One fugitive from justice fights for human rights, the other for those of animals. Both have long histories of confronting governments and legions of passionate supporters. And now both have skipped bail in foreign countries to avoid extradition to much more powerful nations which they believe want to try them for political reasons. But the similarities between WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, and Paul Watson, charismatic founder of radical marine enforcement organisation Sea Shepherd, end there.
Assange is holed up very publicly in the Ecuadorean embassy in London to avoid being sent back to Sweden where he faces questioning on sexual assault charges but fears he will be extradited to the US.
Watson has disappeared after skipping bail in Germany in the face of allegations by Costa Rica – strongly denied by Watson – that he endangered the lives of some of its shark finners back in 2002. The Canadian-born environmentalist who co-founded Greenpeace and has waged a 40 years' war against illegal fishing and marine destruction faced extradition requests from both Costa Rica and Japan, against whom Sea Shepherd have waged a long and bitter war over whales in the Antarctic.
But where is Captain Watson? This week I left messages around the world for him in an attempt to invite him to write a piece for the Guardian. Oliver Wallasch, his lawyer in Germany was not taking calls, nor was the European director of Sea Shepherd. The organisation's US HQ in California referred me to his legal status on their website, and Watson himself was not answering his US or European phones.
Meanwhile, the bridge of the Sea Shepherd flagship, the Steve Irwin, took a call as it steamed off the Western Australian coast but the message was clear: "We have no idea where Captain Watson is." Only his PR company said they had been in contact with him in the past few weeks, receiving several emails from him. But they, too, said they had no idea where he was.
The best bet is that Watson is at sea – his home. Last year he told me he only spent a few days a year on land, and his lawyer last month said that he felt he [Watson] thought he could be of more use to his clients – the whales and fish – on a ship than he could in a German or Japanese prison. But if he is not on the Steve Irwin, could he possibly be on either of Sea Shepherd's two other boats, the Brigitte Bardot and the Bob Barker? Both are thought to be in Australian waters preparing, like the Steve Irwin, for a new anti-whaling campaign in the Antarctic against the Japanese, starting in December. Neither ship could be contacted but anyway, it seems unlikely he could have left Europe without the authorities noticing.
So could he still be in Europe? The Guardian has been told that his daughter and the head of Sea Shepherd's European office had been seen in Amsterdam. But equally, it was claimed that he may be seeking political asylum in Chile through senator Juan Pablo Letelier, who, it appears, has been asked to "accelerate political asylum for Watson".
Much more likely is that Captain Watson will apply for political asylum, like Assange, in Ecuador, where President Correa has a strong human rights record and where Sea Shepherd has a long history of working with the national police and the Galápagos to catch illegal fishers and apprehend the shark mafia. The organisation was in 2005 even granted the power to arrest people believed to be fishing illegally and in 2007 Sea Shepherd donated their old US coastguard boat to the marine national park. Although Correa once expelled Sea Shepherd's Ecuadorean representative, Sean O'Hearn, relations were patched up and Watson has been very complimentary about Correa.
The last hint that Ecuador may be the preferred destination of Watson is that he is known to be good friends with Mariana Almeida, head of Ecuador's vibrant Life Without Frontiers ecological foundation. In a letter to a US website, she recently wrote with apparent knowledge of the legal case Watson's legal team may be expecting to pursue:
"The case of Captain Watson would also be presented to the pertinent human rights commissions and organisations and shall be placed on the agenda of the European parliament, the international agreements shall be respected and it is clear that Germany might need to explain to the European parliament the reason to accept the extradition request from a Caribbean country without an extradition agreement."
It's not conclusive, but Watson needs all the friends on land that he has got right now. He has proved many times that he is the master of maritime law but whether he can now outwit an array of governments led by the powerful Japanese, may define the rest of his buccaneering life.
Comments
22 August 2012 12:27PM
Paul gets around. He's been leaving me messages:
Here's another one:
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Share22 August 2012 12:30PM
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22 August 2012 12:52PM
Fact 1: Paul Watson has saved thousands of whales through direct-action, and has inspired many tens of thousends of people to do try stopping environmental degradation.
Fact 2: Paul Watson has neven injured an induvidual (as far as documented).
Combining those to facts, and I don't care what his ego, motivations or tactics are. He gets the job done.
(unlike some online 'haters')
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Share22 August 2012 1:30PM
a
A lot of people have said the same thing about a lt of people . . . .Most of the western democracies said that about Saddam Hussein for example when he was fighting Iraq, and the US said the same about Bin Laden when he was fighting the Russians and no doubt the Russians and Chinese are saying the same thing about Bashar al-Assad now.
