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".