---------- From: "Clinton Fairbanks" <kuricowboy at isop.ne.jp> To: <CIR at listbot.com> Subject: [Article] ENS, Japanese Police Raid Greenpeace Ship Date: 2000年 5月 13日 (土) 9:29 AM
So who is really breaking the law?
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Environment Japanese Police Raid Greenpeace Ship and Office TOKYO, Japan, May 11, 2000 (ENS) http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2000/2000L-05-11-01.html
The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior and the Greenpeace office in Tokyo were raided this morning by the Japanese Police seeking evidence against the four Greenpeace activists arrested on Tuesday.
Three men and one woman are still in police custody after they climbed the building next to the tower of the worlds tallest incinerator complex in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, and hung a banner demanding an end to waste incineration.
Detention of the four activists, Al Baker of the United Kingdom, Marleen van Poeck of Belgium, Clement Lam of Hong Kong and Canada and Paul Schot of the Netherlands now continues for the third day. Today it was announced that the activists will be detained without charge for at least a further ten days.
Police told reporters that five officers searched the group's office. There they seized public leaflets containing information on the problems of toxic emissions into the environment, Greenpeace said.
Another 30 police went through the Rainbow Warrior, docked at Tokyo's Harumi wharf.
The police searched the ship thoroughly, including the computer data, the ships logbook and the crews personal belongings. No new arrests were made. The raid lasted over nine hours and resulted in the confiscation of the ships property, including the ships logbook.
Greenpeace alleges that the Japanese Government violated international law by refusing the Dutch Consul access to the crew of the Rainbow Warrior during police investigations. The Rainbow Warrior is flagged in the Netherlands where the headquarters of Greenpeace International is located.
The Greenpeace lawyer in Japan arrived on the raid scene, but was denied access to the wharf by the Japanese police. The ships captain, Joel Stewart, called for assistance from the Dutch Embassy in Tokyo, but the embassy official's attempts to visit the ship were cut short by police.
Failure to allow access of the embassy officials is a violation of Articles 5 and 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. "We are appalled by this overreaction from the Japanese authorities. This police action against Greenpeace is totally unwarranted and too heavy-handed. Our protest was non-violent and should not have been met with these repressive acts," said Stewart. "We will not allow these measures to interfere with our right to peacefully protest against damaging the environment."
"If every public protest continues to be met with such a strong reaction from the police and from the government in Japan, there is a real danger that it prevents the public from demanding accountability for crimes committed against the environment," said Sanae Shida, executive director of Greenpeace Japan.
The international environmental group emphasized that the action it carried out was intended to highlight both local and global environmental and health implications of burning waste - particularly in areas where the incinerators are located.
Japan has the highest levels of dioxin emissions in the world today, as a consequence of having more waste incinerators than any other country in the world.
Dioxins are toxic substances created during the incineration process. They are linked to liver cancer and birth defects.