It is difficult position to hold.
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Share22 August 2012 1:32PM
He's welcome to stay with me for a while, but I don't trust my neighbours and I really don't trust the Australian police. I suspect the Aussie government would treat him in much the same way they have treated Julian Assange - hand him over to whoever wants him, no questions.
Looks like it could be Ecuador to the rescue again, South America seems to be a hotbed of lateral thinkers and there are some pretty interesting ideas coming out of there - at least the places where the Fascist Capitalist system doesn't have any control.
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Share22 August 2012 2:09PM
The Japanese Minister for Agriculture once referred to whales as ‘the cockroaches of the sea’. I have nothing against cockroaches – they are certainly a far superior form of life to those involved in whaling.
Those who gave generously to victims of the tsunami in Japan will think twice about doing so in the future, after their government donated a large amount of money designated for that disaster, to support the whaling industry instead.
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Share22 August 2012 2:26PM
"Combining those to facts, and I don't care what his ego, motivations or tactics are. "
So he can break any law he wants because you agree with his goal? Have you always been an anarchist? And can people who you don't agree with use the same argument?
"He was called on by the New Zealand authorities to help search for missing Norwegian explorers in the Antarctic"
No every ship in the area was called on to help in the search.
" after a New Zealand Navy ship had been forced to return to port after suffering damage in one of the worst Antarctic storms for years. Watson and his crew navigated the exact same storm "
No they didn't. The storm was between New Zealand and the search area and thus north of the Sea Shepherds postion. They did not have to travel through the major portion of the storm, as the New Zealand vessel did, to reach the search area.
"Those who gave generously to victims of the tsunami in Japan will think twice about doing so in the future, after their government donated a large amount of money designated for that disaster, to support the whaling industry instead."
What do people who donated money have to complain about? Japan designated tax money to rebuild businesses in the affected area and whaling is one of those industries. Docks and warehouses were destroyed by the tsunami, rebuilding them provided work and preserved jobs.
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Share22 August 2012 3:37PM
has anyone checked the Ecuador embassy?
Skipping bail. Yet more behaviour demonstrating his actual character. Shameless!
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Share22 August 2012 3:47PM
Solidarity with Watson. Vive Sea Shepherd!
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Share22 August 2012 4:01PM
Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd are the only hope for the whales and dolphins, ever since Greenpeace was effectively neutered when their ship, The Rainbow Warrior, was blown up by agents of the French government, and 2 crew members were murdered. All credit to the New Zealand government for bringing these criminals to justice, although they were released after a mere 2 years.
If the French government will go to those lengths, just imagine what the Japanese would do if they got their hands on Watson.
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Share22 August 2012 4:19PM
Even his Wikipedia entry seems to portray him as an arrogant egotist, with a questionable attitude to the welfare of his vessels, crew and the people he pursues with him campaigns.
I expect the environmental and anti-environmental ( if such a group exist!) alike will be glad of his disappearance.
Except for a selection of commenters here and of course the author of this piece.
The practice of taking shark fins just for a luxury soup and then leaving them to die is indefensible, even cultural relativism fails for me on this one. Poor choice of activism to take him to court on......could they not take the fishermen to court instead?
I still don't like the cut of his jib...etc:
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Share22 August 2012 4:32PM
Where is Captain Paul Watson?
Works at our local chippie were he swaps shifts with Elvis , but he can't do battered fish worth a dam has keeps trying to save them .
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Share22 August 2012 4:49PM
"If the French government will go to those lengths, just imagine what the Japanese would do if they got their hands on Watson."
Well lets see. They had Bethune and gave him a suspended sentence then let him go. They have had 5 different illegal boarders that all got released to the Australians. They arrested a SSCS member in Japan and the court found him innocent and let him go. Yeah looks like Watson has so much to fear.
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Share22 August 2012 5:57PM
Sorry, which of these have
1. Saved thousands of whales?
2. Never injured anyone?
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Share22 August 2012 6:01PM
Iran? Please proofread your comments!
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Share22 August 2012 6:21PM
You should have left a message telling him to stop taking the piss out of the legal system and hand himself in.
These "martyrs" have such over inflated egos that they think they are above the law.
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Share22 August 2012 8:45PM
Is there any evidence that this Paul Watson is in fact a captain?
