Japan Tempts Whaling Votes With Cash and Girls

Last week animal activists asked President Obama to vote no on a proposal from the International Whaling Commission that would lift the ban on commercial whaling for Japan and two other countries. This week an undercover investigation showed that Japan was willing to bribe countries for a favorable vote.

An investigation conducted by London’s Sunday Times revealed that officials from six of the 88 countries that make up the IWC “were willing to consider selling their votes” for Call Girls and cash payments.

This month members of the IWC will attend a meeting in Morocco to vote on lifting a 24-year old worldwide freeze on commercial whale hunting. If approved, the plan would allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to legally kill whales in Antarctica and in the North Pacific for the next ten years. The proposal endangers the lives of thousands of whales.

Japan denies offering the bribes, but the Sunday Times filmed voting members of IWC admitting:

They will vote in favor of the proposal for large sums of aid from Japan for their countries.
They received cash payments in envelopes at IWC meetings from Japanese officials to cover their travel and hotel bills.
They were offered prostitutes by Japanese fisheries ministers and other civil servants.

Reporters from the Sunday Times conducted their investigation by posing“as representatives of a billionaire conservationist.” They discovered the nations of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Grenada, Republic of Guinea and the Ivory Coast had all entered into negotiations with Japan to vote in favor of slaughtering whales.

Greenpeace, an environmental organization that has been fighting on behalf of the whales for years was in shock over the news.

Their blog stated, “It's further proof, if any were needed, that there is no groundswell of support for whaling within the IWC or the international community. Indeed, many of the national representatives attending these talks don't represent their governments, their people, or any sort of scientific advice when it comes to deciding how to vote. Japan's support instead is held together with wads of cash, tied overseas aid, and some dubious entertainment of key officials.”

This investigation should be further proof to the White House that supporting the proposal to lift a ban that has saved tens of thousands of whales is dangerous and foolhardy.

posted by: Sharon Seltzer