The Franco-Beninese Kemi Seba (born Stélio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi) received a letter from the General Directorate of Foreigners in France on February 9 announcing a procedure for losing his nationality. The letter underlines his “resolutely anti-French” posture risking “seriously harming French interests”.
The author of the book Black Nihilism is accused of adopting “virulent, even outrageous remarks against France” in his public appearances in West Africa. The anti-imperialism activist has one month to send his “observations”, then Emmanuel Macron’s government will make a final decision. This would almost automatically (but not necessarily) result in expulsion from the territory.
The procedure could be legally challenged, but Seba says he will refuse to beg for his nationality from a state he considers neocolonial.
I am not defending here the philosophy of Seba, a controversial figure both in France and in French-speaking Africa. Beyond his just attacks against the CFA franc and the policy of Françafrique, the pan-African ideologue financed in particular by Moscow is described by Burkinabè and Senegalese observers as a “spoiler” and a “black supremacist”. However, the question of withdrawal of nationality, especially for people born in the territory, concerns freedom of expression and human rights more broadly.
Forfeiture or loss of nationality?
The use of forfeiture of nationality (targeting naturalized people) is on the rise in France, mainly due to terrorism: it was used 11 times in 2023, compared to 13 times between 2002 and 2017. Macron is said to have used this weapon almost as many times. times as during the mandates of François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac.
Disqualification must be linked to an offense, including “undermining the fundamental interests of the nation,” a crime of terrorism or “acts for the benefit of a foreign state” such as espionage. Disqualification can occur to someone before obtaining naturalization or less than 10 years after obtaining it (15 years in the case of terrorist acts).
For example, a naturalized French Chechen had his nationality withdrawn on January 3 for his combat actions in Syria with a jihadist group between 2013 and 2014. Same thing for a 25-year-old Franco-Turkish woman in May 2023, for having planned a terrorist attack in France.
The forfeiture of nationality appeared in the French Constitution of 1791 ratified by Louis XVI. It was reaffirmed by the decree abolishing slavery in 1848, for individuals engaging in the possession, sale or trafficking of human beings. The French historian Patrick Weil, however, asserts that forfeiture was never applied in this context.
During the First World War, the procedure was used 549 times, mainly against people who had fought against the French army on behalf of foreign powers such as Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The forfeiture of nationality was then further enshrined in a law of 1927.
Between 1940 and 1944, under the collaborationist Vichy regime of Marshal Philippe Pétain, more than 15,000 people lost their nationality, especially Jews and dissidents… including General Charles de Gaulle. Having no other nationality, he becomes stateless. Many denaturalizations will be canceled by the French Committee of National Liberation, but 479 other denaturalizations will then be pronounced against collaborationists of Italian or German origin.
The UN and the European Convention on Nationality, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States, gradually prohibit the deprivation of nationality of a citizen who has no other nationality. To avoid statelessness, only those who have another nationality can lose their nationality. This obviously concerns dual nationals who have obtained nationality. But what about dual nationals born in France, like Seba?
Loss of nationality, unlike forfeiture, also concerns dual nationals born in France. It is governed by article 23-7 of the Civil Code, resulting from a decree-law of 1938 and confirmed in 1945 by de Gaulle. According to the French government website, it condemns a lack of loyalty, i.e. “the French person who in fact behaves like the national of a foreign country can, if he has the nationality of that country, […] [perdre] the quality of French”. A formulation that is vague to say the least.
The Seba case
Kemi Seba was born in Strasbourg, but he has a Beninese passport. It is therefore targeted by a loss (by decree and which can target people born in France) rather than by a loss of nationality (requiring a criminal conviction and targeting “new French people”). This provision in the law was used 523 times during the Cold War (between 1949 and 1967), mainly for dual nationals who had allied themselves with Russia.
Justice Minister Christiane Taubira resigned in 2016 after President Hollande’s unsuccessful attempt to amend the constitution to include the loss of nationality for terrorist acts of people born in France.
The immigration law adopted in December 2023 by the Macron government also plans to extend the measure to dual French nationals convicted of intentional homicide against any holder of public authority. All this because article 23-7 does not apply to individuals pledging allegiance to terrorist organizations that are not states (like Daesh).
The fact that the withdrawal of nationality only affects certain people – dual nationals, born in France or not – creates two classes of citizens: some (the “real”) and others (always at risk of being sent back). However, the French Constitution guarantees equality before the law.
Whether or not we agree with the actions of the people targeted, we must criticize the excesses of certain governments. We can completely criticize Seba’s speech while criticizing the policies of withdrawal of nationality. We have a duty to do so.