Racial slur
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) took the unprecedented step of banning an offensive newsletter, ECO, published by extremist anti-whaling non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The document had published an illustration showing the Caribbean nations as the lap dog of the Japanese.
ECO took pot-shots at the Caribbean nations, Japan and other pro-whaling countries. The newsletter is allegedly propped up by groups like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the US-based Humane Society. While the WWF claimed it had nothing to do with the material, it asserted: "Such sanction (the ban) is incompatible with the freedom of expression....'
Commissioners from Caribbean countries gave their side of the story: "We are continually subjected to abuse, racism and bullying tactics by these groups because we support the utilisation of whale resources as food.' Kitty Block of the Humane Society reportedly said: "If these countries felt it (the cartoon) was offensive, we are sorry.' At the same time, she maintained: "We didn't say that anything published was untrue.'
The Caribbean nations have always been in the eye of the storm at the IWC. There are six countries from the region in the commission, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Only St Vincent fishes for a species (the humpback) which falls within the IWC's ambit, and for which the country has a quota.
The Caribbean countries were inducted into the IWC in the early 1980s by US-based NGOs, reveals Milton Freeman, editor of the International Network for Whaling Research's newsletter. The purpose was to enable them to vote for the moratorium proposal, which was duly passed. Established in 1986, it bans hunting of some whale species.
"However, the Caribbean member nations realised that efforts were underway in the IWC to end St Vincent's humpback fishery. So they decided to collectively defend the principle of sustainable use of natural resources,' states Freeman. The countries then joined hands with Japan, Norway and Iceland.