These are not small acrobatic mammals jumping from tree to tree.
When he asks France to take
“immediate measures”
to protect
“squirrels”
, Michel Forst points to environmental activists.
Some opponents of the A69 Castres-Toulouse motorway project climbed the trees of the ZAD of Saïx (Tarn) to prevent them from being cut down.
The UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders visited them a week ago, on Thursday February 22, 2024, after clashes between the police and activists.
On
_
_
_ of all precautionary measures essential for [their] safety and [that] of the members of the police responsible for their arrest
.
Also read: “Our monuments are victims of rape”: in the Tarn, the fight of a lord against the passage of a motorway
"Danger of death"
He also requests the opening of an
“investigation and sanctions for acts of sleep deprivation, burning of materials, lighting of fires and dumping of apparently flammable products by the police, which may have endangered the lives of the “squirrels”
.
On this point, Michel Forst gives credence to the press release of February 16 in which six associations had accused the gendarmes of having put the
“activists”
in
“danger of death”
.
Finally, he suggests to the State to ensure
“that the press and the members of the Toulouse observatory of Police Practices are authorized to carry out their work without disproportionate restriction”
.
Observers from the Toulouse Human Rights League were in fact present on site to film and photograph the action of the police.
Michel Forst makes no mention of the violent actions of the ZAD activists themselves, which the prefect of Tarn, Michel Vilbois, nevertheless mentioned during their meeting on February 23.
The special rapporteur was informed “
of the violent actions and abuses which have been committed on this land and in the surrounding area over the past ten days, by the occupants of the land
”, indicates the prefecture in a press release.
On February 18, she mentioned in particular “
150 people
” having “
violently attacked the police, targeted by Molotov cocktail jets
”.
Read alsoA69 project between Toulouse and Castres: opponents ready to fight (again)
Non-binding requests?
As UN special rapporteur, Michel Forst's role is to ensure that the rights of
"environmental defenders"
are respected, in accordance with the 2022 Aarhus Convention. His remonstrances towards France or other states have no binding scope.
They nevertheless have a certain coercive force, to the extent that States are publicly challenged by the most important international organization in Europe.
The day before the publication of these injunctions against France, Michel Forst published a statement entitled:
“State repression of environmental demonstrations and civil disobedience: a major threat to human rights and democracy”
.
Without naming any country in particular, he called on
“States”
to
“respect their commitments to limit global warming to 1.5°C”
and to take measures in the media to
“counter the narratives that present the defenders of the environment and their movements like criminals
.