The
sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, codenamed
Opération Satanique, was an operation by the
"action" branchThe Division Action is the action service of the DGSE, responsible for planning and performing clandestine operations. It also fulfills other security-related operations such as testing the security of nuclear power plants and military facilities such as the submarine base of the Île Longue,...
of the French foreign intelligence services, the
Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE), carried out on July 10, 1985. It aimed to sink the
flagshipA flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
fleet, the
Rainbow Warrior in the port of
AucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, to prevent her from interfering in a nuclear test in
MoruroaMoruroa , also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean...
.
Fernando PereiraFernando Pereira was a freelance Dutch photographer, of Portuguese origin, who drowned when French intelligence used two underwater mines to sink the ship Rainbow Warrior, owned by the environmental organisation Greenpeace on July 10, 1985 .The bombing of the boat had been designed to make the ship...
, a photographer, drowned on the sinking ship. Two French agents were arrested by the
New Zealand PoliceThe New Zealand Police is the national police force of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand...
on
passportA passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
fraud and
immigrationImmigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
charges. They were charged with
arsonArson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
,
conspiracyIn the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to commit arson, willful damage, and
murderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
. As part of a plea bargain, they pleaded guilty to
manslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
and were sentenced to ten years in prison, of which they served just over two.
The scandal resulted in the resignation of the French Defence Minister
Charles HernuCharles Hernu was a French socialist politician, most notably serving as Minister of Defence from 1981 to 1985, until forced to resign over the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand.-Biography:In 1946, Hernu studied at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium where he...
.
Background
In the 1980s, the
Commissariat à l'Énergie AtomiqueThe Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
was developing nuclear warheads for the
M4The M4 was a French Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile deployed on the nuclear Le Redoutable class submarines They entered service on the 1 May 1985...
SLBM, which were tested in underground explosions in the
French PolynesiaFrench Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
n
atollAn atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
of
MoruroaMoruroa , also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean...
.
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
was opposed to testing and planned to lead
yachtA yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
s to the atoll to protest, including an illegal incursion into French military zones. The
Rainbow Warrior had not previously visited
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, but
David LangeDavid Russell Lange, ONZ, CH , served as the 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. He headed New Zealand's fourth Labour Government, one of the most reforming administrations in his country's history, but one which did not always conform to traditional expectations of a...
's
New Zealand Labour PartyThe New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
government opposed nuclear weapons development and had banned nuclear-armed or powered ships from New Zealand ports. (As a consequence the United States was in the process of withdrawing from its
ANZUSThe Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty is the military alliance which binds Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States to cooperate on defence matters in the Pacific Ocean area, though today the treaty is understood to relate to attacks...
mutual defence treaty obligations.)
The French government decided that in order to stop the planned protest, the Greenpeace flagship would have to be sunk.
Operation Satanique would seek to disable the
Rainbow Warrior while it was docked, while trying to prevent any casualties. Twenty years after the incident, a report by the then head of French intelligence said that the attack was authorized by French President
François MitterrandFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
.
Sinking of the ship
Agents had boarded and examined the ship while it was open to public viewing. DGSE agent
Christine CabonChristine Cabon is a French military officer best known for her part in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior.Cabon, then aged 33, a Lieutenant in the French Army and working for the DGSE, infiltrated the Greenpeace under the name of "Frederique Bonlieu" to gain information about the proposed berthing...
, posing as environmentalist Frederique Bonlieu, volunteered for the Greenpeace office in Auckland. Cabon secretly monitored communications from the
Rainbow Warrior, collected maps, and investigated underwater equipment, in order to provide information crucial to the sinking. After the necessary information had been gathered, two DGSE divers beneath the
Rainbow Warrior attached two limpet mines and detonated them 10 minutes apart. The first bomb went off 11:38 P.M., creating a large hole about the size of an average car. Agents intended the first mine to cripple the ship so that everybody would be evacuated safely off when the second mine was detonated. However, the crew did not react to the first explosion as the agents had expected. While the ship was initially evacuated, some of the crew returned to the ship to investigate and film the damage. A
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
-
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
photographer,
Fernando PereiraFernando Pereira was a freelance Dutch photographer, of Portuguese origin, who drowned when French intelligence used two underwater mines to sink the ship Rainbow Warrior, owned by the environmental organisation Greenpeace on July 10, 1985 .The bombing of the boat had been designed to make the ship...
, returned below decks to fetch his camera equipment. At 11:45 P.M., the second bomb went off. Pereira drowned in the rapid flooding that followed, and the other ten crew members were either safely evacuated on the order of Captain
Peter WillcoxPeter Willcox is a Greenpeace activist best known for being captain of the ship the Rainbow Warrior when it was bombed by French agents.-Early years:...
or were thrown into the water by the second explosion. The
Rainbow Warrior sank four minutes later.
Scandal
Operation
Satanique was a
public relationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
disaster. France, being an ally of New Zealand, initially denied involvement and joined in condemnation of a
terroristTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
act.
After the bombing, a
murderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
inquiry was started by the
New Zealand PoliceThe New Zealand Police is the national police force of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand...
