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Japan flouting whaling ban under guise of research: EU
(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission expressed concern Friday at Japan's whaling activities, saying Tokyo was flouting the international ban on whaling "under the guise of scientific research".
"Whales are protected by the International Whaling Commission and European Union law," said EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg. "Scientific research must not be used as a cover for continued whaling."
European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, in a joint statement, said: "The graphic images on our television screens bring home the reality of whale hunting. This shows more than ever the EU needs to be united in opposing whaling."
Japan said Friday it would complain to Australia after the release of graphic pictures of whaling operations, accusing Canberra of stirring up emotions.
Australian media on Thursday prominently aired the pictures taken by an Australian customs vessel showing whales being dragged onto a Japanese ship after being harpooned.
Japan has said the pictures were misleading and did not show a lactating mother and her calf as asserted in Australia.
Last November the EU's executive arm expressed concern over Japanese plans to kill up to 1,000 minke, fin and humpback whales in the South Pacific.
"It is now clear to the world the Japan continues to undermine the international efforts to conserve and protect whales despite the International Whaling Commission repeatedly urging Japan to refrain from hunting whales," the Commission statement said.
"The European Commission urges Japan -- once again -- to reconsider its decision and stop the hunt," it continued.
Australia has taken a leading role in opposing Japan's use of a loophole in an international moratorium on whaling to kill the giants of the oceans in the name of research. The meat is then sold in supermarkets and restaurants.
Japan says its whaling is legal and part of its culture and accuses Western countries, led by Australia, of insensitivity.
Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.
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Japan flouting whaling ban under guise of research: EU
Our purpose today should be to protect and serve life.
Otherwise we can lose our way and jeopardize our primary motivation for living, the celebration of life itself.
I wrote a poem about the whaling this past December when the humpback whale 'harvest' was about to begin.
Indeed it has sadly come to pass with this sorrow brought upon these 2 magnificent minke whales.
A mother whale and her calf have had their lives extinguished by the hand of man.
Please protect all of our friends in the oceans.
We have no right in a modern Western society to painfully kill those who are born free.
Their natural law right to life is no less than our own.
They were not raised by us and don't belong to us.
It is demeaningly and distressingly laughable to claim any scientific, cultural, or nutritional reason for this slaughter.
Perhaps the only logical explanation is that apparently Japan has not yet matured to the level of a fully-developed modern 'western' nation.
Lament of Mother Whale
I cry for our shared grace
I cry for your human family
I cry for your whaler's family
I cry for my family
I cry for me
With your warm hand you could stroke my skin like so many of your family have chosen to do
You would feel my warmth and gratitude
Why do you touch me only with your cold harpoon as you thrust it into my flesh?
I thought after so much killing that we would both crave harmony
That we had learned that we both feel and love
That we both treasure life
That we revere our comrades
That we embrace our children
That we share the same blood of our ancestors
That our hearts both beat the rhyme of life
How my child will cling to me as you haul my dying carcass out of the sea
How she will cry
Until you kill her too