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TOUR
LOGBOOK
11 May 2000 - Japanese police violate International Law to silence Greenpeace
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Greenpeace
today condemned the heavy-handed actions of the Japanese authorities
against its activists, the flagship Rainbow Warrior and the Greenpeace
Japan office as an unreasonable attempt to silence peaceful public
protest.
Take action to help us free the activists here |
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morning at 08h10 local time, over 30 police officers raided the
"Rainbow Warrior" in the port of Tokyo. The raid lasted over nine
hours and resulted in the confiscation of the ship’s property, including
the ship’s logbook. The Japanese Government also violated international
law by refusing the Dutch Consul access to the crew of the Greenpeace
flagship “Rainbow Warrior” during police investigations.
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The
Greenpeace lawyer in Japan arrived on the raid scene, but was denied
access to the wharf by the Japanese police. The ship’s Captain,
Joel Stewart, called for assistance from the Dutch Embassy in Tokyo,
as the "Rainbow Warrior" is a Dutch-flagged ship, but the embassy
official‘s attempts to visit the ship were also stifled by police.
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"The authorities
are trying to stifle our right to send the message out to the world
that Japan is one of the world’s top polluters. Now they have escalated
their activities against us to include violating our human rights,"
said Greenpeace Japan Toxic Campaigner Ayako Sekine. Mamie Mutchler,
Legal Advisor for Greenpeace International added: "The Dutch Consul
is entitled to ensure that the civil and political rights of the citizens
of the Netherlands are upheld under international law.
Greenpeace condemns this violation of international law as well as the
refusal of the Japanese authorities to permit Greenpeace access to legal
counsel." The Japanese Police also raided the Greenpeace Japan office
at 09h30 and cut off its communication to the outside world for three
and a half hours. They seized public leaflets that contain information
on the problems of toxic emissions into the environment.
"The
Japanese authorities are not afraid of our actions, but of our message.
This is evident in the fact the police confiscated our public information
pamphlets that provide facts about the environmental problems associated
with incinerators that emit dioxins and other toxic substances which
cause cancer and other serious health problems," Sekine said.
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Greenpeace
also called for the immediate release of the four Greenpeace activists
who were arrested in Tokyo on Tuesday after a non-violent action highlighting
the problems of dioxin emissions into the environment. Today it was
announced that the activists will be detained without charge for at
least a further ten days.
15
May - Protests round the world to free four activists
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