Consequences of
Nuclear Testing
Lyon
—
Responding to the more and more numerous legal proceedings instituted by the veterans of French testing in the courts in metropolitan France and to the recommendations of the French Polynesian Assembly questioning the official thesis that the tests were harmless (available on the site www.obsarm.org), the ministry of defense has been distributing since February 20, 2006—the eve of the colloquium in the National Assembly where elected Polynesian representatives presented the results of their inquiry commission—an unacceptable document to members of the national parliament and has posted it on the opening page of its Internet site (www.defense.gouv.fr).
“It is a veritable backfire, denying all the work undertaken by the inquiry commission set up by the Polynesian representatives. Without citing the commission’s report, the defense ministry repeats all the worn-out arguments on “clean tests” while promising transparency and consultation. It is unacceptable,” states Roland Oldham, president of Moruroa e tatou.
Presenting his vision of the consequences of nuclear testing in French Polynesia, the ministry, in this document, completely ignores the recommendations of the inquiry commission of the French Polynesian Assembly and “forgets” to recall that its representative —M. Jurien de la Gravière—admitted before the Polynesian representatives and confirmed in the televised journal of France 3, last February 21, that a dozen of the aerial tests contaminated all of inhabited Polynesia between 1966 and 1974; it states that the stipulations in the French regulations in regard to pensions and the indemnifying of victims is satisfactory and do not necessitate any modification although hundreds of proceedings are underway in the courts; he categorically rejects all bills filed by French members of parliament to respond to the legitimate questions of veterans of nuclear testing, former workers in Muroroa and the Sahara and residents of Polynesia.
“Our associations Moruroa e tatou, Aven, and the Observatoire des armes nucléaires are astonished at the position of the defense ministry, which goes counter to all the information published for years,” states Dr. Jean-Louis Valatx, president of Aven, when the 97 senators of the socialist group in the Senate have just filed a demand for an inquiry commission, when the group of socialist deputies in the National Assembly is preparing to file a new bill, and a deputy from the UMP is preparing to do the same.”
Observatoire des armes nucléaires/CDRPC
187 montée
Association Moruroa e tatou
403 bd. Pomare,
Papette,
187 montée