On Thursday, November 9, the Council of State canceled the dissolution of the Earth Uprisings. The environmentalist collective was dissolved on June 21 by the Council of Ministers, with the government denouncing the “recourse to violence” by members of the group. “A dissolution measure seriously undermines freedom of association, a fundamental principle recognized by the laws of the Republic,” the high administrative court recalled. It can therefore only be implemented to avoid serious disturbances to public order. »
According to the Council of State, “no provocation of violence against people can be attributed to the Earth Uprisings”. The relay, with a certain complacency, of images of clashes between demonstrators and the police, in particular against the construction of water reservoirs in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres), “does not constitute a demand, a valorization or justification of such actions,” insisted the Council of State.
The administrative court, however, considered that Les Soulèvements de la Terre “[had] indeed engaged in provocations and violent actions against property.” However, their dissolution did not constitute “a measure adapted, necessary and proportionate to the seriousness of the disturbances likely to cause public order”, according to her.
Movement born in the former ZAD of Notre-Dame-des-Landes
On the other hand, the Council of State validated the dissolution of three other associations: the Coordination against racism and Islamophobia (CRI), dissolved on October 20, 2021, the Alvarium, a small ultra-right group established in Angers, dissolved on November 17, 2021, and GALE (Antifascist Group Lyon and surrounding areas), dissolved on March 30, 2022.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, initiated the procedure for dissolving the Earth Uprisings on March 28, a few days after the violent clashes between gendarmes and opponents of the Sainte-Soline water reservoirs, of which the executive had blamed the movement.
Seized in August of a referral by the environmentalist collective, the Council of State suspended the dissolution decree in view of a “serious doubt” existing on the reasons given by the executive to dissolve the movement. The highest administrative court had challenged the characterization of the movement’s actions “as actions seriously disturbing public order”.
The Earth Uprisings are a young movement which demands occupation or sometimes sabotage actions in the name of defending the environment.
They were born in January 2021 in the former zone to defend (ZAD) of Notre-Dame-des-Landes (Loire-Atlantique), in order to fight “against artificialization and against agro-industrial monopolization”. After the Sainte-Soline basin and the Castres-Toulouse motorway project, they targeted the exploitation of sand in the Nantes region and the Lyon-Turin railway project.