DOCSLIB.ORG

The Rainbow Warrior Incident

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Rainbow Warrior Incident A sordid act: the Rainbow Warrior incident James Veitch provides a 25-year perspective stop the tests. Greenpeace planned to become such a nuisance that in exasperation France would stop. But France had other on the act of state terrorism that sank the ideas in mind. Greenpeace flagship. On the night of the explosion, the Rainbow Warrior was docked in Auckland Harbour. It was the flagship of five The Pacific has long been used as a nuclear testing and vessels; the others, however, would not be able to carry out dumping ground. The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior was the protests without it. On board was equipment essential France’s public demonstration of its opposition to Greenpeace to transmit pictures of French activity at Moruroa to the and that organisation’s opposition to the French nuclear Associated Press. The only unintended casualty of the attack testing programme in the Pacific. was the ship’s photographer, who operated this apparatus. He The explosions heard on 10 July 1985 at Auckland was drowned as he attempted to return to his bunk to retrieve Harbour were met with astonishment. Many were shocked his photographic equipment as the boat sank. when the news broke that behind the explosions were French Although at first France denied any involvement, it was intelligence agents. David Lange, the then Prime Minister, soon discovered that the French Minister of Defence, Charles described the incident as ‘a sordid act of international state- Hernu, had approved the assault on the vessel. It was later backed terrorism’. revealed that President François Mitterand had ‘personally The attack centred around two explosions which sunk a authorised’ the operation, as head of the Secret Service Pierre vessel docked at Marsden Wharf in Auckland Harbour at Lacoste claimed that without this consent the operation 11.50 pm on 10 July 1985. It was carried out by operatives would not have gone ahead. Alain Mafart claimed that Hernu of the French intelligence service. Direction Générale de la gave instructions for the Rainbow Warrior to be ‘sunk’ rather Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE). This was not a random act of than ‘immobilised’ to deter Greenpeace from continuing its destruction; it was the result of months of preparation. protests. On 21 September 1985 Hernu resigned and Lacoste The context for the incident can be traced to the Pacific was dismissed. On that same day, the French government being used as a nuclear testing ground since the 1940s and acknowledged its involvement. the belief of one nuclear power that it had the right to use any means to safeguard its own testing programme. As a result, Thirteen agents a strained relationship had been growing between France The DGSE employed thirteen agents to carry out different and Greenpeace; the bombing was a planned retaliation. The tasks in New Zealand. On 23 April 1985, Christine Cabon, political context of this nuclear disagreement must not be a French Army lieutenant was the first to arrive. Her task forgotten. It took place during the Cold War. was to infiltrate Greenpeace and gather information on the Greenpeace’s protest at the nuclear testing site at Moruroa movements of the Rainbow Warrior, and inform the DGSE of atoll focused world attention on France’s nuclear testing. It ways to obstruct plans for the Moruroa voyage. She introduced was a bid to raise public opposition to compel the French to herself as Frederique Bonlieu and claimed she was a scientific consultant gathering information for travel articles and friends wanting to visit New Zealand. She claimed to be writing James Veitch is a lecturer in the School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington. Research of the incident and the writing of a draft of this articles on ecological issues for the French press. Gabon’s article was undertaken by Lydia Berlad during the summer of 2009–10. infiltration assumed that whoever assigned her to this task Peter Cozens and Gary Hawke commented on an earlier version. A fully was already well informed about the activities of Greenpeace. referenced copy of this article may be obtained from the writer at jim. [email protected]. This is a shorter version of a much longer study of the In 1985, the majority of the operational membership of Rainbow Warrior incident and its implications for New Zealand. Greenpeace in New Zealand was female, so Cabon was New Zealand International Review 6 actually fixed the explosives to the vessel. In September 2006 the agent responsible was identified as Gerard Royal. He was named by his brother, Antoine, for political reasons; their sister Segolene was a candidate running as the (unsuccessful) socialist candidate in the 2007 presidential elections. The damage was extensive as it left a two by three-metre hole in the engine room and destroyed the ship’s propulsion system. After the bombs were detonated, the pieces self-destructed; their shape and size are therefore unknown. What is known is that each bomb was magnetic, the first weighing seven kilograms and the second thirteen. Prieur and Mafart were scheduled to leave New Zealand on 23 July. However, they changed their tickets to 12 July when they heard on the radio of Pereira’s death. They informed their minders in France about the complication — but the