Introduction
Greenpeace is a non-governmental organization with offices in more than 39 countries across the world along with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The organization was founded by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe in 1971 both of whom are environmental activists of Canadian and US citizenship respectively. The primary agenda of the NGO is to focus on the global issues that are associated with the degradation of the environment including deforestation, climate change, genetic engineering, overfishing, nuclear testing, and commercial whaling. The organization through direct action, research, lobbying, and ecotage has effectively achieved its significant goals. The firm also refuses to accept funding from government, global corporations, or political parties, instead seeking to depend on individual donation. Approximately, three million people donate to the organization. Greenpeace has realized the status of general consultant of the United Nations Economic and Social Council while also founding the INGO Accountability charter that ensures transparency and accountability of NGOs.
The above description is a brief background on the nature of the organization and how it operates in the international scene when it comes to environmental concerns. It is clear that Greenpeace takes direct actions on the above matters and this is a primary reason why it is the most visible environmental organization in the world. The organization has been nearly the most vocal in making the environmental issues to become public knowledge influencing the private and public sectors in different nations. Nevertheless, there have been causes of controversy surrounding the organization in its motives and methods of campaign. It is particularly the latter that have been considered illegal as seen where an open letter from 100 Nobel laureates urged the organization to put an end to its campaign against genetically modified organisms. There have been numerous incidences of Greenpeace activists facing legal action for their participation in environmental direct actions. Therefore, the film Rainbow Warrior is not an anomaly of Greenpeace being on the receiving end of controversy. The following report will evaluate the legal rights of the parties involved and who was wrong while also contemplating whether NGOs deserve new rights.
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Legal Rights and Wrongs of Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE)
The film the Rainbow Warrior features a drama film that retells the true story of the Greenpeace ship known as Rainbow Warrior that was sunk in Auckland, New Zealand in July 10, 1985 by the French DGSE operative. The film follows police investigations that were conduction after the sinking of the ship as it was preparing for a Pacific voyage that was intended to protest the nuclear testing of France in the Pacific Ocean. The film was produced in 1993 nearly eight years after the event. The film was able to provide significant information on the activities of the DGSE in the event and the legal implications.
The French government was involved in a series of nuclear testing beginning from 1966 until 1996 with the designated testing area being Moruroa an atoll that forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. The Moruroa is approximately 1,250 kilometers southeast of Tahiti which is one of the most populous inhabited island of the French Polynesia with about 189,517 persons. Based on the international laws at the time, nations that had nuclear powers had the legal right to carry out any form of testing on the ground or underground as long as they prevented significant damage to the civilians. In this regard, the French DGSE were acting within their rights to test their nuclear weapons to test their effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. The site of the explosion was more than a thousand kilometers from permanent human habitat. The French government had belief that the testing would not affect anyone as the Moruroa atoll had no scientific evidence of being a human habitat for native Polynesians. However, like any other nuclear testing practice, it brought about political and practical controversy. There were concerns that the contamination of the explosions was felt as far as Peru and New Zealand which was the primary motivation for the protests by Greenpeace.
Despite continued protests by numerous world nations on the effects of the nuclear testing, it was evident that the French nationals would not abandon continued development of their nuclear powers. Between 1966 and 1974 the government carried out 41 atmospheric nuclear tests and instead sought to engage in underground testing that would go on to reach a total of approximately 175 and 181 at Mururoa site. The vocal nature of the Greenpeace organization threatened to collapse their operations which prompted immediate action from the French intelligence. The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, code named Opération Satanique, was intended as a threat to the organization for interfering with national security maters of a foreign nation. Two bombs were set to explode 10 minutes apart whereby the first was a warning sign that would prompt the crew members to evacuate the occupants safely. The events did not go as planned as some of the crew remained behind to film the event which led to the second explosion approximately eight minutes later and the gushing water drowned Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira. The culminating event led to accusations of murder for the perpetrators. Additionally, the retaliation by the French operatives was recognized as an act of terrorism and one that would affect future relations with New Zealand. Such accusations are considered due to the fact that the event occurred at the shores of the foreign country and not on French boundaries.
