What you need to know about this week of high-tension protests

In a Poitevin marsh increasingly exposed to episodes of drought, due to global warming caused by human activities, the question of sharing water resources is a hot topic. It is illustrated by mega-basin projects, denounced by activists gathered since Tuesday July 16 and until Sunday, with the aim of “to snatch a moratorium” on the construction of these water reserves, at the heart of conflicts of use.

These irrigation reserves demanded by local farmers are, for their detractors, an example of “maladaptation” likely to worsen the state of the water tables. Opponents of the projects – including Bassines Non Merci (BNM), the Soulèvements de la Terre, Attac, the Union syndicale Solidaires and the Confédération paysanne – are planning a week of discussions and actions.

To support their initiative, they highlight the support given to them by certain hydrologists, notably the collective of Scientists in Rebellion, who also disapprove of these mega-basin projects. The authorities claim to fear the “great violence” of protesters “radicalized”while a farm union is calling for a counter-demonstration.

Since the beginning of the week, 5,000 people have been checked and 400 “dangerous objects” were seized near Melle (Deux-Sèvres), the Niort prosecutor told France Inter on Wednesday, July 17. Among these objects, the police recovered knives, iron bars, axes, petanque balls, fireworks and flammable liquids.

A camp to protest against megabasins

Already guarded by 277 gendarmes, the camp of opponents of the mega-basin projects, dubbed the “water village”, will be in place until Sunday in Melle, on a ten-hectare site. Giant marquees, stands, a “megacanteen”“, a bar, camping areas, or even a “babyhood” for children… The event, initiated by 120 organizations, associations, unions and collectives, is organized around round tables, discussions and training sessions, in a festival atmosphere.

This activist meeting was born with the agreement of the municipality of Melle, already host of a similar event in March 2023. “Choosing to host this village, after the one in March 2023 which went well in Melle, was not necessarily a doubt for me”assured Friday on France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine the independent mayor of the commune Sylvain Griffault. “There is no reason, if everyone keeps their cool and calm, that it should lead to any unfortunate events whatsoever,” he added.

Because if the Melle gathering left good memories for the mayor, the demonstrations organized in parallel about fifteen kilometers away, in the commune of Sainte-Soline, gave rise to impressive scenes of violence between the police and the demonstrators in 2023.

Two unauthorized demonstrations

The mobilization of the anti-basins will not only take the form of discussions. Two “actions” were thus announced by the organizers. The first, scheduled for Friday in Saint-Sauvant (Vienne), will be held on the site of a future basin. The second will take place Saturday in front of the agro-industrial terminal of the port of La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime). Tuesday, lThe Vienne prefecture has banned “any manifestation” Friday in the town of Saint-Sauvant and its surroundings, arguing in a press release that “the latest undeclared demonstrations by these same organizers have given rise to violent excesses, with attacks on property and people, and more particularly unacceptable attacks on the police.”

However, on the side of the anti-basins coordination, the demonstrators have not “not with the intention of attacking farmers or their farms.” Accusing the prefect “to stir up fears and tensions”, The Earth Uprisings, however, maintain the opponents’ intention to participate in “a big march to obtain a moratorium” on the mega-basin projects. In May, the date of the last mobilization against these water reserves, a march organized in Puy-de-Dôme and authorized by the prefecture did not give rise to any incidents.

For its part, the prefecture of Vienne quoted by France 3 underlines that “The lack of declaration does not allow the usual exchanges between organizers and security and rescue forces“. The prefectures of Deux-Sèvres, Vienne and Charente-Maritime also deplored on Tuesday that the “representatives of the organizations (…) did not respond” to invitations issued regarding upcoming events. These prefectures “refuse any dialogue with opponents outside of a staging aimed at justifying repressive measures”, BNM retorted, promising exchanges “with the relevant prefecture services in the coming days.”

Finally, the Charente prefecture explained in a press release:remain awaiting the official declaration of the announced gatherings” Saturday, recalling that “all useful arrangements will be made in order to ensure the safety of people and property during this day“.

A counter-demonstration by the Rural Coordination, also banned

For its part, the Rural Coordination, the majority agricultural union in Vienne, called for farmers to defend themselves and announced a counter-demonstration. “peaceful and determined” Friday in Melle, “alongside the police.” However, the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres, which has for its part banned “any undeclared gathering” on its territory, had not received Tuesday afternoon “no statement” demonstration of the agricultural union.

“In any case”the prefectural decree prohibiting undeclared gatherings in the department from Friday to Sunday “applies to all organizers considering a protest rally”she concluded.

A large police presence, comparable to that deployed in Sainte-Soline

Fifteen months after the trauma of Sainte-Soline, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin presented on Monday in Niort (Deux-Sèvres) a major police force. Mobile force units will arrive “from Tuesday”, he detailed, adding that more than 3,000 gendarmes and police officers will be mobilized for the demonstrations announced for Friday and Saturday.

These are numbers comparable to those mobilised to protect the Sainte-Soline construction site, when the police, some travelling on quad bikes, fired more than 5,000 tear gas grenades in less than an hour and a half to disperse the demonstrators.

“We are expecting between 6,000 and 8,000 demonstrators, including a thousand extremely violent people, who could be described as radicalised,” he warned on Monday morning on franceinfo, fearing “acts of great violence” from protesters. “More than a hundred ultra-left activists” from neighbouring European countries have been banned from entering the country, he added.

The Human Rights League, which will deploy observers again this week, reacted by denouncing “immoderate and indiscriminate use of force” from the gendarmes and the “obstacles to rescue” injured. Facts denied by the authorities.