. Most of the agents escaped New Zealand but two, Captain
Dominique PrieurDominique Prieur is a French military officer who was convicted of manslaughter over her part in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior....
and Commander
Alain MafartAlain Mafart is a French military officer best known for his part in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior.Mafart was a DGSE agent and deputy commander of the French Navy Training Centre in Corsica...
– posing as married couple 'Sophie and Alain Turenge' and having
Swiss passportA Swiss passport is a document known as the passport of the Swiss Confederation.Swiss passports are issued to citizens of Switzerland to facilitate international travel. For traveling inside the European community, Swiss citizens can use an identity card.-History of Swiss passports :The first Swiss...
s – were identified as possible suspects by the New Zealand Police after it had pieced together statements by witnesses. The pair was subsequently arrested after being reported by a Neighbourhood Watch group. Both were questioned and investigated, and their true identities were uncovered, along with the French government's responsibility. Both agents pleaded guilty to
manslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
and were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on November 22, 1985.
France threatened an economic embargo of New Zealand's exports to the
European Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
if the pair were not released. Such an action would have crippled the New Zealand economy, which was dependent on agricultural exports to Britain.
In June 1986, in a political deal with
Prime Minister of New ZealandThe Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
David LangeDavid Russell Lange, ONZ, CH , served as the 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. He headed New Zealand's fourth Labour Government, one of the most reforming administrations in his country's history, but one which did not always conform to traditional expectations of a...
and presided over by
United Nations Secretary-GeneralThe Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
Javier Pérez de CuéllarJavier Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully...
, France agreed to pay NZ$13 million (USD$6.5 million) to New Zealand and apologise, in return for which
Alain MafartAlain Mafart is a French military officer best known for his part in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior.Mafart was a DGSE agent and deputy commander of the French Navy Training Centre in Corsica...
and
Dominique PrieurDominique Prieur is a French military officer who was convicted of manslaughter over her part in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior....
would be detained at the French military base on
Hao atollHao, or Haorangi, is a large coral atoll in the central part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Because of its shape, French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville named it Harp Island....
for three years. However, the two agents had both returned to France by May 1988, after less than two years on the atoll. Mafart returned to Paris on December 14, 1987 for medical treatment, and was apparently freed after treatment. He continued in the French army and was promoted to colonel in 1993. Prieur returned to France on May 6, 1988 because she was pregnant, her husband having been allowed to join her on the atoll. She, too, was freed and later promoted. The removal of the agents from Hao without subsequent return was ruled to be in violation of the 1986 agreement.
Three other agents, Chief Petty Officer Roland Verge, Petty Officer Bartelo and Petty Officer Gérard Andries, who sailed to New Zealand on the yacht
OuvéaOuvéa, named after Ouvéa Island, was the name of a yacht used by three DGSE agents to import the naval mines used to sink the Greenpeace protest yacht Rainbow Warrior in 1985, killing photographer Fernando Pereira. The Ouvea was sailed to Norfolk Island after the bombing, from where one of the...
, were captured by Australian police on
Norfolk IslandNorfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
, but released as Australian law did not allow them to be held until the results of forensic tests came back. They were then picked up by the French
submarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
RubisThe Rubis is a first-generation nuclear attack submarine of the French Navy, named after the French submarine Rubis which distinguished herself during the Second World War....
, which scuttled the
Ouvéa.
A sixth agent, Louis-Pierre Dillais, commander of the operation, was never captured and never faced charges. He acknowledged his involvement in an interview with New Zealand State broadcaster TVNZ in 2005.
A commission of enquiry headed by Bernard Tricot cleared the French government of any involvement, claiming that the arrested agents, who had not yet pleaded guilty, had merely been spying on Greenpeace. When
The TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and
Le MondeLe Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
claimed that President Mitterrand had approved the bombing, Defence Minister
Charles HernuCharles Hernu was a French socialist politician, most notably serving as Minister of Defence from 1981 to 1985, until forced to resign over the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand.-Biography:In 1946, Hernu studied at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium where he...
resigned and the head of the DGSE, Admiral Pierre Lacoste, was fired. Eventually,
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
Laurent FabiusLaurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
admitted the bombing had been a French plot: On 22 September 1985, he summoned journalists to his office to read a 200 word statement in which he said: "The truth is cruel," and acknowledged there had been a cover-up, he went on to say that "Agents of the French secret service sank this boat. They were acting on orders."
Aftermath
In the wake of the bombing, a flotilla of private New Zealand yachts sailed to Moruroa to protest against the French test.
French nuclear tests in the Pacific were halted, although a further series of tests was conducted in 1995. In 1987, under international pressure, the French government paid $8.16 million to
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
.
The
Rainbow Warrior was refloated for forensic examination. She was deemed irreparable and scuttled at 34.9748°N 173.9349°W in
Matauri BayMatauri Bay is a bay in New Zealand, situated 30 km north of Kerikeri, in Whangaroa county, just north of the Bay of Islands. It has over a kilometre of beautiful white sand and crystal clear water...
