TOULON, France - December 13 - Greenpeace today ended its protest against the French Navy air carrier Clemenceau when the remaining activist came down from the ship’s mast over 25 hours after the demonstration to end dirty ship breaking in Asia began.

The protest will now continue in Paris where a coalition of human rights organisations, anti-asbestos groups and Greenpeace are continuing to pressure the government of France to take a stance against dirty ship breaking.

The groups today launched a report on the fate of 110 victims of ship breaking and of the families who now have no one to provide for them.

“Sending toxic ships to Asia for scrapping is inexcusable and unjustifiable and must end now,” said Marietta Harjono of Greenpeace International.

Negotiations for an international law against ship breaking continue in Geneva this week, as the Greenpeace activist who carried out the action that began yesterday are still being detained by local authorities.

Notes to Editors
“END OF LIFE SHIPS - the human cost of breaking ships”, December 2005. FIDH/Greenpeace (in cooperation with Young Power in Social Action, YPSA, in Bangladesh). As the report went to print, on December 3rd, three more people lost their lives in the Sagorika ship breaking yard in Bangladesh: Rofiqul Islam (33), Md Siddique (40) and Abul Kalam (35). All died of suffocation when they inhaled carbon monoxide in the lower deck of a bulk carrier called MV Star. According to local police and other sources the Star should have been made gas free for hot works before it was sent to Bangladesh for breaking.

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