– Marc Gafni’s friends, collaborators, and supporters speak out for the sake of restoring integrity. This statement André Kaufman about Justice in a Modern, Civilized and Democratic World was first posted as a comment to the Center for Integral Wisdom statement on centerforintegralwisdom.org. You can read the statement below or listen to the audio. –
I am deeply shocked by the way that many people are pretending to dispense justice through internet blogging or setting up a public petition, or spreading hate messages.
Justice in a modern, civilized and democratic world is exercised by professional judges and controlled by the law.
Legal action could be initiated by anybody who feels that wrong has been done to them, or by a public officer informed that the law has been broken. Investigators work to establish the facts, looking for evidence, speaking with each party, trying to find the truth through a contradictory procedure. The prosecutor classifies the offense or crime according to the law.
The person accused is always entitled to a defense by a qualified advocate. The intention of the public officer is only the enforcement of law. The way he is allowed to proceed is also regulated by the law. Any breach can lead to a nullification of the proceedings. The judge is impartial, he is not linked to any of the parties, he has no personal interest in the case, and he does his best to take into account every piece of truth, and deliver a fair judgment according to the law.
Even though there is no legal issue here, if people had genuine complaints that were not driven by other motives, there would be a way to create a fair forum to adjudicate the facts. Marc would also be allowed to state his complaints against some of these people and clarity would be possible. Sadly the parties involved seem to have climbed too high up a tree to ever find their way down.
In the way Dr. Gafni is being treated, every principle of fairness, and integrity is violated. Justice is dispensed by the vox populi, and many anonymous individuals who do not bother about law, or facts or search of truth.
The action has been initiated by people whose agenda is not public and seems to be based on passion, personal interest or malignity.
There is no independent judge to establish the reality of facts, no warranties that testimonials are true, no warranties either of the identities of those who provide a testimonial. There is no serious investigation, no proofs and no verification of the so called “evidence.” This is the realm of appearance, opinion, passion, lies and manipulation.
Journalists pretend to objectivity whereas their own perspective, the influence they receive, the media they are working for, and the expectations of their readers are an evident source of bias. And the storytelling practice of the press simplifies and exaggerates, the appeal of a juicy story surpassing respect for clarity, complexity, nuance and truth.
Dr. Gafni had no way to defend himself, no places where he could state his version of the story in front of an impartial jury. His voice could not be heard. There is not only an intolerable infringement of the presumption of innocence that any person should benefit from, no matter what they may have done, but an expression of extreme violence. Marc Gafni is condemned before having any chance to make his case or prove the falsehood of his accusers. The process is iniquitous.
Instead of being raised in a peaceful, impartial, respectful way, the case is pursued with hateful passion – and since only the dominant voices can be heard, the main opinion validates itself through the dynamics of social conformity. This extreme rhetoric and the negation of Marc’s humanity could easily lead to physical violence. I have seen incredible statements of people having never met Marc Gafni saying that he should receive a bullet in his head!!
It’s also amazing that in the integral community which should be able to keep some distance and hold multiple perspectives, it has led to a regression that manifests the worst shadow of the traditional and tribal worldviews, where beliefs, opinion and social conformity are more important than facts and truth and where the violence of the mob is ruling and leading to the abdication of personal judgment.
André Kaufman
Publisher
Paris