United Nations Human Rights Commission's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has informed the government of Japan that its treatment of two Greenpeace activists who exposed whale meat corruption in Japan is in contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Whale Meat, Again

by Kieran Mulvaney, DiscoveryNews, February 10, 2010

A United Nations panel has informed the government of Japan that its treatment of two Greenpeace activists is in contravention of several articles of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The panel's opinion, which was communicated to Japanese authorities last year, was made public by Greenpeace this week, one week before the activists -- Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki -- stand trial for trespass and theft in Tokyo.
The case began in May 2008, when Greenpeace announced that a four-month investigation had revealed what it called "a systematic, large-scale operation ... to steal whale meat processed from [Japan's] Southern Ocean hunt [of minke whales]." The organization's motivation, of course, was not one of outrage that whale meat was being diverted from the hungry mouths of wannabe whale-eaters across the land, but to argue that the evidence of theft and corruption within the whaling industry was sufficient justification for the industry to be denied the taxpayer-funded subsidies on which it relies to survive. 

As part of the investigation, Greenpeace acquired a box containing more than 50 lbs. of whale meat, worth as much as $3,000, sent by a crew member from the whaling ship Nisshin Maru to a private address.

Greenpeace filed a complaint with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's office, which promptly began an investigation. That investigation, however, was dropped on June 20, when police arrested Sato and Suzuki.

The two were held for 26 days -- 23 of them without charge -- and were at times tied to chairs while interrogated without a lawyer being present. They were eventually released and charged with trespass and theft; their trial begins next Monday.

In its report, the United Nations Human Rights Commission's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention notes that Sato and Suzuki "acted with transparency," that "everything about their investigative work was made public," and that they acted "considering that their actions were in the greater public interest." It concluded that the two men's rights "not to be arbitrarily deprived of their liberty; their rights to freedom of opinion and expression and to exercise legitimate activities, as well as their right to engage in peaceful activities without intimidation or harassment has not been respected by the Justice system.”

Link:  http://news.discovery.com/earth/whale-meat-again.html