Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

Sinking of *Rainbow Warrior*
Sinking of Rainbow Warrior
	Rainbow Warrior pictured in Scheveningen in 1979
Date	10 July 1985 (39 years ago) ; 11:38 PM – 11:45 PM (NZST; UTC+12:00)
Location	Ports of Auckland; Auckland, New Zealand; 36°50′32″S 174°46′18″E / 36.84222°S 174.77167°E
Caused by	Retaliation for protests by Greenpeace against French nuclear testing
Goals	To sink Rainbow Warrior
Methods	Bombing
Resulted in	Rainbow Warrior sunk, 1 person killed
Parties
Lead figures
	• President François Mitterrand; • Defence Minister Charles Hernu; • DGSE (Action Division); • Skipper Peter Willcox; • First Mate Martini Gotje; • Prime Minister David Lange;
Units involved
	Ouvéa; Provence Rainbow Warrior New Zealand Police
Casualties and losses

The sinking of Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique,^[1] was an act of French state-sponsored terrorism.^[2] Described as a "covert operation" by the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence agency, the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), the terrorist attack was carried out on 10 July 1985. During the operation, two operatives (both French citizens) sank the flagship of the Greenpeace fleet, Rainbow Warrior, at the Port of Auckland on her way to a protest against a planned French nuclear test in Moruroa. Fernando Pereira, a photographer, drowned on the sinking ship.

The sinking was a cause of embarrassment to France and President François Mitterrand. They initially denied responsibility, but two French agents were captured by New Zealand Police and charged with arson, conspiracy to commit arson, willful damage, and murder. It resulted in a scandal that led to the resignation of the French Defence Minister Charles Hernu, while the two agents pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to ten years in prison. Despite being sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, due to pressures from the French state they spent merely two years confined to the Polynesian island of Hao before being freed by the French government.^[3]

France was also forced to apologise and had to pay reparations to New Zealand, Pereira's family and Greenpeace.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

^ Bremner, Charles (11 July 2005). "Mitterrand ordered bombing of Rainbow Warrior, spy chief says". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2006.
^ "INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN POLICY" (PDF).
^ Cite error: The named reference UN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[satanic-2] Bremner, Charles (11 July 2005). "Mitterrand ordered bombing of Rainbow Warrior, spy chief says". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2006.

[3] "INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN POLICY" (PDF).

[UN-4] Cite error: The named reference UN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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