Petitioners Underscore Need to Listen to People’s Voices as Fourth Committee Continues Decolonization Debate
Against a backdrop of new political developments in some Non-Self-Governing Territories, petitioners stressed the importance of listening to people’s voices as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its general debate on decolonization.
Several speakers from French Polynesia emphasized the need for genuine self-determination as they pointed to electoral transitions in the Territory. Antony Geros, of the Tavini Huiraatira Party, which recently won the three seats allocated to Mao’hi Nui/French Polynesia in the French National Assembly, said that instead of benevolent colonialism and a puppet Government, his Territory needs a real programme of work for decolonization.
Steve Chailloux, a newly elected member of the French National Assembly, condemned the transfer of wealth from French Polynesia to France, while Valentina Cross said that the electoral system unilaterally imposed by France on French Polynesia is set up to favour an over-representation of the autonomists.
The adverse impacts of French nuclear testing on the Territory were highlighted by several petitioners, including Tevaearai Puarai of the Moruroa E Tatou Association, who called for just reparations. Sandrine Tupai Turquem, the first Polynesian female air pilot, noted that the tests enabled France to become a nuclear power and a permanent member of the Security Council, but also destroyed the health of many Polynesians who worked on the nuclear sites.
The Committee also heard from Rene Moana Temeharo, Minister for Great Trade of French Polynesia, who said the strides made by the Territory in education and economy were possible because of strong partnerships with France. “Those who speak to the contrary are trying to mislead you,” he told the Committee, noting the provision of vaccines of France, equipment and skilled workers to the Territory during the pandemic. French Polynesia is fully sovereign in its exclusive economic zone, he emphasized.
Louis Mapou, President of the Government of New Caledonia, recalled the third referendum conducted in his Territory in December 2021 under the terms of the Nouméa Accord and highlighted the low participation. Though France deemed it legal, its credibility was tainted, he said, adding that while his Government has taken on shared and progressive responsibilities within the framework of the 1998 Nouméa Accord, “we have yet to fulfil our historic destiny”. Roch Wamytan, of the Congress of New Caledonia, described President Emmanuel Macron’s statement that “New Caledonia will remain French” as a refusal to hear the voices of colonized people.
For Naïa Wateou, who said she was speaking on behalf of the non-independentist political parties of New Caledonia, the three referendums represented the freely expressed desire of New Caledonians to be part of the French Republic. The voice of the majority is not being heard, she said, while Renaldo Bourgeois, of Province Sud, said that for young people like him, who “were born after the important handshake”, the Territory’s deep attachment to France is crucial for a good future.
Petitioners on Guam and Gibraltar also addressed the Committee today.
The Committee also heard from the representatives of Spain and Vanuatu.
Speaking in exercise of the right of reply were representatives of the United Kingdom and Spain.
The Fourth Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October, to continue its decolonization debate.
Petitioners on French Polynesia
RENE MOANA TEMEHARO, Minister for Great Trade of French Polynesia, said that the Territory contained peaceful populations of various origins living in harmony. French Polynesia has made strides in education, economy, taxation and management of resources, he said, adding that strong economic and trade partnerships with France have enabled this. During the pandemic, France sent vaccines, equipment and skilled workers to support the Territory, he noted. French Polynesia is fully sovereign in its exclusive economic zone and has the logistical support from France for various development activities including sustainable use of its oceans, he said. “Those who speak to the contrary are trying to mislead you,” he added.
The representative of Vanuatu noted that the United Nations system has not responded to the request to develop a work programme for French Polynesia and asked why this is important.
JAMES BHAGWAN, Pacific Conference of Churches, stressing that time is overdue for a genuine decolonization process, expressed concern about the lack of accountability on this matter. The people of Maui Nui French Polynesia need to know that their faith in decolonization is not in vain, he said.
RICHARD TUHEIAVA, Assembly of French Polynesia, said that a case-by-case work programme must be initiated in the case of French Polynesia in order to provide Member States with accurate information. It will serve to separate opinion from fact, he said, adding that the administering Power should not have veto power over whether such a programme can be initiated lest that Power continue to short-circuit the decolonization process.
