Quote:
Originally Posted by multi
they also promised to send the navy after the Japanese Whaling boats .. yeh right?
|
The first and more serious of the two deals with the Australian armed forces and Japan’s whaling fleet. The new Australian government, elected in part because of its strong environmental stance, is considering sending a Navy observation ship to gather evidence on the fleet’s whaling activities.
The new Labor government may bring a legal challenge against the Japanese in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Ruud said: “We take seriously Australia’s international obligations on the proper protection of whales. We would not rule out the use of Australian assets to collect appropriate data including photographic evidence concerning whaling activities.”
The government has not decided whether or not to send a ship yet, but will be making that decision sometime early next week. Japan has announced its intentions to hunt in an area the Australian government, but not international organizations, has dubbed a whale sanctuary.
Japan reacted as it generally does when attacked on its whaling policies. The government told Australia to bring it (we’re paraphrasing here). Confident that it will come through any legal action unscathed, the Japanese fisheries agency has issued public challenges for any country to take it to court over its whaling activities. The Japanese ambassador to Australia said he was aware of the country’s outrage but Japan would continue whaling.
The issue for the Australian government is the legal status of the water which it considers a whale sanctuary. The government considers a section of Antarctica their territory, including the sanctuary, but is has not been officially recognized by any governing bodies. Naval action in the area could breach certain international laws which have designated Antarctica a demilitarized zone.
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/?p=608