From mosa@netcom.com Tue Aug 15 21:01:00 1995 From: mosa@netcom.com (Michele Lord) To: dave@sgi.sgi.com Xref: netcom.com misc.activism.progressive:39498 From: PNEWS Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive Subject: les essais nucleaire Followup-To: alt.activism.d Date: 14 Aug 1995 21:21:21 GMT Organization: ? Lines: 148 Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu Message-ID: <40oeoh$epb@news.missouri.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu Resent-From: rich Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu ###### # # ####### # # ##### # # ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ###### ##### # # # ##### # # # ##### # # # # # # # # # # # ## # # # # # # # # # ####### ## ## ##### [****PNEWS CONFERENCES****] From: Mark Burch FRENCH BOMB THREAT SENDS RIPPLES ACROSS THE PACIFIC by Mark Burch After the end of the Cold War, it seemed reasonable that the nuclear insanity of the world would have subsided. But, after being in office about a month, newly elected French President Jacques Chirac announced his decision to resume nuclear testing at the South Pacific atoll called Mururoa. This decision has been condemned by leaders around the world, and has provoked negative reactions throughout the South Pacific community of nations. Former French President Francois Miterrand imposed a moratorium on nuclear testing in 1992. Chirac's decision to resume testing is widely viewed as a cynical betrayal of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which planned to conclude negotiations on a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996. France and other nations promised to exercise the "utmost restraint" in nuclear testing until then. The French have reneged on that promise and plan to carry out eight nuclear explosions at Mururoa beginning in September this year. This plan has been greeted by expressions of outrage by Pacific leaders. The following information was taken from four different news bulletins: Pacific News Bulletin, The Washington Pacific Report, Pacnews, and Pacific Report. Australia. The Australian government has urged that citizens consider boycotting French goods. Protests were held outside French embassies in Canberra and Sydney. A group known as the Pacific Popular Front has claimed responsibility for a fire which destroyed the French consulate in Perth. Australian leader John Howard said "... most Australians regard the idea of nuclear testing ...as grotesque, and the idea that it should take place in our backyard, far away from metropolitan France is an act of great arrogance and great insensitivity..." New Zealand. Don McKinnon, NZ Foreign Minister referred to Chirac's decision as "Napoleonic arrogance." Back in 1975, NZ took France to the World Court and succeeded in forcing them to conduct nuclear tests underground instead of in the air. Fiji. In Suva, the Pacific Concerns Resource Center (PCRC) has called for a boycott of the South Pacific games, scheduled to be held in Tahiti in August, in protest of the French nuclear testing. The PCRC is the international secretariat for a network of nations which support a Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP). Solomon Islands. Government leader Mr. Tausinga said France should know that the South Pacific is not an empty ocean, but is inhabited by people whose lives depend on a clean environment and non-poisonous marine products. Western Samoa. Western Samoa is the first country to officially announce that it is pulling out of the South Pacific Games. Vanuatu. The Vanuatu government is alone in not condemning the nuclear testing. It has placed a ban on broadcasts on Radio Vanuatu that mention anything in connection with the French nuclear testing. French Polynesia. Oscar Temaru, the leading pro-independence activist in Tahiti, has accused France of covering up evidence of the danger of radiation poisoning at Mururoa Atoll. Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior tried to reach Mururoa, but was rammed by a French naval boat and boarded by French military. Ironically, the Rainbow Warrior was in New Zealand for a memorial celebration when the testing decision was announced; it was exactly ten years ago that French agents sank the first Rainbow Warrior, killing a photographer. Hawaii. On July 14, 1995, protesters from a number of local groups such as the Rainbow Peace Fund, Sane Nuclear Freeze Hawaii, and Physicians for Social Responsibility met at Ala Moana Park where French residents celebrated Bastille Day. Renowned peaceworker Daniel Ellsberg also gave several talks including one at the UH Campus Center. Ellsberg, famous for his release of the Pentagon Papers, has long been a advocate of sane nuclear policies and is opposed to the French nuclear testing. He said that most types of nuclear bombs do not need to be tested anymore because there is no doubt that they will explode. Ellsberg said that when he has challenged the need for further testing, the excuse given is that we need to develop bigger, better bombs. But why is it necessary to build bigger, better bombs, unless they will be used to kill more and more people? Why waste time and money developing a weapon which they whole world is praying will never be used? Ellsberg said that the main reason why France wants to continue testing is to maintain their prestige as a member of the nuclear club. In addition to the reaction from the South Pacific, Asian nations, such as Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines have appealed to Chirac to reconsider, saying that nuclear testing could jeopardize peace in the Asia-Pacific region. The French response to all of these protests has been to maintain that the decision to resume testing is "irreversible." France has also threatened to cut aid to South Pacific countries that are protesting. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Yves de Doutriaux said "it would be a pity to risk so much over something that would end in less than a year." The tests will be over in less than a year, but how long will the radioactivity linger in the food chain? When it was suggested to Chirac that the French should do their nuclear testing in France, he replied that Tahiti is French territory. Chirac should realize that Tahiti is the sovereign territory of the Maohi people that was stolen by the French. Chirac's insolence could cause a meltdown of French support in the region and fuel the efforts of the Maohi independence movement. The French have downplayed the impact of the nuclear testing, saying that they are going to test only eight bombs. A chorus of voices from the Pacific community is saying, "Eight more bomb tests is eight too many!" It is time that the French end their arrogant disregard for the wishes of people in the South Pacific. The South Pacific is not France's cesspool, as Chirac has declared. The ocean is the source of life for everyone in this region. The French stupidity may last less than a year, but radioactivity is forever. Pacific Islanders should not have to suffer the consequences of French stupidity forever. Masa Kato, a graduate student in Political Science at the University of Hawaii, has pointed out that nuclear testing is an undeclared nuclear war against the indigenous people of the world, since it is always carried out in their homelands at the periphery of the "civilized" world. This war must end right now. -------------------------------------------------------------- @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ***** PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS ****** @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ PNEWS CONFERENCES provide "radical" alternative views with an emphasis on justice, humanitarian positions, protests, boycott alerts, activism information, etc. **************** To subscribe, send request to: "SUBSCRIBE PNEWS-L @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@