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On the occasion of International Day against nuclear tests, celebrated on August 29, around twenty international organizations and associations published an unequivocal press release calling for France to assume full responsibility for the devastating consequences of its nuclear trials in Algeria.
This text, signed by associations and institutions such as Ican France, Pax Christi Vlaanderen, the Observatoire des Armements, Mines Action Canada and the International Peace Bureau (IPB) marks a new milestone in the fight so that France finally recognizes the extent of the sufferings it inflicted on Algeria with its nuclear tests, carried out between 1960 and 1966 in the South of Algeria.
More than six decades after these explosions, the victims are still deprived of justice and France continues to turn their backs on its responsibilities, with an arrogance that borders on denial. The 20 signatory organizations recall that these nuclear tests are not just a historical fact, but a “humanitarian crime” which continues to poison the lives of thousands of Algerians.
They wanted to highlight the magnitude of the drama, recalling that 17 nuclear explosions and 40 underrint trials in the south of Algeria left behind an inheritance of radioactive contamination which continues to affect thousands of lives. Coming for the fact that “this tragedy, which should have been the subject of a much earlier compensation, is today relegated to unjustifiable silence, while the victims, often forgotten, continue to suffer from the physical and psychological consequences of these tests”.
The associations said that the consequences of French nuclear tests are dramatic. In addition to serious illnesses, including cancers, congenital malformations, chronic respiratory diseases, the populations affected by radioactivity undergo a continuous degradation of their natural resources and their livelihoods because “land is sterile and devastated ecosystems”. They add that these impacts are very real and that they persist.
The signatories also denounced the fact that these sufferings are aggravated by the total absence of transparency on the part of France, noting that the French government continues to refuse to “reveal the cards of the contaminated zones, to disclose the nuclear archives and to provide clear responses to Algeria”. Deploring a “deafening silence” which perpetuates suffering and injustice, they specify that this request echoes a long -standing call so that France ceases to use pretexts such as “national security” to hide the truth and continue to prevent access to vital information for the local population.
The unacceptable attitude of French denial
Despite the repeated years and calls of victims and international organizations, France persists in denying its responsibility. As the signatory organizations point out, “six decades have passed since these explosions”, and yet France has still not acted in a concrete way. The Morin law, supposed to compensate the French victims of nuclear tests, does not take into account any Algerian victim, making any compensation practically impossible for the Algerian survivors. This categorical refusal of repair is an affront for Algerians, whose suffering has been ignored for too long.
The organization of organizations calls on France to take “concrete measures and to assume its responsibilities”. These are no longer empty promises but tangible actions to repair the wrongs caused. First, the signatories require official recognition of nuclear crimes committed in Algeria, as well as compensation for victims. The latter must receive a fair and sufficient compensation for the damage they have suffered, and have access to appropriate medical care, in particular for diseases related to radioactivity.
The organizations also call for “the creation of a joint commission between the Algerian and French governments, made up of representatives of the two countries, parliamentarians and associations of victims”. This commission would be responsible for following the consequences of nuclear tests on health and the environment. It is “urgently necessary that this commission also oversees the depollution of contaminated areas and that France provides Algeria all the information necessary to understand the extent of radioactive contamination.
The signatories also put forward an essential point, that of the imperative of the ratification of France of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (Tian). A strong symbolic measure which would demonstrate the will of Paris to turn the page, committing for a world freeing nuclear weapons.
In addition, signatory associations also claim that France “can no longer hide behind diplomatic justifications to avoid answering its actions”. They assure that “justice for the Algerian victims should not be delayed by” political calculations “, on the contrary, it must take precedence over any other consideration. “If France really wishes to reconnect based on mutual respect”, it must start by repairing “this nuclear crime that it has committed,” insist the signatories. A crime whose injuries continue to bleed today.
It is only by taking concrete measures to repair the wrongs caused that France can hope to turn the page on this dark chapter in its history. But for that, she must first recognize her “nuclear heritage” and the deep scars left on the Algerian people, who refuse to be satisfied with symbolic excuses but requires repair and justice.