HINAMOEURA CROSS, a representative of Civil Society, said that she is, like her ancestors, a fighter – not for France, but because of France. “Leukemia, one of 23 radiation-induced diseases, is the price for the heavy heritage of France left to the people of Mao’hi Nui,” she said, stressing that they have been abandoned on their polluted territories, with a disease that is transmitted from generation to generation and condemned to pay the cost of radiation-induced diseases.
FRANÇOIS PIHAATAE, Pacific Region - World Council of Churches, said the people of Ma’ohi Nui are silently dying due to radiation from French nuclear testing. “Today, according to our census, there would be more than 30,000 people who died with cancers without distinction,” he said, noting the situation’s transgenerational effect. The declaration of the President of France of a five-million-square-kilometre exclusive maritime zone has only one purpose, namely the continued exploitation of underwater resources which belong to the Ma’ohi people, he added.
PHILIPPE NEUFFER, Ma’ohi Protestant Church Education Board, said the educational system in Ma’ohi Nui is still under colonial control. To date, the current status quo relationship between the Territory and France reveals a local competency on education, delegated to the local elected government. However, the administering Power keeps control over both public and private education through financial and imposed curriculums, he said. Moreover, when students achieve better scores in terms of graduation in their schools, the notations are decreased unilaterally by the administering Power’s relevant departments, he said.
TIAREMAOHI TAIRUA, Ma’ohi Protestant Church Youth Council, said the Government of France has acknowledged on its own website that French Polynesia does not enjoy political autonomy and is subject to unilateral French administration. The colonial accommodationist Government must learn from the assessment conducted by an independent decolonization expert whose findings were endorsed by the General Assembly in successive resolutions.
TEVAEARAI PUARAI, Moruroa E Tatou Association, said he was speaking on behalf of the victims of the French nuclear testing. Recalling various Assembly resolutions recognizing the adverse impact of this testing, he stressed that this session’s draft resolution regarding the Territory must reflect recent analysis on the toxic effects of the tests on the health of the people of French Polynesia. French nuclear tests were a direct result of colonization and the testing was imposed on its people, he said, emphasizing that the Ma’ohi people deserve just reparations.
SANDRINE TUPAI TURQUEM said she was the first Polynesian female air pilot and has been engaged in the political evolution of the Territory. She and her family experienced the atomic era and nuclear testing, she said, paying tribute to her grandfather who died of lung cancer caused by nuclear contamination and to the many Polynesians whose health was destroyed by working on nuclear sites, as a result of which France became a nuclear power and a permanent member of the Security Council.
MARYSE OLLIVIER, Pharmacie Tautiare, Tahiti, said France’s continued violation of Article 73 of the United Nations Charter can no longer be used by the Organization as an excuse not to carry out its mandate. “We are the indigenous people of Ma’ohi Nui, victims of French colonialism for 142 years, victims of 193 nuclear bombs in the Pacific far from France, country of human rights, causing health disasters for hundreds of years or more,” she said.
CHRISTELLE BOOSIE, Association 193, said 193 nuclear tests were carried out by France in Polynesia from 1996 to 1996, representing the equivalent more than 800 Hiroshima bombs. The health situation is alarming, she said, noting that out of a population of 280,000, Polynesia has recorded 800 new cases of cancer, including among children, and 300 cancer deaths every year for several decades. Ma’ohi people need the international community’s assistance so that they can hope for a better future, truth and justice.
OSCAR TEMARU, City of Faa'a, Tahiti, said that he has been coming to New York since the 1970s to petition the Committee. Describing actions taken by France against him, he said that his personal assets were frozen in 2021 by a French prosecutor. He urged France to produce a long-awaited report on the environmental, economic and health consequences of its 193 nuclear tests between 1966 and 1996, and to resume its participation in the work of the Special Committee on Decolonization and the Fourth Committee.
