1100 We're still hassling the gendarmes about getting
communication with the outside world. Eventually they tell us to
put our demand in writing. We do:
1130 local time, Near Hao, Tuesday September 5th
They also permit Jon to send a message to the owners of the
Rainbow Warrior:
Jon Castle.
2pm We've established a reasonably civil, friendly even
relationship with the gendarmes and customs guys, and with the
naval officer in charge. But a discussion after lunch about
nuclear testing suddenly errupts into fullscale acrimony. Pierre
Emmanuel and I end up in a shouting match with them, me furious
with myself for loosing my temper, for my limited French, and for
their arrogance - the officer, who is a doctor, saying that
testing is necessary and at least if they do it down here in the
South Pacific fewer people will die! They admit that there will
be environmental contamination but argue that testing is
indispensible for France's security. I feel so much anger that I
decide I'd better quit. I put on Beethoven's 6th symphony very
loudly and they start to leave the mess. It's horrible, my heart
is pounding and I feel sick with rage and frustration.
I don't know how I would cope with indefinite house arrest, as
people in South Africa had had to. The indefiniteness of it is
the worst -- it's getting on all our nerves today. I'm sick of
feeling like the Ancient Mariner, lost and wandering on the ocean
wave.
The young officer says 10 commandos tipped out of a boat boarding
the MV Greenpeace and could have been injured -- and that
therefore WE are violent. I don't know whether to laugh or cry,
it seems we are so much poles apart in how we see the world.
They have just done an inspection of the ship, doing an inventory
of all the equipment including that broken or missing. Clearly
they are preparing for a long legal battle...
They've conceeded, somehow in the middle of all this row, that we
fix EITHER the phone or the radio today. During the afternoon,
Tim fixes the cable to the Inmarsat phone, and at about 6pm we
get our first call out to Tahiti. We first talk to Ulrich, then
to Michael and later to Dad. The bad news is that the first test
happened this morning -- about 12 noon Tahiti time, an 8-20
kiloton test at Moruroa.
Michael says that the French authorities are saying that the
reason we have not yet reached Hao is because of bad weather.
This disinformation astounds me -- I tell him the weather is
perfect, and ask the naval officer in the room to confirm that
the weather is excellent, which he does in French-accented
English. Poor guy probably doesn't realise he's being taped!
It's fantastic to get some news and message from the crew.
Michael says Sarah McNab, the cook from the RW, reminds me that
there is a bottle of wine near the celery in the fridge if I need
it. He says there was quite a violent boarding of the MV
Greenpeace, and that Peter, Paula, Ken Ballard, Mike Zulu the
engineer, Jean-Luc, Mili, Caik, and Sake are still on board. The
Machias has left Tahiti. 5000 people marched there on the
weekend, and the roads were blocked while Oscar was held. There
were demos there today when the news about the test came through.
Meanwhile, Chirac gave a press conference last night, where
apparently he said 6-8 tests would take place, maybe they would
occur more quickly than through to May. Apparently officials have
also been quoted as saying there would be a 3 week gap between
each test. Cousteau has resigned as chair of the President's
advisory council on the environment. 4.5 million petitions have
been delivered to Paris, but the Beluga and 40 other vessels were
barred from entering Paris. A land-based demo was also banned,
but a rally went ahead anyway, with people wearing gags over
their mouths. 260 people were arrested - some merely for wearing
GP badges. There are now about a dozen boats off Moruroa,
including the Vega, Manutea, Tucker Thompson, Triptych, Tui,
Photina, Caramaba and La Ribaude. There have been a few
infringements of the 12 mile zone, but only the small French
yacht has been arrested. The two inflatables that went into the
lagoon on Sunday were from the Manutea; their crews are being
flown out to Tahiti. Overnight, two people went in on kayaks;
they were on the atoll for about 24 hours, and are being flown
out. NZ has re-called their ambassador from France, as has Chile
and Nauru and the US has "regretted" today's test; there have
been demos and actions everywhere both against the test and our
detention. There is a big rift between France and Sweden and
France and Japan because of them sending cabinet ministers to the
demo in Tahiti on Saturday.
Dad says he's sent me a fax and is surprised it has not yet
reached me. He says that the NZ Consul has told him that we may
be at Hao until September 11, as that is the first civilian
flight out of the atoll. Groan!
Tuesday September 5
To: The Gendarmerie Maritime
We have now been held against our will on board the Rainbow
Warrior, without access to communications equipment, for five
days. This is clearly illegal.
We demand the right to direct communication with our lawyer and
our families.
We therefore demand you immediately permit us to repair our
Inmarsat and HF radio equipment in order that we can communicate
directly with whoever we choose.
To: Marine Services, Greenpeace International
2310 GMT Tuesday 5 September Aboard the Rainbow Warrior II
This is the first time they have permited to me to communicate
with you in any form since the ship was boarded at 1800 GMT on
Friday 1st September. We have been under tow by the tug Centaure
since that date. At present we are outside Hao and are supposed
to be entering and mooring there within the next 24 hours. On
board are: Jon Castle, Derek Nicholls, Rob Willighagen, Tim
Gorter, Philip Pupuka, Stephanie MIills and Pierre-Emmanuel
Neurohr. We are all in good health and good spirits. I am not
sure of the intentions of the French military, but it seems that
they are preparing to hold the ship at the atoll for a long
period. Please try to make sure that we recieve legal advice at
Hao via the "Tahiti Team".