latter did not respond. At 8.30 next morning Fernando Pereira drowned on the Rainbow Warrior while attempting to salvage his photographic equipment they returned the vehicle and shortly afterwards two police officers arrived. readily accepted. She collected maps, names, numbers and Although Prieur and Mafart did not immediately confess, rates of hotels, vehicle hire firms, boat rentals and underwater their claim of being tourists had been badly conceived. When gear. She was also seen taking photos of the coast at Otama the police went through their belongings, they found that the Beach, Whitianga and Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel couple had not taken a single photo, bought a single souvenir peninsula just south of Auckland. or sent a postcard to anyone. Agents Xavier Maniguet, Roland Verge, Jean-Michel Barcelo and Gerald Andries hired the boat Ouvéa in New Legal action Caledonia to transport the explosives. The crew were to On 23 July Mafart and Prieur were arrested and charged with make no secret of their presence in New Zealand in order, conspiracy to commit arson, wilfully damaging the Rainbow if necessary, to divert police attention so that the agents Warrior and murdering Fernando Pereira. A hundred police responsible for the bombing could escape. The crew passed officers were involved at the height of the operation. the explosives to agents Alain Mafart and Dominique After Prieur contacted the DGSE and informed them of Prieur at the Hinemoa Hotel in Helensville on 8 July. The the situation, she was instructed to contact Russell McVeagh explosives were given the next day to the team carrying out and request assistance; Gerard Curry took on their case. the detonation. On the night of the bombing, there was a As soon as it was confirmed that France was involved. New party on board the Rainbow Warrior which another French Zealand sought compensation for damages. It was made clear agent François Verlet attended posing as a guest. that they wanted the case against Mafart and Prieur dealt with by the New Zealand courts. This issue posed difficulties Three teams for the two governments, mainly because the French claimed Although there were three teams of French agents working that the innocence of the agents lay in the fact that they were on different projects and concurrently planning to sabotage doing what they were employed to do — carry out military the Rainbow Warrior, the New Zealand police only managed orders. New Zealand saw this as a breach of international to arrest Alain Mafart and Dominique Prieur. They were law and a serious crime under New Zealand law, therefore disguised as a Swiss couple holidaying as tourists in New justifying a suitable sentence. The release of the agents to the Zealand but were in reality responsible for the logistical side of French government was not acceptable to New Zealand. the operation. After the bombing, the two were spotted acting In the Auckland District Court on 4 November, in an suspiciously by a neighbourhood watch group; one member appearance that took less than an hour, the two agents on of the group noted the license number of their vehicle and a advice from France pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of report was made to the police. The agents were caught only manslaughter and wilful damage. Solicitor-General Paul because the police subsequently warned the rental company Neazor outlined the case and explained the reason for the of the license number and gave instructions that they were to lesser charge. Journalists were taken by surprise at the plea be phoned when the van was returned. and the speed with which the matter was settled. The plea to a There was at the time much speculation as to who lesser charge of manslaughter and not murder was supported The 1985 Rainbow Warrior incident gripped the imagination of New Zealanders. Never before had a country carried out such an action on New Zealand soil. The incident and the way in which its after- math unfolded became a lesson for the New Zealand government. The fact that the French govern- ment saw the incident in a very different light brought New Zealand abruptly into the grey and often murky confusions of international diplomacy. The incident helped to firmly establish New Zealand as an anti-nuclear state; this had the unfortunate implication of putting New Zealand further off side with its valuable ally the United States.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Considering the Creation of a Domestic Intelligence Agency in the United States
    HOMELAND SECURITY PROGRAM and the INTELLIGENCE POLICY CENTER THE ARTS This PDF document was made available CHILD POLICY from www.rand.org as a public service of CIVIL JUSTICE the RAND Corporation. EDUCATION ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT Jump down to document6 HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit NATIONAL SECURITY research organization providing POPULATION AND AGING PUBLIC SAFETY objective analysis and effective SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY solutions that address the challenges SUBSTANCE ABUSE facing the public and private sectors TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY around the world. TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE Support RAND WORKFORCE AND WORKPLACE Purchase this document Browse Books & Publications Make a charitable contribution For More Information Visit RAND at www.rand.org Explore the RAND Homeland Security Program RAND Intelligence Policy Center View document details Limited Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law as indicated in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for non-commercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions. This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND mono- graphs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior: Responses to an International Act of Terrorism
