Jose Bove, Militant French farmer sentenced to prison for ripping up GMO crop

Militant French farmer sentenced to prison for ripping up GMO crop
Associated Press, Nov 15 2005
http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4121235&nav=7k7NJ1IJ

TOULOUSE, France France's highest-profile farmer and a Green Party lawmaker
were among those sentenced to prison terms today for destroying a field of
genetically modified corn planted by an Iowa company in southern France.

Jose Bove, a farmer turned anti-globalization activist, was sentenced to
four months in prison.

It was for his role in uprooting a field that belonged to Pioneer Hi-Bred
International. The company is based in Johnston.

Bove stood trial in September with eight others, including a Green Party
lawmaker and a French member of the European Parliament, both of whom
received three-month sentences.

Five other defendants were handed two-month suspended sentences.

The group attacked a G-M-O crop on July 25th, 2004 in the town of Menville.
The field, near the southern city of Toulouse, belonged to Pioneer, a
subsidiary of Dupont.

Bove and others called the act one of civil disobedience.


(Editor's note: Below is Jose Bove's statement from his 1998 trial
(http://www.semcosh.org/Jose%20Bove.htm) I believe his statement still
stands today seven years later - TW)


There is no other issue.
Following is a statement by Jose Bove, French farmer and unionist, to a
French court during a trial on charges of destroying genetically modified
maize. Bove is best known for actions against the McDonaldization of food.

The strength of our union movement rests on this determination to mobilize
free individuals who accept all the consequences of their acts...

Today, I am present in this court together with Rene Riesel and Francis
Roux, accused of committing a serious crime according to the law. The
alleged crime is: the destruction of sacks of genetically modified maize.

Yes, this is serious, and that's why I assume full responsibility. I am not
going to hide behind collective, anonymous responsibility. As a trade
unionist in the Confédération Paysanne, I believe in the ability of everyone
to act as an individual. There is no place in our trade union for a
hierarchy of responsibility. Each member of the union plays a main part in
her or his own future, and is fully engaged in this. The strength of our
union movement rests on this determination to mobilize free individuals who
accept all the consequences of their acts knowing fully the motive for them.

Yes, on January 8, I participated in the destruction of genetically modified
maize, which was stored in Novartis' grain silos in Nerac. And the only
regret I have now is that I wasn't able to destroy more of it.

I knew that by acting in this way I was doing something illegal. But it was
necessary, and we had no other choice. The way in which genetically modified
agricultural products have been imposed on European countries didn't leave
us with any alternative.

When was there a public debate on genetically modified organisms? When were
farmers and consumers asked what they think about this? Never.

The decisions have been taken at the level of the World Trade Organization
(WTO), and state machinery complies with the law of market forces. The WTO
dictates its own law on the opening of trade barriers. The obligation to
import bovine somatotropin meat from the USA is a good example of this. The
Panel of the WTO, the true policeman of world trade, decides what's "good"
for both countries and their people, without consultation or a right of
appeal.

The countries or groups of countries which refuse the importation of bovine
somatotropin meat or genetically modified products have to prove that these
are dangerous, and not the inverse! The Codex Alimentarius, the norm
dictated by the multinationals, is there to fix the rules of the game!

Why refuse something which is presented as "progress?" It's not because of
old fashionedness, or regret for the "good old days." It's because of
concern for the future, and because of a will to have a say in future
development. I am not opposed to fundamental research. I think that it would
be illusory and detrimental to want to curb it. On the other hand, I don't
think that every application of research is necessarily desirable, at the
human, social or environmental level.

The current discussion on cloning is like the one on genetic modifications.
Is everything that is possible actually desired by and gainful for people?

Today, no intelligent person can say that genetically modified maize is an
example of progress, neither for agriculture, nor for the economy. On the
other hand, the greatest concerns surrounding genetically modified maize are
equally important for human health as for nature.

