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South African protesters plan to converge on the Japanese Embassy in Pretoria on the 20th December to protest against Japan's cruel, unnecessary and unscientific whale hunt. Protesters will be calling on Japan to stop the annual capture and slaughter of around 20,000 dolphins. They want the government of Japan to know that they absolutely object, in the strongest possible terms, to this continued slaughter.

In total violation of the Antarctic Treaty System Japan kills more than 1,000 whales a year under a loophole in an international moratorium introduced in 1986 which allows whales to be caught for research. T his year's hunt in the Antarctic, which is taking place right now, includes 850 Minke, 50 Fin and 50 Humpback whales. Japan is disgracing itself internationally and is deliberately ignoring international efforts to protect whales and repeated resolutions by the International Whaling Commission which have urged Japan to refrain from lethal scientific whaling.

By deliberately targeting whales that are at the core of South Africa's whale tourism industry, Japan is almost certainly retaliating against South Africa and the anti-whaling members of the IWC for its refusal to allow coastal whaling in their own waters. It is an act of hostility.

The Japanese government is using culture as a weapon against whales and in the process is deliberately ignoring suffering. And because whales and dolphins have no voice does not mean that this allows the Japanese to exploit them - whether for traditional reasons or the culture of profit. Societies are always changing and can never be static and consequently culture is not homogenous but open-ended and capable of significant adaptation as circumstances change. Culture is therefore dynamic, evolving, flexible and fluid by nature. Traditions are social constructions and therefore by their very nature contested, and not all traditions are worthy of admiration and respect. Tradition should never be an excuse for cruelty and s urely harmful practices should not be condoned just because they are cultural practices? Cannibalism, infanticide, female circumcision, slavery, the suppression of women, exploitation of children, ritual slaughter, bullfighting, bear baiting, whale hunting, foot binding, Sati are so-called 'cultural traditions' practiced by some groups - the loss of which should not be mourned.

We will not stand by and watch Japan slaughter thousands of innocent whales and dolphins. Japan must hear and respect world opinion and give up their untenable bloody and cruel acts of genocide, killing and capture, against the whales and dolphins. The protesters will be calling on the Japanese government to show some courage and compassion and stop their country's cruel and inhuman killing of whales and dolphins. They will be urging them to initiate change in their country's attitude to cetaceans, to abolish whaling and dolphin slaughter and to embrace the opportunity to work with the International community to protect the whales and dolphins.

Although the protesters will be asking on our own President, Thabo Mbeki, to make a high level diplomatic protest to the Japanese and to try and convince their Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, to end whaling immediately, experience has shown that t he Japanese government ignores all diplomatic lobbying to stop this butchery. We are therefore calling for direct consumer action and for South Africans to boycott all Japanese products in the run-up to Christmas in an attempt to change Japan's mind.