US Edition'None of the Signs' – the Odd Behaviour that Gave Rainbow Warrior Bombers Away
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, JUL 09 – The 40th anniversary marks a pivotal moment highlighting ongoing Pacific nuclear concerns amid new security threats from the AUKUS pact, with 13 Pacific nations involved, experts say.
- In July 1985, French secret agents bombed the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour, killing photographer Fernando Pereira as it prepared to protest nuclear tests at Moruroa.
- The bombing aimed to stop Greenpeace's campaign against French nuclear tests, leading to the arrest of operatives Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart who gave themselves away with suspicious behavior at a campervan rental.
- Inspector Alan Galbraith described how Prieur and Mafart's odd silence and lack of usual couple signs under police surveillance confirmed their guilt and helped lead to their conviction for manslaughter.
- The attack sparked global outrage, strengthened New Zealand's nuclear-free stance enshrined in the 1987 Nuclear-Free Zone Act, and led to France's apology and reparations after international pressure.
- Today, concerns persist as New Zealand debates joining AUKUS's pillar two technology-sharing pact, with critics saying it risks undermining the region's nuclear-free principles amid rising nuclear tensions.
22 Articles
22 Articles
On 10 July 1985 French secret agents sank the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior" in New Zealand. Today it is known: the then President François Mitterrand gave the green light for the attack.
French nuclear tests in Polynesia: Decades later, victims seek justice
Exactly 40 years ago, a Greenpeace ship called the Rainbow Warrior was bombed in New Zealand, killing a photographer on board. It later emerged that the attack was carried out by France's foreign intelligence agency, the DGSE. Its aim was to stop the boat from disrupting nuclear tests being carried out off the coast of French Polynesia. Decades on from that testing, a parliamentary inquiry committee has been set up to investigate what France did…
On July 10, 1985, the French secret services ran Greenpeace's boat in the campaign against nuclear "tests" in the Pacific. The Polynesian writer Chantal T. Spitz continued to denounce the social and political trauma they had caused.
Forty years after the Rainbow Warrior bombing, activists still under attack
Forty years ago this week, the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior was sunk by two bombs planted by French secret service operatives. The bombing, which killed photographer Fernando Pereira, was intended to halt Greenpeace’s campaign against French nuclear testing at Moruroa Atoll. Instead, it galvanised the global environmental movement and left a lasting stain on France’s international reputation.
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