Fernando Pereira (10 May 1950 – 10 July 1985) was a freelance Portuguese-Dutch photographer, who drowned when French intelligence (

DGSE The General Directorate for External Security (french: link=no, Direction générale de la Sécurité extérieure, DGSE) is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 2 April 1982. ...

) detonated a bomb and sank the ''Rainbow Warrior'', owned by the environmental organisation

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

on 10 July 1985. The bombing of the boat had been designed to make the ship unsalvageable. The first smaller bomb bent the propeller shaft, making repair uneconomic. Pereira stayed inside the boat to get his camera and other pieces of equipment. The second, more powerful explosion, designed to sink the boat, caused a huge inrush of seawater that drowned Pereira. The ''Rainbow Warrior'' led a flotilla of yachts protesting against French

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

at Mururoa Atoll in the

Tuamotu Archipelago The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extendin ...

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = "Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of French ...

and was about to depart Auckland for a campaign of legal demonstrations in international waters near the French military operational areas at

Moruroa Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...

Atoll.

Subsequent updates

On the twentieth anniversary of the sinking, it was revealed that the French president

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

had personally authorized the bombing. Admiral

Pierre Lacoste Pierre Lacoste (23 January 1924 – 13 January 2020) was a French marine officer and government official. He served as President of the Fédération des professionnels de l'intelligence économique in 2006. Biography During World War II, Lacos ...

made a statement saying Pereira's death weighed heavily on his conscience. Also on that anniversary,

Television New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solo ...

sought to access a video record made at the preliminary hearing where the two agents pleaded guilty. The footage has remained sealed on the court record since shortly after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings. The two agents oppose release of the footage – despite having both profited from writing books themselves on the incident – and have taken the case to the New Zealand Court of Appeal and, subsequently, the Supreme Court of New Zealand. In 2006, Antoine Royal, brother of the French presidential candidate

Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election. Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 201 ...

, revealed in an interview that their brother, Gérard Royal, a former French intelligence officer, had been the agent who put the bombs on the Rainbow Warrior.Royal link to Greenpeace bombing as probe begins
The Times, 2 October 2006

Photographs by Pereira

Popgroep ABBA aangekomen op vliegveld Zestienhoven Rotterdam v.l.n.r. Björn U…, Bestanddeelnr 930-5073.jpg,

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

(1979) CharlotteRhodes9Oct1979.jpg, ''Charlotte Rhodes'' (1979) Persconferentie van Italiaanse componist Luigi Mono in Hilversum Luigi Mono (ko, Bestanddeelnr 923-6003.jpg,

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

(1979) Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1980).jpg,

Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali (; , ar, بطرس بطرس غالي ', ; 14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from 1992 to 1996. An academic ...

(1980) Blokkade kerncentrale Dodewaard door leden aktiegroep Breek Atoomketen Nederland, Bestanddeelnr 930-8444.jpg, Anti-nuclear protests (1980)

References

External links

"Death of a Rainbow Warrior,"
10 July 2005 (20th anniversary), Greenpeace website.
www.rainbow-warrior.org.nz
– article on the twentieth anniversary (2005).

Greenpeace archives

– New York Times (3 October 2006)

New York Times (3 October 1987)

New York Times (6 September 1995) * ttp://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/history/the-bombing-of-the-rainbow-war/Fernando-Pereira/ "Fernando Pereira, 1950 – 1985" Greenpeace International {{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, Fernando 1950 births 1985 deaths People from Chaves, Portugal Portuguese photographers Dutch photographers Dutch people of Portuguese descent Dutch people murdered abroad People murdered in New Zealand Deaths by drowning in New Zealand Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior People associated with Greenpeace Environmental killings People killed in French intelligence operations