Rainbow Warrior tragedies

Press, 15 July 1985, Page 12

Rainbow Warrior tragedies

There are three separate tragedies associated with the explosions that sank the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior. The first is that a man, the ship’s Portuguese engineer and photographer, Mr Fernando Pereira, died. Joining in such an expedition no doubt demanded some sacrifice on the part of crew members. Dying because someone blew up the ship deliberately was surely beyond anything that might have been imagined. The second tragedy is that such an act was made against such an organisation. Greenpeace has demonstrated a concern for the Earth’s environment and for some of the creatures of the Earth with a sense of dedication. Greenpeace is not the only drganisation strongly motivated over conservation issues, but it is one of the most successful. The world needs people devoted to reminding everyone of the need to treat the planet’s life and resources with care. Greenpeace has annoyed more than a handful of interests and Governments, but its influence has been benign. The third tragedy is that a crime has been committed in New Zealand which has the stench of international terrorism about it. No international links in the crime have been established, but the planting of the explosives has all the hallmarks of something wider than a domestic concern. Greenpeace is not short of enemies, but it strains credulity to believe that any responsible organisation or Government would engage in or know about such an action. Because it was the intention of the crew of the Rainbow Warrior to sail into the area in which the French conduct their nuclear testing, some suspicions have been voiced about the French.

Bold actions by agents of Governments that believe vital interests are threatened are not unknown. To suggest a French connection may be to attribute more importance to the Rainbow Warrior than it enjoyed in the eyes of any Government. The professional skill of the sabotage cannot be overlooked. However, selfinterest would dictate that no Government would be seen to be involved in such an action because nothing is more likely to generate support for a cause. The New Zealand Government and the Opposition are united in the desire to see the crime investigated thoroughly and solved. The explosions that sank the Rainbow Warrior may have ended an era in New Zealand of being removed from the attentions of international terrorism. It did happen here. The explosion might serve to jolt the perception of anyone inclined to accept terrorist acts elsewhere, perhaps because of sympathy with the political objects of the terrorists. To be convincing, abhorrence of terrorism is not divisible. Whether the object is an airliner in the Middle East, a hotel in Northern Ireland, an office block in South Africa, or a protest ship in a New Zealand port, such actions deserve equal condemnation. Perhaps there is a lesson, too, that New Zealand cannot hope to isolate itself from quarrels elsewhere and yet maintain contact with the parties to those quarrels. To declare the country a “terrorism-free zone” would not be enough. New measures are going to be needed, even in remote New Zealand, to meet the increasing use of terrorism in the pursuit of political objects.