A local struggle that does not project itself onto a global
understanding of capitalist society is a struggle reduced to a slogan:"Not at home!" This low-intensity nationalism inaugurates that of the
times to come. One fringe of capitalists is nationalist, if their
profitable interests are not relocatable. The other fringe is
multinational in line with the maintenance of their globalized profit
rates. These two conflicting fringes of capitalism come together to wage
a class war on all the exploited, through poverty, wars, famines and the
hoarding of everything necessary for our survival.
Lithium, a local struggle?
The announcement of the opening of lithium mines in Europe had to meet
two imperatives, the first being the electrification of transport, which
is currently hydrocarbon-based, under the cover of energy and ecological
"transitions", the second for Europe's sovereignty vis-à-vis
international competition.
Let's take up this famous energy transition again, yet another
transition is announced to us while, according to Jean-Baptiste Fressoz
(1), no energy transition took place during the capitalist phase of our
history. Coal has never replaced wood, quite the contrary, the
exploitation of wood has only increased, if only because of the need for
timbering in coal mines. Oil has never replaced coal, because the
production of steel still requires coal, and so on. This announced
transition is in fact only an addition; we will have the exploitation of
wood, coal, oil, gas and this new El Dorado that is electricity.
As for the "ecological" transition, as the slogan says, "Ecology without
class struggle is just gardening" should hold our full attention.
Indeed, some environmentalists oppose us with the following argument:
that we must take our share of responsibility for climate change,
implying that we must accept the opening of mines in our regions. But
what are they talking about? Do they mean by this argument that this
would spare, or even cancel, the mining surge around the world? We think
the opposite, the opening of mines in our regions would only add to
those already in operation and those planned on all continents and
oceans. The evocation of "Neither Here, Nor Elsewhere" by adding "and
its world", implying the capitalist economic organization of society,
points not to our individual responsibility, but to that of the holders
of the means of production and capital that are the bourgeoisies
throughout the world. The ecological transition, like the energy
transition, will not take place; only a headlong rush into the
exploitation of raw materials is imposed on us, a preamble to a new
restructuring of capitalism, requiring ever more destruction on a global
scale. CO2 is not the only problem; the pre-existing problem is the
accumulation of capital for particular interests. As long as we do not
ask ourselves the right questions, the ecological transition will remain
a decoy. We will have biomass, biofuel, biogas, bioatomic, biohydrogen,
hydraulics, wind, photovoltaic and all the bios to come, like an endless
flight towards ever more profits for the bourgeois class. Can national
sovereignty, or even that of Europe, be based on reality? Let us take
the electric car as an example. Its manufacture underlies that of its
battery, which, as we know, involves the extraction of a multitude of
minerals, rare earths and other metals. The geology of the subsoils of
France, but also that of Europe, has holes in the racket. If lithium is
present, certainly, this is not the case for cobalt, nickel, manganese,
essential elements for the battery; and let's not forget graphite,
aluminum, copper, plastic, iron, depending on the battery used. So,
sovereignty, should we believe in it?
Extractivism global struggle!
What Fabien Lebrun (2) explains to us in his latest book, taking as an
example the Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo), from where 60% of the
minerals extracted worldwide come, is the close link between the
development of extractivism and the development of capitalism. His study
covers five centuries, from slavery to the frenzied extraction of recent
decades, where technological developments have led to nearly 2,500
police custody cases, nearly 500 referrals for immediate appearance,
more than 200 people remanded in custody, and more than 500 "alternative
sentences to prison" such as community service, with bans on demonstrating.
Noumea, February 21, 2024
The repression also fell on CCAT activists...
Yes, a whole media arsenal was deployed to criminalize the independence
movement, in particular by treating CCAT activists as "terrorists." 13
of them - including Christian Tein, the president of the FLNKS[Kanak and
Socialist National Liberation Front]since August 2024 - were arrested.
11 at the premises of the Union Calédonienne[UC]party of which they are
members, and just before a press conference planned by the CCAT. They
were indicted, as were two activists a few days later, with charges
relating to the crime ("criminal association") and unrelated to their
political activity - for example for "attempted murder" or for
"organized gang robbery with a weapon." They were blamed for everything
that happened in Noumea from 13 May onwards. Most of them risk harsh
sentences, even life imprisonment.
Some of them were placed under house arrest in Kanaky, others were
imprisoned, and five men and two women were deported to France far from
their families - handcuffed, strapped, with their hands in the air for
more than twenty hours; they could only go to the toilet, under
surveillance and with the door open... They were dispatched to different
prisons; then Frédérique Muliava and Brenda Wanabo-Ipeze were placed
under house arrest here, first with electronic bracelets and then without.