ANTONY GEROS, Tavini Huiraatira Party, noted that nine years after Mao’hi Nui/French Polynesia was re-inscribed on the list of countries to be decolonized, “we are still waiting for the administering Power to show greatness and finally open the dialogue on the decolonization”. Noting that the Tavini Huiraatira party that he represents has won the three seats allocated to Mao’hi Nui/French Polynesia in the French National Assembly, he said: “We come before you to ask France to no longer practice the policy of the empty chair.” Instead of benevolent colonialism and a puppet Government, the Territory needs the formalization of a real programme of work that will lead the people of the Territory to self-determination, he said.
VALENTINA CROSS, City of Teva I Uta, Tahiti, said that the electoral system unilaterally imposed by France on French Polynesia is set up to favour an over-representation of the autonomists. Pointing to a major change in the political context of French Polynesia on its path to self-determination, she urged France to abandon the “empty seat policy” and to recognize and resume active contacts with the Special Committee on Decolonization.
CHANTAL GALENON, Committee of Education of the Assembly of French Polynesia, said that the fraudulent electoral process of “bonus seats” in the Territory was exposed in the report of the Pacific Islands Forum Technical Election Observer Team. She called for the abolition of this electoral system, which she described as undemocratic. There should be a fair electoral system, not one which is purposely manipulated to ensure the installation and re-installation of the colonial accommodationists, she emphasized.
MICHEL VILLAR, Tavini Group, urged the Committee to use all its influence and take diplomatic steps to break the “empty seat policy” which France pursues when the question of French Polynesia is on the agenda. This is a policy which France has practiced since 2013 when a United Nations resolution reinstated French Polynesia on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The position of France is a denial of international law and a violation of all resolutions adopted on the issue since 2013, he said.
OPAHI BUILLARD, Association TERIIEHINA a TAURAA, said the willful absence of representatives of France during the Committee’s consideration of the question of French Polynesia clearly confirms that the ownership of their natural resources lies with the people of French Polynesia. He added that the seizure of France of the Territory’s natural resources is a violation of international law.
ANDRÉ STANLEY CROSS, Order of Lawyers of Papeete, Tahiti, said the legal system imposed by France has never taken the cultural diversity of its people into account. Recounting the experiences of political figures who had been wrongly accused by France, he said it was his duty as a lawyer to defend Ma’ohi rights and to stand up to those acts.
STEVE CHAILLOUX, who introduced himself as a newly elected member of the French National Parliament, said that much of the current and future wealth of French Polynesia is being transferred to France. Further, the administering Power continually asserts sovereignty over French Polynesian waters and has failed to consult with the indigenous communities who are most likely to be affected by this new extractive activity, he said. It treats the Territory as a strategic naval and military outpost which it is loath to relinquish, particularly given shifting dynamics in the Asia-Pacific theatre, he said, adding that the failure to remedy damage done by French nuclear testing constitutes another violation of the French Polynesian people’s right to benefit from their natural resources and to chart a course of economic development.
TEMATAI LEGAYIC, French National Assembly, drew attention to the necklace he was wearing, saying that in contrast to the garlands used to welcome visitors to Polynesia, it symbolizes the humiliation of colonization. Recalling his conversation with a child who was hit in school for speaking in his mother tongue, he said that the people of French Polynesia have a real desire to end economic dependence and to gain agency over their natural resources. “We wish for dignity,” he said, adding that French Polynesia must be allowed to rejoin the assembly of sovereign nations. France must recognize its status as an administering Power and allow the Ma’ohi people’s voice to be heard.
Petitioners on Gibraltar
FABIAN RAYMOND PICARDO, Chief Minister of Gibraltar, said that the Territory’s decolonization must be achieved only through the principle of self-determination, in keeping with the wishes of its people. In this, there is no role for any party other than the United Nations; the administering Power, namely the United Kingdom; and the people of the Territory, he said. Noting that the Committee has not visited Gibraltar despite repeated requests, he said its people are safe in the knowledge that the administering Power is committed to upholding the rights of the Territory. Urging the Committee to remove Gibraltar from the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, he said it is working to create a United Kingdom-European Union treaty which will re-energise the region and generate tremendous opportunities.
