper meant a lot to me. Immediately, Lelio Basso suggested that I join him in his struggle and publish a collection of texts, under the title “For a right of peoples”, in collaboration with Antonio Cassese. At the same time, Léo asked me to assist him in his presidency of the French section of the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, which I accepted. This led me (at least for a while) to be at his side in the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal and in the Inter-national Council of the League, and to participate with him in eight sessions of the Tribunal (Argentina, Eritrea, Philippines, El Salvador, Afghanistan – Stockholm and Sorbonne -, East Timor, Zaire) and in a whole series of colloquia (Milan, San Marino, Athens…).
I loved the company of this seasoned activist who had been ahead of us in defending the rights of peoples in the Russell Tribunal and wherever human rights were at risk in the world. I loved to meet him in his office on the rue de Toumon (lined with masterpieces) and in his tiny kitchen (where he had built up a sort of small museum). We would have him tell us about his most resounding pleas and his most incredible adventures. We would listen to him for hours, captivated by his bewitching and charming voice.
He was for me an example of rectitude, courage and selflessness. I learned a lot from him. Although we agreed on the essentials, there were differences of opinion here and there. I think he didn’t like my forays into North Korea. My phrase “the State is sometimes a people gone wrong” made him jump. But he knew how to forgive what he considered to be incongruities.
Thank you Léo, for teaching us to be demanding of ourselves and others.

Jouve, Edmond

in:

<strong>Léo Matarasso,
Seminario del 6 dicembre 2008, Cedetim, Parigi
Milano, maggio 2009</strong>