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NECTAR Journal of Postcolonial Cultures and Societies ISSN No. 1948-1845 (Print); 1948-1853 (Electronic) The sinking of the rainbow warrior: Responses to an international act of terrorism Janet Wilson Introduction: the Rainbow Warrior Affair The Rainbow Warrior affair, an act of sabotage against the flagship of the Greenpeace fleet, the Rainbow Warrior, when berthed at Marsden wharf in Auckland harbour on 10th July 1985, dramatised in unprecedented ways issues of neo-imperialism, national security, eco-politics and postcolonialism in New Zealand. The bombing of the yacht by French secret service agents effectively prevented its participation in a Nuclear Free Pacific campaign in which it was to have headed the Pacific Fleet Flotilla to Moruroa atoll protesting French nuclear testing. Outrage was compounded by tragedy: the vessel’s Portuguese photographer, Fernando Pereira, went back on board to get his camera after the first detonation and was drowned in his cabin following the second one. The evidence of French Secret Service (Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure or DGSE) involvement which sensationally emerged in the following months, not only enhanced New Zealand’s status as a small nation and wrongful victim of French neo-colonial ambitions, it dramatically magnified Greenpeace’s role as coordinator of New Zealand and Pacific resistance to French bomb-testing. The stand-off in New Zealand –French political relations for almost a decade until French bomb testing in the Pacific ceased in 1995 notwithstanding, this act of terrorism when reviewed after almost 25 years in the context of New Zealand’s strategic and political negotiations of the 1980s, offers a focus for considering the changing composition of national and regional postcolonial alliances during Cold War politics.
    [Show full text]
  • France in the South Pacific Power and Politics
    France in the South Pacific Power and Politics France in the South Pacific Power and Politics Denise Fisher Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Fisher, Denise, author. Title: France in the South Pacific : power and politics / Denise Fisher. ISBN: 9781922144942 (paperback) 9781922144959 (eBook) Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: France--Foreign relations--Oceania. Oceania--Foreign relations--France. France--Foreign relations--New Caledonia. New Caledonia--Foreign relations--France. Dewey Number: 327.44095 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2013 ANU E Press Contents Acknowledgements . vii List of maps, figures and tables . ix Glossary and acronyms . xi Maps . xix Introduction . 1 Part I — France in the Pacific to the 1990s 1. The French Pacific presence to World War II . 13 2. France manages independence demands and nuclear testing 1945–1990s . 47 3 . Regional diplomatic offensive 1980s–1990s . 89 Part II — France in the Pacific: 1990s to present 4. New Caledonia: Implementation of the Noumea Accord and political evolution from 1998 . 99 5. French Polynesia: Autonomy or independence? . 179 6. France’s engagement in the region from the 1990s: France, its collectivities, the European Union and the region .
    [Show full text]
  • An International Crimes Court: Further Tales of the King of Corinth
    AN INTERNATIONAL CRIMES COURT: FURTHER TALES OF THE KING OF CORINTH Jose A. Baez* On November 14, 1989, United States Representative Jason Abrams delivered the United States response to Agenda Item 152 to the General Assembly: "Nevertheless, my delegation must confess that its enthusiasm for the proposal to create an international criminal court is tempered by several serious questions regarding the feasibility and usefulness of such a court. In this connection. ... we wish to remind the Committee that the creation of an international criminal court is an idea with a long, and largely disappointing history."' An examination, however cursory, of the efforts to create an international ' 2 criminal tribunal reveals a struggle similar to that of Homer's "Sisyphus" and his effort to roll a rock up to the top of a mountain. According to Greek mythology, Sisyphus, the King of Corinth, was condemned by the gods to eternally roll a heavy rock up a steep mountain, "whence the stone would fall back of its own weight,"3 making Sisyphus's ordeal both futile and unending. For his part, Sisyphus does not cease from his endeavor and continues to go back to the bottom to start anew. For the better part of this century there have been efforts to establish an international crimes court. Since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials in 1945 and 1946, there have been several proposals for both an international crimes * Judicial Law Clerk, Hon. Theodore McMillian, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. LL.M. Georgetown University Law Center, 1992; J.D. Saint Louis University School of Law, 1991.
