Feature story - 21 November, 2003
The International Maritime Organisation, which was considering expulsion of Greenpeace for "unsafe seamanship" has accepted Greenpeace's arguments and bowed to pressure from cyberactivists the world over -- Greenpeace will continue to speak for the oceans in a body dominated by the interests of the oil and shipping industries.
IMO rejects proposal to evict Greenpeace from the UN body responsible for governance of the oceans.
It was touch and go for a while, but Greenpeace survived an
attempt by flag of convenience states and other targets of
Greenpeace actions to evict us from the UN organisation charged
with ensuring "cleaner seas" and "safer shipping."
Ironically, Greenpeace was accused of recklessness at sea by a
body which defends the interests of the industry responsible for
the Exxon Valdez and Prestige oil spills.
We're pleased that the IMO have acknowledged the valuable role
that Greenpeace plays in speaking for the oceans.
We will continue working within the IMO to bring attention to
issues
such as ship breaking, tanker safety and protected areas, where
the IMO needs to take urgent action.
Last month, we requested written clarification from IMO member
states as to where they stood on supporting our eviction. We
published the results on our website and called upon our worldwide
cyberactivist network to send messages of protest to selected
delegations that were wavering or supporting our eviction.
In the final forty-eight hours before Friday's meeting, member
states began to express their support explicitly.
"It's yet another example of how the power of public attention
can stop our opponents from quietly attempting to silence us," said
Paul Horsman, campaigner for Greenpeace. A previous decision in
June by the Chair of the IMO to evict Greenpeace had been described
as "final" until press attention questioning the move caused a
strategic retreat, and the decision was forwarded to the current
Assembly meeting. The June decision was taken without a vote while
Singapore held the chair.
"In a body dominated by special interests, we see it as our role
to remind the IMO of their real constituents: the future
generations who have a right to clean oceans," said Horsman.
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