The French Council Of State Refuses To Rescind The Evian Agreements With Algeria

In a precedent that is the first of its kind, a French association, “The Grand Maghreb”, has written to the French Council of State asking for the Algerian-French Evian agreements to be annulled, on the basis of several considerations mentioned in a document containing the reply of the French Council of Justice, a copy of which was obtained by the daily Echorouk.
The letter states that the Algerian signatories to these agreements lacked competence and were deceived in good faith, as they were unaware of the consequences of the authorization granted to France in these agreements to carry out nuclear, chemical and bacteriological experiments, and that the agreements contained a secret annex relating to the maintenance by France of four test centers in the Sahara for a period of five years, in violation of the Geneva Convention and the principles of respect for human rights.
Among the reasons given by the French Assembly, which includes French representatives of African descent and is chaired by the French representative, Carlos Martinez Bilongo, is that the nuclear tests authorized by these agreements have led to damage to public health and pollution of animals, plants and the environment, which constitutes a continuing crime punishable under article 223-1 of the penal code.
In their application to the French Council of State, the initiators pointed out that the agreements, which were tainted by abuse of power, were intended to absolve the French authorities of their responsibility for acts committed in Algeria before and after the country’s independence.
The Council of State replied to the applicants in an official letter in which it stated that “following correspondence with the French Ministry of the Interior concerning the request, the Minister of the Interior concluded that the request was unacceptable because it was directed against government action and had been submitted late, and after having examined the other documents in the file, after having studied the Code of Administrative Justice and after having heard in plenary session the report of the State Counselor, François Weil, and the conclusions of the Rapporteur General, Sophie Roussel, who stated that these actions took place within the framework of the procedures carried out by the government with the aim of obtaining a new state inseparable from France’s international relations.
It is therefore not subject to administrative jurisdiction and has decided to reject the request because it is submitted to a court that does not have jurisdiction to consider it,” the response reads.
In a telephone statement to Echorouk, the association’s officials stressed that they would continue to fight to bring the matter before the competent authorities.