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France’s top diplomat in the Pacific, Veronique Roger-Lacan, said the claim by New Caledonia’s congress president, Roch Wamytan, that French territory does not belong to France was “untenable” and that Paris had a “completely impartial” stance on the decolonization process.
photo: New Zealand Pacific Radio
France’s ambassador to the Pacific wanted to set the record straight, reminding people that France is the “administering power” and currently controls New Caledonia.
“New Caledonia belongs to France, that’s legal in public international law,” Veronique Roger-Laccan told Radio New Zealand’s Pacific Channel on Wednesday.
“That’s it. New Caledonia is France.”
Her comments came after New Caledonia’s National Assembly President Roch Wamytan, Redouble support for the indigenous Kanak people’s desire for self-determination.
Wamitan told New Zealand’s Pacific Radio that Paris “must understand once and for all that New Caledonia is not France”; the region is in the process of decolonization and France must complete that process.
Roger Lacan says France “fully recognizes” Decolonization processand got engaged to her.
However, she said France was the “administering Power” of New Caledonia until that process was complete.
“This is public international law. This is the United Nations,” she said.
Veronique Roger-Lacan, France’s ambassador to the Pacific, was interviewed by local station Radio Rythme Bleu last week.
photo: Radio Regulations Board
“France has the status of an administering power in the United Nations and New Caledonia has the status of an administering territory; nevertheless, it is still a territory administered by France.”
Roger Lacan said Paris’ position was “completely fair” “because it implements all the principles of a free, fair and transparent democratic process of the United Nations.”
“A free, fair and transparent democratic process, as agreed by everyone, as agreed by everyone at C24, on the Nouméa Accord signed by Mr. Roch Wamitan.
“Once C24 reaches a resolution, there will be no acknowledgment that there needs to be a balance, that there needs to be impartiality from everyone because Roch Wanytan also needs to be impartial when he speaks.”
“Self-determination is a French constitutional principle and no one in the French government or the French state may deviate from this principle.
“Moreover, the right to self-determination is a core principle of the United Nations Charter.”
Vamitan also said that Paris was “hindering” the process because the Macron government was biased in the decolonization process.
Roch Wamytan in Paris in April
photo: Sousse Bouzas/AFP
“They made the democratic process unfair to the Kanak/Indigenous people of New Caledonia by maintaining a third referendum while we remain indifferent to the loss of life and mourning,” he said.
Roger Lacan disagrees.
“We had a long discussion about the referendum,” she said.
“At the time, people thought Covid wasn’t that important, so people couldn’t go out to vote, and then all of a sudden they came up with stories of mourning.
“The reason why Rochi Wamitan’s argument does not hold water is because two months later, the Senate had said there would be a one-year mourning period and after the one-year mourning period, two months later, everyone went out to vote in the national election.
“There’s a lack of consistency there.”
UN “unreasonable”
United Nations experts said this week that they “Expresses alarm at the situation of the Kanak indigenous people in the Non-Self-Governing Territory of New Caledonia”.
Veronique Roger-Lacan disagrees.
“It’s untrue, misleading, manipulative and downright dangerous,” she said.
“Let me give you an example. They say in the first paragraph ‘we are very concerned about the lack of dialogue’. There was always dialogue. We were always talking. Who did these people talk to and who did they listen to?
“Excessive use of force, first of all, just start burning everything, destroying everything. We’ll give you the numbers and then you’ll know.”
“The military is being deployed – again, there is no military. There are internal security forces.
“And there are reports that thousands of Kanaks have suffered human rights violations for participating in protests since May 24. Where did they get these reports?”
She said France would make an official statement on the release by the United Nations.
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