pacific@rainbow.net.au
Zohl de Ishtar wrote:
>
> Dear Friends of Te Ao Maohi (French Polynesia)
>
> The era of actual nuclear weapons testing in Te Ao Maohi may have come
> to an end but France maintains it's grip on the land and its people.
>
> France is dismantling its facilities on Moruroa and Fangataufa (dumping
> wastes into nearby waters) but still refuses to relinguish its political
> control over Te Ao Maohi.
>
> The Maohi people are moving for their independence (as they have done
> since France arrived in their homeislands in the 1840s).
>
> They are requesting the United Nations to re-inscribe them on the list
> of Non-Self-Governing Territories, the international community's first
> step towards independence. For this to happen the Maohi must get the
> support of the Pacific community as expressed by the South Pacific
> Forum, to be held in the Federated States of Micronesia in August 1998.
>
> They are asking the world's people who spoke out against France's
> nuclear testing program of 1995 to support them in their desire to
> become a free sovereign nation once again.
>
> You do not need to be from the Pacific region to support this initative.
>
> You might want to send another copy of the petition to your own
> government which is a member of the United Nations and therefore has a
> global responsibility to end colonisation. Or you might send copies to
> Pacific island nation governments.
>
> For now, though, please could you add your name (etc.) to this sign on
> petition and send back to:
>
> Zohl de Ishtar
> Women for a Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific, Australia
> International Peace Bureau, Oceania Representative (Female)
> PO Box 172, Annandale, NSW 2038, Australia
> <pacific@rainbow.net.au>
>
> We need your signature by 30 May so please consider sending it by return
> email.
>
> Please send copies of this email on to your friends.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Zohl de Ishtar
> Women for a Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific, Australia
> International Peace Bureau, Oceania Representative (Female)
>
> Petition follows:
>
> INDEPENDENCE AND SOVEREIGNTY FOR TE AO MAOHI
> (French Polynesia)
>
> "We seek our dignity as a people to live freely in our own land."
>
> We, the undersigned, give our support to the Maohi people of Te Ao Maohi
> (French Polynesia). We call on our governments to support the Maohi
> people's right to self-determination and independence, to discuss this
> issue at the South Pacific Forum, and call for the re-inscription of
> French Polynesia on the list of non-self governing territories, with the
> United Nations Decolonisation Committee..
>
> Signed
>
> ..................................................... (name)
>
> ..................................................... (address)
>
> ..................................................... (organisation)
>
> ..................................................... (date)