Australian Customs Photos show Whaling Brutality

by Takver - Sydney Indymedia

Fri, Feb 8, 2008 8:12AM

The Australian Government has released graphic photos of whales being slaughtered by the Japanese whaling fleet to the media, with Japan threatening a diplomatic complaint. The Australian Government has also extended the mission of the Oceanic Viking in documenting the whale slaughter in preparation for an international legal case against Japanese whaling.

Australian Customs Officers from the Oceanic Viking have taken photos, a few of which have now been posted to the Customs Service website. Australian Customs have also released a video of whales being slaughtered and taken up the rear slipway of the Nisshin Maru factory ship.

Masatoshi Wakabayashi, the Japanese Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries says a diplomatic complaint will be lodged with Australia over the release of the photos. "We had agreed to handle the issue calmly and avoid damaging friendly relations between the two countries,"he told a news conference as reported by the ABC. "However, Australia released pictures of a whaling vessel and made remarks that don't appear calm," Mr Wakabayashi said. "We will express our regret about it and call on them through diplomatic channels to act calmly." he said.

"We need to get back there and stop this slaughter," said Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. "We are working hard to get our ship repaired, refueled, re-crewed and re-supplied. Once we return we can put a stop to this killing once again." The Steve Irwin is docked in Melbourne preparing to sail for the Southern Ocean to again disrupt the whaling fleet.

One of the photos released apparently shows the killing of a mother minke whale and its calf, as evidence to back legal action against Japan’s controversial whale hunt. The graphic images show the mother whale and her calf being winched aboard a Japanese vessel after being shot with explosive tipped harpoons. Scientists say the calf in the photograph was less than twelve months old.

The Director General of the ICR, Mr Minoru Morimoto said: "the photographs taken by the Oceanic Viking and which major Australian newspapers published today shows two minke whales, but they are not a mother and her calf". But can you believe Mr Morimoto after saying that the two Sea Shepherd activists who boarded the Yushin Maru were never tied up “Any accusations that we have tied them up or assaulted them are completely untrue,” Mr Morimoto said, despite a Sea Shepherd video showing the contrary.

"These photographs show the reality of whaling, the reality of the slaughter of these animals and they will help us to back up the Australian Government’s argument in an international court case, the details of which are still being worked out, to suggest that whaling should be stopped. That is the will of the Australian people and that is indeed the opinion, I believe, of most of the governments of the world." said Bob Debus, Australian Minister for Home Affairs.

Australian Environment Minister, Peter Garrett said "I think it’s explicitly clear from these images that this is indiscriminate killing of whales, where you have a whale and its calf killed in this way. And to claim that this is in any way scientific is to continue the charade that has surrounded this issue from day one."

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Campaigns Manager Darren Kindleysides said “The Government has the evidence, the legal advice and the public mandate to take Japan to the international courts to end their illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean. What is holding us back?,”

“Japan’s whaling program is illegal and will remain so until a government takes steps to challenge this unlawful activity”, said Dr Tim Stephens of the Sydney Legal Panel. “There is still time for an 11th hour effort on the part of the Australian government to use international law to halt Japan’s ‘scientific’ whaling program. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea could be called upon to issue an injunction to stop the Japanese whalers. The Tribunal could issue an injunction in as little as 14 days,” continued Dr Stephens.

According to three separate panels of independent, international legal experts (commissioned by IFAW), Japan’s whaling program breaches numerous international laws and treaties including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Antarctic Treaty System, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling.

“Some of the world’s best legal minds have made the case. Japan’s whaling is not just cruel, it’s criminal. The evidence is clear. It is time for Australia to take legal action to end this illegal, unnecessary and inhumane activity once and for all,” Mr Kindleysides from the IFAW said.

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