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On Monday 27 April 2009, eight Polynesian victims of French nuclear testing will launch a case against France before the Tribunal de Travail (industrial relations court) in Papeete, Tahiti.
For the first time ever in French Polynesia, France will have to take responsibility for the consequences of nuclear testing on the health of the Polynesian people.
Of the eight plaintiffs who are former workers from the Moruroa nuclear test site, three are still alive and suffering from cancers of the blood. The five others have already died, mainly from leukaemia, and will be represented at the trial by their widows.
After months of preliminaries, the date for hearings and speeches for the defence has been set for 27 April, in the largest courtroom of the Papeete Courts. The hearings will be filmed to preserve the memory of this historic moment. On this day, several hundred former Moruroa workers will come to support their comrades and the widows. Representatives of Moruroa e Tatou (the association of former Moruroa workers), the Protestant Maohi Church and community organisations from around the country will be present in the court, together with the President of French Polynesia, Mr. Oscar Temaru, who himself worked at Moruroa.
In 1966, France imposed its nuclear test program on the people of French Polynesia, without even consulting them. Even though France halted its nuclear tests in January 1996, after years of international pressure and after 193 nuclear tests, the health and environmental consequences have been disastrous. Polynesian women have the highest rate of thyroid cancer in the world, and Moruroa and Fangataufa Atolls will remain barren and contaminated for thousands of years.
After years of lies and speeches claiming the tests were harmless, Polynesian victims and their lawyers will demand the truth, in spite of France’s July 2008 decision to forbid access to the nuclear archives.
The plaintiffs are asking for compensation, due to the suffering they have undergone because of illness which has destroyed their family life or left their wives alone to care for children after their premature death. Moruroa e Tatou says that other cases will come before the courts, with other victims waiting for their case files to be finalised so they can lodge a case against the French government.
The trial on 27 April in Papeete gives hope to all the victims of French nuclear testing, especially those in the Sahara desert of Algeria as well as in French Polynesia, who suffered France’s nuclear aggression which was imposed on defenceless peoples. This trial must have repercussions at national and international level: victims of nuclear testing around the world must know that the nuclear powers will not remain immune from punishment.
Media from France and around the world are invited to Papeete to cover this event. Moruroa e Tatou will set up a press centre with Internet access and provide documentation on the cases. Journalists will be able to meet with the former workers from Moruroa and the widows of those who have died, as well as people who’ve been involved in campaigning for the rights of nuclear test victims. As much as possible, English-French translation will be provided.
The media are invited to contact the Moruroa e Tatou association who will be coordinating this information and activities around the trial.
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