Some one hundred and forty people participated in the general assembly of Caper 04 (Asbestos Prevention and Repair Committee) in Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).
The president of the association, René Villard, launched the session by calling on the audience to observe a minute of silence in memory of Jean-Pierre Bonnet, who died a few days ago, and the others who died in 2025.
“Jean-Pierre was a pillar of our association. During all these years of presence at the hotlines, on all the trips, whether to Digne-les-Bains or to Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, to Paris…recalled the mayor of the town, who announced that he was a candidate for re-election in the 2026 municipal elections. Jean-Pierre, we will continue the work that we have undertaken together.“
The president of the association underlined his pride in front of all the members “having carried out the action which made our management admit the harmfulness of these highly carcinogenic products that we handled in this factory (Arkema, Editor’s note). If today things have improved a lot with an awareness of the dangers and the number of victims suffering from pathologies due to these products, we deplore that asbestos still affects tens of thousands of men and women.“, he regrets.
René Villard recalled the mission of associations like Caper: to defend asbestos victims regardless of their origin, religion or skin color. “We provide the same defense and the same social coverage.”
“If today the question of anxiety damage is largely resolved, that does not mean that these problems are behind us, the fight continues,” says treasurer Gérard Benoit, noting that in 2025 Caper had 183 members, a number close to that before the action for compensation for anxiety damage which was 200.
The members of the committee expressed the actions that remain to be taken: a global ban on asbestos, more resources for justice, eradication of products containing asbestos, better information on the rights of victims – pensions and compensation -, and recognition of other pathologies such as prostate cancer.
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date:2026-02-08 10:11:00