Nice, France — The French prosecutor in New Caledonia said authorities have opened an investigation into the riots that left seven people dead and significant destruction in the Pacific archipelago, with decades of tensions between those seeking independence and those loyal to France.
Violence erupted on 13 May in response to attempts to amend the French Constitution and alter voting lists in New Caledonia. France declared a state of emergency in its Pacific territory on May 15 and rushed hundreds of troop reinforcements to help police quell the uprising that included shootings, clashes, looting and arson.
“We are interested in those who control, who led the planning and committed these abuses in New Caledonia,” said prosecutor Yves Dupas on Tuesday night in an interview with broadcaster France Info. He added that investigators are interested in anyone on the island “whatever their level of involvement or responsibility” in the riots, whether they were “perpetrators or their sponsors.”
He said authorities are investigating allegations of criminal association, criminal acts and misdemeanors.
Authorities are also investigating those suspected of violence against civilians caught up in the unrest, Dupas said. He said several New Caledonia police officers were in custody.
The seven people killed in shootings included four from the Kanak indigenous community and two police officers, Dupas said. One of the police officers was killed when a gun accidentally discharged, according to the French Interior Ministry.
The prosecutor said he did not know whether any of those killed in the riots were linked to former French football player Christian Karembeu, who said on Monday he was “in mourning” because two members of his family were shot dead during the recent violence.
Karembeu, who is Kanak and moved to mainland France when he was a teenager, was asked in an interview with French broadcaster Europe 1 whether his family members had been the target of recent violence. Karembeu, a 1998 World Cup winner with France, said: “It is true that yes, it is a murder and we hope that there will be inquiries and investigations into these murders.”
“There are four people from the Kanak community among the civilian victims,” Dupas said. “It is possible, but I cannot confirm, that some are related to Christian Karembeu.”
French President Emmanuel Macron decided on Monday to lift the state of emergency in New Caledonia to help facilitate dialogue between local parties and French authorities for the future of the archipelago with a population of 270,000 and restore peace.
Pro-independence parties and Kanak leaders have urged Macron to withdraw the electoral reform law if France wants to “end the crisis”. Opponents fear that the electoral legislation will benefit pro-French politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize indigenous Kanaks who have long pushed to free themselves from French rule amid sharp economic disparities.
New Caledonia became French in 1853 under Emperor Napoleon III, Napoleon’s nephew and heir. It became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.
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