Kanaky New Caledonia, in the South Pacific, remains on the UN list of countries to be decolonized. It is not a French territory: France is merely the administering power. The Nouméa Accord, signed in 1998, stipulated three referendums on self-determination. In 2020, during the second referendum, independence was decided by only 9,000 votes. In 2021, the French state imposed the date of the third referendum during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the pro-independence movement's request for postponement. The Kanak people did not participate in this referendum, which was held under military control (there was an abstention rate of over 50%). The FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) and the UN do not recognize the conditions of this latest referendum. Despite this, the French state is still attempting a forced withdrawal from the Nouméa Accord and it continues to deport to France many Kanak prisoners who rioted in 2024 during the riots against the "unfreezing" of the New Caledonian electoral roll.
In 2024, the bill on the "unfreezing" of the New Caledonian electoral roll, proposed by the French state, crystallized the local political situation. Indeed, the freezing of this electoral roll is a red line that the Kanak people cannot cross, as it protects their voices from the settler colonialism represented by mass immigration from France. Pro-independence mobilizations against the state's plan were therefore massive throughout the territory, facilitated in part by the CCAT (Field Action Coordination Cell), and a popular uprising took place on May 13, 2024, the day the bill was passed in the National Assembly. However, this uprising was brutally repressed, with colonial security forces receiving support from racist and colonial armed militias: 13 Kanaks were shot dead, many others wounded, and more than 3,000 arrests were made.
At the same time, Camp Est, the country's main prison and former colonial penal colony in Nouméa, experienced one of the largest riots in its history: more than a third of the cells were burned and destroyed in a single night. The army dispersed a demonstration of support that was taking place outside the prison and surrounded it for several days.
Over 90% of the prison population at Camp Est is Kanak, with the remaining inmates being of Pacific Islander origin. The systemic racial discrimination prevalent throughout the territory is even more pronounced in prisons, and the Nouméa court applies a form of colonial justice by handing down harsh sentences to Kanak defendants. The Inspector of Places of Deprivation of Liberty has issued several alarming reports on prison conditions at Camp Estin some sections, metal shipping containers serve as cells, cramming up to five inmates instead of two, and the unsanitary conditions are appallingand the administrative court has echoed these reports. It is against this situation that the inmates have risen up en masse, for their dignity and that of their people.
But prison conditions worsened in the following weeks. According to numerous prisoner testimonies, the RAID, the GIGN, and several ERIS (Regional Intervention and Security Teams) units from France intervened swiftly and brutally on two occasions: flash-ball rounds were fired, stun grenades were thrown into cells, beatings were carried out nightly in the courtyards, prisoners were dragged on the ground over broken porcelain, and they were placed in solitary confinement for hours with zip ties tightly fastened around their wrists in a room filled with urine. Food and exercise time were restricted, and they underwent invasive strip searches, among other measures.
Several prisoners were injured, but the infirmary was, of course, closed. One of them succumbed to his injuries after more than a week of agony, despite protests from other prisoners demanding medical treatment, and no autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death.
Active solidarity with all Kanak deportees...
The French state then organized, in June and July 2024, mass deportations of Kanak prisoners to France in complete secrecy (without notifying families, without responding to lawyers). Several other deportations, smaller in number, took place until December 2025. The media extensively covered the deportations of seven pro-independence activists from the CCAT, including the current president of the FLNKS, but said very little about the others, even though for all of them these were forced displacements in violation of international law (Kanaky is not France) as well as the detainees' right to privacy and family life.
The Kanaky Solidarity Collective in France launched a search for these detainees in June 2024. A working group has been monitoring their situation ever since, providing them with material, financial, and legal support. We have identified more than 70 deportees since May 2024 and are currently monitoring more than 90, including previously deported individuals who have contacted us. Many are isolated from their families.
In early February, we learned with horror, anger, and profound sadness of the death in his cell of Frédéric Grochain, who was deported to France in June 2024. We were in contact with him, and his lawyer works with us. He was 31 years old. The autopsy results clearly indicate neglect of medical care: his lungs were infected with tuberculosis. His brother, who had just arrived in France, learned of his death when he called the prison to request a visiting permit.
No one outside knew that Frédéric was ill. This raises many questions and highlights the importance of visits to understand the situation of detainees. An investigation has been opened and is ongoing. Frédéric's family and lawyer intend to sue the State for its responsibility in the lack of medical care and Frédéric's deportation, which directly led to his death.
Many other deported Kanak detainees are isolated here in France. Frédéric, like other Kanak detainees, had requested to return to his homeland. Some did so to complete their sentences there, but all have faced explicit or implicit refusals (no response). Appeals have been filed for several of them.
A year ago, the lawyer for two detainees secured their return to their homeland at the State's expense, and their valid passports were ready as of June 2025. But at the end of November, they were transferred from their prison in the south of France to Réau prison in the Île-de-France region, where the guards told them their return was scheduled for a few days later. Their families back home had been notified. But when they were taken to Roissy airport for a flight to Kanaky (New Caledonia), they were told at the boarding gate that their departure was canceled, and they were taken back to Réau without even returning their belongings or informing their lawyer of this false start. We learned of this from a family member a week later. An administrative appeal was filed by the lawyer, followed by an emergency injunction, which was rejected. But finally, we have just learned, through a letter from one of these detainees, that they will be released during the week of March 9, 2026. This is a victory, and we hope it will serve as a precedent for the cases of other detainees.
Our collective continues to demand the immediate return of all Kanak prisoners who wish to return, whether they are serving or nearing the end of their sentences, at the State's expense. We will soon publish a joint statement on this matter, after having contacted members of Parliament, because only mobilization and collective action can create a balance of power.
We also remain committed to finding housing or employment solutions for all prisoners who find themselves here at the end of their sentences or released under alternative sentencing arrangements. Some are on parole with a ban on returning to their homeland; for others, it is the sentencing judge who releases them conditionally here because they cannot afford a plane ticket. Some are in a situation of extreme vulnerability, compounded by a non-functional social security number. We also assist them with administrative procedures and we remind everyone that we have an online fundraising campaign set up by the Justice and Freedom Committee for Kanaky, which provides funds for this support, whether they are in detention or struggling outside.
Finally, regarding the major 2024 prison riot, we know that several deported Kanak detainees have cases under investigation with serious charges, such as "hostage-taking" or "attempted escape." We have also learned that other detainees who are not currently under investigation have been questioned about this riot since the fall of 2025, and that some have been held in custody. These cases appear to be separate, with hearings scheduled in different cities. An expedited hearing that was supposed to take place last January has been postponed. Another hearing for a former inmate, scheduled for early March in Sarreguemines, was also postponed. However, he realized that his official statement didn't accurately reflect his previous statements and intends to contest it. Yet another hearing is scheduled for March 26 in Évreux for another inmate. We are closely monitoring these cases and ensuring that all defendants have access to legal representation.
We still don't know the status of those currently detained in Kanaky, who are also reportedly facing prosecution. A local group is trying to monitor their situation, but in any case, the Solidarité Kanaky collective is calling for the immediate dropping of charges against all the mutineers at Camp Est.
...and mobilization against all the maneuvers of the French State!
Today, the political situation is tense in Kanaky with the new draft agreement, known as the Bougival Agreement, to be signed on July 12, 2025, concerning the future of the territory. Once again, the French State has returned to the charge of withdrawing from the Nouméa Accord. This project aims to create a New Caledonian state within the French Republic, that is to say, a pure and simple annexation of the territory, and with the continued "unfreezing" of the electoral roll and the plundering of resources such as nickel. Economic blackmail is clearly at play, given the catastrophic situation in the archipelago: over 25,000 unemployed, a CAFAT (the Senegalese social security fund) that can no longer afford to pay pensions, and medical assistance that has been cut see our latest bulletin on the social situation. The Bougival document was intended to be a draft to be discussed further within each signatory organization, but the State and the colonial right wing quickly presented it as a definitive agreement. The FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) withdrew its signature in August and is mobilizing for the total rejection of this draft agreement as is a large majority of the independence movement (including the USTKE trade union). A supplement was signed on January 19, 2026, to postpone the planned timetable. And a bill has been introduced by the government to enshrine this draft agreement in the constitution. It was adopted by the Senate on February 14th and will be presented to the National Assembly on March 24th for a vote on March 30th the goal being to convene the Congress of Versailles and hold a referendum on the acceptance of Kanaky by Bougival at the end of April 2026. The timeline is tight for independence, as France wants to maintain a strategic foothold in the South Pacific, with accelerated militarization along the Indo-Pacific axis.
The independence movement is mobilizing, and so are we here. A national demonstration is planned for March 21st. And we will continue to reiterate: the political situation cannot be separated from the situation of Kanak youth who face discrimination, whether in terms of employment or education, nor from a colonial justice system that continues to imprison them.
Julie, from Solidarité Kanaky,
March 20, 2026
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4679
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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