A new French Polynesian anti-nuclear group has decided to go to the United Nations in New York in October to raise its concerns about the aftermath of France's nuclear weapons tests.
Photo taken 06 June 2000 of part of the atoll of Mururoa, four years after the cessation of French nuclear testing. Almost all the installations that sheltered up to 3,000 people for 30 years have been dismantled , giving the natural vegetation a chance to grow again. Photo: ERIC FEFERBERG / AFP
The organisation, Association 193, has collected more than 46,000 signatures in its campaign to force a referendum in French Polynesia on whether France should compensate victims.
The group will be sending delegates at the invitation of the pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira Party.
Association 193 was formed as a Christian organisation and is not meant to be a politically affiliated group.
France, which carried out 193 nuclear tests in the South Pacific, has only accepted the compensation claims of a handful of people suffering poor health because of the tests.
A week ago, the synod of the Maohi Protestant Church decided to take France to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.