Peace Recognition for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Peace Recognition for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Sunday 30 April, 2017

The International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights,

Recalling the Buddhist Ethical Precept based on the prevention of harming sentient beings;

Considering that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is an international non-profit institution whose ecological mission is to conserve the lives of millions of marine animals, seeking to halt the destruction of the oceanic ecosystem at a global level;

Aware that the President and Founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Captain Paul Watson, has been subjected to juridical persecutions at international level precisely for interfering with illegal whaling through direct action;

Deeply concerned that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been defamed as an eco-terrorist organization by the Japanese government and that the Costa Rican government has issued an Interpol arrest warrant, when the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is actually a people's non-violent vigilante force in compliance with International Law;

Deploring that Japan, Norway and Iceland continue to hunting whales for commercial and non-scientific purposes, although this fact has been banned by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the International Whaling Commission and the International Court of Justice (ICJ);

Taking into consideration that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has as its primary mandate the United Nations World Charter for Nature (1982), which allows groups of individuals to enforce Conservation International Law in international waters;

Analyzing that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society respects other international conventions, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention (NAFO), the International Convention for Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species.

Examining that the direct action methods of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society are aimed at non-violently protect whales and never attempt to cause harm to whale hunters, being true methods of civil resistance against illegality and impunity;

Showing consternation at the fact that the Greenpeace organization has publicly criticized the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for methods of direct action damaging private property of International Law criminals;

Bearing in mind that the Dalai Lama T. Gyatso has supported the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, while recommending never using violent methods to achieve ecological objectives;

Notifying that the Dalai Lama T. Gyatso has also been charged as a terrorist by the Chinese government;

Reaffirming the need for the armies of the world to be reconverted into Mother Earth's global forces, always working in the service of peace, justice, education and ecology;

1.      Calls for humanity to defend the Spiritual Path of Humanitarianism, Righteousness, Truth and Harmony.

2.      Affirms that Captain Paul Watson is a hero or peace champion in the struggle for the Animals Rights.

3.      Appeals to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in order to cancel the arrest warrant against Captain Paul Watson.

4.      Solemnly establishes that, according to Buddhist Law, species such as whales and dolphins - along with marine ecosystems - are nonhuman beings with full rights, which is widely recognized in the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Non-Human Beings, and that in such Declaration it is expressed the right of nonhuman beings that their interests are represented by social activists.

5.      Expresses that Sea Shepherd Conservation Society already complies with the International Law standards, having the mission of opposing illegal activities threatening the biodiversity and life of Mother Earth.

6.      Deplores that some governments and companies are destroying ocean life, annihilating multiple species and endangering ecosystems with total impunity.

7.      Declares the need for the international community to prosecute the crimes of Ecocide, considering them as international crimes as serious as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes against peace.

8.      Calls for the international community to promote vegetarianism as an appropriate model of life based on respect for the rights of nonhuman beings.

9.      It requires that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society does not stop its mission and solidary work that has saved thousands of nonhuman beings which also have a Buddhic nature that must be preserved and protected.

10. Offers spiritual support and ethical guidance to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, not only to improve non-violent methods of struggle for a better world, but also to intervene more actively and directly in the causes of suffering of sentient beings, by putting advanced knowledge in Philosophy, Politics, Ecology and International Law at the disposal of its members.

Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha

President of the International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights