Feature story - June 26, 2003
Greenpeace offices around the globe have been working in solidarity to get the Rainbow Warrior out of impoundment. The current bond of $343,000 exceeds that asked for the Prestige Oil tanker that spilled off the coast of Spain in November.
Endangered Forests, Endangered Freedoms
Update
In Washington, DC, Greenpeace activists protest in front of the Spanish embassy, urging the Ambassador to support the release of the Rainbow Warrior
| Read web logs, learn more about the crew, and track the Rainbow Warrior's progress through our forests crimes unit |
While timber extracted from the world's last remaining forests enters harbors in Spain and around Europe, the Rainbow Warrior is held at bay. Authorities in Valencia detained our flagship after a non-violent, peaceful protest against the importation of illegal and destructive timber over ten days ago. The Spanish Government has demanded a bond of $343,000 in exchange for the ship's freedom.
On June 13th, Greenpeace activists chained themselves to the cargo ship Honour, which transported the contentious timber. Because of this protest the Captain of the Rainbow Warrior, Joel Stewart, and four other activists have been ordered to pay a fine of over $700.
The Spanish authorities have also opened a case against the Rainbow Warrior. "Not since the French response to Greenpeace's protests against the nuclear tests in Muroroa, has Greenpeace seen this kind of repression," said Joel Stewart. "The Spanish Government should be going after the real criminals who are destroying the world's forests and not challenging the democratic right of peaceful protest."
These practices are nothing new to us here in the United States. Legislation such as the Patriot Act, and proposals in congress that would make public comments in the form of e-mails, petitions, and form letters invalid for consideration, have threatened the democratic process altogether - not just in the form of civil disobedience. This attack on our freedoms is unacceptable, and will continue if we do not DO SOMETHING to stop it.
Greenpeace is working to prevent forest destruction here in the U.S., and globally. The arrest of the Rainbow Warrior sets a dangerous precedent that should not become a standard practice of any government.
Help us free the Rainbow Warrior so she can continue to do her work