JAPAN SEEKS TO EXPEL GREENPEACE FROM INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON WHALES

30 June 2000

ADELAIDE/AUSTRALIA -- Japan today announced that it intends to have Greenpeace expelled from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Adelaide, Australia, next week.

"The Japanese Government’s attempt to exclude Greenpeace from next week’s meeting shows just how desperate they are to continue the unsustainable practice of commercial whaling. We have a legitimate role to play in representing the views of millions of people around the world who want to see an end to these hunts," said Greenpeace campaigner, John Frizell.

This is not the first time the Japanese Government has attempted to silence Greenpeace. They also tried at this year’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, where they unsuccessfully pushed to overturn the current ban on trade in whale products, and at last year’s IWC meeting in Grenada.

The Japanese factory ship, the 'Nisshin Maru' rammed the Greenpeace vessel 'Arctic Sunrise' in December 1999, whilst Greenpeace was protecting whales from illegal Japanese whaling in the Antarctic Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. Japan, however, is accusing Greenpeace, a non-violent organisation, of aggressive and violent actions and of ramming its ship.

Greenpeace supports proposals by Australia and New Zealand Governments to establish a South Pacific whale sanctuary that would be permanently off limits to commercial whaling. Whales that feed in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary migrate to the South Pacific to breed. Japan is aggressively lobbying against the proposal.

Japan will also announce plans to extend its 'scientific' whaling programme at next week’s meeting to kill 50 Bryde’s whales and 10 sperm whales this year in the North Pacific, despite the IWC’s moratorium on commercial whaling that came into effect in 1986. Japan already hunts 440 minke whales in the protected Southern Ocean whale sanctuary each year by exploiting a loophole in the IWC’s regulations that allows 'scientific' whaling.

"People may think that whales have been saved but this is not the case. There is nothing scientific about Japan’s whaling programme and it has repeatedly ignored calls by the IWC to stop. If whales are to be saved, commercial whaling must end and sanctuaries must be established to protect whales in key areas like the South Pacific," said Frizell.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Matilda Bradshaw, Greenpeace International press desk +(31) 6 535 04701

Visit www.greenpeace.org/~oceans/iwc

Greenpeace representatives have attended annual IWC meetings for more than 20 years to push for an end to commercial whaling. Greenpeace has consistently called on the Japanese Government to cancel its illegal Antarctic whaling programme as it is in violation of international law.

Media Release by the Japanese delegation to the IWC:

Friday, 30 June 2000

JAPAN REQUESTS GREENPEACE BAN FROM CONFERENCE

Japan will request the observer status credentials of Greenpeace be withdrawn for next week's International Whaling Commission conference, Japan's Commissioner to the IWC, Mr Minoru Morimoto, announced today.

The withdrawal would effectively ban Greenpeace from attending the 52th International Whaling Commission conference, which is being held in Adelaide from July 3-6. Mr Morimoto will make the request at the opening plenary session of the meeting on Monday.

"This request is consistent with past decisions of the Commission concerning attendance of observers", said Mr Morimoto.

At it's meeting last year, the Commission withdrew the credentials of two non-government organizations following a demonstration at the IWC headquarters in the UK. Previously, the Commission has withdrawn the observer credentials of the organization called Sea Shepherd Society for its illegal actions against whaling vessels.

Mr Morimoto said the Greenpeace campaign against Japan's research program in the Antarctic earlier this year involved illegal and violent action that caused a collision with Japan's research vessel and risked the lives of scientists and crews -- a stark contrast to the organisation's claims of peaceful protest.

"Their campaign of violence against a program authorized by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling should be strongly condemned by the Commission."

"Scientific research is an essential part of conservation and management of all marine resources including whales, and the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling requires that its regulations shall be based on scientific findings."

"That is why Japan is continuing its whale research program in the Antarctic. It is the only long-term study providing information necessary for the management of whales and is also investigating the role of whales in the ecosystem and the effects of environmental changes on whales."

Mr Morimoto said Japan's research program had been the subject of extensive review by the International Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee, which had noted that it had provided considerable data which could assist with the management of minke whales.

Mr Morimoto said Greenpeace did not contribute any scientific knowledge to the conference and he urged supporters of the organisation to question how much of their donations went directly to learning about whales and their environment.

"In contrast, Greenpeace has nothing to show but a long list of arrests for violent and illegal actions."

Mr Morimoto said he understood that people held differing views about the whaling debate but he condemned organisations which tried to impose their views on others via violent means.

"The IWC should strongly condemn such behaviour and remove them from the conference", Mr Morimoto said.

Media enquiries: Shigeko Misaki 61 (0) 402 315 196