UN orders Japan government to halt whale slaughter

The UN’s top court ordered Japan to temporarily halt its controversial annual Antarctic whale hunt in a landmark decision on Monday, rejecting Japan’s claim that the killings are for scientific purposes.

According to France24, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) sided with plaintiff Australia in finding that the scientific output of the whaling program was modest in comparison with the number of whales killed.
It said no further scientific whaling licences should be issued and that Japan must stop hunting whales in the Antarctic until the program has been revamped.
Presiding judge Peter Tomka of Slovakia said, “In light of the fact the JARPA II (research program) has been going on since 2005, and has involved the killing of about 3,600 minke whales, the scientific output to date appears limited.”
Japan signed a 1986 moratorium on whaling but has continued to hunt up to 850 minke whales in the icy waters of the Southern Ocean each year, citing a 1946 treaty that permits killing the giant mammals for research.
Judges agreed that the research – two peer-reviewed papers since 2005, based on results obtained from just nine whales – was not proportionate to the number of animals killed.
The decision is a major victory for environmental groups as well as Australia, which in 2010 hauled Japan before the Hague-based ICJ in a bid to end whale hunting in the Southern Ocean.