, near the
Cavalli IslandsThe Cavalli Islands are a small group of islands in Whangaroa on Northland's East Coast in northern New Zealand. They lie to the east of Matauri Bay on the mainland....
, on 2 December 1987, to serve as a dive wreck and fish sanctuary. Her masts had been removed and put on display at the Dargaville Maritime museum.
The failure of its Western allies, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, to condemn what could be considered an
act of war is a Latin expression meaning the justification for acts of war. means "incident", "rupture" or indeed "case", while means bellic...
on New Zealand by France caused a change in foreign and defence policy. New Zealand distanced itself from its traditional ally, the United States, and built relationships with small South Pacific nations, while retaining excellent relations with Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United Kingdom.
In 2005, Admiral Pierre Lacoste, head of DGSE, admitted the death weighed on his conscience and said the aim of the operation had not been to kill. He also claimed
François MitterrandFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, the then President of France, had personally authorized the action. He acknowledged the existence of three teams: the crew of the yacht, reconnaissance and logistics (those successfully prosecuted), plus a two-man team that carried out the bombing and whose identities have never been confirmed.
A 20th anniversary memorial edition of the 1986 book
Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior, by New Zealand author
David RobieDavid Robie is a New Zealand author, journalist and media educator who has covered the Asia-Pacific region for international media for more than two decades. He became an associate professor in Auckland University of Technology School of Communication Studies in 2005...
who was on the bombed ship, was published in July 2005. He was interviewed by TVNZ on 8 August 2006 about the Court of Appeal judgement.
Also on that anniversary,
Television New ZealandTelevision New Zealand, more commonly referred to, and stylized as TVNZ, is a government-owned corporation television network broadcasting in New Zealand and parts of the Pacific. It operates TV1, TV2, TVNZ7, TVNZ Heartland, TVNZ U and new media services....
(TVNZ) sought to access a video record made at the preliminary hearing where the two agents pleaded guilty. The footage had remained sealed on the court record since shortly after conclusion of the criminal proceedings. The two agents opposed release of the footage—despite having both written books on the incident—and have unsuccessfully taken the case to the
New Zealand Court of AppealThe Court of Appeal of New Zealand, located in Wellington, is New Zealand’s principal intermediate appellate court. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather than in the Supreme Court...
and, subsequently, the
Supreme Court of New ZealandThe Supreme Court of New Zealand is the highest court and the court of last resort in New Zealand, having formally come into existence on 1 January 2004. The court sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It replaced the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, based in London...
.
On 7 August 2006, judges Hammond, O'Regan and Arnold dismissed the former French agents' appeal and Television New Zealand broadcast their guilty pleas the same day. However, two days later the judges reversed their ruling, temporarily blocking webcasts and further broadcasts of the footage.
In 2006 Antoine Royal revealed that his brother,
Gérard RoyalGérard Royal is a former agent of the French intelligence agency Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure , who is accused of being one of those responsible for the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior...
, had claimed to be involved in planting the bomb. Their sister is French
Socialist PartyThe Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
politician
Ségolène RoyalMarie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
who was contesting the
French presidential electionThe 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...
. Other sources identified Royal as merely a Zodiac pilot, and the New Zealand government announced there would be no extradition requests since the case was closed.
Louis-Pierre Dillais is now an executive in the U.S. subsidiary of Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal and lives in the U.S. state of
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Ironically the New Zealand government has been buying arms from FN Herstal. Greenpeace are still pursuing the extradition of Dillais for his involvement in the act.
The Greenpeace website states that on 14 October 2011, it launched a new vessel called Rainbow Warrior III. The website indicates it is a sailing vessal with an electric motor as well.
See also
- Rainbow Warrior (1955)
- New Zealand's nuclear-free zone
In 1984, Prime Minister David Lange barred nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, territorial sea, land and airspace of New Zealand became nuclear-free zones...
- Rainbow Warrior Case (international law)
The Rainbow Warrior Case was a dispute between New Zealand and France that arose in the aftermath of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. It was arbitrated by UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar in 1986, and became significant in the subject of Public International Law for its implications...
- The Rainbow Warrior (film)
The Rainbow Warrior, sometimes called The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, is a 1992 television film starring Sam Neill and Jon Voight.-Plot summary:...
- Xavier Maniguet
Xavier Maniguet was a member of the team of French intelligence service .Along with Roland Verge, Gerald Andries and Jean-Michel Barcelo, Maniguet bombed the Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand's Auckland Harbour in 10 July 1985.A specialist aviation medicine, hyperbaric medicine and sports medicine...
Further reading
- Michael King, Death of the Rainbow Warrior (Penguin Books, 1986). ISBN 0-14-009738-4
- David Robie
David Robie is a New Zealand author, journalist and media educator who has covered the Asia-Pacific region for international media for more than two decades. He became an associate professor in Auckland University of Technology School of Communication Studies in 2005...
, Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior (Philadelphia: New Society Press, 1987). ISBN 0-86571-114-3
- The Sunday Times Insight Team, Rainbow Warrior: The French Attempt to Sink Greenpeace (London: Century Hutchinson Ltd, 1986). ISBN 0-09-164360-0
External links
Movies: