A =
factory ship in the Souther Ocean winches aboard a minke whale and her calf =
after being harpooned. Source: The =
Australian
THE official from the Republic of Guinea barely bats an eyelid =
when the English lobbyist makes an offer over coffee in a Barcelona hotel. =
She wanted to buy Guinea's vote at the forthcoming International Whaling =
Commission meeting with an aid package.
Rather than protest at this blatant bribery, Guinea's fisheries director =
Ibrahima Sory Sylla got on the phone to his deputy minister.
"I spoke to him positively about your bargaining," he says over lunch =
later that day. "Time is pressed . . . for us to make our decision."
This was not a guarantee of success. The lobbyist has a rival: the =
fisheries agency of Japan, which for years has been Guinea's ally on the =
IWC.
Sylla already outlined the extent of Japan's generosity to Guinea in terms =
of the cash it paid to his minister. He predicts Japan will make a good =
counter-offer.
Such stitch-ups at the IWC have often been rumoured, but they have never =
before been captured on video. The lobbyist was an undercover reporter from =
the Insight team at The Sunday Times.
Their recordings of meetings with pro-whaling officials around the world =
reveal the secrets of a Japanese vote-buying operation that Tokyo always =
denies.
It comes as Japan is attempting to break the 24-year moratorium on =
commercial whaling with a proposal to introduce quotas at the IWC meeting in =
Morocco, starting next Monday.
Japan, Norway and Iceland have killed 35,000 whales since the moratorium =
was introduced. In Japan's case, the killings have been justified as =
"scientific research" although about 5000 tonnes a year of the whale meat is =
eaten in dishes such as sashimi.
If the Morocco proposal is successful, the whaling nations will be able to =
catch 1800 whales a year including two endangered species, fin and sei. =
Scientific whaling will be stopped but campaigners fear the new quotas may =
open the way for a return to the widespread whaling that almost destroyed =
some species in the 1980s. For Japan it is the culmination of a long campaign =
to win support for whaling by recruiting impoverished nations on to the =
IWC.
Japan is believed to have the backing of at least 38 of the IWC's 88 =
members, including three landlocked countries. It needs 75 per cent of the =
vote.
To find out about the secret deals that patch together Japan's alliance of =
African, Asian, Pacific and Caribbean states, The Sunday Times approached =
ministers and officials from those countries in an undercover investigation. =
Two reporters posed as lobbyists hired by Hans Kruber, a fictional Swiss =
billionaire philanthropist who had created a European development fund for =
fisheries.
Their proposal was designed to mirror the alleged tactics of the Japanese. =
Government officials were told we were putting together a coalition of =
countries who would vote against whaling. They were each offered £25 =
million ($43m) in aid over 10 years and all they had to do was vote against =
the whaling quotas.
Six countries indicated they were willing to consider the offer. They were =
St Kitts and Nevis, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Grenada, Ivory Coast and =
Guinea.
Sylla explained his country had little interest in whales but had been =
persuaded to become a member of the IWC by Japan 10 years ago. He says Guinea =
voted with Japan partly because of fears that whales are consuming fish, a =
dubious argument promoted by Japan. An equally important reason for his =
country's support was financial. "Japan supports our position commercially," =
he says. He was not just referring to the millions in fisheries aid that =
Japan has given Guinea over the years.
The reporters asked Sylla what other payments they would have to make to =
match the money offered by Japan. Japan, Sylla reveals, pays Guinea's =
£7900 annual IWC membership fee as well as funding his attendance at =
meetings. Travel, hotels and meals are all paid for and each delegate =
receives up to $US300 (about $350) a day spending money. The average annual =
wage in Guinea is $US1000.
On the occasions that Guinea's minister attends as the IWC commissioner, =
he or she is provided with a car by Japan and spending money. "Minimum, you =
understand minimum, maybe one thousand [dollars] a day," Sylla says.
He says at some meetings he was given money for the minister.
Reporter: And then you give it to the minister?
Sylla: Yes. Not straight to the minister.
Reporter: Why not?
Sylla: You know, you know, the minister is a political man.
Reporter: So they don't want it to seem like they are corrupting the =
minister.
Sylla: C'est ca. Exactly.
On Friday the Guinea fisheries ministry denied Japan had paid any money to =
its delegates and claimed Sylla was not involved in IWC matters. Sylla was =
briefly put on the phone to say he had made everything up.
However, a reporter who called earlier to check Sylla's credentials was =
told he attended IWC meetings and had recently been at preparatory talks for =
Morocco.
Japan's ministry of foreign affairs said: "The government of Japan does =
not cover any cost of any other IWC member countries related to the IWC."
However, other countries appear to have deals with Japan. Kiribati's =
deputy secretary for fisheries Michael Bootii was also at the meeting in =
Barcelona. Kiribati always votes with Japan.
He agrees to meet the reporters for coffee after checking with his =
minister. Bootii says our offer to buy his country's vote as "attractive". He =
says his ministers would "weigh" the offer against the aid provided by Japan, =
which is building ice plants to store fish on each of Kiribati's 33 islands. =
The decision appears to have little to do with whaling and was all about =
money.
"I think we will have to see what we get. At the end of the day it's the =
benefit, yeah."
When asked if his ministers would use the reporters' offer as a bargaining =
counter with Japan, he replied: "That's what will happen."
He confirms that Japan pays for hotels, business-class flights, =
subsistence and a "transit allowance" for his country's delegates at the IWC. =
Despite Japan's denials, Bootii confirms, after we confronted him, that it =
did fund his delegation during IWC trips.
"Assistance given to Kiribati by Japan are part of Japanese aid and =
support to Kiribati and this includes the cost of the trip to any overseas =
conference," he writes in an email.
During the meeting he went further, saying that most of the Pacific =
islands IWC members are financed by the Japanese. He names Tuvalu and the =
Marshall Islands.
The reporters had dined with Panapasi Nelsone, Tuvalu's IWC commissioner, =
in London a few weeks earlier. Nelsone says his country's pro-whaling stance =
had not been linked to the pound stg. 10m a year it receives in aid from =
Japan. But when it came to paying for his IWC trips, he was quite clear:
"If Japan wants us to vote on an issue similar to our position, like =
sustainable use, then why can't they pay for me? If you want us to vote for =
you, you have to help me to attend that meeting."
Fishing adviser to the Marshall Islands, Doreen de Brum, is the next =
official to meet us. She seems keen on taking up the offer of aid to switch =
the vote.
Reporter: Do you think . . . that would create a problem with Japan and =
maybe cease their funding?
De Brum: I don't know, seriously, but I think that's why we do have the =
position that we have. It is because of that aid.
Reporter: What, you support whaling because of the aid that Japan gives =
you?
De Brum: Yeah. We support Japan because of what they give us.
She says that other Pacific islands support Japan's position because of =
the money they receive. "Aid, the aid, that's it," she says.
After being told of The Sunday Times' undercover investigation, she =
returns to the public line.
"The Marshall Islands' policy on whaling is not decided based on the aid =
Japan or any other country provides," she writes.
Another bloc of pro-whaling countries are the Caribbean islands of St =
Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent, Antigua, Barbuda and the =
Grenadines.
St Kitts and Nevis has a population of 50,000 and depends heavily on aid. =
The country's marine resources minister and IWC commissioner, Timothy Harris, =
is keen to discuss the aid proposal.
The first meeting took place in Basseterre, the island's capital. With a =
civil servant taking notes, Harris explains that Japan provides finance for a =
number of infrastructure projects and is paying for a new fish market. He =
promises to raise our offer to buy St Kitts's vote with the cabinet but adds =
there might be concern that Japan could pull the plug on its aid if St Kitts =
switched sides.
"Right now we are working on a project for a new complex . . . so if you =
were to do something, we'd want to ensure that is not jeopardised." Harris =
says.
Reporter: Not jeopardised. Why?
Harris: It's being funded by Japan.
Shortly after the meeting, Harris rang with a lunch invitation. In a =
restaurant overlooking the beach, he is far more candid. In front of his =
civil servant earlier he had taken the customary Japanese line that whales =
are eating St Kitts's fish stocks. Now he admits this is unlikely: "I'm not =
sure that we have whales, or at least many."
The St Kitts interest in the whaling issue is "minimal" but it =
participates in the IWC because it could have "direct benefits".
The Caribbean islands want Japan to fund wider development projects, not =
just fisheries.
Reporter: And were they [the islands] threatening not to support Japan in =
the IWC vote?
Harris: No, they didn't put it as that, because I don't think it might =
have been diplomatic to say. But if you say to a country or some partner this =
is matter that is important to me . . . and they consistently refuse to help =
you, then they are leaving you with no choice.
Harris promises to debate the Insight proposal in cabinet. Similarly, =
Grenada is considering the offer following a meeting with fisheries minister =
Michael Watt and agriculture officer Daniel Lewis. Lewis writes in an email: =
"I am glad that your coalition has considered Grenada as a potential =
recipient of the aid offer."
In Africa, the Ivory Coast appears to be interested in the offer and is =
mulling it over. Mali's fisheries minister Seydou Coulibaly is not as keen =
because he says whales are threatening his country's food supplies. Mali is =
landlocked.
There is little question that Tanzania would change its loyalty to Japan. =
Over dinner in Barcelona, its IWC commissioner Geoffrey Nanyaro explains that =
five of the seven key people in his department speak Japanese because they =
were educated there. He says Japan paid officials pound stg. 22,000 a year in =
tuition fees and living costs. Japan has given pound stg. 80m in aid in the =
past two years, he says.
Nanyaro says aid to Tanzania is not linked to the whaling vote, but he =
fears the country might lose the funding if it voted against the Japanese. =
Reporter: What do the Japanese do for them [the other African countries] that =
keeps them in their pockets?
Nanyaro: It is aid.
He says Japan "secretly" pays for tickets and hotels for the IWC delegates =
from different countries. They are all-expenses-paid visits to Japan where =
"good girls" are available.
Reporter: So you think the other countries' representatives are set up =
with prostitutes from Japan?
Nanyaro: Yes, you know, yeah . . . It starts by saying: do you want =
massaging? . . . It's going to be free massaging. Are you not lonely? You =
don't want any comfort?
The Sunday Times
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