The representative of Spain said that since 1975, his country, together with the United Kingdom, have presented to the Chair of the Committee a decision on consensus, which urges that dialogue on sovereignty be resumed in line with the principles of the United Nations. He reiterated his country’s willingness to reach an agreement with the United Kingdom for the implementation of a new mechanism for regional cooperation for the benefit of the inhabitants on “both sides of the fence”. As the Committee has reiterated, there is no other solution to the Gibraltar dispute than a negotiated decolonization process between Spain and the United Kingdom under the terms established by international law and the Committee, he said.
RICHARD BUTTIGIEG, Self-Determination for Gibraltar Group, recalling the referendum in Gibraltar in 1967, said an overwhelming majority voted in favor of Gibraltar retaining links with Britain. The people of Gibraltar will never cease in their fight for self-determination. It is the Committee’s duty to deal with the issue of Gibraltar in a meaningful and direct manner, he said, adding that it has done almost nothing to deal with the issue. He urged the Committee to send a visiting mission to Gibraltar to see for itself that the Territory has done more than enough to be removed from the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Petitioners on Guam
MELVIN B. WON PAT-BORJA, Executive Director of the Commission on Decolonization of Guam, said decolonization remains a priority for his administration and for the people of Guam. In the past year, they have strengthened their efforts to educate their island and move closer towards a plebiscite in order to facilitate an exercise of self-determination in the hopes of achieving a full measure of self-governance. Detailing various efforts in that regard, he requested a United Nations visiting mission to Guam to witness not only the challenges that the people of Guam face, but also the progress they have made toward joining the rest of the sovereign world.
Petitioners on New Caledonia
LOUIS MAPOU, President of the Government of New Caledonia, said that in the wake of three referendums on independence, his Territory needs to find solutions for its future. The Special Committee on Decolonization has repeatedly reaffirmed its people’s right to self-determination, he said, adding that the Territory’s indigenous Kanak people have been working for 30 years to lay the foundations of an identity emancipated from colonization. The Government has taken on shared and progressive responsibilities within the framework of the Nouméa Accord, but “we have yet to fulfil our historic destiny”. Noting the low participation in the third referendum, he added that though France deemed its outcome legal, its credibility was tainted. The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have tested the Territory’s ability to cope, but the Government adopted a number of measures, with the support of France, he said, adding that the Territory is focused on structural reforms that will restore the confidence of its people.
NAÏA WATEOU, who said she was speaking on behalf of the non-independentist political parties of New Caledonia, stated that on three separate occasions, the Caledonians had freely expressed their resolute desire to be part of France. However, the voice of the majority is not being heard, she added. Recalling that the Caledonian forefathers pledged to respect the self-determination process that France initiated in cooperation with the United Nations, she said it provides a vision for the future.
RENALDO BOURGEOIS, Province Sud, described himself as an heir to a story full of shadows and light. New Caledonia is a French multicultural land that belongs to all who have contributed to its development, he said, adding that for young people like him, who “were born after the important handshake”, the Territory’s deep attachment to France is crucial for a good future.
ROCH WAMYTAN, Congress of New Caledonia, said President Emmanuel Macron of France refused to hear the voices of people colonized for over a century when he said that “New Caledonia will remain French”, so that France can defend its strategic and economic interests in the region. He called on the United Nations for its support so that the rights to self-determination and sovereignty of the people of New Caledonia are recognized until such time as independence can be reached.
Right of Reply
The representative of the United Kingdom, speaking in exercise of the right of reply, said his country’s position is clear regarding its sovereignty over Gibraltar and the territorial waters surrounding it. The people of Gibraltar enjoy the right to self-determination and the 2006 Constitution provides for a modern and mature relationship between Gibraltar and the United Kingdom. He emphasized that his Government will not enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another State against their democratically expressed wishes.
The representative of Spain rejected attempts by the administering Power and the authorities of the colonized territory to alter its political relationship. Spain does not recognize any rights or situations regarding the status of Gibraltar which are not included within Article 10 of the Utrecht Treaty regarding the United Kingdom, he said.