2006 year;

That is, after years of the spread of toxic pesticides in the French overseas territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe, 7 organizations have filed a complaint against the government for "reckless risk".

In an opinion piece published by the Washington Post, the writer, Ruqayya Diallo, said that after 15 years, on January 21, the judges of the Paris Supreme Court finally considered this case.

Although there are still serious concerns that the case will be rejected before justice is achieved, this matter has been long overdue due to the scale of the tragedy, and there are many similar stories in the former French colonies.

Chlordecone was manufactured in the 1950s in the United States and sold under the name "keboni".

This product triggered a trial that garnered media attention, as the pesticide ban took place in the United States in 1975.

Four years later, the World Health Organization classified the chemical as a possible carcinogen.

In 2009, the substance was included in the list of persistent organic pollutants under the Stockholm Convention, and its production was banned worldwide.

France began using the pesticide in the Caribbean in banana plantations in 1972, and officially approved the product in 1981. In the end, the pesticide was banned in France in 1990.

Even after that, a ministerial permit allowed its use up to the year 1993 in these "provinces", which is the French designation for administrative units of local government such as those in "Martinique" and "Guadeloupe".

Commercial lobbyists

In this regard, health agencies and agricultural commercial lobbyists were complicit, as Jessica Opley explains in her graphic novel, Toxic Topix.

And the dire consequences led to a state of environmental pollution unique in the world, and it could last up to 700 years.

As a result of the poisoning of soil, waterways, livestock and agricultural stocks, thousands of people were physically affected, the writer added.

In addition, nearly 95% of Guadeloupe and 92% of Martinique were exposed to pesticides, and departments recorded one of the highest rates of prostate cancer in the world in 2018.

A parliamentary commission of inquiry led by Martinique's Member of Parliament, Serge Letakimi, has proven that pollution affects children's brain development and increases the risk of preterm labor.

According to the report, the country has been aware of the potential danger of Chlordecone since 1969.

And this is not the only time that France has mistreated those whose ancestors were dominated by colonial power.

For example, French law prohibits aerial spraying of pesticides, which can be spread in homes and private schools.

In return, the government has formulated special exemptions for overseas territories, such as the cultivation of rice in French Guiana.

In French Polynesia, the French army masked the impact of the nuclear tests, which were conducted between the 1960s and 1990s, for a long time.

Currently, the victims of these experiences are still struggling to obtain compensation.