Novartis' Bt maize is associated with multiple long-term risks because of
the presence of the three introduced genes. Even the director of Novartis
recognizes that a "zero risk" simply doesn't exist. Is this an admission of
powerlessness, or a way in which to cast aside his future responsibility in
case there are problems? The problems arising today with certain
agricultural practices (such as animal-based feeds, the effects on bee
populations etc.) only serve to reinforce our caution when dealing with the
sorcerer's apprentices.

The biggest danger which genetically modified maize represents, as well as
all the other GMOs, is the impossibility of evaluating the long-term
consequences of their use, and following their effects on the environment,
animals and humans.

No separation of genetically modified and non-manipulated products is
carried out. For example, non-manipulated and genetically modified soya are
actually mixed together when they arrive in France. As a result, there is no
way of tracing the genetically modified soya. There is no choice left,
neither for the producer, of which I am one, nor for the consumer, amongst
whom we all number.

This type of culture also poses a threat to the future of farmers. For some
decades productionism has served to enslave farmers. From being a producer,
the farmer has now become someone who is exploited, who can no longer decide
on her or his way of managing the land, nor freely choose her or his
techniques for this. However, a real revolution has been taking place for
the last 15 years amongst members of the Confédération Paysanne, who have
put this other type of agriculture back into action.

Either we accept intensive production and the huge reduction in the number
of farmers in the sole interests of the World Market, or we create a
farmer's agriculture for the benefit of everyone. Genetically modified maize
is also the symbol of a system of agriculture and a type of society which I
refuse to accept. Genetically modified maize is purely the product of
technology, where the means become the end. Political choices are swept
aside by the power of money.

Agriculture is a perfect illustration of this type of logic, which pervades
every facet of food production. Agricultural production has now become the
agro-industry. From the farmers who formed their small cooperatives, we have
seen a conversion to the firms who have rationalized their systems of
production in order to maximize profits on their investments. Since the
1920s, maize in the USA has been hybridized in order to oblige all farmers
to buy seeds through a trust.

The trusts merged in order to invest in new techniques, which were capable
of releasing new profits. Novartis, the world's leading pharmaceutical
group, invests billions in order to remain number one: they sell seeds,
herbicides, pesticides and medicines. But competition is strong, and as a
result of the merger which took place between two of their main competitors
last week, they have announced a plan to lay off 2000 employees in order to
assure their shareholders of the profitability of the company.

Is it this kind of logic we want? No. I reject this lurch forwards where the
aim of the economy isn't to satisfy needs, but is merely production for
production's sake, without any link to the interests of the individual or
the whole.

Do we need genetically modified maize in Europe?

No. In 1997 maize production increased yet again. It's overflowing the
silos. The European Union has to stock the excess. And who's got to pay for
this? Citizens. Who needs these new seeds? No one. It's only Novartis which
wants to get the returns on its investment and remain the number one
pharmaceutical group in the world!

By destroying the genetically modified maize seeds on January 8 at the
Novartis factory in Nerac, we wanted to put this short-sighted logic into
the spotlight.

Yes, this action was illegal, but I lay claim to it because it was
legitimate.

A democratic debate simply doesn't exist. The conspiracy of silence
organized by the companies and the sovereign states is the sole logic which
prevails. As with blood contaminated with the HIV virus, or mad cow disease,
the public mustn't be alarmed. Everything has to be allowed to continue in
silence.

By appearing before you today, I'm aware of being in breach of the law which
wants every citizen to be content with expressing her or his views by simply
putting their vote in the urn every six years.

But it's not in this way that social and economic problems are resolved --
on the contrary. Through the action which we undertook and for which we are
being judged, we kicked off a vast citizen's movement which refuses the use
of GMOs in foodstuffs for animals and for humans. These actions will stop
when this mad logic comes to a halt.

Yes, this action was illegal, but I lay claim to it because it was
legitimate. I don't demand clemency, but justice. Either we have acted in
everyone's interest and you will acquit us, or we have shaken the
establishment and in that case you will punish us.

There is no other issue.

February 3, 1998, Agen, France

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