グリーンピースの船「アークティック・サンライズ号」は12月14日、オーストラリアの南方、南極海において、日本の水産庁の委託により (財) 日本鯨類研究所が差し向けた捕鯨船団と初めて遭遇した。同14日、(財) 日本鯨類研究所理事長である大隈清治博士はプレスリリースを発表し、そのグリーンピースを「エコ・テロリスト」と名指している。これに対し、グリーンピース・インターナショナルの事務局長ガート・レイポルドは、本日、以下の内容の抗議文を送付した。(添付資料)
グリーンピースは、南極海で非暴力直接行動の理念に則り、平和的に行っている捕鯨反対の抗議行動に対し「テロリズム」などと言う卑俗かつ不当な言葉使いに対し強く抗議する。「テロリズム」とは殺傷を含む行為をさすものであり、わが方の小さいゴムボートは、それの何百倍もある巨大な鋼鉄製の捕鯨船や捕鯨母船に対し何ら危険を与えるものではない。
単なる意見の相違はテロリズムではない。異なる意見を相手に表明することはテロリズムではない。われわれの平和的な抗議行動をテロリズム呼ばわりするのは不当である。
また、(財) 日本鯨類研究所は、その声明の中で「・・グリーンピース船「ア」号は2年前、我が国調査捕鯨を妨害する目的で、わが国船団に接近し妨害行動を起こした。・・我が方の船と衝突し、・・この行為は国際海事法への深刻な違反行為である」と主張している。しかし、ロイズ (ロンドンにある保険引受人の団体) の記録によると、「捕鯨船日新丸がグリーンピース船アークティック・サンライズ号に突っ込んだ」判定している。また、衝突のあった時、日新丸はグリーンピースを追い越そうとしていたことを認めている。国際法である「海上衝突予防法」第13条によれば、追い越し船側 (日新丸) が、追い越される船 (グリーンピース船) の進路を妨げてはならないとしている。この衝突は、グリーンピース船の2倍の長さがあり、スピードも速く、何倍も重い日新丸側が、意図的にグリーンピース船の進路を妨害したために発生したものである。
【添付資料】
Dr.Seiji Ohsumi
Director General
Institute of Cetacean Research
Tokyo
Fax +81 3 353 66522
December 14,2001/12/14
Dear Dr. Oshumi,
We refer to your announcement that Japan’s vessels are in the Antarctic to conduct the 15th year of its whale research program and in particular your claims that the Japanese whaling constitutes a “scientifically valid and perfectly legal research program You will be aware that the International Whaling Commission at the 2001 meeting strongly urged the Government of Japan to halt the take of minke whales conducted under the JARPA programme, at least until the Scientific Committee has reported to the Commission on the impacts of the JARPA programme on the stocks of minke whales in Areas IV and V. You will also be aware of the often-repeated International Whaling Commission recommendation that scientific research involving the killing of cetaceans should only be permitted in exceptional circumstances where the questions address critically important issues which cannot be answered by the analysis of existing data and/or use of non-lethal techniques. Yet the United States Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta has stated that “Japan has no reasonable scientific justification for its whaling efforts and the New Zealand Prime Minister has observed that within the IWC there is a real question about whether this is the purpose of the Japanese activities, given that they clearly do not meet any ‘critically important research needs.’
Thus you will see that many object to Japan’s whaling activities.
The use by your organisation of words such as ‘terrorism’ to describe the peaceful and non violent anti-whaling protest of Greenpeace in the Southern Ocean shows an act of desperation. It is not only wrong but insulting to our supporters around the world and undermines the global fight against international terrorism.
Calling non violent protest terrorism insults those who were injured or killed in the attacks of real terrorists, including Fernando Pereira, killed by State terrorism in the 1985 attack on the Rainbow Warrior.
There is a right to peaceful protest, and we are exercising that right in the Antarctic. Our small inflatable boats pose no risk to the steel hulled high powered whale catchers. The catchers outweigh our boats by hundreds of times and tower over them. To call our peaceful protest terrorism is absurd.
Greenpeace utterly rejects Dr. Ohsumi’s false account of the very dangerous collision which occurred in Antarctic waters in 1999.
The Lloyd’s database records this incident as a ramming of the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise by the factory ship Nisshin Maru. Even the whalers themselves have admitted the factory ship (which is faster, twice as long and several times heavier than the Greenpeace ship involved) was overtaking the Greenpeace ship at the time of the collision. Under international maritime regulations for the prevention of collision it is the overtaking vessel which is responsible for keeping clear. The Japanese factory ship was engaged in a reckless manoeuvre intended to intimidate the Greenpeace vessel when she collided with it. The collision was entirely the fault of the factory ship and posed a very real risk to the smaller Greenpeace ship they struck. Crew on the Greenpeace ship were thrown off their feet and the ship rolled so far under the Impact that she was in danger of capsizing. )
We call on Japan to immediately cease their whaling activities and to engage in solely non-lethal research and to cease personal attacks on those that disagree with its current whaling programme.
Regards,
Gerd Leipold
Executive Director
Greenpeace International
