This pesticide prohibited in France in 1990 but which continued to be authorized in the banana fields of Martinique and Guadeloupe by ministerial derogation until 1993 caused significant and lasting pollution of the two islands.
Le Monde with AFP
The Paris Administrative Court condemned the State for “faulty negligence” in the chlordecone file, used as an antiparasitic in the Antilles, but rejected the requests for compensation for complainants for anxiety damage, in a Decision obtained Monday June 27 by the France-Presse agency.
“State services have committed faulty negligence, by allowing the sale of the same antiparasitic specialty containing 5 % chlordecone”, under various names, “by authorizing the continuation of sales beyond the legally deadlines provided in the event of withdrawal of homologation “, according to this decision rendered on Friday.
Chlordecone, a pesticide prohibited in France in 1990 but which continued to be authorized in the banana fields of Martinique and Guadeloupe by ministerial derogation until 1993, caused significant and lasting pollution of the two islands. More than 90 % of the adult population in Guadeloupe and Martinique is contaminated by Chlordecone, according to Public Health France.
However, the administrative court considered that “with the exception of their presence in Martinique or Guadeloupe, for at least twelve months since 1973, the applicants do not report any personal and detailed element to justify the prejudice of anxiety which they prevail “. Consequently, “the compensation conclusions presented by the applicants must be rejected”, specifies the judgment. 2> a “decisive advance”
In addition, according to the Administrative Court “the applicants are not justified in maintaining that the State would have delayed in the implementation of measures to protect populations or that the information disseminated would have been contradictory”, adds the administrative court . For m e Christophe Lèguevacques, which represents the 1,240 applicants, this decision is, however, a “decisive advance”.
“This can be used in the criminal file of chlordecone. While, so far, we had in front of us industrialists or distributors of this product which said:” I only distributed an authorized product , so you can do nothing against me “, there, we have a court which tells us that the authorizations of the 1970s were illegal and therefore are likely to lead to the responsibility of the State, but also can call into question the responsibility of distributors “, explains the lawyer.
Other procedures are currently underway, concerning the use of Chlordecone in the Antilles, including a complaint for poisoning filed sixteen years ago. However, the two investigating judges of the public health center of the Paris judicial court announced, on March 25, to communities and complainant associations their intention to close this file without pronouncing an indictment, thus directing it to a possible no -venue. M e
éguevaques intends to appeal to obtain recognition of the damage of anxiety, like what the victims of asbestos have obtained.