François Richard
in Léo Matarasso, Seminario del 6 dicembre 2008, Cedetim, Parigi
The Association d’Amitié France – Chili also wants to pay a warm tribute to André Jacques who left us on September 7, 2006, after his last fight against cancer.
Most of us first knew André Jacques as the head of the CIMADE in Paris, in 1973, when he generously welcomed and helped hundreds of Chilean refugees when they arrived in France after the Pinochet coup.
André Jacques was involved from an early age in active solidarity with the victims of injustice, both near and far. In France, he was director of the Refugees and Human Rights Department of the CIMADE, leader of numerous solidarity committees, and then president of the Action of Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT). Through the World Council of Churches, where he was responsible for the International Migration sector, and the International Service for Human Rights based in Geneva, of which he was president, his field of action and reflection has widened to the international level.
In his latest book, Trésors d’humanité (Itinéraire d’un témoin solidaire), published in 2004 by Editions du Cerf, André Jacques evokes, over half a century of a life “committed” to justice, the questions, doubts and convictions that accompanied his adolescent dream of “changing life” and his tireless search for an answer to the question of violence. The times of the Nazi occupation, the encounter with the Gospel, the charity work in the vicinity, then the commitments of solidarity with the uprooted and with the victims of torture and oppression form the framework of this story where memories and reflections are mixed. Through this memoir, the author seeks above all to pay a living tribute to the remarkable people he met along the way, true “treasures of humanity”, who have continued, despite all the difficulties, to fight against injustice, exclusion of all kinds, for respect for human dignity, solidarity without borders and fraternity.
Our sincere condolences and our affectionate friendship to his wife Geneviève and to all his friends and companions in the struggle. André lives on in our hearts, and, inspired by his generous example, we will continue his fight for Human Rights, Freedom and Solidarity. Richard, François
in: <strong>Léo Matarasso,
Seminario del 6 dicembre 2008, Cedetim, Parigi
Milano, maggio 2009</strong>