The Torturer

THE TORTURER provides an unforgettable case study in the controversy over torture. The hero, Robert Lavilhaud (pronounced Lavilio, he insists), is an idealistic young officer and a fiercely devout Catholic. He is devoted to the highest traditional ideals of military service and to the dream of what Algeria can become as a fully integrated, prosperous département of France. After his military service is completed, Lavilhaud plans to marry and finish his graduate studies in order to settle in French Algeria as a professor of literature. As officer in charge of a unit that is charged with interrogating insurrectionists and terrorists, he finds that circumstances overcome his convictions. At the same time, De Gaulle reneges on his earlier commitment to keep Algeria French. Loyalists like Lavilhaud, the Harkis, and the four French generals who staged a coup in opposition to De Gaulle's volte-face find themselves abandoned. Lavilhaud becomes the fall-guy ends up serving time in prison.