European Parliament debate denounces the criminalization of Canadian environmental defender Paul Watson
Video still: French MEP Emma Fourreau.
On September 19, the European Parliament held a plenary session on the “Possible extradition of Paul Watson: the danger of criminalisation of environmental defenders and whistle-blowers, and the need for their protection in the EU.”
This past summer, the Associated Press reported: “Greenland police said they apprehended veteran environmental activist and anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson on an international arrest warrant issued by Japan.”
Toronto-born Watson, who is now 73 years of age, was arrested on July 21 by Danish police in Nuuk, Greenland. He will be held in custody until at least October 2 as an extradition request by Japan is being considered.
Watson’s arrest appears to relate to a Japanese arrest warrant issued in 2012 accusing him of causing damage to a whaling ship in 2010.
He was arrested while en route to the North Pacific to confront the Kangei Maru, a Japanese whaling ship engaging in commercial whaling in Japan’s coastal waters in violation of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ban on commercial whale hunts that was implemented in July 1982.
The IWC oversees the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the global convention that oversees the management and conservation of whales. Japan withdrew from the IWC in 2018.
Since the global commercial whaling moratorium went into effect, Japan has killed nearly 20,000 great whales, including minke, Bryde’s and sei whales. The Kangei Maru plans to kill 200 whales by the end of this year, including fin whales considered “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides (Cyprus) spoke about the importance of environmental human rights defenders.
Video still: MEP Leire Pajin.
Then Members of the European Parliament Leire Pajín Iraola (Spain), Virginie Joron (France), Yvan Verougstraete (Belgium), Marie Touissaint (France), Per Clausen (Denmark), Annalisa Corrado (Italy), Rasmus Nordquist (Denmark), Emma Fourreau (France), Chloe Ridel (France), Sean Kelly (Ireland), Jean-Marc Germaine (France) and Saskia Briemont (Belgium) raised concerns including the illegality of Japanese whaling, the prolonged detention of an environmental defender on European soil, the imperative not to extradite Watson to Japan, and the important role of environmental defenders.
To watch the full 30-minute plenary session, click here.
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Further reading: Canadian environmental defender Paul Watson remains in Nuuk Prison as Japanese whaling ship heads to the North Pacific (September 18, 2024).
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