The Canadian Seal Hunt Hearing, Geneva
6 December 2005
Geneva: the INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS examined the massacre of arctic seals. Those accused were the Canadian Government (as represented by the Prime Minister, Paul Martin, Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries; Stéphane Dion and Minister of the Environment). In their absence they were accused of ‘aiding and abetting and encouraging the annual massacre of seals on the Canadian ice fields - a massacre devoid of any rational justification and condemned by the majority of the Canadian people; major responsibility in the torture and elimination of hundreds of thousands of seals every year; the plundering of a living heritage which belongs to the whole world; encouraging the violence and killing frenzy of a small blood-thirsty minority and complicity in the skinning of thousands of seals while still alive
Mark Glover from Respect for Animals provided the main evidence in the trial and showed film from the 2005 hunt. (His evidence can be read here.)
Above: Mark Glover, Campaigns Director, Respect for Animals
Others appearing as witnesses included Brendan Price (Irish Seal Sanctuary), Michel Vandenbosch (Gaia, Belgium), Paola Casha (ADDA, Spain) and Brigitte Bardot.
A lawyer presented the case for the defence.
Based on the evidence of the witnesses and examination of the evidence, the International Court of Justice for Animal Rights, represented by 9 members of the jury and three judges, declared that the Canadian Authorities were guilty of all the counts and that it their cruelty excluded Canada from socially accepted realms due to a ‘sadistically orientated minority’.
Above left: Brigitte Bardot
The Court then appealed to the Canadian Government to put an immediate stop to ‘this immoral and dishonourable hunt’ and to the European Union ‘to implement an import ban on all products stemming from the Canadian seal hunt’.
The Court further calls upon citizens of all countries to boycott Canadian products and to avoid Canada as a tourist venue as long as the seal hunt continues.