The death of Michel Olivier: An indecent opportunity for a new anti-ICC campaign

We learned of the death, of Michel Olivier on Thursday July 3rd. From 1969 he was a militant of the group Révolution Internationale (which became the French section of the ICC in January 1975) and he remained a member of our organisation until he was expelled in 2003. For three decades he was an esteemed and valued comrade, a militant renowned for his dedication and loyalty. His knowledge of the history of the international workers' movement and of the history of France and many other countries provided a stimulus to debate and reflection. Even more striking was his total commitment to defending the organisation, fighting against individualism, and opposing the circle spirit and the existence of clans.

It wasn't until the early 2000s that he would begin to take a completely different course. Olivier took a wrong turn down a blind alley and was unable to find his way back. Along with other militants, and partly driven by them, he waged a campaign against an ICC militant, Louise, who he accused of being "unworthy" and even of being a "cop". A special commission that conducted a very thorough investigation found the charges were totally unfounded and absurd. Refusing to accept this verdict, this comrade's defenders, who had never really accepted the political criticism she had levelled against the positions of some of them, set themselves on a destructive course of action against the ICC. This approach was driven by wounded pride, hatred and the "iron solidarity" of close friends. It firstly consisted of secret meetings[1] aimed at "taking back control of the organisation", then of repeated violations of the statutes and systematic provocations designed to force the ICC to adopt sanctions which were immediately denounced as a "stifling of debate".

Among the activities of this group of militants, which took the name "Internal Fraction of the ICC" (IFICC), we should also mention the malicious slanders against our organisation conveyed to Left Communist groups and then made public, along with the theft of our organisation's material (financial resources, addresses of subscribers, archives)[2]. It should be remembered that these militants, and Olivier in particular, who constantly accused the ICC of gagging them and of "stifling debate", refused to take part in the meetings (extraordinary conference, congress) to which they were invited to present and defend their positions in front of all the members of our organisation.

But if Olivier and his friends were finally expelled from the ICC, it wasn't because of all these organisational failings, but because they behaved like snitches by publishing information on their website that supported the work of the police[3]. In taking this decision, the ICC was simply putting into practice the fundamental, vital principle of the workers' movement: no snitching within the ranks of the working class, no snitching within its revolutionary organisations![4]

How can we explain such a tragic and dishonourable political trajectory on the part of Olivier? How could it be that a dedicated and sincere militant over the decades was able to drift so far off course and end up wallowing in the most crass and undignified behaviour? What happened to Olivier was what happened to many other revolutionaries before him: through affinitarianism and out of loyalty to his friends, he chose to follow their slide rather than remain faithful to proletarian principles. The most famous example of such a trajectory is that of Martov. An esteemed militant of the RSDLP (the Russian revolutionary organisation at the beginning of the last century), he could not bear to see his friends Axelrod, Potressov and Zassoulitch criticised at the 1903 congress for their total lack of involvement in the life of the party newspaper, Iskra (which they had been mandated to work on) and even less so Lenin's proposal to change the composition of the editorial committee accordingly (that is, to drop them from it). "In solidarity” with his "victimised" friends, Martov chose to defend the interests of his circle rather than those of the Party. This fork in the road would see him go much further in slandering Lenin and the Bolsheviks. That said, Martov would never have committed the same acts of snitching as the IFICC!

In 2001, during one of our last discussions with him, when he was still a militant, Olivier was convinced by our arguments showing him the error of his ways (concerning the slander he was helping to spread about our comrade Louise). But when it was time to leave, he concluded by saying: "You're right, but when I go back with the others, I won't be able to resist, I'll follow them, I know I will". The die was cast...

In the last few years, he had at times made half-admissions to certain elements gravitating around him and the ICC, acknowledging his "mistakes", which he considered “go back a long way". But in the end he was unable to maintain these statements in public, perhaps out of pride, perhaps still out of loyalty to his main accomplice, Juan, who today continues this same systematic policy of snitching through the IGCL (International Group of the Communist Left, the name the IFICC came to adopt).

But, more than anything else, what explains how far Olivier was able to drift, and then be unable to turn back, is the lack of firmness in the proletarian political milieu.

Far from denouncing all these actions, the Left Communist groups ignored them. Worse still, some even adopted a most complacent attitude towards them. So there was nothing to hold him back.

