IWC58 2006
Report from IWC59 2006 St. Kitts, Caribbean.
This 58th IWC, had a bit of everything: stressful votes, abuse of authority on peaceful whale activists and long, very long arguments from Japan and their Caribbean aliads (among other countries who got economic support from Japan), about how people need to kill whales and small cetaceans to "survive", when in reality, it just ends up in Japanese markets and fancy restaurants for the wealthy Japanese people. One of the speakers was the Major of Taiji, a small fishing town, well known internationally for it's brutal bloody annual slaughter of small whales and dolphins, where they drive with nets these animals to their bay and slowly kill them with knives and sticks for up to 18 hours of excruciating agony and terror each time,including babies, but before, the fishermen choose some healthy dolphins, to sell to aquariums worldwide for $20,000 US !.
Ric O'Barry, a well know activist from "One Voice" France, who is very active on the protection of dolphins and small cetaceans (and former trainer of "Flipper" the famous TV show dolphin), was evicted during the inauguration ceremony, for going inside the conference room with a TV attached to his body showing the gruosome slaughter of dolphins and small whales in Taiji that himself filmed.
Ric O'Barry from One Voice
The second time, he stayed outside the conference room, just outside the lobby of the Marriot Hotel, waiting patiently after the Major of Taiji long speach at the conference room ended, so when the Japanese delegation came out, he had a peaceful protest again, just showing his video and 5 big security guys surrounded him and took him out.
Security squad
Then he went to the lobby and to his room at the Marriot. That night, at midnight when he was sleeping with his wife and little child, police came to his door giving him threats of breaking his teeth if they would not leave the hotel premises at once, and so they were evicted from the Marriot Hotel, even when they had paid on advance for the rest of the week and didn't refund them any money.
His misterious dissapearence was a big concern among NGO's, who were worried about his whereabouts when at 6:00 AM they saw the chamber maid was cleaning their room and there was not record of them at the front desk. He appeared 2 days later in Miami, with his family and safe.
Another incident occurred the last day of the conference, on Tuesday 20th, when the Greenpeace ship MV Arctic Sunrise, that wasn't allowed into St. Kitts waters,"because it was a threat of it's citizens" (for God sakes, it is just Greenpeace, the famous 100% non-violence organization famous for their all peaceful protests!). Well, there was conmotion at the beach when their ship came in front the Marriot Hotel beach and 2 zodiacs came ashore with carboards black whale tails with the letters: R.I.P. on each one of them for the whales that got kill by Japan in the Antartic sanctuary this year: 863 and the 1,000 that will kill this year.
Greenpeace activists in peaceful action
Immediately, security, police and military came, heavily armed and yelling orders to the people witnessing the action to move back, and with abuse of force, took the carboard tails from the peaceful protesters, pushing and throwing some of them down and then arrested them, dragging them on the sand, pulling their hair and even hit an Argentinean activist on his stomach. Two of girls who came from the ship were kept behind for about 10 minutes, and their hands tighly tied on their backs, were later on the police and military personal used to lift them hurting them deeply and took them to jail.
Greenpeace activists brutalized by police
When this police officer from St. Kitts was asked why the activist were been arrested, he said that the cardboard signs was a customs violation and that now they would reposses them and would dump the signs. The arrested activists where from: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Germany, Scotland and the US.
Ericka
PO Box 16021
617 Belmont Street
New Westminister
British Columbia
V3M 6W6
Canada
Email Us!
Bowl for CATCA
Help raise money
for the animals
by bowling every
Mon, Wed, Sun!
Click for details!
Irish Seal Sanctuary
AD-AV Award!
Click to view larger