Clemenceau… The ship that died. But didn’t stop killing.
Imagine you're the State of France. What do you do with a 27,000-tonne warship full of asbestos, PCBs, lead, mercury, and other toxic chemicals, which you don't want and no European country is willing or able to scrap for you? Why, you send it off to India to be broken up by hand in a scrapyard where impoverished workers are injured and die every day.
In the headlines
Even as the experts ponder technicalities, venerable judges sit behind closed doors and examine legalities, politicians take positions (or remain clueless), the toxic Clemenceau is being tugged without let or hindrance to the hellish ship-breaking yards of Alang. And if you think Greenpeace is single-handedly going to stop this warship, you’re only partly correct.
10 Greenpeace activists. 10 barrels marked toxic. 3500 Indian citizens, from eight cities across the country. All urging the minister to do the right thing and send the Clemenceau back to France until it has been decontaminated. Speak now, Minister, or forever bear the guilt of having failed to perform your responsibility towards the environment and people of India.
Here, in a very brittle nutshell, are the events of the past week.
January 15, 2006
Greenpeace today launched a postcard signature campaign to capture the groundswell of opinion among citizens against the arrival of the decommissioned French aircraft carrier Clemenceau.
January 13, 2006
Greenpeace activists who climbed the Clemenceau and chained themselves to its mast for over 30 hours, today disembarked from the aircraft carrier following the decision of the Egyptian EPA to deny the Clemenceau passage through the Suez Canal. Egyptian authorities continue to wait for documents under the Basel Framework from France and India.
What do you do when a 27,000 tonne ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’ heads towards a vulnerable target? If you are Greenpeace, you do your utmost to stop it. Early this morning our activists intercepted the Clemenceau off the coast of Egypt, calling upon the government of Egypt to support us in upholding the Basel Convention, and ensure that this toxic death-ship is left with only one way to proceed – back to France.
Early this morning, off the sleeping coast of Toulon, France, Greenpeace activists boarded the heavily-guarded Clemenceau, a once-majestic aircraft carrier that belonged to the French navy. Far away, in Orissa, India, a young widow insists, “the voice of the poor doesn’t reach far.” Yet somehow, it does. Somehow, the two are inextricably linked, across the oceans.
Special Report
This is a joint report by Greenpeace and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH), that aims to shed light on the extremely poor working and environmental conditions that are still prevailing at shipbreaking yards all over the world.
Recent Images
Greenpeace activists along with trade union leaders protesting when prevented from delivering protest bags containing harmless domestic waste to the French Embassy in New Delhi. Also seen in the picture is PK Ganguly, secretary CITU.
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Noted social activists Swami Agnivesh and Nafisa Ali speak to the media at a protest organised by Greenpeace against the toxic ship Clemenceau. Citizens and celebrities from across the country are joining Greenpeace in this protest.
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Noted social activists Swami Agnivesh and Nafisa Ali hold up bags bearing the words 'France: Your Waste Kills.' The bags, filled with garbage, will be dumped at the French embassy as a mark of protest against the toxic ship Clemenceau. Citizens and celebrities from across the country are joining Greenpeace in this protest.
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Recent Video
Action against Clemenceau
Greenpeace activists demand the aircraft carrier Clemenceau not be sent to India for dismantling. The ship is full of asbestos, PCBs, and other toxic substances which Indian workers have to dismantle and dispose of by hand, in lethally unsafe and environmentally unsound conditions.
Shipbreaking - Clemenceau action
Click here to watch the video of the action.
