“We are of the opinion that eventually ending all whaling – whether commercial, scientific or subsistence – is necessary. While India fully respects the dietary and cultural requirements of the aboriginal communities, we believe that International Whaling Commission should work to accurately identify such communities actually dependent on whaling and reduce their dependence on whales in a phased manner through alternate livelihoods options. In our own country, with a view to protect small cetaceans, India has recently declared the endangered Indo-Gangetic Dolphin as the National Aquatic Mammal,” he added.
Meanwhile, a Japanese court today upheld the wrongful conviction of two Greenpeace activists who exposed whale meat scandal in Japan. (1) Known as the Tokyo Two, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki were convicted of “theft and “trespass” by the Aomori District Court in September 2010, after they exposed broad scale embezzlement in Japan’s whaling industry, The court rejected all of the arguments presented by the defence, upheld the unjust convictions handed down by the Aomori court, and gave no clear reasoning for its decision.
Greenpeace today condemned Japan’s ongoing disregard for international human rights law, following the Sendai High Court’s decision to uphold convictions handed down to anti-whaling activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki. The decision comes in spite of an official admission of wrongdoing by the Fisheries Agency of Japan in December 2010, and strong evidence supporting the activists’ allegations of criminal embezzlement (2).
Junichi Sato, defendant and Greenpeace Japan Executive Director said, “The government can no longer ignore the embezzlement we exposed. It must fully investigate the whale meat scandal, finally end its support for the expensive, unwanted and unneeded whaling programme, and put the money wasted on it into recovering from the March 11 disaster, and rebuilding sustainable fishing communities along the East coast.”
Japan was accused last year of buying votes from Caribbean and African nations against the moratorium (3). Iceland, Denmark and Japan are the only countries that continue to hunt whales despite an international moratorium against whaling. This year’s IWC began with a British proposal to battle graft and boast transparency.
Contact:
Greenpeace India
Hozefa Merchant, Greenpeace India, Media Officer,
, +919819592410
Areeba Hamid, Greenpeace India, Oceans Campaigner,
, +91 9900569456
Greenpeace International
Greg McNevin, Greenpeace International Communications
, +48 728 284 147
Kaoru Narisawa, Greenpeace Japan Communications,
, +81 80 6558 4446
Greenpeace International Press Desk Hotline, Amsterdam +31 20 7182470
Images from the T2 appeal in Sendai will be available from:
Greenpeace International Picture Desk, 
, +31629001152
The press conference following the appeal can be found on ustream with
simultaneous interpretation:
English: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/gpjshow02
Japanese: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/gpjshow
Notes to the editor:
(1) In January 2008, Greenpeace began an investigation into insider allegations that organised whale meat embezzlement was being conducted by crew inside Japan's so-called ’scientific‘ whaling programme, which is funded by Japanese taxpayers. The informer was previously involved in the whaling programme, and as a result of his information, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki began an investigation, eventually discovering firm proof that cardboard boxes containing whale meat were being secretly shipped to the homes of whaling fleet crew - and then sold for personal profit. A box of this whale meat was intercepted at a mail depot and delivered to the Tokyo Prosecutors' Office in May 2008, where Sato filed a report of embezzlement. However, the embezzlement investigation was dropped on 20 June, and on the same day both men were arrested and then held for 26 days, 23 of which were without charge. The Tokyo Two, as Sato and Suzuki are now known, were convicted of theft and trespass on September 6, 2010, and sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years.
(2) In December 2010 when officials from the Fisheries Agency of Japan (FAJ) apologised for the misconduct of five officials who accepted gifts of whale meat totalling approximately US$3,000 – recognising the improprieties Sato and Suzuki sought to expose existed. A further two key officials - including the FAJ’s second in command and prominent IWC negotiator, Jun Yamashita - were handed warnings, as they were ultimately responsible for the actions of their staff.
Greenpeace response to FAJ apology: http://bit.ly/iczhrW
The box of embezzled meat Sato and Suzuki intercepted was worth $550 according to prosecutors – far less than what industry officials have now admitted to taking, and according to evidence and witness testimony from the Tokyo Two trial, what has been admitted is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Updated Whaling on Trial Dossier detailing the entire Tokyo Two Case: http://bit.ly/cWd211
Japan’s vote-buying exposed http://bit.ly/qde7oD