With the summer weather now here in NZ – I was pleased when I went to the wardrobe this morning looking for something light to wear and pulled out my Greenpeace t-shirt commemorating the ‘20th Anniversary of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior’. Time once again to demonstrate my support for a greener planet! How bizarre therefore to see a picture of Dominique Prieur – one of the two French spies arrested and jailed in New Zealand for their part in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior on the front page of today’s Herald. It seems that she has started a new career – with the French fire brigade!
You will no doubt recall the French operation, designed to sink the Greenpeace flagship and cripple protests against French nuclear testing in the South Pacific. On 10th July 1985 divers attached bombs to the vessel in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour – sinking the ship and killing a photographer on board in the process. Despite being handed 10 year jail terms for manslaughter, French lobbying, including threats of retaliation against New Zealand agriculture exports to Europe, led to a deal under which they were transferred to French Polynesia in return for reparation payments – and both were back in France by 1988!
How sad to think that in this day and age – International Law is still no more than a system of global etiquette – always followed except when it is contrary to the interests of powerful players. As I understand it, since World War 2 – the US, for example, has used force against another state on more than 30 occasions. Arguably some of these were lawful – almost certainly some were not! Whilst the most cardinal prohibition in international law is the prohibition of the use of force against another state, the sum total of adverse consequences that have been imposed against the US, as a result of the implementation of international law, is zero! In the news at the moment we hear about the bombing of Gaza by Israel – and so it goes on…..
Until we start to see some accountability, honesty and integrity in the actions of some of the major players in the world, what hope is there for world peace?