Apparently as of November 2007, there he was not licensed as a ship's captain.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11/05/071105fa_fact_khatchadourian?currentPage=all:
Similarly, the claim that he is a co-founder of Greenpeace appears to be untrue. Watson's name appears nowhere on the following page (from Greenpeace themselves) about its founding and founders:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/history/founders/
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Share22 August 2012 9:31PM
What difference does it make if the man IS an egotistical boor? He, and his colleagues, do a credible job
slowing the pace of the killing of defenseless critters.
what difference does it make if he's a "real, certified or right-out-of -the cereal box Captain"--or not
His ships float and apparently only run into the other team on call.
What difference does it make if he has broken a few corporate-flavored laws in the process? Those laws don't go far enough to protect the oceans and life in them.
Are these man-made laws above ALL law?
Don't know if he ever endangered anyone, I wasn't there.
Clearly the man is on a mission--from himself, from God, from some higher---or lower, depending on your particular point of view--that few others have or will take on.
Give him a little credit for trying.
Least he's not using drones---yet.
In terms of morals , there is no such thing as State.
"....no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."
Robert A. Heinlein
Paul Watson appears to be free, albeit wanted, man.
If he sailed the Sea Shepherd up the Rio Grande, he could tie up at the Port of Albuquerque and we could eat some green chili and drink a cold beer.
World needs more men --and women ---like Paul Watson.
Ol Bob Dylan said it best: To live outside the law, you must be be honest."
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Share22 August 2012 10:57PM
John Vidal - Rafael Correa is no saint! http://knight.stanford.edu/talks-events/2012/ecuadoran-journalists-pushed-into-the-political-ring/
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Share22 August 2012 11:05PM
Anyone who has been following Sea Shepherd over the years knows that the Japanese whaling industry is behind this. Recently the Costa Ricans got a big fat cheque from them, how convenient.
Paul Watson really is one of the greatest and effective eco heroes of our times. His success with Sea Shepherd has earned him powerful enemies for sure. It`s sickening that people like him and Assange ,who both managed to shame the powerful in a very public manner, are forced into these situations when the real criminals want nothing more than to see them both behind bars or disappear.
Times are changing and support for Paul Watson is huge and I wouldn`t write him off any time soon.
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Share23 August 2012 12:04AM
More progressives should be like Watson. Most of them are content to shout and wave signs then take it up the butt in police brutality ... then they act superior because they're being "nonviolent." Nonviolence gets nowhere when your enemy is secure enough to use violence of his own.
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Share23 August 2012 1:01AM
Would that be part of the over 1 billion dollars that Costa Rica has received in aid from Japan over the last decade? So that would mean that 9 million is nothing unusual and why would they have gotten the money after Germany detained Watson rather than when they issued the warrant? Costa Rica had no assurance Germany or any other country would honor their warrant, yet you want people to believe they would do what they did for what could have been zero dollars?
Maybe you should stop lapping up everything your cult leader says and try using a little of the brain you were born with.
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Share23 August 2012 1:55AM
First of all let`s not lower the tone of these posts, you really come over as being rather patronizing and a quite rude. Why does it bother you so much that this man is admired by millions?
He is a person who gets things done, far removed from certain people who hide behind big macho names and a keyboard to criticize those that are physically trying to save our oceans.
If you had bothered to read my post correctly I state that anyone can work out the real driving force to bring down Paul Watson, I think even a` little of the brain' can work that out.
Are you Norweigan by any chance?
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Share23 August 2012 4:38AM
It is funny how the people respect the man who protects animals and despise the man who brought to the light with evidence, murders and cruel facts against other men.
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Share23 August 2012 5:57AM
An article of zero substance.
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Share23 August 2012 6:01AM
Borboleta,
Thorson comes across as knowledgeable and a decent, tight ,author. You come across as simply daft and a wee bit jealous..
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Share23 August 2012 7:01AM
Regardless of peoples personal agendas Paul Watson gets results - that is why he has earned respect amongst his peers. Unlike the keyboard warriors typing their lethargic critical nonsense he puts his beliefs into action - something many of us should consider in our personal lives.
Sea Shepherd does'nt believe in couch potatoe critics - only those that can get the job done. It really is that simple !!
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Share23 August 2012 7:49AM
LMAO ...
Despite having ( over various threads ) evidence shoveled in your face that the money came from Japanese TAXES and NOT donations, you keep on trying to promote the same old, same old Lie that was first started by Watson and sea Shepherd.
Absolutely amazing...
Watson's in Holland - no doubt about it.
I simply love the fact that someone who professes to be ready to die for whales runs with his tail between his legs when called to account for his actions .... absolutely classic
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Share23 August 2012 7:51AM
Are you a Brazilian Animal rights vegan by any chance? just wondering ;op