    [Show full text]
  • Has Become the "4Th Terrorist Country"
    This is the resting place of the initial flagship of the International Environment Organization "The Rainbow Warrior " of Greenpeace , it was blown -up by two agents of the French DGSE . The rest is publish below, that is just one of their acts that they w ere caught with the hands in the cookie jar, the other occasion that France was caught with her hands in the cookie-jar was in the assassination of the two African presidents, the Ex -Rwanda P resident, Juvenal Habyarimana , and the Ex - President of Burundi Cyprien Ntaryamira both were shot-down while they were returning trying to land on their way back from an African reunion of heads of state, that makes two occasions that France has done terrorist acts throughout the world, that makes France the first terror ist country in the CEE , than comes Belgium with her issues in the 90’s , in 2004 Spain has joined them -up, and in 2005, the United Kingdom has become the "4th Terrorist Country " in the CEE !. "The Rainbow Warrior ", flagship of the International Greenpeace Environment Organisation, sailed into Waitemata Harbor on Sunday 7th of July 1985 to join other vessels on a protest voyage to the nuclear test site at Mururoa Atoll. The following is a chronological account of the developments in that affair :- 23.4.85 Christine Huguette Cabon , aged 33 , a Lieutenant in the French Army and working for the DGSE , arrived in Auckland under the name of Frederique Bonlieu with orders to infiltrate the Greenpeace Organization. She carried out that task and gained a considerable amount of information about the proposed berthing arrangements for the visit of "The Rainbow Warrior ".
    [Show full text]
  • France in the South Pacific Power and Politics
    France in the South Pacific Power and Politics France in the South Pacific Power and Politics Denise Fisher Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Fisher, Denise, author. Title: France in the South Pacific : power and politics / Denise Fisher. ISBN: 9781922144942 (paperback) 9781922144959 (eBook) Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: France--Foreign relations--Oceania. Oceania--Foreign relations--France. France--Foreign relations--New Caledonia. New Caledonia--Foreign relations--France. Dewey Number: 327.44095 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2013 ANU E Press Contents Acknowledgements . vii List of maps, figures and tables . ix Glossary and acronyms . xi Maps . xix Introduction . 1 Part I — France in the Pacific to the 1990s 1. The French Pacific presence to World War II . 13 2. France manages independence demands and nuclear testing 1945–1990s . 47 3 . Regional diplomatic offensive 1980s–1990s . 89 Part II — France in the Pacific: 1990s to present 4. New Caledonia: Implementation of the Noumea Accord and political evolution from 1998 . 99 5. French Polynesia: Autonomy or independence? . 179 6. France’s engagement in the region from the 1990s: France, its collectivities, the European Union and the region .
