Transcript
WALTER ZWEIFEL: Not really, the Maohi Protestant Church has been quite political in recent years and the aftermath of the weapons tests has been a matter of growing public concern. The weekend synod in Tahiti decided to file a case in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity. Its secretary general Celine Hoiore said the action is being taken for all the consequences of the tests, including what the church calls the contempt for the illnesses Polynesians suffer from as a result of the tests. A reminder, France carried out 193 nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific over 30 years, the last one in 1996. During the test era, the local government concurred with the French assurances that the tests were safe.
SALLY ROUND: What has the reaction been to the church decision?
WZ: The French High Commissioner to French Polynesia said the nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific do not amount to a crime against humanity. Rene Bidal said the definition of a crime against humanity centres on the Nuremburg trials after the Second World War and refers to killings, exterminations, and deportations. He said the church should weigh its words, adding that a complaint as outlined by the church would be baseless. He also appeared stunned by the timing as France wants to convey its adherence to human rights amid the latest spate of terror attacks in Europe. Mr Bidal also said the French President announced that the compensation law would be modified in order to be more favourable to those who are ill and a few days ago France proposed a convention to fund new hospital equipment for cancer treatment in Tahiti.
SR: What about the French Polynesian politicians?
WZ: Oscar Temaru, the pro-independence leader and former president, has welcomed the church decision as historic. Mr Temaru of course has been an anti-nuclear campaigner for decades. The president of French Polynesia, Edouard Fritch, however appeared to have been undecided about how to react. He waited for two days before issuing a statement, saying court action was pointless. Mr Fritch said to get compensation it was better to negotiate with the French government than to seek the protection through international organisations which he says have no power. However, in a nudge to the church he said the proposed changes to the French compensation law, the so-called Loi Morin, are unsatisfactory. Under it only a handful of people have been found to have suffered poor health because of radiation exposure.
