09/05/2026

Statement by the Baku Initiative Group

The Baku Initiative Group welcomes the warning addressed to France by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination concerning the Kanak people’s right to self-determination in Kanaky (New Caledonia) and attempts to modify the electoral body. The Baku Initiative Group demands that France immediately comply with the Committee’s calls.

The position of the Baku Initiative Group is that no political or administrative change concerning Kanaky can be carried out without the consent of the Kanak people. The Committee has also confirmed this very position. This is not merely a political matter, but a fundamental requirement and right under the international law, the decolonization process, and the collective rights of indigenous peoples.

As noted in the UN Committee’s report, the Nouméa Accord established an important framework for the recognition of Kanak identity, the achievement of broader autonomy, and the ability of the Kanak people to determine their own political future. Any unilateral interference with this framework, as well as any questioning of the guarantees enshrined in the Noumea Accord, undermines the political and legal balance created by the Accord and weakens the Kanak people’s ability to freely determine their own political future.

The Baku Initiative Group strongly condemns the steps taken by France to expand the number of persons entitled to vote through settlers brought to the island from outside. Interference with the electoral body without the consent of the Kanak people must be regarded as an attempt to weaken the political will of the indigenous people, alter the demographic balance, and artificially distort the outcomes of the decolonization process.

At the same time, we support the UN Committee’s call for an independent, transparent, and effective investigation into allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force by security forces during the protests that took place in May 2024, including cases of lethal violence. Concerns regarding the transfer of Kanak human rights defenders and pro-independence activists to prisons in France’s European territory without their consent must also be carefully examined by international human rights mechanisms.

The fact that, following the appeal of the Baku Initiative Group, these issues have been raised as a matter of special concern within UN mechanisms and that a relevant warning has been issued demonstrates that the concerns raised by our organization have been taken into account at the international level and have led to a concrete response in support of the protection of the rights of the Kanak people.

France’s initiatives, advanced without taking the Kanak people into account, are a clear example of colonial governance practices that continue in the modern era. The future of the Kanaky people must not be determined through closed-door negotiations in Paris, but through the real, equal, and effective participation of the Kanak people.

Following the alternative report submitted by the Baku Initiative Group to the UN Human Rights Committee, UN mechanisms raised a number of important issues with France. These included concerns regarding the deployment to Kanaky of GIGN, France’s elite gendarmerie unit typically used in special security operations such as counter-terrorism and hostage-rescue missions; the need to independently and transparently investigate allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force in the context of the involvement of such forces; the safeguarding of judicial independence; the protection of freedom of expression and the right of peaceful assembly; and the need to investigate the causes of the escalation and report them to the United Nations.

The Baku Initiative Group calls on France to fully and without delay implement the calls of the UN Committee, respect the Kanak people’s right to self-determination, remain faithful to the decolonization spirit of the Nouméa Accord, and ensure that all political processes concerning Kanaky continue only on the basis of the free and informed consent of the Kanak people.

The Baku Initiative Group once again reaffirms its solidarity with the Kanak people in their struggle for a just and free future and calls on the international community to take a principled stance regarding France’s neocolonial policy in Kanaky.

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