International conference on French colonial policy wraps up in Baku UPDATED

An international conference "Neocolonialism: violation of human rights and injustice" organised by the Baku Initiative Group ended in Baku on October 20.

Representatives of 14 countries and maritime territories held under colonial control by France, as well as Corsica, took part in the conference, APA reports.

The program of the international conference included speeches by participants on the situation in the territories they represent, France's gross interference in the internal affairs of states in its former colonies, France's gross violation of human rights in its current colonies, as well as broad discussions by participants on the topic of decolonization.

The conference also showcased a photographic exhibition of the brutal torture and human rights violations against the local population in France's former colonies.

Speaking at the conference, Jean-Jacob Bissep of the People's Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe said that сolonialism must end.

"For four centuries we have been living under the pressure of France. Our country, since the period of colonisation by France, has been fighting for its rights. The French in our countries and our youth suffer from unemployment. We constantly organise rallies in the name of our freedom to be heard and because of this, we are imprisoned. We continue to fight against French colonialism. We have suffered a lot from French injustice," he said.

"France has a negative impact on many areas of our lives," the representative of the Martinique Freedom Party, Luc Francis Carol, said. 

"The policy of colonialism has a great impact on our economy. All our agricultural products are sent to France. It also affects our culture today. We ask for our language to be equal to French and we want to communicate in our mother tongue. Our organisation, like many others, is fighting to end this injustice. France must know that it has had a great impact on our lives," he stated while speaking at the conference.

We have been expelled by France from territories we have inhabited for thousands of years, Carol said.

He noted that French colonialism continues to this day: "While we are debating in Baku, human lives continue to be endangered."

Luc Francis Carol also thanked the Azerbaijani state for its support: "I am grateful to Azerbaijan for its efforts. These days we have the opportunity to talk about neo-colonialism in Africa. We were expelled by France from territories that we inhabited for thousands of years. Millions of people have been deported to South and North America. Today, the poorest people in America are from Africa because they were deported to America. And the French state doesn't want to deal with our problems."

The Baku Initiative Group was established on 6 July 2023 in Baku by participants of the conference "Total Elimination of Colonialism" within the framework of the Ministerial Meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement chaired by Azerbaijan.

BIG supports the struggle for freedom of the peoples of different regions of the world still suffering from colonisation in the 21st century.