The snitches, the parasites and their "tribute" to Olivier

Clearly, on the IGCL (ex-IFICC) site, Juan used Oliver's death to continue his work, his attempt to destroy the ICC, which he had eventually dragged him into. His text repeats once again the lie that Olivier and the whole gang were the victims of "behind the scenes manoeuvres and psychological manipulation [...] by those who, in the shadows, wanted to eliminate the 'old guard' of the ICC". And to play on the heartstrings, to avoid any real reflection on the facts, Juan's article ends with a vibrant tirade: "We were all struck and affected by our exclusions and, above all, by the scandalous conditions under which they were carried out, as well as by our public denunciations by the ICC. Michel, without doubt, more than any other." Here, under Juan's deliberately sentimentalist pen, what becomes scandalous is not the snitching but the denunciation of it![5]. Unsurprisingly, this text was relayed by other groups and elements whose main purpose is to throw mud at the ICC. Juan's text can be found on the Pantopolis blog run by 'doctor' Philippe Bourrinet, whose lies and deception are driven by his obsessive hatred of the ICC[6].

A stab in the back from the ICT

Much more surprising, and much more serious, is the fact that an authentic group of the Communist Left, from our historic current, was also able to take part in this campaign of slander.

The ICT (Internationalist Communist Tendency) has in fact published an article in all its languages in "Memory of our comrade Olivier", which shamelessly dares to state: "At the age of twenty, he discovered the positions of the International Communist Left that was formed in the 1920s, and participated in the foundation of the International Communist Current (ICC).Thanks to his talent and dedication, he played an active and leading role until, in the early 2000s, he and other comrades were expelled or forced to leave, suffering slanderous and unfounded accusations. In reality, as always in such cases, the slander against Olivier and other comrades, was aimed at discrediting those politically troublesome critics who disagreed with and opposed the new direction taken by the organisation they had helped to create. Other comrades would have been so deeply demoralised and disappointed by these attacks that they would have abandoned revolutionary militancy. But Olivier, among a handful of others, conserved his energy. After participating for a short time in the activities of the Internal Fraction of the ICC (IFICC), he joined the Internationalist Communist Tendency". A footnote reinforces the point: "For a more detailed history and other aspects of Olivier's life, we refer readers to the article written by comrade Juan for the IGCL, which shares with him part of his political journey as well as a friendly relationship".

A brief reminder is in order here. As early as 2002, faced with the actions of Juan and Olivier, and the whole gang, we kept asking the IBRP (the forerunner of the ICT) to look into the matter and take a stand, providing it with all the evidence of the real actions of this IFICC. For years, the IBRP (then the ICT) systematically refused our request, arguing: "that's your business, we won't take a position". Then, as the years went by, and faced with an accumulation of clear evidence, the ICT changed its tune to justify seeing nothing, hearing nothing and saying nothing: "It's old history".

When the ICT collaborated with Juan and the IGCL to form a NWBCW (No War But the Class War) "committee" in Paris and we publicly denounced the presence of this snitch in its ranks, the ICT repeated "that's old history".

When the ICT integrated Olivier as a militant and, at one of its public meetings, we publicly called it to account for the presence of these snitches in its ranks, the ICT came up with the same refrain: "that's old history".

And now, at the worst of times, where the sadness and emotion of a death is involved, the ICT (always deaf and blind to evidence) suddenly takes the opportunity to speak up and join the chorus of slander from the IGCL and Juan!

The ICT has a short memory. Its predecessor, the IBRP, behaved in a similar way in 2004, when an individual living in Argentina, Citizen B, created a website to fabricate a story out of nothing with the sole aim of smearing the reputation of the ICC. At the time, the IBRP gave publicity to this shady individual and all his crude lies, not hesitating to republish in several languages the man's wildest and most preposterous accusations. When we had provided irrefutable proof of the deception, the IBRP discreetly removed any trace of his misdeeds from its website, so as not to make itself look ridiculous for too long[7]. But unfortunately, its militants learned nothing from this shameful business. Worse still, the ICT has added another layer to the IGCL's slander. When will the ICT understand that cronyism with elements like Juan, whose reason for living is to spew their hatred against the ICC, is an insult to the principles of the Communist Left, that slander and lies can in no way serve the cause of the communist revolution?[8]

The extreme left of capital joins the campaign

One point in particular should give the ICT pause for thought. Its article and that of the IGCL have both been republished by the extreme left of capital, for example in France on the Matière et revolution, website of the Trotskyist group La Voix des Travailleurs.

Why are leftist organisations relaying the tribute to Olivier and the slander against the ICC by the IGCL and the ICT? Because the defenders of the bourgeoisie are always interested in slandering revolutionary organisations and spreading the lies that smear them. Any denigration of a group of the Communist Left is a gift for them.

