Pointed out by the Ministry of the Interior for its actions, in particular against the “mega-basin” of Sainte-Soline, at the end of March, or the weekend of June 17 against the construction of the TGV Lyon-Turin line, the movement awaits the decision of the Council of Ministers which must decide on its dissolution. However, he has many supporters.
From Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres) to La Chapelle (Savoie). For several weeks, the Earth Uprisings (SLT) have been mobilizing to denounce infrastructure projects and their harmful effects on the environment. An activism that is not to the taste of the government: Gérald Darmanin is preparing, Wednesday, June 21, to present to the Council of Ministers a decree dissolving this collective, “at the request of the President of the Republic”.
This decision comes almost three months after the opening of this procedure by the Minister of the Interior. But the collective, which has acquired a real media aura, can also count on more and more support. Franceinfo summarizes what you need to know about this movement and its disputes with the authorities.
An ecological and radical movement created in 2021
On their website, they define themselves as “young rebels”, who have “grew up with the ecological disaster in the background”, “peasants”, of the “residents in struggle attached to their territory”. According to the founding text of the Earth Uprisings, the network was officially formed in March 2021 on the ZAD of Notre-Dame-Des-Landes (Loire-Atlantique).
Behind this name, we find a gathering of various peasant and environmental organizations, left and far left, such as the Confédération paysanne, the Alternatiba or Attac associations, farms scattered all over France, researchers and a few personalities such as science fiction writer Alain Damasio.
Activists struggle “to produce healthy food, both financially accessible and guaranteeing fair remuneration”, according to their founding text. There “land issue” and the report “merchant” grounded are at the heart of their thoughts and actions. They explain to stand up against “land grabbing” by “farms (…) transformed[e]s in factories”, “soil artificialization” and fight for “an ecology without transition”. They further say do “expect nothing from States, which will not act without being forced to do so”.
Methods condemned by the government
In October 2022, during a first demonstration against “mega-basins” in Sainte-Soline, Gérald Darmanin had castigated “ecoterrorism” perpetrators of violence. On March 28, the day after another rally against this construction site in Deux-Sèvres, the Minister of the Interior had described the collective as “small group” and accused him of“business invasions”of“strong abuses against the police” and D’“calls for insurrection”. He had also castigated the action of a “ultraleft” wanting “destroy democracy”. On the same day, a note from the ministry accused the Earth Uprisings of“incite and participate in the commission of sabotage and material damage”. The collective was also accused of having “created the concept of ‘disarmament’ intended to gain acceptance for the practice of ecosabotage”.
Their action against the construction of the Lyon-Turin TGV line, which brought together between 3,000 and 5,000 people on Saturday June 17, ended again in a clash with the police, including “twelve gendarmes and police were injured”declared Monday on franceinfo the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu. The demonstration had been banned by the prefecture, a decision validated by the courts. “Every weekend the Earth Uprisings call for banned protests, it ends up with law enforcement being injured”reproached the minister.
“No cause justifies injuring police and gendarmes”, hammered Gérald Darmanin on Tuesday before the National Assembly, confirming that the decree of dissolution would be presented on Wednesday.
In addition, 14 people close to the SLTs were taken into custody on Tuesday in the investigation into an action carried out in December 2022 against the Lafarge cement factory in Bouc-Bel-Air (Bouches-du-Rhône) by climate activists. “This large-scale police operation – on the eve of the announced dissolution of the Earth Uprisings – is above all an operation of intimidation against the social movement as a whole”, reacted the collective.
A dissolution that encounters obstacles
It was the day after the events at Sainte-Soline, against the background of the 10th day of inter-union mobilization against the pension reform, that Gérald Darmanin had brandished for the first time, on March 28, the threat of dissolution. Why did it take nearly three months to implement?
Contacted by franceinfo at the end of April, the Ministry of the Interior had referred to the services of the Prime Minister. “The dissolution of an association or a de facto group is a heavy decision, it is strictly framed legally. At this stage, no decision is taken”, replied Matignon, without further explanation. Since, believe to know The echoesEmmanuel Macron pushed for the dissolution, thus putting pressure on Elisabeth Borne and her teams.
According to the SLT lawyer, this dissolution was slowed down for a time for two reasons. “The first is that they are still looking for elements to justify a dissolution which, as it stands, is illegal because it is insufficiently grounded in material and legal terms, had exposed Aïnoha Pascual to franceinfo. The second is that they realized that disbanding a movement of this magnitude made no sense.”
The collective is not a declared association and therefore has no legal existence. In a letter sent to the Ministry of the Interior on April 7 and relayed by The worldAïnoha Pascual and Raphaël Kempf, the other lawyer of the collective, had deployed their arguments: “None of the people officially declaring themselves to be Earth Uprisings, or even pointed out by your intelligence services as belonging to the said movement, has been the subject of prosecutions and convictions for facts related to the activities of the movement”, they wrote. For them, this administrative procedure “is only a diversion of a criminal procedure which would be more respectful of the rights of the defense”. Another pitfall is the horizontal organization of the collective, which makes it difficult to identify those responsible, according to Le Figaro.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Earth Uprisings denounced “a very political and particularly worrying dissolution demanded directly from the Head of State by the agro-industry and the FNSEA”. “We will go to court and believe in the possibility of a legal victory to overturn this iniquitous decision, as has been the case for other dissolutions for political reasons in recent years”, continues the text.
More and more influential supporters
SLTs can now rely on an increasingly extensive support network. From March 30, two days after the threat of dissolution brandished by Gérald Darmanin, a column signed by 300 personalities was published in The world. Monday, the day after the events at La Chapelle around Lyon-Turin, science fiction author Alain Damasio spoke on France Inter to denounce the“total, absolute aberration” what a dissolution would constitute. The writer participated in the writing of a collective work to defend the SLT: You don’t dissolve an uprising. 40 votes for the Earth Uprisings (Editions du Seuil).
“There is a real urgency to change this world”assured Alain Damasio. “If the government is no longer able to listen to these ecological arguments, it must move to a higher level of action”.
“For me it’s radical, yes, but it’s not at all violent.”
Alain Damasio, writeron France Inter
At the political level, many voices rise on the left to defend the Earth Uprisings. Green MP Sandrine Rousseau denounced on Twitter the “denial” Or “inconsistency” of such a decision. “Earth Uprising activists must be listened to. Not suppressed like the terrorists they are not”was also indignant Jean-Luc Mélenchon, in reaction to the arrests linked to the invasion of the Lafarge factory.
With the 100,000 supporters he claims – a “massive support” which has so far prevented the dissolution, he congratulates himself in a press release -, the collective promises, in the event of dissolution, “tens of thousands of people all over France” that the government “will have to stop tomorrow to maintain or reconstitute the dissolved league”. And invite “all the local committees to act of insubordination from the evening of the announcement of the dissolution by making the Earth Uprisings exist in multiple forms, and therefore if this is confirmed for June 21, during the music”.