Chlordecone scandal in the West Indies: French justice dismisses the case
Chlordecone was authorized in Martinique and Guadeloupe until 1993. Here, during a demonstration in Fort-de-France, February 27, 2021. AFP - LIONEL CHAMOISEAU
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Two Parisian investigating judges have put an end, without prosecution, to the investigation into the massive poisoning of the West Indies with chlordecone, a pesticide authorized in banana plantations until 1993.
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The decision with high symbolic value was feared by elected officials and inhabitants of Martinique and Guadeloupe, who regularly denounced a risk of "
denial of justice
".
In an order signed on Monday and more than 300 pages long, two investigating magistrates from the public health and environment pole of the Paris judicial court put an end to the judicial investigation opened in 2008 on the massive poisoning of the West Indies with chlordecone.
The information was only learned on Thursday from a source familiar with the matter and confirmed by a judicial source.
Extremely rare, the two judges conclude their order with five pages of explanations on the reasons for their dismissal concerning what they describe as a "
health scandal
", an "
environmental damage whose human, economic and social consequences affect and will affect the daily life of the inhabitants
of Martinique and Guadeloupe for many years.
►
Also to listen: Chlordecone, the pesticide that poisons the West Indies
For them, their decision is justified firstly by the difficulty of "
reporting criminal evidence of the facts denounced
", "
committed 10, 15 or 30 years before the filing of complaints
", the first having been in 2006. also emphasize "
the state of technical or scientific knowledge
" at the beginning of the 1990s: "the range of scientific arguments did not allow" to establish "
the certain causal link required by criminal law
" between the substance in question and one side and the impact on health on the other.
The two judges rather openly invite the victims of chlordecone to take advantage of "
the causality now established
" between the pesticide and the damage suffered by the population to seize "
other instances to obtain compensation for bodily injury
", this which could go through civil justice.
90% of the populations of Martinique and Guadeloupe affected
Used in banana plantations to fight against the weevil, chlordecone was authorized in Martinique and Guadeloupe until 1993, under derogation, when the rest of French territory had banned its use.
He was only banned from the West Indies 15 years after warnings from the World Health Organization.
It caused significant and long-lasting pollution of the two islands.
According to a report published on December 6 by the National Health Security Agency (Anses), nearly 90% of the populations of Martinique and Guadeloupe are contaminated with chlordecone.
The West Indies hold the sad world record for prostate cancer.
Since December 22, 2021,
it has been recognized as an occupational disease
, paving the way for compensation for agricultural workers.
In 2006, several Martinican and Guadeloupean associations had filed a complaint for poisoning, endangering the lives of others and administration of harmful substances.
A judicial investigation had been opened in 2008. On November 25, the Paris prosecutor's office had requested a dismissal, considering that the facts were prescribed, particularly with regard to poisoning, or not characterized, concerning the administration of substances harmful, which prevents any prosecution.
(
With
AFP)
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