Australia accused of 'affront' to Japan's dignity in whaling case

Australia has unfairly accused Japan of lying, says lawyer launching final defence of whaling program in The Hague
Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk 16 Jul 13;

Japan has accused Australia of an affront to its national dignity as it launched a robust final defence of its controversial whaling program at the international court of justice in The Hague.

The court is the setting for an unprecedented legal battle between the two countries that could put a permanent end to Japan's annual whale hunts in the Antarctic.

Australia has accused Japan of using scientific research as a cover for commercial whaling, which was banned by the international whaling commission in 1986, and is demanding that the court revoke the fleet's whaling license.

Japan uses a "lethal research" clause in the international convention for the regulation of whaling to kill more than 900 minke whales in the Southern Ocean every winter.

Meat from the slaughtered mammals is sold legally in Japanese restaurants and supermarkets.

Payam Akhavan, a lawyer acting for Japan, told the court that Australia had unfairly accused Japan of lying about the purpose of its whaling program.

"Needless to say, this is a serious accusation, and an affront to the dignity of a nation. Surely it is not an accusation to be made lightly," he said.

Akhavan claimed that Australia supported the direct action taken against Japan's whaling fleet by the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd, and that it would continue to back the activists if it loses its legal challenge at The Hague. "Even as the court deliberates, the [whaling] vessels will face another season of violent attacks," he said.

Japan has killed more than 10,000 whales since the IWC ban went into force, although its fleet has returned to port with only a fraction of their intended catch in recent years, following confrontations with Sea Shepherd.

Akhavan said Japan had decided not to leave the IWC because it preferred to settle the whaling dispute peacefully and according to the rule of law.

"Australia comes before this court to take advantage of that commitment," he said. "To unfairly and unreasonably portray Japan as a rogue state at the IWC; to level accusations of bad faith against what it deems to be a friendly state that it can mistreat with impunity …"

Australia's agent to the court, Bill Campbell QC, reiterated his claim that Japan's whaling program had no scientific value.

"The position remains fundamentally the same; we say that what's going on is commercial whaling," he said. "We don't believe it falls within the research exception, and that remains the case despite what Japan said this morning."

Opponents of Japan's whale hunts say research into the animals' migratory, reproductive and other habits can be conducted without killing them.

The 16-judge ICJ panel is expected to issue a ruling later this year. When the hearings opened late last month, the Australian attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said he was confident that the court would ban the hunts before the next hunting season begins at the end of the year.

Whale meat consumption has fallen dramatically in Japan since the end of the second world war.

Australian accusations that the whaling program is a purely commercial venture are wide of the mark, the conservative newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun said in an editorial this week.

"The whaling regulation convention requires that whales killed for scientific purposes should be processed as much as is practicable," the newspaper said. "Using whale meat as a byproduct of research activities for food is in line with the spirit of the convention."

WWF statement on ICJ whaling case
WWF 16 Jul 13;

Today public hearings closed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case between Australia and Japan over whaling by Japan in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica.

In May 2010, the Australian government initiated legal proceedings in the ICJ against the government of Japan alleging that so-called ‘scientific’ whaling by Japan is in breach of the country’s international treaty obligations. Whaling for commercial purposes has been banned internationally since 1986 and the Southern Ocean was declared a whale sanctuary in 1994 affording it an additional layer of protection.

The Australian government has requested the ICJ to order the government of Japan to cease its ‘scientific’ whaling programme in the Southern Ocean, and to provide assurances and guarantees that it will not take part in any further ‘scientific’ whaling in this zone. New Zealand has intervened in support of Australia’s case.

After extensive commercial whaling in the twentieth century brought most great whale species in the Southern Ocean close to extinction, the governments party to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) established the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, recognizing the critical importance of protecting whales in this special place.

Japan exploits a clause in the IWC treaty that allows for the killing of whales for “scientific purposes.”

“Since the whaling treaty was signed there have been great scientific advances that allow data about whales to be obtained through non-lethal means. The International Court of Justice has heard abundant evidence on why hunting hundreds of whales in the Southern Ocean is not necessary for science,” said Wendy Elliott, species programme manager at WWF.

“In this day and age there is no reason to kill whales for scientific research and WWF strongly hopes for a positive ruling by the court that will end whaling in the Southern Ocean.”