The UN’s International Court of Justice has withdrawn all permits and licenses for Japon to continue whaling in the Antarctic and will refrain from issuing any new licences. The Court ruled on March 31 that the Japonese whaling program is not, as they had claimed, for scientific purposes. The Court The judges decided by 12 votes to 4 to revoke permits for whaling in Southern Pacific Ocean. This decision is final and not open to appeal.

"The court, presided over by Peter Tomka, concludes that the special permits granted to Japan for, capturing, killing and trading of whales under JARPA II agreement (Japanese Whale Research Program in the Antarctic under Special Permit) do not have a scientific purpose", says the verdict, signed by the presiding judge, Peter Tomka. Therefore, Japan must stop whaling immediately. The excuse that whale slaughter has been maintained for scientific research shows an unprecedented cynicism, since the meat from the slaughtered whales is packaged and sold in Japan markets.

Whales are magnificent cetaceans that have always been hunted by men. Three countries, Iceland, Norway and Japon, have been constant in their opposition to the whale hunting ban for commercial whaling as adopted by the International Whaling Commission: Iceland and Norway have always defended fishing in its territorial waters and Japan has a large fleet plying widely in the Southern Ocean.

We congratulate the Australian government who filed a complaint to the UN Court, and also to Greenpeace and Sea Sheperd, tireless fighters in this cause.

Although Spain has always supported a ban on commercial whaling, our country, too, has a whaling history. It has been proven that, even though we have a great deal of fishing resources and expertise, in Spain whaling is not a business that can be run profitably.

We hope this will the beginning of a total ban and that these magnificent cetaceans and other marine species such as sharks and others, who play such an important role in nature, can also be protected. This would be an important step toward restoring the ecological balance of the Earth.