(April 6, 1990) Anti-nuclear activists organized an international hunger strike to protest nuclear testing from March 5-13.
(330.3297) WISE Amsterdam - The March date was chosen because it coincides with a number of events, such as Bikini/Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day, International Women's Day, and various church organized activities throughout the month. Protests took place in Geneva (Switzerland), Stuttgart and Lausdorf (FRG), the Hague (Netherlands), Salzbourg (Austria), Magdeburg (GDR), London and Sheffield (UK), Paris, Montpellier and Quimper (France) and Papeete (Polynesia).
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Two members of Tavini Hui Raatira (Polynesian Liberation Front) Youth Committee in Tahiti, in solidarity with the international hunger fast, went to Paris to take turns fasting during the nine days of action. They were invited by the French peace movement, who remembered the Tahitian hunger strike last August. One member, Tea Hirshon, commented, "We now have support coming from the French themselves" and this support is important.
Concurrently, some Tavini Hui Raatira members took turns fasting in front of the Territorial Assembly in Papeete - while other members split into two groups to walk around the island. A petition was circulated against the European Community of 1993, which will, remind activists, absorb Tahiti-Polynesia. As one participant said, "This means that nuclear testing is not only French, but European. Independence is the only way for us to stop all this." The Tavini Huiraatira party, led by Oscar Temaru, wants to make people aware that the three issues nuclear testing, independence and the future of the European Community — are all interrelated.
Sources: Pacific News Bulletin, 2 February 1990 and 3 March 1990
Contact: Jane Prentiss, The Community of the Ark (L'Arche), 34650 Roqueredonde, France
Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (PCRC), General Co-ordination Office, P0 Box 3148, Auckland CPO, Aotearoa (Nz).