    [Show full text]
  • International Law 2017
    Welcome to International Law! Many of the readings will be drawn from INTERNATIONAL LAW: NORMS ACTORS PROCESS DUNOFF, JEFFREY DUNOFF, STEVEN R. RATNER (4TH EDITION). [DRW] The casebook is accompanied by an important website: https://www.law.umich.edu/facultyhome/drwcasebook/Pages/Documents.aspx Readings for the first week are in the attached package Part I – Sources of International Law and the International Legal System 1. Resolving Disputes Peacefully (Jan 10) The Chad-Libya War and the Rainbow Warrior (scanned pages 3-5 (including Levi), 7-8 (Grotius extract), 10-24 (including Notes and Questions) ICJ Statute, arts 3.1, 13.1, 31.1-31.3, 34, 36.1-36.3 2. Concluding a Treaty (Jan 11) Cyprus Problem – Part I (scanned pages 35-52) 3. Interpreting a Treaty (Jan 12) Vienna Convention, Article 31 Cyprus Problem – Part II (scanned pages 52-68) 1 Tracing the Evolution of International Law Through Two Problems I. THE CHAD-LIBYA WAR OVER THE AOUZOU STRIP In the middle of the Sahara desert lies a narrow area of barren land known as the Aouzou Strip. Sparsely inhabited by a few thousand members of the nomadic Toubou people, the Strip sits on the border between Libya and Chad. The Strip’s dimensions are defined not by nature but by humans: the Strip represents the core area of disagreement between the claims of Libya as to the location of its southern border and the claims of Chad as to the location of its northern border. The Strip has virtually no economic potential to either Chad or Libya, either on its surface or below; nor has either state seen the Strip as having any military or strategic value, given its isolation from population centers and its inhos- pitable climate.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rainbow Warrior Bombers, the Media and the Judiciary David Robie
    The Rainbow Warrior bombers, the media and the judiciary David Robie Abstract In July 1985, the Greenpeace environmental flagship Rainbow Warrior was moored in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour, about to embark on a protest campaign voyage against French nuclear testing at Moruroa Atoll in French Polynesia. Secret agents of the French external intel- ligence service DGSE planted two limpet mines on the ship’s hull on the night of July 10, sinking it and killing Portuguese-born photojournalist Fernando Pereira. Two of the secret agents were arrested on July 12 during an exhaustive police investigation. The Rainbow Warrior affair, involving state terrorism by a friendly nation, became iconic in New Zealand history because it highlighted NZ opposition to nuclear test- ing in the Pacific. New Zealand High Court closed circuit television (CCTV) footage of the criminal proceedings showed the two French agents – Major Alain Mafart and Captain Dominique Prieur – pleading guilty to manslaughter after being charged with murder. During the next two decades, five separate attempts were made to gain legal access to the videotape for news and current affairs programs. For the first four attempts, lawyers acting for Mafart and Prieur succeeded in blocking public release of the footage on privacy and administration of justice grounds. However, the fifth attempt, by state-owned public broadcaster Television New Zealand, was finally successful in the Court of Appeal and the footage was broadcast on August 7, 2006. A further appeal to the Supreme Court by the agents was dismissed. This article analyses a case study of the 20-year struggle to broadcast this historic footage and how a remarkable triumph in the public right to know was achieved and balanced against privacy values.
    [Show full text]
  • Asean Features Towards an Asean Counter-Terrorism
    (2005) 9 SYBIL 157–189 © 2005 Singapore Year Book of International Law and Contributors ASEAN FEATURES TOWARDS AN ASEAN COUNTER-TERRORISM TREATY ∗ ∗∗ by GREGORY ROSE and DIANA NESTOROVSKA The benefits for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members of a regional treaty to combat terrorism include improved coordination in mutual legal assistance and harmonisa- tion of best practice legal approaches. The conceptual framework for a common definition of terrorism is set out in this paper. Precedent regional and multilateral treaties are analysed into legal formulae and their components, such as obligations to indict or to extradite, to provide mutual legal assistance, and to build regional implementation capacity, are assessed as potential models for inclusion in an ASEAN regional treaty. The paper concludes by considering ASEAN progress in adopting cooperative mechanisms to combat terrorism thus far. I. INTRODUCTION What might be the benefit of a regional counter-terrorism treaty to ASEAN Member States? The answer lies in modern terrorism’s transnational dimension.1 It typically involves crim- inal actions across national borders that require international cooperation to combat them. Harmonisation of relevant national laws across those borders can facilitate enforcement cooperation and best national practice. The objective of this paper is to consider the elements that should be included in an ASEAN regional treaty to combat terrorism. Examples of such elements are: national adoption of common terms and definitions, obligations to indict or to extradite, and recip- rocal provisions governing mutual legal assistance and punishment. It examines ways a regional treaty might promote harmonised definition, application and enforcement of national counter-terrorism laws.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
    Student 5: Low Achieved Event: The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior [1] Causes of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior There were many causes of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985. In August 1 945 the US used the atomic bomb for the first time against Japan by bombing the cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. This caused the war to end, however after the war Britain, France and the Soviet Union started up their own nuclear programmes in order to defend themselves if they were ever attacked. The Cold War between America and the Soviet Union led to an arms race in the 1970s and 1980s. New Zealand was not against nuclear testing until the late 1950s. New Zealand Prime Minister in 1972, Norman Kirk requested the French to stop testing and this led to New Zealand taking France to the World Court at The Hague in 1973. France didn't even show up, therefore New Zealand won and France had to stop testing. However the French ignored this and kept testing. Instead France started doing underground testing instead. In 1972 Rob Muldoon had allowed US ships to visit New Zealand despite previously expressing that he was against nuclear weapons. On the 4th of February 1985 the New Zealand government did not allow an American naval ship (that was not said whether it was nuclear powered or armed) to dock in New Zealand. As a result of this New Zealand and America's relationship deteriorated. All of these causes led up to the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior.
    [Show full text]
  • Revisiting French Terrorism in the Pacific: Rainbow Warrior Bombing
    NUCLEAR TERRORISM REVISITING FRENCH TERRORISM IN THE PACIFIC Rainbow Warrior bombing France’s sabotage of the Rainbow Warrior more than two decades ago hogged newspaper headlines during the anniversary last year. But little coverage was given to the actual cause of the bombing – nuclear testing in the South Pacific and the impact on Pacific Islanders. The Rongelapese and Tahitians still suffer from the legacy of decades of American and French nuclear tests. DAVID ROBIE looks at the hypocrisy behind this sordid act of state terrorism in a New Zealand port. leading nuclear-free and pro- independence politician, Oscar Manutahi Temaru, would emerge as the territory’s new president, ushering in a refreshing “new order” with a commitment to pan-Pacific relations. Although independence is nominally off the agenda for the moment, far- reaching changes in the region are inevitable and Temaru rattled Paris in March 2006 when he made a speech in the Cook Islands openly advocating independence for Tahiti Nui. FRANCE AS TERRORIST COUNTRY But traditional Gallic military arrogance was again exposed in The Rainbow Warrior at Marsden Wharf after the bombing. January this year (2006) when Photo Gil Hanly President Jacques Chirac threatened to use nuclear weapons against any A YEAR after Eyes of Fire was This paranoid drama over my country that carried out a state- originally published, in January reporting of the militarisation of East sponsored terrorist attack against it. 1987 and two months before the Fiji Coast villages in an attempt by French During his missile-rattling defence The irony seemed military coup, I was authorities to harass and suppress of the 3 billion euros-a-year nuclear arrested at gunpoint supporters of Kanak independence strike force, he said the target was not lost on Chirac by French troops near featured on the front page of the “fanatical terrorists” but states that that the only the New Caledonian New Zealand Sunday Times and Les used “terrorist means” or “weapons village of Canala.
    [Show full text]
  • The Greenpeace Affair
    38 The Greenpeace Affair On July 10, 1985 two bombs ex• the wake of the murderous assault in Mururoa in the French Pacific ploded under the hull of the Rain• the Auckland harbour, therefore, it region of Polynesia to test and bow Warrior anchored in the har• was not immediately evident which perfect its nuclear weapons. Until bour of Auckland, New Zealand, hand was behind the explosions. The 1975 France continued to conduct killing a photographer of Portugese U.S., certainly, was a likely culprit atmospheric testing. Since that time origin, Fernando Pereira. as was Great Britain, which is scores of underground tests have The Rainbow Warrior was the Greenpeace's official homebase, taken place, each one weakening flagship of a "fleet" belonging to and where it is considered an em- further the volcanic bedrock of the the international organisation barassment by the Thatcher govern• island and threatening to send the Greenpeace—a group of pacifists ment. Even the Soviet Union, whole island and the accumulated and ecologists based mainly in the despite its efforts to use some of pollution drifting off into the imperialist countries who for fifteen Greenpeace's campaigns for pro• Pacific. years have been protesting, often at paganda purposes, has had some For these reasons Greenpeace has considerable danger, the testing and serious conflicts with the organisa• continually struggled against the deployment of nuclear weapons as tion in the past: in 1982 a flotilla had French nuclear testing at Mururoa, well as taking up other causes of a sailed into a Soviet testing zone in provoking brutal reaction by more specifically environmental the Kamchatka area—near the same French authorities.
    [Show full text]