International Whaling Commission (IWC)

IWC 62,

DAY 2 (JUNE 22, 2010)

Greetings from Agadir, Morocco,

DAY 2 for the Commissioners was spent behind closed doors
trying to hatch a deal for the whalers

Day 2 for the rest of us was spent trying to ascertain what was going on behind the closed doors, what the future of the world’s whales was going to look like. (SEE IWC ISSUED PRESS RELEASE BELOW)

· A press conference was held by WSPA, Norwegian Society for Protection of Animals and NOAH – for animal rights, highlighting the cruelty of whaling. Minister Garrett, spoke on the WSPA/Optus ‘Give whales a voice’ campaign.

· An event hosted by AVAAZ where Minister Garrett accepted an online petition signed by over one million people calling for an end to whaling, sign the petition

http://www.avaaz.org/en

· Meanwhile publicity over new evidence of bribery and corruption at the IWC continues to circulate,

· This new evidence gives a member country of the IWC a perfect opportunity to raise this on the floor of the IWC, an opportunity to change the rules of procedure, to expose and eliminate this corruption.

IWC 62 plenary begins again at 0900 tomorrow (Wednesday)
We will no doubt see the latest ‘WHALING DEAL’ then.

Ciao

Mick

Mick McIntyre
Director, Whales Alive

FOLLOW THE WHALES ALIVE BLOG
www.whalesalive.org.au

Japanese vote buying is the buzz of whaling meet

(AP) – 3 hours ago

AGADIR, Morocco — Accusations that Japan uses aid money and personal favors to buy votes have quietly circulated for years around the International Whaling Commission, which oversees the conservation of the whales that Japan regularly hunts.

Now, a sting operation by a London newspaper that secretly filmed officials from six developing countries negotiating for bribes has brought such allegations into the open, at least in the corridors of the commission's annual meeting.

The Sunday Times of London secretly filmed the officials talking with reporters who portrayed themselves as emissaries of a Swiss billionaire wanting anti-whaling votes at the IWC's meeting in Morocco.

The six indicated that any offer from the Swiss would have to top what Japan already gives them. Tanzania's top delegate was quoted as saying he had accepted trips to Japan, where he was offered free "massages" in his hotel room, which he said he declined.

For some of Japan's harshest critics, the Sunday Times catching officials on tape acknowledging they received benefits from Japan was proof of undue influence on the 88-nation commission, which in its most important meeting in decades is considering a proposal for a 10-year suspension of the 1986 ban on commercial whaling.

IWC PRESS RELEASE FROM TODAY (22/6/10)

includes the following:

Negotiation sessions among ten groups took place during yesterday and are continuing today. The groups involved are the African nations, the Buenos Aires Group (of Latin American countries), the European Union, Iceland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway, small island developing states and two further groups – one comprising Australia, Israel, Monaco, New Zealand, Oman, and the USA, and the other comprising Denmark, the Russian Federation and Switzerland.

The groups reported to a private meeting of Commissioners this morning. All groups reported that their discussions so far had been very useful, had lead to a fuller understanding of respective views and been conducted in a very cordial and respectful manner. The opportunity for all countries to engage in negotiations was welcomed.

The Commission will reconvene in plenary tomorrow at 09.00 when a fuller report on progress with negotiations will be made and discussed. An NGO session is planned for the afternoon providing an additional opportunity for their input. It is anticipated that negotiations will continue during the week.