Jean-Christophe Rufin

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Jean-Christophe Rufin (born June 28, 1952) is a French physician and novelist. He is the president of Action Against Hunger and one of the founders of Médecins Sans Frontières.

1 Early life
2 Human rights activism
3 Report on racism and anti-Semitism
4 Selected bibliography
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life

Rufin was born in Bourges in 1952. An only child, he was raised by his grandparents, because his father had left the family, and his mother worked in Paris. His grandfather, a doctor and member of the French Resistance during World War II, had been detained for two years at Buchenwald.

In 1977, after medical school, Rufin went to Tunisia as a volunteer doctor. He led his first humanitarian mission in Eritrea, where he met Azeb, who became his second wife.

[edit] Human rights activism

A graduate of the Institut d'études politiques de Paris, in 1986 he became advisor to the secretary of state for human rights, and published his first book, Le Piège humanitaire (The Humanitarian Trap), an essay on the political stakes of humanitarian actions.

As a doctor, he is one of the pioneers of humanitarian movement "without borders", for which he has led numerous missions in eastern Africa and Latin America.

A former vice-president of Médecins Sans Frontières, he is currently president of the non-governmental organization Action Against Hunger.

[edit] Report on racism and anti-Semitism

In 2003, Rufin was commissioned by French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin to write an in-depth report on the upsurge of anti-Semitism in France. He presented the final report ^[1] on October 19 2004.

The "Rufin report" (as it later became known), as described by the US State Department^[2], concluded the following:

Racism and anti-Semitism were a threat to French democracy.
Anti-semitic acts are not only carried out by elements of the extreme right and youths of North African descent, but also by "disaffected individuals" whose anti-Semitic obsessions prompt their attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions.
Radical anti-Zionists who question Israel's right to exist were dangerous.

The report, as described by the US State Department ^[2], recommended the following actions:

That a law be created to punish those publicly equating Israel with apartheid or Nazi Germany.
That the French press law of 1881, designed to guarantee freedom of the press, is too unwieldy to adequately address the issues of racism.
That intolerance be countered in primary schools and educating new immigrants about the fight against racism and anti-Semitism.
That an observation system to monitor racist and anti-Semitic websites be created and that it work closely with authorities to prosecute offenders.

[edit] Selected bibliography

[edit] Essays

L'aventure humanitaire ("The Humanitarian Adventure") (1994)
La dictature libérale ("The Liberal Dictatorship") (1994)
L'empire et les nouveaux barbares ("The Empire and the New Barbarians") (1991)
Le piège humanitaire : quand l'humanitaire remplace la guerre ("The Humane Trap: when humanitarianism replaces war") (1986)

[edit] Novels

Globalia (2004)
Brazil Red (2001) - winner of prix Goncourt 2001
Lost Causes / "Asmara et les causes perdues" (1999) - winner of prix Interallié 1999
The Siege of Isfahan (1998)
The Abyssinian (1997) - winner of Prix Goncourt du Premier roman 1997 and Prix Méditerranée 1997

[edit] Non-Fiction Books

Économie des guerres civiles ("Economics of Civil Wars"), with Jean François (1996) ISBN 2-01-278788-6
Mondes rebelles ("World Rebels"), with Arnaud de La Grange and Jean-Marc Balancie. (1996) ISBN 2-84186-142-2

[edit] References

^ Rufin, Jean-Christophe. "Chantier sur la lutte contre le racisms et l'antisemitisme" ("Report on the fight against racism and anti-Semitism"), presented on October 19, 2004.
^ ^a ^b "France: International Religious Freedom Report 2005", U.S. Department of State.