Requests for release were made for these activists, and refused - for
Christian Tein, for example. Joël Tjibaou[son of Jean-Marie Tjibaou],
who was in Camp-Est, was released, but we have little information...
Two mutinies took place in this prison in May. Do you have any
information on what happened there?
In Camp-Est, overcrowding was enormous well before May. The general
inspector of places of deprivation of liberty had made two reports on it
(in 2012, then in 2019), and the OIP[International Prison
Observatory]had prepared files and filed a complaint against the State,
which was condemned in October 2024 for its slowness of action... In
short, the living conditions in this prison and the dilapidated state of
the cells are not new: in some areas (including the detention area),
prisoners are locked in shipping containers, four in cells intended for
two; prisoners sleep on the floor, and eat at a table almost stuck to
the toilets; there were backflows of sewage into the cells; in the
juvenile section, children are left alone all night, etc. The prisoners
have no opportunity for training, there are almost no workshops (the
only one that existed, sculpture, was closed in December 2023: it was a
collective punishment following an incident). There is almost no
educational support for minors. And, on the medical level, it is
lamentable: you have to wait a week to be able to go to the infirmary to
get a bandage; on the other hand, to see a psychiatrist and find
yourself in a pen, it is immediately...
Before May 13 there was a mutiny, another on the evening of the 13th,
and for several days afterwards. More than 80 cells were burned. The
repression was fierce, with intervention by the RAID, the GIGN and the
ERIS (regional intervention and security teams, in other words the
guards responsible for repression in prisons).
We had several terrible testimonies: regular and systematic beatings of
prisoners by guards, food portions equivalent to that of a 3-year-old
child, prisoners were starved for weeks, visiting rooms suspended. There
was no longer an infirmary, no access to a doctor. Walks were reduced to
thirty minutes per day with body searches on the way out and, on their
return, prisoners were placed in groups in cramped spaces filled with
piss, with extremely tight serflex[clamps]as handcuffs for hours, even
the entire night. Torture... And prisoners told us that a young Kanak
from Canala, aged about twenty, had died at the time. This is said to
have happened in May. He was reportedly seriously injured during a
thorough beating and died in front of his fellow inmates from internal
bleeding as a result of the blows he received. This information was not
released by the media, but it has come back to us repeatedly, and it
needs to be known.
We had to put pressure on the family of this young man to keep quiet.
We are not in contact with them, but given the situation in Kanaky we
assume that they did not risk making waves. We also had, in October, a
testimony about beatings that are allegedly continuing in Camp-Est.
Imprisonment is a colonial tool for repressing the Kanak people - 90% of
prisoners in Kanaky are Kanak, the others are Oceanians; on the other
hand, those who killed or beat up Kanaks during the riots are at peace.
The elected officials who were identified as leaders of armed militias
have never been worried (Philippe Blaise or Gilles Brial, for example).
The assassinations that have taken place are similar to extrajudicial
executions. Already, for a young man shot dead in Kaméré at the end of
June, the case was closed without further action by the prosecutor last
December on the grounds of "self-defense". We expect the same scenario
for the other investigations. This sadly reminds us of the Wan Yaat
massacre, near Tiendanite (in the Hienghène region): on December 5,
1984, a dozen Kanak activists (including two brothers of Jean-Marie
Tjibaou) were shot dead while returning from a meeting. They were
ambushed on the road by several Caldoches brothers (from the famous La
Petite family). The killers surrendered, and the verdict was
"self-defense by premeditation," which legally does not exist! The
French colonial state does what it wants in colonized lands, and its
judicial institution allows it to force down what it wants with complete
impunity. But this is not forgotten. Similarly, Eloi Machoro[general
secretary of the UC]was shot down by the GIGN on January 12, 1985, and
there has never been justice. As in all colonial history, in Kanaky the
list of examples is long. And the Kanaks know what their elders have
also suffered, and the violence of the colonial fact. In May, the Kanak
youth rose up to stop the forcing through of a law that would be a step
backwards. This time, it was in the middle of Noumea. For weeks, there
was terrorization of the inhabitants of the working-class neighborhoods
- searches, arrests, humiliations, stun bombs on roofs, house fires,
injuries, etc. We know that these investigations concerning the murdered
young people, like those concerning all the exactions that took place in
the working-class neighborhoods, in the jails of the police stations, or
even in Saint-Louis for days, and today in Camp-Est and everywhere where
the Kanaks are facing the colonial administration, all the complaints
that have been filed will certainly not lead to much as long as we
remain within French law. France also has accounts to render at the
international level, and it must be attacked as the administering power
in the decolonization process that has not respected it. Even if we do
not expect better from a colonial power, it would be good if it were
attacked on this.
