Environmental Mafia

(from "Kujira to Inbou" (Whales and Plots), by Yoshito Umezaki, 1986)

Note:
The words of conversations or statements which were made in English are not the exact wording as the original, because they were translated from Japanese texts in the book.


However, in the US congress, anti-whaling organizations made an issue of the consulting contract between the Japanese whaling industry and Richard Frank (former US Commissioner to the IWC). They made an issue only of the law office where Frank worked. In the USA, lobbying or doing consulting for foreign governments or companies cannot be concealed. It is obligatory to report to the Department of Justice, and copies of all documents, such as the contract and reports, must be submitted. Therefore anti-whaling groups could easily find the work by Frank.

C. Van Note who belonged to the environmental protection organization "Monitor" testified at the subcommittee on human rights and international organizations of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives on September 16th, 1982: "Japan committed an unbelievably rash act in making a contract of employment with Richard Frank." In the testimony, Van Note accused the Japanese of an 'outrage' in pressuring anti-whaling nations such as Jamaica, Dominica, and Panama through diplomatic channels, and also talked about the 'outrage' in the case of Frank.

"Mr Frank served as US Commissioner to the IWC from 1977 to 1980 and now works as a lawer in Washington, D.C. He made a contract with the Japanese whaling industry for six months - 30,000 dollars - to give his knowledge and recommendations on the whaling issue. This is frowned upon not only in Washington, but also in other IWC member nations and Japan. Mr Frank was in a position to enforce the anti-whaling policies of the Carter Administration. He completed legal analyses of the Pelly and Packwood-Magnusson Amendments and made recommendations to Japan about how to argue against the US or internationally. Here is a copy of the TELEX in which he confirmed the terms of employment with the Japanese whaling industry on June 23rd, 1982."

Environmental protection organizations are feared as an 'environmental Mafia' not only in the US but also in other countries. They attack by various means the people who make statements in favor of whaling. They are protested by mobilizing many members, letters of accusation, open slander in the media such as advertisement, conviction by mass-media, demonstrations, and besieging the targets of the anti-whaling demonstration in their homes.

They don't even mind if the target is a Prime Minister or a Cabinet minister. Although the Netherlands voted for the moratorium at the 1982 meeting of the IWC, it had promised Japan up until two days before that it would abstain. The 'environmental Mafia' had gotten the information and demonstrated at the office of the Minister of Environment and Culture in the Hague. They besieged the minister for several hours in his office, and finally made him promise to vote for the moratorium.

Jim Mitchell, the Prime Minister of St Lucia, decided in 1985 to no longer send two members of the 'environmental Mafia' - F. Palacio (a Colombian) and J.P Fortom-Gouin (a Frenchman) - as the St Lucian delegates to the IWC from 1986. Getting angry, Greenpeace sent a threatening letter to Mitchell. It said to "pressure the US House of Representatives and reduce the economic help to St Lucia". But this threat did not succeed. In the IWC meeting held in Marmo, Sweden, in June, 1986, both Palacio and Fortom-Gouin were not in the seats for the St Lucian delegation.

Frank was a target of accusation by the mass-media. The US newspapers reported the information given by the 'environmental Mafia'. It was the same as the testimony by Van Note at the House of Representatives. Statements like "it is frowned upon even in Japan" by Van Note is violence by words. Only a limited number of people in Japan knew of the contract between the whaling industry and Frank. Since nobody other than those having to do with the whaling knew that fact, it could not be frowned upon in Japan. The splendid analysis and recommendation by Frank should gain a good reputation.

Cases like that of Frank are widely observed in the USA. It is not something frowned upon that Congressmen or high-ranked officials may work for foreign governments or companies as lawyers or lobbyists, using their knowledge and experience, after retirement. It is legally allowed that anybody may work like this by reporting to the Department of Justice. We can say Frank was one of many people who were victims of the violence of the 'environmental Mafia'.

Frank did not give in to the pressure. He continued to give precise advice in important situations. It was not the motivation of business which supported Frank. Besides a private friendship with Yonezawa, it seems he had the belief that US anti-whaling policy was full of inconsistencies and the pressure on Japan was unfair. The Japanese IWC people say that some high-ranked officials who were members of the US delegation to the IWC but had quit confessed that the "American attitude on the whaling was not fair".

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