A translation of
Papeete,
Tahiti, February 29, 2016: The Polynesian independence party Tavini Huiraatira is submitting a
complaint in international court against France for crimes against humanity.
The complaint concerns the 193 nuclear bomb tests conducted on Moruroa and
Fangataufa until 1996.
The
Marshall Islands submitted complaints at The International Court of Justice in
The Hague in 2014 against the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom
and China for flagrant violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was
signed by these countries in 1968. India, North Korea, Israel and Pakistan are
named as well, as they too are nuclear-armed states.
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| Memorial to the victims of nuclear bomb tests in Papeete, Tahiti |
However,
as it is explained by Moetai Brotherson, a power broker for Tavini Huiraatira,
this procedure should be seen as a bare minimum of what should be done. In
fact, the second stage of the plan is being prepared. It will take the form of
a collective procedure to file a case of crimes against humanity at the
International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Numerous complaints will be
submitted before October 2016 and delivered collectively by Pacific island
nations that were victimized by nuclear bomb tests. The complaint brought by
the Marshall Islands is one of these.
The
claims of Polynesians against France will, in this case, be one of these
complaints brought by Pacific island nations. Moetai Brotherson and Richard
Tuheiava are to be in New York on March 12, 2016 for a one-week mission at the
United Nations where they will be lobbying intensively. They have scheduled
fifteen meetings with member nations that already support the 2013 resolution
for Polynesia to be re-listed as a non-autonomous territory on a path to
decolonization. They plan to refine this “class action” resolution before
moving forward with it.
The
objective is to have the series of complaints submitted to the ICC as soon as
possible so that the resolution adopted by the UN decolonization commission can
enter it into the record next October.
As
for the goal of these complaints of crimes against humanity, Moetai Brotherson
says the facts speak for themselves: 46 atmospheric tests, out of 193 in total,
conducted in the Pacific between 1966 and 1996. He says, “The classified status
of the archives proves that the State has something to hide…” Speaking of the 1,000
applications for compensation for radiation-induced illnesses, submitted under
the provisions of the Morin Law, he adds, “Today they admit some known deaths
without mentioning all the deaths we know nothing of. We will show that the
French State knew, before the tests, about the risks of contamination. This was
not involuntary homicide…”
In
New York, the calendar for the fourth commission in charge of decolonization
consists of a preparatory meeting in June for the plenary session in
mid-October. At that time the final draft of the resolution will be prepared
for presentation before the General Assembly in December.
For
Polynesian sovereigntists, the goal of such action in international arenas is
to deliver a sort of “electroshock” Paris, to make the French government take
the issue seriously. Since May 17, 2013, the date when Polynesia was put on the
UN list of countries to be decolonized, independence activists have denounced
France’s “empty chair” policy at the UN headquarters in New York. A member of
Tavini explains, “Now that we are re-listed, there should be a discussion among
all the parties involved on the challenges of decolonization. The history of
the nuclear tests is one of the legacies of colonialism, and education and the
management of natural resources are other major issues.”
It
is unclear whether the presence of Edouard Fritch* [current president of French
Polynesia] will change the given situation at the UN next October. The
president of French Polynesia confirmed for Tahiti
Infos, on February 18th., that he wished to speak for supporters of
Polynesian independence before the UN decolonization commission. In an
exclusive interview, he affirmed, “For the time being, our privileged partner
is the French State. Polynesians know very well that our problems won’t be
solved in New York [at the UN].”
But
for Oscar Temaru, president of Tavini Huiraatira, things are happening
elsewhere now that the process at the UN has begun. He says, “It is the State
that can’t admit it, that isn’t responding to this resolution which requires
France to begin the process of decolonization.”
When
it comes to the nuclear legacy, the independence leader is categorical. Two
weeks ago he explained, “We cannot find a solution with the State [France]
because the State judges itself. An international tribunal must take it up.
That’s why this case must be delivered… We have discussed this with the
Marshall Islands. They had similar problems with the United States.” Last
Tuesday he called on the representatives at Tarahoi [a term for the French
Polynesian legislature] to work together to draft an indictment against the
State to make it stand trial in an international tribunal.
This action at the ICC will take form in a few days in
New York, thanks to the support of several Pacific island states. It will
nonetheless be a challenge. When French president Francois Hollande was in
Tahiti recently [February 2016] he declared, “In the UN system, it is thus: A
tiny state and a nation of a billion citizens are equal. Each has one vote.”
* Continental France (referred to as le métropole) has a very centralized
government structure. It is not a federation of states or provinces, but each
former colony is now called a Collectivité d'outre-mer (overseas collectivity) which does have a
status similar to states or provinces in a federation. Collectivities have a
higher degree of autonomy than departments and regions within le métropole. French Polynesia has its own legislature and president, but citizens
there are full French citizens with representation in the French national
assembly and senate. National security and defense are still managed entirely
by the Republic of France. The current president of Polynesia is committed to
keeping Polynesia a part of France. Independence parties and coalitions are
large and influential, but out of power at present. Conservative leaders with
affinities for France have tended to want to sweep the nuclear legacy aside,
while those in favor of independence have fought for justice, compensation of
victims and more education about Polynesian culture before and during
colonization, and especially about the recent history of the nuclear bomb
testing era.
My translation of this article was originally published on DiaNuke.