The same thing happened during the struggle of the First International (the IWA) against the manoeuvres of Bakunin's Alliance in 1872. All the slanders and insinuations spread by the supporters of the Alliance were immediately picked up by the bourgeois press:

- "Let us note, in passing, that The Times, that Leviathan of the capitalist press, the Progrès (of Lyons), a publication of the liberal bourgeoisie, and the Journal de Genève, an ultra-reactionary paper, have brought the same charges against the Conference and used virtually the same terms as Citizens Malon and Lefrançais." (The Alleged Splits in the International, Marx and Engels, 1872).

"The whole liberal press and that of the police was openly on its [the Alliance's] side; in its personal defamation of the General Council, it was supported by the so-called reformers of all countries." (Appendix to the Report published by order of the International Congress at The Hague, 1872).

The bourgeois press and politicians declared that the struggle against Bakuninism was not a struggle for principles but a sordid struggle for power within the International. Thus Marx was supposed to have eliminated his rival Bakunin through a campaign of lies. Exactly the same words used by the ICT! "As always happens in these cases, the slander against Olivier and other comrades was aimed at discrediting the criticisms of politically inconvenient elements who did not share, and opposed, the new political direction taken by the organisation". No, comrades! The fight that the ICC has waged, is waging and will continue to wage is that of defending the principles of the workers' movement against unworthy behaviour: against theft, against slander, against snitching. As Marx, Engels and the IWA did before us. As did Lenin and the Bolsheviks, Rosa Luxemburg and the Spartacists. All our predecessors!

Let the snitches continue their work, let the parasites join them, let the left of the bourgeoisie profit from it... all that is in the order of things. They are all profiting from Olivier's sad story, a sincere militant who became a player in a disastrous and hateful politics. But that a group like the ICT, a representative of the Communist Left and normally expected to uphold the historic principles of the workers' movement, should sink so low into the gutter is an outrage, a stab in the back for the ICC and the entire Communist Left.

 

ICC, 21 September 2024

 

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[1] The words in “quote marks” appear in the minutes of these meetings, which "accidentally" fell into the hands of the ICC.

[2] On the occasion of Olivier's death, Gieller published a long article on his blog "Le prolétariat universel". As they were close friends, he wrote a sort of tribute letter to him in death (affectionately naming him Gaston for his alleged playful nature). The letter reads:
"The money the ICC has was tormenting you and a few others who were wondering how to get it back. [...] Gaston, you proposed to Smolny's CEO, Éric, that you ‘ask them [the ICC] for money to publish Bilan and let them do an afterword, which they refused. That way Éric will get all the glory and we can laugh and see what ICC does’. I was very mean to you in my reply: ‘Worse, you're imagining a 'negotiation' in the hope of really killing off the sect, a nasty 'negotiation': co-publishing Bilan with the sect's money in the hope of putting the individualist schemer Éric back in the saddle, a grand seigneur who's upset at having been given a political thrashing[...]". And yet you'd been given bodyguards! When the organisation told him to hand over the archives, you nodded and called in our company of amateur security guards. There were five of us on the first floor (whose names I won't mention) to back you up in case anything went wrong. From the window we saw the five members of the central organ arrive, all of them already lackeys... organisationally. Afterwards, Gaston came back up the stairs, laughing: 'I screwed them good, I only gave them shit, I kept the important archives'".
One sentence in Gieller's article sums up the real meaning of all Olivier's political activity since 2002 (as well as that of his cronies, incidentally), when he quotes what Olivier had explicitly said to him: "the ICC must now disappear, and quickly". And we could add: "by any means"

[3] We have demonstrated in our press the police-like nature of the actions of the members of the IFICC and explained the way in which the ICC reacted to these actions. See in particular the articles: The police-like methods of the 'IFICC'; 15th Congress of the ICC, Today the Stakes Are High--Strengthen the Organization to Confront Them; The ICC doesn't allow snitches into its public meetings.
We encourage our readers, particularly those who might be sceptical about our claims, to read these articles, which provide irrefutable proof that our accusations against the IFICC are true and that we had given its members every opportunity to defend themselves before they were expelled.

[4] See our article on this subject: Revolutionary organisations struggle against provocation and slander

[5] Let us remember in passing that this "affected" Juan did not hesitate to punch one of our comrades in the face, or that he and Olivier supported Pédoncule, one of their comrades at the time, when the latter threatened to cut the throat of an ICC militant with a knife if he met him on his own in the street.

[6] See our article Doctor Bourrinet, fraud and self-proclaimed historian

[7] See our article Open letter to the militants of the IBRP (December 2004)

[8] To add insult to injury at the last ICT public meeting in London, when we asked at the end of the discussion how they could have published such lies against us, the ICT replied that it was unworthy to use a death to talk about such a thing! We had to soberly remind them that... it was they who were doing this.