Two bloodthirsty killers of sea turtles caught in Mayotte!
One Voice leads a nonviolent fight to defend animal rights and respect all life forms. The organization operates independently and is thus free to speak and act freely.
Two men caught in the act of killing sea turtles in Mayotte have been immediately put on trial on Monday May 27th 2019 at 2 p.m. at the Mamoudzou Criminal Court. The poachers – including a repeat offender employed by the department to protect these turtles – were filmed at night last week capturing, mutilating, butchering, then transporting two turtles. Between cruelty and the lack of means to defend these animals who are in great danger, One Voice directly questions the weakness of the law, and the lack of political will to act. We are a civil party in this case.
Editorial
May 27, 2019 at 5:00 pm
The
deliberation has just been announced: the defendants prison
sentences, the repeat offending poacher who was employed by the
Departmental Council of Mayotte to protect these turtles received 1
year, he now sleeps this evening in prison. The second had a sentence
of 6 months suspended with community work. Their two canoes have been
confiscated from them.
photo : François-Elie Paute / Oulanga na Nyamba
The killing of the two sea turtles was filmed
The
facts are serious. On the night of May 23rd
to 24th
on a Mayotte beach, two men are filmed surrounding two sea turtles,
kicking them to make them move and then stunning them. They then
butchered them with a knife while they are as it seems still alive,
to then leave the shells on the beach and take the meat in their
canoes. An endless and excruciating suffering for these two green
turtles who had come to lay their eggs on the beach.
Who protects these endangered sea turtles?
In
the world, all species of sea turtles are threatened, as also in the
French territories and oceans which have as many responsibilities.
However, in Mayotte, the poaching of green turtles reaches
frightening proportions. About 400 of them are skinned each year on
the beaches of the French islands of the Comoros archipelago. The
Mahoran association Oulanga Na Nyamba, which works to protect sea
turtles and their habitat, has no real means of acting. But how did
we manage to leave these associations alone in the face of such a
tragedy, these poor animals who disappeared in such terrible
circumstances and suffering?
One of the poachers was paid by the state to watch after the turtles!
Laws,
once published, must be enforced and it is up to the state to deploy
the means necessary to enforce them. What have we learned here? One
of the poachers, had donned the cap emblazoned with the slogan “save
the turtles”
and to top it all off, this was an employee of the departmental
council, whose role was to watch over poachers. One who would then
take advantage of this status and then to have poached for several
months! A repeat offender, we found an interview dating from 2011, in
which he was filmed with knife in hand on a beach with kilos of meat
in his canoe. Confronted by activists already reminding him of the
law, but failing to do any more. He was employed by the Departmental
Council of Mayotte after a conviction …
In
a report broadcasted by TF1, a program called “Seven to eight”
in November 2011, we can see the poacher / an employee of the
departmental council interviewed on Papani beach during one of his
nocturnal “outings”.
The Ecological Defence Council, just an empty shell
Hydrocarbons
and noise from boats, fishing, plastic, poaching, climate change,
disappearance of their habitat and breeding grounds, etc.: sea
turtles are threatened from all sides, which is why they are supposed
to be protected. For decades, successive French governments have
looked elsewhere. Today, Emmanuel Macron establishes an Ecological
Defence Council. We hope it will not be just an empty shell and that
the turtle’s alarm call will be heard. We expect strong and effective
actions, implemented quickly and for the long term.
Cruelty to free wild animals is never punished
How
can you not be disgusted, revolted when you learn the terrible fate
of these two poor turtles? Since the latter were free wild animals,
whatever the cruelty to which they are the victims of, whatever the
mutilations they have undergone, one can only file a complaint on
their behalf for infringement of a protected species, not for
unimaginable suffering they have endured. Beyond this status which,
therefore, alone, protects them (and still, so little), it is
implausible that these sensitive animals are not protected from acts
of cruelty by the current texts! Animals are not just representatives
of their species, which should just be protected as a matter of
principle. Every individual should have the right not to be
mistreated or violated!
Both poachers face jail time.
Our lawyer also represents the association Oulanga Na Nyamba at the
trial on Monday May 27th
in Mayotte. We are waiting for concrete acts from the government in
favour of animals, and a profound change in policy towards the
living. Our parliamentarians must also take their share of the
responsibility.