From mosa@netcom.com  Tue Jul 11 18:31:04 1995
From: mosa@netcom.com (Michele Lord)
To: dave@sgi.sgi.com

Newsgroups: soc.culture.native,alt.native
From: morril@kea.lincoln.ac.nz (LORIETTE MORRIS)
Subject: Re: France proposed Nuclear Testing in the Pacific
Sender: native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 03:32:16 GMT
Lines: 72

[ I have asked Nellie to give us more information concerning how this issue
  relates specifically to the interests of indigenous peoples, as I'm sure
  that it does.  Maybe others out there can submit followup articles to help
  us understand this aspect of the story.  --Gary (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ]

Kia ora everybody,

Yesterday afternoon (Monday, July 10) in the South Pacific near the
tiny atoll of Mururoa, the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior II
entered the 20km exclusion zone around the atoll despite orders from
approaching French warships not to do so.  A French vessel rammed the
Rainbow Warrior II before about 150 commandos using tear-gas took
control of the ship of 23 activists, including four New Zealanders.
The Greenpeace vessel Vega and the Danish vessel Bifrost are also
near the test site but in international waters.  The 23 crew members
were transferred to Mururoa and questioned by French military police
for more than 15 hours.  All the crew identified themselves as
Fernando Pereira, the Greenpeach photographer who was killed in the
Rainbow Warrior bombing in Auckland (New Zealand) Harbour 10 years
ago yesterday.

The Rainbow Warrior (and the other Greenpeace ships) were near the
atoll protesting France's resumption of nuclear testing in the South
Pacific (namely, Mururoa).  Despite protests all over the country
(New Zealand), in Australia (with the fire-bombing of the French
embassy - not recommended), and across the Pacific (with greater
calls for independence by Pacific nations under French control),
France is still adamant that nuclear tests will go ahead and is no
less willing to stop protests than it was before.

The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour in 1985 by the
French Secret Service and the resulting death of Fernando Pereira was
demonstrably illegal, immoral as well as totally outside the norms of
international law.  The French boarding of the Rainbow Warrior 2
inside an exclusion zone at Mururoa Atoll was done on French
territory, but the force used (with tear-gas) was "over the top".
The French military certainly do not do things in halves.

The New Zealand government with their anti-nuclear stance, has
strongly criticised French action but feel they can't do anything
inside French waters.  Australia and Germany have also complained,
but the British Prime Minister, seems to support the right of the
French to carry out tests.  The rest of the northern hemisphere (the
United States included) seems strangely quiet.  The Prime Minister of
New Zealand, Jim Bolger, calls the actions of France and I quote,
"... another example of northern European colonialism intent on
trampling over the people of the Pacific...".  I would emphasis
that it is "YET another example of northern European colonialism...",
because I think poor old Jim has forgotten his history lessons.

For the people of the South Pacific, especially those in "French"
Polynesia seeking independence, resumption of testing can only mean
that their natural environment (yet again) will be impacted on.
Resumption of testing also means that their fight for independence
takes a back seat, to weapons testing.  Living in Aotearoa/New
Zealand we're only about 3000 miles south of the area affected.  THIS
IS MADNESS (excuse the capitalisation)!!!

Please, please, do what ever you can to help us overcome the sheer
bloody-minded madness, that is being forced on us in the South
Pacific.  Write letters to your congressmen/women, to your
parliamentarians, to your government, asking them to take up the
cause for Mururoa and for the rest of Polynesia.  Write to the
French government.  Write to your newspapers.  Refuse to buy French
products, etc.  What we need is worldwide publicity and protest.

Thanks for reading this,

Naku na ano Nellie

P.S.  "The enemy of love is not hate, it is apathy".