BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 9. The Baku Initiative Group (BIG) welcomes the warning issued by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to France regarding the attempts to change the electorate and the right to self-determination of the Kanak people in Kanaki (New Caledonia) and demands France to immediately comply with the committee's calls, the statement of the group says, Trend reports.
The BIG stands for the position that any political and administrative change regarding Kanaki cannot be implemented without the consent of the Kanak people. The committee has confirmed this view. This is not just a political issue, but a fundamental requirement and right of international law, the decolonization process, and the collective rights of indigenous peoples.
As noted in the UN Committee's report, the Nouméa Agreement created an important framework for the recognition of Kanak identity, the achievement of greater autonomy, and the determination of the Kanak people's own political future. Unilateral intervention in this framework and questioning the guarantees established in the Nouméa Agreement disrupts the political-legal balance established by the agreement and weakens the ability of the Kanak people to freely determine their political future.
The Baku Initiative Group strongly condemns the steps taken by France to expand the number of people with voting rights through the resettlement of immigrants to the island. Interference in the electoral body without the consent of the Kanak people should be seen as a weakening of the political will of the indigenous people, an alteration of the demographic balance, and an artificial distortion of the results of the decolonization process.
Moreover, the group supports the UN Committee's call for an independent, transparent, and effective investigation into allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force by security forces during the protests in May 2024, including cases of deadly violence. Concerns about the transfer of Kanak human rights defenders and pro-independence activists to prisons in Europe without their consent should also be carefully investigated by international human rights mechanisms.
The fact that these issues have been raised as a matter of special concern within the framework of UN mechanisms following the appeal of the Baku Initiative Group and the publication of the relevant warning shows that the concerns raised by the organization are being taken into account at the international level and have led to a concrete response to protect the rights of the Kanak people.
The initiatives that France has put forward without taking the Kanak people into account are a clear example of the colonialist governance practices that continue in modern times. The future of the Kanak people should be determined not in closed negotiations in Paris, but through the real, equal, and effective participation of the Kanak people.
Following the alternative report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee by the Baku Initiative Group, the UN mechanisms have raised a number of important issues with France. These issues included addressing concerns about the deployment of France's elite gendarmerie unit, GIGN, to Kanaki, which is typically used in special security operations such as counter-terrorism and hostage rescue, conducting an independent and transparent investigation into allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force in the context of the presence of these forces, ensuring the independence of the judiciary, protecting freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly, and investigating the causes of the escalation and reporting to the UN.
The Baku Initiative Group calls on France to fully and without delay implement the calls of the UN Committee, to respect the right of the Kanak people to self-determination, to adhere to the spirit of decolonization of the Nouméa Agreement, and to proceed with all political processes related to Kanak only on the basis of the free and informed consent of the Kanak people.
The group reaffirms its solidarity with the struggle of the Kanak people for a just and free future and calls on the international community to take a principled position regarding France's neocolonial policy in Kanak.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