And then everything also happens on the ground, and, as we know, only
the struggle pays to change the balance of power... Independence is not
won in a court.
Images taken from a video clandestinely made by a detainee, in November
2020, on the conditions of detention at Camp-Est
To return to the thousands of arrests that took place, do you know where
all these people were locked up?
This is a question that remains unanswered. There are not that many
police stations in Kanaky, and there cannot have been that many people
in custody cells. Around a hundred prisoners were transferred in May
from Camp-Est to Koné prison (which is recent and supposedly a
"professional reintegration" establishment); but these hundred places
freed up at Camp-Est are nothing compared to the number of arrests
(especially since there were also 80 cells that were unusable because
they had been burned). In addition, people who were detained at that
time at Camp-Est and with whom we were in contact say that they did not
see any rioters arrive. There were rumors about the presence, near
Tontouta airport, of containers with people arrested inside, but we were
unable to verify this information. It should be noted that access to the
airport was blocked for weeks. The road leading from Noumea to Tontouta
was militarized and blocked supposedly because of the roadblocks. In
reality, it was perfectly passable; the army was crisscrossing it for
strategic reasons.
Can you tell us now about solidarity here? How did it start?
From the end of May, we learned from the statements of the prosecutor
and the haussaire[high commissioner of the Republic, representative of
the French State]that, to make room at Camp-Est, "those sentenced to
long sentences" were going to be transferred out of the territory,
without specifying their destination. We started looking for information
on this, because many people without news of relatives wondered whether
or not they were among the deportees. And the Guyanese MP Davy Rimane
openly questioned its president in the Law Commission: had there been
any arrivals in France?
This president publicly responded in the negative. There was a clear
desire on the part of the French state to "blur" and prevent the
dissemination of information about these deportations - whether about
their number or about the people concerned. At Solidarité Kanaky, we
wondered if they had gone to Polynesia, and we asked ourselves many
other questions about them: were they rioters, or were there some among
them? We very quickly started looking for Kanak detainees in France -
this was before the deportation of the CCAT comrades on June 22 -, and
it took a very long time (it is painstaking work, very time-consuming).
We learned, through a relative of a young Kanak, that he had been
deported on June 8, and certainly not alone. Then we had access to a
list of names and prisons. From then on, as soon as we had a location
and a name, we systematically wrote letters, introducing ourselves to
the prisoners and asking them if they had any needs, if their relatives
were aware of their presence here... Prisoners responded by telling us
what they had experienced, telling us about the presence of other Kanaks
who were locked up with them, or the names of Kanaks who had been
deported at the same time as them but of whom they had no news. We now
know from various testimonies how the deportations took place, which
were almost all forced. The prisoners were summoned one by one by the
commander of Camp-Est, surrounded by several ERIS, and they were told
that they were going to be sent to France; they had to sign a paper, and
if they did so they had one hour to prepare their belongings before
their departure - otherwise they left without any belongings. Whether
they signed or not, they had no choice about leaving. And we have the
testimony of people who were threatened with being sedated.
We have identified several waves of deportation. We don't have all the
information on this, but in any case the number of prisoners we have
located in France - around sixty in around forty prisons, some isolated
(there are no other Kanaks in the establishment) - is below the real
number. We know that in October there was a deportation; in November,
another one...
Are these prisoners "convicted to long sentences" as announced? And are
you in contact with many of them?
They are convicts, but not necessarily to long sentences - some will be
released in a few months. This was a way of suppressing the mutinies.
Yes, we are in contact with the majority. Among those who have not yet
responded to our letters, some may have relatives here who are in
contact with them; or maybe they are not able to answer us. We are still
looking for several people: we do not know where they are imprisoned.
But in any case, for the moment, we are not aware of any rioters from
the mobilizations among these deportees.
How do you organize yourself to ensure this solidarity?
In June, we set up a working group at the Solidarité Kanaky collective;
there are also activists close to this collective in it. The bulk of our
work is still to provide material and financial aid, to put people in
touch with lawyers, etc., to the deportees of the Camp-Est and to their
relatives who have come here. It is important to pass on information
about the situation of these deportees because the media do not talk
about it - but of course we also provide support to the political
prisoners of the CCAT, for whom a mobilization is also in place. In
addition, an online kitty was launched on HelloAsso by the Justice and
Freedom for Kanaky committee (see box). This association, which enabled
fundraising, provides financial support for our work. A team of lawyers
has also been set up to provide legal aid to prisoners who request it.
