The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today heard speakers from New Caledonia call on France to stop criminalizing those fighting for freedom.
As petitioners from Non-Self-Governing Territories continued to address the Committee, several speakers raised the situation in New Caledonia, a Pacific archipelago administered by France. In May2024, there was unrest in that Territory in response to the adoption of a bill in the French Parliament that alters the Noumea Accord, a 1998agreement that outlines a process for gradual transfer of power from France to New Caledonia.
Jean-Baptiste Dialla, speaking on behalf of Urgence Kanaky (the indigenous name for New Caledonia), a collective that is a member of the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front, said that France has prioritized a strategy of confrontation with the Kanak people.That country proceeded with a third referendum during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently forced through changes to the electorate. This triggered the events of2024, which resulted in 13deaths and lasting trauma, he said. Rejecting the criminalization of pro-independence activists, he said that demanding freedom and self-determination must never be equated with a crime.
New Caledonia’s mineral and marine resources place it at the heart of geopolitical issues in the Pacific, he pointed out, denouncing France for prioritizing its own interests over the historical and customary ties uniting the peoples of the Pacific.
Petitioner Hector Pindard highlighted a variety of challenges, from heavy metal-contaminated drinking water to racial discrimination against Indigenous People. “All the warning lights are flashing red,” he said, echoing the call from Fiji and Papua New Guinea for a visiting mission to New Caledonia.
Stressing the importance of reparations for nuclear testing and slavery, he added that, while his movement is committed to non-violence, if the doors stay closed, “our peoples will consider leaving the diplomatic path for the streets”. The world has already glimpsed how a colonial State responds with brutal repression, “as it has so often done, as it does even today against its own high school students”, he said.
Frédérique Oger said the Decolonization Committee must not place its faith in France’s good intentions. That country, while championing Ukraine’s right to freedom and occupying a Council seat, must also respect the rights of the Kanak people.
Fourth Committee Must Rethink Its Approach
Jérôme Bouquet-Elkaim questioned the Committee’s practices. Why grant equal speaking time to the colonized and to the colonizers, he asked. The Committee’s monitoring of the Territory has not led to any positive change since1986, he pointed out. Merely maintaining the list and monitoring Territories year after year is not enough, he stressed, adding that the goal should be decolonization, rather than simply buying time for colonial Powers to pursue their assimilation policies. He appealed to the Committee to “rethink your practices” and adopt a human-rights-based approach to decolonization.
Along similar lines, a petitioner from the United States Virgin Islands, Russell Christopher, said the procedures of the Fourth Committee exemplify “how imperialism has manifested itself in how the Non-Self-Governing Territories are treated” each year. The petitioners are given a minimum of a few minutes, in which they are expected to report on the impact of colonial bondage, while administering Powers are given unlimited time to give statements.
“We are a colony of the United States,” which rejects the UN’s democratic mandate on eradicating colonialism, as well as the resolution of the trafficking of enslaved Africans, he said. Highlighting the catastrophic decline of education and healthcare in his Territory, he also pointed to the theft of funds in multiple agencies and departments within the local Government, all with the oversight of the colonizing State.
France Asserts Commitment to Political Dialogue with New Caledonia
France’s delegate said his country is committed to a prosperous and regionally integrated New Caledonia. He highlighted the provincial elections held last June, and the “adjustment of the electoral roll” enabling several New Caledonians to participate for the first time. France continues to be invested inpolitical dialogue on the future of New Caledonia, he said, noting his country’s social and economic support for the Territory.
New Caledonia is “still suffering from the consequences of what happened in May2024” and his country has allocated €2billion ($2.24billion) to help the economic recovery of the archipelago.
PetitionerNaïa Wateou said she was speaking on behalf of “those who love French New Caledonia”. Three self-determination referendums show that the people of New Caledonia chose to remain French, she said, adding that boycott by one political camp cannot erase the legitimacy of that.
Pacific States Call for Preserving ‘Fragile Peace’
Vanuatu’s delegate, speaking on behalf of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, said that, for his group, the question of New Caledonia is not just a UN topic; it concerns “a people with whom we share deep historic, cultural, traditional and Melanesian values and ties”. The situation in New Caledonia has been evolving since the tragic unrest in May2024, he said, noting the socioeconomic hardships — including those on health, education and employment — faced by the Indigenous Kanak People. “The fragile peace forged in New Caledonia” requires tactful and sensitive cooperation from all stakeholders and the administering Power, he said.
Papua New Guinea’s delegate aligned with that statement and called for a visiting mission to New Caledonia.
Petitioners on Western Sahara Offer Competing Narratives
Also addressing the Committee today were petitioners on Western Sahara. Sidi Mohamed Omar, representative of the Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguía el-Hamra y de Río de Oro (Frente POLISARIO), said “the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination is inalienable and non-negotiable”. UN Member States must not allow the rule of “might makes right” to prevail, and allow Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara to continue with impunity. By the logic of that doctrine, many nations represented in the hall today would still be under colonial domination, he said. “We will never, never give up our inalienable rights and will continue to defend our national aspirations for freedom and independence,” he stressed.
“How much longer will some actors continue to deny reality?”, asked petitioner Javier Fernandez Arribas, who said the country that is hosting the Frente POLISARIO is waging a losing war. He expressed concern about “its aggressive campaign against Morocco” and the impact on regional stability. Morocco’s autonomy plan is the only serious and credible basis for resolving this “artificial conflict”, he said, drawing attention to the widespread support that plan enjoys, not only in Europe but beyond.
