Two women denounce the violence of a member of the Truth and Justice Committee for Adama

The investigation targets a figure from Adama’s Truth and Justice Committee, an organization that has become essential in the fight against police violence in France. Mediapart collected the testimonies of two women who accuse Samir Elyes, a longtime anti-racist activist, of violent behavior.

According to the investigations of journalists Estelle Ndjandjo and David Perrotin, this violence would have been ignored, even covered up by the organization.

“He threw me at the door of a building “

The first testimonies emerged for the first time in 2018, on the initiative of the collective Donne in lotta 93 and through the voice of Massica. This woman met Samir Elyes in 2016 and befriended him through activism. This relationship, however, is enameled by the militant’s angry behavior.

During an evening at the International Center for Popular Culture in April 2017, she was allegedly attacked by Samir Elyes:

“He threw me at the door of a building. My head hit the wall. She took me by the arms and called me “bitch”, “ungrateful” … she tried to put me down but I struggled. I managed to free myself but Samir chased me again. “

So he’ll admit the facts. If the Adama committee listens to Massica’s testimony and appears to take his side, the activist claims he was sidelined after denouncing Samir Elyes’ violence. A few months later, Samir Elyes, who had previously been fired from the militant organization, was asked to participate in the animation of the day of commemoration of the death of Adama Traoré in 2017.

A succinct message from Assa Traoré then closed each discussion: ” […] People who don’t have your back, goodbye. We need strong and courageous people. Nobody asked her to accept Samir’s forgiveness. Now if the committee is sexist and it’s new, I didn’t know it’s tyrannical. Massica and Sarah must understand that the main interest is fighting for Adama and my brothers in prison. […] “.

Samir Elyes would be put on hold … but only briefly. Mediapart lists the activist’s numerous public appearances and speeches within the Adama committee between 2018 and 2022.

Massica then benefited from the support of the collective Donne in lotta 93, which published a text in 2018 in which he speaks of the violence committed by Samir Elyes against her, without naming him. For having supported the text, the collective is commissioned on social networks: “There was full support for Samir, with the idea that he was the only victim. In agreement with them, we played the racists’ game with the simple desire to harm them “ Hanane Ameqrane, co-founder of the association, tells Mediapart.

Another woman, who testified under the pseudonym Line, described a man ultraviolent and manipulative “, Usual outbursts of anger and struggling with his addictions. He recounts a particularly violent scene in 2014:

” On the way back to Paris, we had a fight and he freaked out. He was driving and I was in the passenger seat. He decides I have to get out of the car. He leaned over and opened my door as he drove. He started pushing me out of the car screaming. I resisted as best I could and did not fall, otherwise I would have fun on the ring road. I was terrified and told myself that one day he would end up killing me. “

Molested by Samir Elyes and fearing for her safety, Line is later brought to safety by her friends. In 2018, after the publication of the text of Massica by the collective Women in Struggle 93, she claims to have been the dagain harassed and threatened, by Samir Elyes and others.

A revealing case of silence in certain militant circles

The case could be summarized as follows: victims of violence and harassment who speak openly, and militant organizations that turn a deaf ear, who try to silence them, even who accuse them of leading a cabal or playing the game of the far right.

A former member of the Quartiers Libres collective recognizes him today with Mediapart: “In addition to having suffered the violence of Samir, Massica and Line have been threatened with silence. And after your article is published, there is a risk that they still are. Attentive activists have either ignored, wanted to forget or tried to spare things. They were very rare to support them.

Both have suffered and still suffer the consequences of what happened to them in contact with the activist: ” I have excluded myself from certain spaces in which I was afraid of meeting himhim or people who were accomplices, for complacency or political calculation ” says Linea.

the Collectif Féministes contre le cyberharssement reacted on Twitter to the publication of the survey denouncing the “omerta” that reigns in militant circles:

“The moments of revelation / release of the discourse on intramilitating violence should be seen as moments that allow for the recognition of what the victims have suffered and the implementation of collective reparations and restorative justice solutions.

But they are seen as sabotage, slowdowns, a nuisance and a betrayal of the cause. When stories like that of Samir Elyes’ violence come out, they galvanize the militant community, which often puts itself at the service of the aggressor. “

Photo credit: Capture (Le Média)