We hold office hours every week in Paris. We collect and answer mail,
and we send help for the canteen (many prisoners who arrive have neither
linen nor anything to call their families, and a call in Kanaky is very
expensive). We have warned families of the presence of certain prisoners
here (they did not know that they had been deported); others have
contacted us to ask for news of their loved ones. We had to negotiate
for months with the SPIP[prison integration and probation service]of
certain prisons to be authorized to drop off a bag of clothes. In some
places, the situation was only resolved when a family member arrived
from Kanaky with a visiting permit for a visit and brought the bag into
the prison. Since we are not part of the families of prisoners, it is
difficult for us to send a package and obtain visiting permits in some
prisons.
But we negotiate as much as possible and try to find a solution in all
cases.
Solidarity rally near Mulhouse prison, June 24, 2024
This summer, we published a guide for relatives of deportees, with all
the steps to take, and giving a telephone number and an email address to
contact us (this guide is online on the Solidarité Kanaky collective
website: solidaritekanaky.fr), because families looking for one of their
loved ones do not know how to get news of them.
We ask prisoners if they agree to receive letters from people in
solidarity; if they agree, we tell the local committees that want to
hold writing workshops. And we are currently trying to organize
ourselves by region, so that there are referents not far from the
prisons where Kanak prisoners are held.
We are in contact with the CCAT and the CSPPK, and we have surrounded
ourselves with different collectives that are used to working on prison
issues. We have also done broadcasts with L'Envolée, from May 2024, to
send messages to prisoners when we were looking for certain people, to
read testimonies... We are also in contact with comrades in Kanaky -
from the Pause décoloniale or even the Sévices pénitentiaires.
We are also working with the OIP[International Prison Observatory]on the
issue of deportees in general and on the conditions of detention at
Camp-Est. The OIP will soon release the next issue of its magazine
Dedans-dehors on Kanaky/New Caledonia, and we are also preparing a
publication so that information on the situation of these prisoners can
be disseminated.
Regarding solidarity in general towards people imprisoned during various
mobilizations, we often see dissociations: people support the
"politicians" and not the "common law", or the "non-violent" and not the
"violent". What is your position on this issue? During the "events" of
the 80s in New Caledonia, when the Kanak independence fighters mobilized
against the French State, looting of businesses and roadblocks took
place; this was part of the means of action, as in May last year...
The CCAT considers that all the people arrested at the roadblocks and in
the mobilizations are part of the political prisoners that it has
identified (there are 56, not counting the people not imprisoned but
prosecuted).
We have also debated this issue in relation to the deportees from
Camp-Est. Why support people who are convicted of common law crimes?
Because we are dealing with colonial justice: deporting prisoners as
France did (forced exile 17,000 kilometers from home) goes against
international law; it is completely illegal, and these prisoners are
victims of a colonial act. And because it is a question of human rights,
whatever the reason for their conviction: having clothes and receiving
phone calls for lack of visiting rooms is the bare minimum of human
rights. The deportation of these prisoners has enormous consequences for
them and their families: some end up selling everything they have
overnight or they get into debt to come and see their loved ones. And
then, when they are released, they will find themselves stuck here.
There is the question of their repatriation to Kanaky: the prison
administration and the judicial institution tell them that it will be at
their expense, but it is not up to them to pay for a plane ticket - they
will not be able to buy it anyway. We must denounce this situation and
demand the immediate repatriation of prisoners who wish it, and at the
expense of the State! Furthermore, personally, I consider that a mutiny
is a way of rebelling when one is already in the lair of colonial power.
Starving, locked up in inhumane conditions, and knowing the political
situation outside, the prisoners of Camp-Est rebelled against being
treated like animals, and facing a repressive system alone. And we can
welcome this. As for the "violence" attributed to the rioters, it should
be remembered that no one was killed by Kanaks; the roadblocks were also
used to disarm certain militia vehicles. On the other hand, the
settlers' checkpoints that were still being held a few months ago in the
wealthy neighborhoods of Noumea with weapons of war were never
dismantled by the police. The violence of the settlers and of a colonial
state that denies a people and crushes them, that is what we are
fighting. The looting of Carrefour and other stores is material.
A youth with a huge unemployment rate, incomparable discrimination in
employment, who are shot at with flash-balls for carrying their flag...
and Carrefour that is looted, well yes! Burned cars, well yes! It is
above all the expression of being fed up. The rioters were facing lethal
weapons, that is the main problem. And it is 171 years of colonization,
the real pillaging of land and wealth, and destruction of life in Kanaky.
We are of course demanding the immediate release and the cessation of
prosecution for all Kanak prisoners from the mobilizations of the year
that has just passed.
Interview by Vanina on January 18, 2025
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4364
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