On July 21, 2024, Paul Watson, a major symbol in the fight against commercial whaling and founder of Sea Shepherd, an NGO dedicated to ocean conservation, was arrested by the Danish authorities during a stopover in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. Captain Watson intended to launch Operation Kangei Maru, aiming to intercept the new Japanese whaling ship of the same name.
Since then, the environmental activist has been imprisoned in Greenland’s capital prison, a territory under Danish authority. His arrest was ordered under a red notice from Interpol issued in 2012 following an international arrest warrant from Japan, accusing him of being co-responsible for damages and injuries aboard a Japanese whaling ship two years earlier as part of a Sea Shepherd campaign. This red notice was reactivated after having been suspended from Interpol’s official lists following the adoption of the 1986 international whaling moratorium, which deemed the practice as illegal.
According to Lamya Essemlali, President of Sea Shepherd France, this reactivation of the red notice represents a political maneuver by the Japanese government, which plans to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific in 2025 with its new whaling ship, the Kangei Maru. These suspicions of political schemers reflect the strained relations between the Japanese government and Captain Watson, who relentlessly opposes whaling, particularly targeting Japan, one of the three countries, along with Norway and Iceland, that still allow this practice despite the global ban. Indeed, due to Watson’s actions, which have saved over five thousand whales from harpoons, the Japanese government has always viewed him as a political enemy, accusing him of “eco-terrorism.”
WHAT DOES PAUL WATSON’S FUTURE HOLD ?
Imprisoned for nearly a month and a half now, Paul Watson, aged 73, faces the risk of extradition to Japan, as requested by the Japanese government, and a potential 15-year prison sentence.
A preliminary hearing was held on August 15 to decide on the Captain’s detention. It was decided that the environmental activist would remain in detention until September 5, at which point the Danish Ministry of Justice will decide on a required extradition.
ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE FRENCH SOCIETY
In France, civil society is widely mobilizing in support of Captain Watson, a Canadian citizen who has resided in the country since 2015. Under President François Hollande, French authorities had previously agreed not to enforce the Japanese arrest warrant against the environmental activist.
Following his arrest, a petition titled #FreePaulWatson was launched by the journalist Hugo Clément and has gathered over 700,000 signatures, including many French personalities.
President Emmanuel Macron responded favorably to the petitioners’ request to contact Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and to intervene on behalf of Paul Watson. Recently, French President confirmed that diplomatic exchanges between French and Danish authorities are ongoing.
Since the founder of Sea Shepherd’s incarceration, several demonstrations have been held throughout France and in front of the Danish Parliament to protest his potential extradition to Japan and to demand his immediate release.
In the European Parliament, Emma Fourreau, a French MEP from the The Left group, has also addressed a written question to the European Commission, urging it to take action with the Danish authorities in favor of Watson’s release.
Additionally, on July 24, at Emma Fourreau”s sixty-eight French parliamentarians, including twenty-six MEPs, sent a letter to the Danish Prime Minister calling for Captain Watson’s release and highlighting the human rights violations of the Japanese prison system as reported by many NGOs.
ASSEDEL’S POSITION
ASSEDEL calls for the immediate release of Paul Watson and firmly opposes his required extradition to Japan, considering that the Japanese arrest warrant, the underlying basis for his detention, violates international human rights treaties. The associations also denounces a planned arrest.
According to the President of Sea Shepherd France, Denmark and Japan have interests to defend against the Canadian activist and his organization, which firmly oppose whaling and dolphin hunting in the Faroe Islands. Therefore, the issuance of an arrest warrant by Japan in June 2024, targeting only Denmark, raises valid suspicions of a politically motivated arrest.
ASSEDEL also strongly condemns Denmark’s potential violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in the event of extradition. The association emphasizes that the Convention prohibits extraditions that would expose the individual to torture, inhumane, and degrading treatment as outlined in Article 3 of the Convention. This prohibition could apply in the case of extradition to Japan, where the death penalty is still in effect and detention conditions are very harsh.
Moreover, the right to a fair trial may be compromised by the Japanese justice system.
The association stands ready to represent Paul Watson before the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Committee Against Torture in order to prevent his extradition to Japan.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/P-10-2024-001465_FR.html
https://www.vakita.fr/fr/vakita-se-mobilise-pour-paul-watson