End whale hunt, Japan told

THE United Nations’ top court yesterday ordered Japan to end its annual Antarctic whale hunt, saying in a landmark ruling that the programme was a commercial activity disguised as science.

“Japan shall revoke any existent authorisation, permit or licence granted in relation to Jarpa II [research programme] and refrain from granting any further permits,” the International Court of Justice’s [ICJ] Judge Peter Tomka said.

Agreeing with Australia, which in 2010 hauled Japan before the ICJ in a bid to end whale hunting in the Southern Ocean, Judge Tomka said “special permissions granted by Japan are not for purposes of scientific research”.

While Norway and Iceland have commercial whaling programmes in spite of a 1986 International Whaling Commission moratorium, Japan insisted its programme was scientific, while admitting that the resulting meat ended up on plates back home.

Tokyo was accused of exploiting a legal loophole in the 1986 ban on commercial whaling that allowed the practice to collect scientific data.

Conservation groups hailed the ruling, which Japan said it would respect despite “deep disappointment”.

“As a state that respects the rule of law ... and as a responsible member of the global community, Japan will abide by the decision of the court,” chief negotiator Koji Tsuruoka said.

Australia claimed that since 1988 Japan had slaughtered more than 10 000whales under the Jarpa programme. – AFP