Bloc’s Adrar coordinator Meriem Fettati to Essalam Al-Youm: Reggane nuclear crimes, a poisoned legacy

The nuclear crimes of Reggane… a poisoned legacy!

13 February 1960: a date etched in Algerians’ memory, when France carried out its first nuclear test at Reggane in the Algerian Sahara, causing a human and environmental disaster whose effects persist to this day.

Disastrous consequences:

• nuclear radiation spreading over thousands of kilometres, causing serious illnesses and genetic deformities;
• ongoing suffering for local people from cancers and devastating skin diseases;
• contamination of water and soil that leaves the area unsafe for many years.

Justice and accountability: more than 60 years on, France still refuses to acknowledge its crimes and compensate the victims. But our voice will not be silenced, and collective memory will not be erased.

We demand:

• the full truth about these nuclear crimes;
• compensation for victims and their families for health and social harm;
• decontamination of the areas polluted by radiation.

No to erasing history, no to impunity!

Meriem Fettati, representative of the Hisn Al-Mateen Bloc Institution, affirms the Institution’s commitment to defending the rights of the victims of the Reggane explosions and to carrying their voice to national and international forums, calling for the full truth and compensation for those affected.