Legal Rights and Wrongs of Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a vocal non-governmental organization that intends to oversee the practice of every country in the quest to provide proper care for the environment and the citizens who depend on it. The activities of the organization are important to global citizens who recognize the importance of protecting the earth. The forming of the NGO came at a time that Western governments and the great powers of the world barely showed concern for the environment. Despite extensive research showing that human activities were negatively affecting the earth and could potentially lead to the extinction of the human race, there was little reaction from the global powers. Rather than complete eradication of the nuclear testing practices, the French government switched from atmospheric explosions to the underground testing. The change had minimal effect particularly because the testing was done on water significantly killing marine life at the site.
The actions of Greenpeace were legally right as they were merely voicing the concerns of majority of the world population felt. As the French nuclear tests had began in 1966, there was widespread concern that such testing would culminate in significant impact on the human population. The research that had been carried out by the organization’s team showed that the explosion of the nuclear tests had widespread effect not only on the marine life whereby dead fish were raining on site, but also in the contamination of the waters as far as Peru and New Zealand. The NGO was serving within its legal rights by identifying the need to protest against a country that was putting the safety of all of mankind at risk for the sake of developing an arsenal of power. The Rainbow Warrior was an acquired vessel for Greenpeace in 1977 for £37,000. Its primary purpose was to conduct protests in international waters that would call against activities deemed to be reckless by corporations or foreign governments. On the day of the bombing, Greenpeace had gathered its supporters to embark on a voyage that would protest against the French nuclear testing. Numerous individuals were aboard the ship when French operatives set explosives on the hulls threatening the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people.
The activities of Greenpeace were seen as illegal as they would infiltrate a site that was private to the French intelligence community. In this case, the French Polynesia is an area of land consisting of numerous islands and atolls that are off the coast of France. Therefore, when an aggressive party seeking to infiltrate that area would be considered as a threat to the national security of the country. Greenpeace had widely publicized across television media streams that they had every intention of infiltrating the nuclear testing site and conducting their protests against the country. The availability of the Rainbow Warrior and previous efforts of the organization proved that this was not an empty threat. The NGO had planned to record the site and provide evidence of the serious concern raised against the practices of the French intelligence. Despite the possible exposure of the practice, it was clear that the intentions did not justify heavy intervention.
NGOs on New Rights
The modern world has seen numerous NGOs come up as an effective force for pushing for social change. The events of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior are a clear indication that NGOs that have appropriate motives for a particular cause can raise their voices and seek the attention of the global citizens. The individual members of Greenpeace recognize the influence that multinational corporations and political parties can have on particular notions of social changes. It is for these reason that the organizations seek to keep away from influence or donations from such powers. More likely than not, the provision of funds will likely lead to a corruption of the ideals and mission of the group. The Greenpeace incident, however, shows that NGOs are a vulnerable group that is likely to be bullied by the greater powers in the society. As a result, it is essential to develop laws that would help protect the activities of such organizations.
Greenpeace like many other non-governmental organizations help uncover the truth about particular subjects concerning the safety and well-being of the human race.Since its formation, Greenpeace has faced extensive criticism for failure to abide by the accepted standards by the rest of society. For instance, the organization was called upon to dismiss its campaign against genetically-modified organisms. The intervention by the French secret intelligence forces was an indicator of the vulnerability of such organizations. International law should provide protection for NGOs from retaliation of governments and corporations that deem their activities as a threat to their practices. It should clearly indicate that independent states should not use aggressive force that would be considered a retaliation against the NGO. Furthermore, the modern society has seen extensive use of social media as a tool for spreading information on the ills of the world. It should be noted that silencing the efforts of NGOs in championing human rights and issues on climate change should be considered a violation on the freedom of speech.
