Politics keeps Greenpeace
ship out of Japan
30 March 2007 - Tokyo, Japan — It is cherry
blossom season here in Japan, and Tokyo
is beautiful, with lovely spring weather
and trees in full bloom. Unfortunately while
people here enjoy the season, our ship the
Esperanza is at sea in force 8 conditions
as organisations within Japan attempt to
deny her entry into port.
Our aim in bringing the Esperanza to Japan
is to create an open public discussion about
whaling. Ninety-two percent of Japanese
people do not know the details of their
government’s whaling programme in the Southern
Ocean, and this must change. Most countries
that have hunted whales in the past have
already held this debate, and moved on from
whaling to whale watching and conservation.
We have invited representatives of the
Fisheries Agency of Japan, the Institute
for Cetacean Research, Kyodo Senpaku (the
company which owns the whaling fleet) -
as well as the Japanese public - to visit
our ship and start talking about the issue.
We want to hear their views, as well as
explain why we believe that there is no
place for killing whales within an internationally
agreed whale sanctuary in Antarctic waters.
The twist
Everything was going smoothly until shortly
before the ship was due to arrive. Following
an uninvited visit from representatives
of the All Japan Seamen’s Union (AJSU),
our shipping agent withdrew their services
from Greenpeace – making it near impossible
to have all the paperwork completed and
accepted in order to come into port in Tokyo.
Media reports also say that the Seamen's
Union has demanded that the Minister of
Foreign Affairs deny us entry.
False charges
The AJSU claims our actions to protect
the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary are illegal
and endanger their crews. They also claim
we work with the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society. These claims are simply not true.
Their false charges of violence are particularly
offensive following this year's whaling
season in which we responded to no less
than three distress calls, two of which
were from vessels in the whaling fleet.
Greenpeace is committed to the principle
of non-violent direct action, and this guides
all of our campaigns. Even in those seasons
that we have directly intervened to save
whales from the harpoon, we have done so
using entirely peaceful tactics. In more
than a decade of expeditions to disrupt
the Antarctic whale hunt, we have never
placed the whalers at risk in any way -
their crews know this.
Distress calls
This past whaling season was different.
Instead of protests we found ourselves offering
aid. A deadly fire on the Nisshin Maru,
the whalers' factory ship, left it without
engine power. As one of the nearest ships
to the whaling fleet, we steamed hundreds
of miles at full speed to offer what aid
we could.
The reason we responded immediately to
their distress call was not because she
is a whaling ship, it was not despite the
fact she is a whaling ship; we simply responded
because the crew had issued a mayday call,
their ship was on fire and people were in
danger.
As soon as we arrived at the scene, we
established contact with their expedition
leader, Mr. Nishiwaki, making it clear that
we were there to offer our unconditional
assistance. Mr. Nishiwaki responded by asking
us to standby in the area, saying that they
may require our help to navigate through
the ice if they had to tow the Nisshin Maru.
For the following week we stayed with the
Nisshin Maru, disabled in the Southern Ocean
– one of the most hostile and unpredictable
waters on earth – continuing to offer assistance,
and providing information on the ice conditions
at Mr. Nishiwaki’s request.
I have no doubt that the crew onboard the
whaling vessels know very well that we offered
our assistance in good faith, through genuine
concern for the safety of fellow sailors
and the environment. At all times we acted
lawfully, responsibly, and in accordance
with the New Zealand Rescue Coordination
Centre, who were responsible for the mayday
response. However, their bosses continued
to play politics in Tokyo, labelling us
terrorists even as we stood by to assist
their ships and. Since returning to Japan,
Mr. Nishiwaki himself seems to have erased
his memory of recent events, denying that
they accepted any assistance from Greenpeace,
and even calling for the Japanese Government
to sue Greenpeace.
Why they are really worried
They know we did not endanger the safety
of their crew – in fact we offered our help
when they were in danger from a fire onboard
their ship. They know that we are not terrorists.
But it does not suit them for the public
of Japan to know this. If the Government
of Japan, its agencies, and organisations
like the Seamen’s Union have nothing to
hide, and nothing to be ashamed of – they
have no reason to be worried about allowing
our ship into Japan.
However, it is clear that they are very
worried. most likely they are worried about
what will happen if those 92 percent of
people learn that their government is killing
hundreds of whales in Antarctic waters,
in an area that countries around the world
have designated as a sanctuary for whales.
That information would allow people to come
to their own conclusions about whether it
is right or not. They are worried about
whether they can continue to label Greenpeace
as terrorists and portray our peaceful protest
against whaling as violent anti-Japanese
behaviour, once people hear what actually
happened in the Southern Ocean.
Greenpeace believes that the people of
Japan have the right to this information,
and to make up their own minds about these
issues. We are continuing to work to get
the Esperanza into Tokyo, so that we can
provide this information directly to the
public.
