eryone cident between protesters and aboard in the French took place in 1985. While detention. Greenpeace was preparing to sail the vessel Four days to Mururoa, it was blown ,- i later, on Sept. 5, up in Auckland Harbour, New Zealand, by French authorities ex- French secret service agents. A crew mem- ploded a nuclear device ber, photographer Fernando Pereira, was killed French Navy with a yield of over 20 in the explosion. \\ Commandos kilotons under the la- The Rainbow Warrior was later raised storm the goon at Mururoa from Auckland Harbour, towed further up Rainbow Atoll. Although north on the New Zealand coast, and sunk in Warrior II. French President a bay there as a memorial to photographer (Drawing by Jacques Chirac Pereira. Emily Short) has said the un- Through the 1980s, Greenpeace stayed derground tests will be France's involved in nuclear protest activities in the last, international outrage at their Pacific. A new Rainbow Warrior was actions was overwhelming. launched in 1989, and it first visited Mururoa to conduct water sampling in 1990. In 1992, A long history of power vs. French President Francois Mitterrand an- protesters nounced a 12 -month moratorium on French testing, Greenpeace and the French govern- to be extended if other countries fol- lowed suit. The world ment have a long history of disagree- breathed a guarded sigh ments and ensuing altercations. of relief. France conducted its first nuclear Tensions mount tests in Algeria in 1960. Testing was again as French moved to the Pacific in 1966, with scores announce more nuke tests of atmospheric and underground tests at In early 1995, things began to heat up Mururoa and nearby Fangataufa Atolls. again when France announced it would re- In 1972, the Greenpeace sume limited nuclear testing in the Pacific. yacht Vega sailed into the Greenpeace immediately picked up the pace French test site at Mururoa. of its activities with a variety of protests. The It was rammed by French dispute between Greenpeace and the French warships and towed to government continued to escalate until the Mururoa. The next attack on the two vessels Sept. 1. year another For a month or so prior to the capture of Greenpeace vessel, the two vessels, radio listeners from Australia the , was boarded to Virginia had the unique opportunity to tune and its crew detained. in a variety of communications from and Later the Vega returned related to the Greenpeace vessels. Using rea- to the test site and its skip- sonably simple equipment, a variety of civil- per, David Mills, speaking from the vessel's radio McTaggard, ian and voice communications over HF radio was severely beaten by French room below decks, said, " ...they have pushed commandos. frequencies gave listeners a firsthand look Perhaps the most dramatic our cameraman (on the bridge) over. We and tragic in- can't see anything except the sea and somebody's feet at the moment." After a brief pause she continued, " ...I can see the bridge now...our first mate is on the bridge...I can see them tapping on the windows through the outside..." And then the connection was bro- ken. It was later learned that 19 commandos smashed communications and satellite equip- ment with sledge hammers, cut radio room cables, and ultimately took everyone aboard captive. A few hours later, a similar raid took place aboard the MN Greenpeace, when a Greenpeace helicopter allegedly flew over the test site, filmed military facilities, then landed on the vessel. Both vessels were towed The New Zealand naval vessel HMNZS Tui, with two parliament members on board, kept a to Tahiti, and French authorities placed ev- watch on the French actions against Greenpeace protest ships.

10 MONITORING TIMES December 1995

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