A "lion's mouth," mailbox for anonymous complaints to the Doges Palace in Venice (Italy). Translation of the inscription in stone: "secret denunciations against any person who conceals favors or services, or seeking to conceal his true income."

The accusation is a denunciation despicable and shameful ^Introduction

Directed against an individual or group of individuals is the accusation made by an informer, individual or group of people for his own gain (wealth and monopolize the property of others) or to maliciously harm (jealousy, envy, hate). The informant may be paid by a power that seeks to obtain information against their opponents or enemies.

It is a form of betrayal and opportunism that are found repeatedly in history and in many civilizations . From the point of view of strategy , it belongs to the modes of corruption. It can also occur as perjury or libel .

Popular parlance denotes a large vocabulary to describe an informer: cookie, scale, donor, indic, poucave, sycophant, blues and more extensive collaboration, traitor or Judas.

Prompted by authoritarian regimes or dictatorships, or by occupation forces , usually hidden and anonymous, it was facilitated by a power that distributes and promotes racist and discriminatory theories .

History of informers

Five centuries before our era, the art of war (Sun Tzu) already refers to this concept in his last chapter, "From harmony and discord" (, Yongjian).

"When these five kinds of spy are at work, nobody can discover the secret system of information. This is called divine manipulation of minds. It is the most precious faculty of sovereigns. "Sun Tzu XIII-8 .

One finds the mark of the voluntary informers in the traditional politicians betrayals of ancient Greece or the Roman Empire , but the avatar of the most famous traitor is Judas Iscariot selling the Messiah, Jesus, authorities for a few pieces (Matthew 26:15), then committed suicide by hanging of remorse by the immorality of his act.

Dramatic events (war , attack) can encourage the move. Such situations can serve to satiate revenge against an individual or hatred against deviant groups.

It was widely used, through promotions or awards, in the context of colonialism and the oppression of the occupants against the separatists in areas colonized .

During the Second World War , it is mandated and encouraged by the intelligence services of the Third Reich. It becomes a weapon against the government resistance (political) , accused of terrorism , in all countries then occupied by Germany .

United States, the McCarthyism encouraging denunciation of those suspected of communist activity. In the USSR and the countries it occupied after the Second World War, the betrayal is a practice that is rife in primary schools. Children are encouraged to denounce their parents if they emit those ideas differ from those that propaganda relayed by the school system instills. The pinnacle is reached with the Stasi in East Germany which blights the whole of society, no one is safe from a relative or neighbor malicious.

The accusation in France under the occupation

The Program of the National Council of Resistance called for the immediate implementation of a policy of civil defense in the Liberation. The denouncement was regarded as one of the methods of active collaboration with the enemy.

The reasons for its prohibition is explainable by the memory of its systematic use by the Nazi occupying forces.

Following Philippe Burrin , historians speak of "collaborating with the daily" to describe a number of significant behaviors outside of active political engagement: personal relationships shockingly cordial talks with the Germans, sending letters informing the police or the Gestapo (five million anonymous letters included), business leaders seeking self-orders of the enemy, love relationships displayed with soldiers of the occupying army, or even Gestapo members, etc ... There will be consequences in the treatment in France after the Liberation.

This period raises the paradox of denouncing informers.

The sentences against informers during this period of history could go to the condemnation to death, now abolished. ^{Denunciation in France today}

At the end of Article 15-1 of the Consolidation Act of January 21, 1995 guidance and training relative to security, "the police and gendarmerie may remunerate any person outside the government provided them with information led directly or discovery of crimes or misdemeanors, or identification of perpetrators of crimes or misdemeanors. "A decree of 20 January 2006 allows the payment of informers.

Current debates on denunciation

To better understand the current debate on the promotion by the policies of democratic states to denounce proximity and the fact that these acts by reward money for the infiltration of criminal networks, keep in mind that if the accusation is immoral, the denunciation to the authorities in place provides information on patterns of corruption in a society. . In labor law, a system for reporting internet illegal acts of employees is now condemned by the French courts.

informers in the culture

In literature

• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

In film

Denouncement, through the role of the spy, is a recurring theme in film:

• The Snitch of John Ford
• Balance of Bob Swaim
• The Last Temptation of Christ by Martin Scorsese
• The Betrayal of Philippe Faucon
• Informing the Occupation of Andre Halimi
• Failure to the Gestapo of Vincent Sherman
• Fahrenheit 451 by Franois Truffaut

Internal Links

• Leniency programs: game theory in the service of detecting cartels
• McCarthyism
• Panopticon
• Pavel Morozov

References

• Sociology Portal

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