Scrap dollar as sole reserve currency: U.N. report

Reuters, Louis Charbonneau, UNITED NATIONS, Tue Jun 29, 2010 4:56pm EDT

(Reuters) - A new United Nations report released on Tuesday calls for abandoning the U.S. dollar as the main global reserve currency, saying it has been unable to safeguard value.

But several European officials attending a high-level meeting of the U.N. Economic and Social Council countered by saying that the market, not politicians, would determine what currencies countries would keep on hand for reserves.

"The dollar has proved not to be a stable store of value, which is a requisite for a stable reserve currency," the U.N. World Economic and Social Survey 2010 said.

The report says that developing countries have been hit by the U.S. dollar's loss of value in recent years.

"Motivated in part by needs for self-insurance against volatility in commodity markets and capital flows, many developing countries accumulated vast amounts of such (U.S. dollar) reserves during the 2000s," it said.

The report supports replacing the dollar with the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights (SDRs), an international reserve asset that is used as a unit of payment on IMF loans and is made up of a basket of currencies.

"A new global reserve system could be created, one that no longer relies on the United States dollar as the single major reserve currency," the U.N. report said.

The report said a new reserve system "must not be based on a single currency or even multiple national currencies but instead, should permit the emission of international liquidity -- such as SDRs -- to create a more stable global financial system."

"Such emissions of international liquidity could also underpin the financing of investment in long-term sustainable development," it said.

MARKETS DECIDE

Jomo Kwame Sundaram, a Malaysian economist and the U.N. assistant secretary general for economic development, told a news conference that "there's going to be resistance" to the idea.

"In the whole post-war period, we've essentially had a dollar-based system," he said, adding that the gradual emission of SDRs could help countries phase out the dollar.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who previously chaired a U.N. expert commission that considered ways of overhauling the global financial system, has advocated the creation of a new reserve currency system, possibly based on SDRs.

Russia and China have also supported the idea.

But Paavo Vayrynen, Finland's Foreign Trade and Development Minister, told reporters that he doubted it was possible "to make any political or administrative decisions how to formulate the currency system in the world."

"It is based on the markets," he said. "I believe that the economic players in the market are going to have the decisive influence on that issue."

European Union development commissioner Andris Piebalgs said it would be a bad idea to dictate what the reserve currency should be.

"It is markets that decide," he said. "Any intervention would just create additional challenges and make things even less predictable."

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Yudhoyono: Humanitarian missions to Gaza must be respected

Antara News, Tuesday, June 29, 2010 21:52 WIB

Ankara (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the humanitarian missions to Gaza initiated by a number of humanitarian agencies from various countries should be respected.

He made the statement in a press conference along with Turkish President Abdullah Gul after the two met at the Presidential Palace at 11am local time or 3pm Jakarta time here on Tuesday.

"The missions to Gaza must be respected by all parties," he said.

President Yudhoyono said he had discussed various bilateral, regional and international issues including the settlement of the Palestinian problem at his meeting with President Gul.

"The Palestinian problem is an issue on which we are calling for a territorial sovereignty of a free country," he said.

President Yudhoyono said the cooperation between the two countries would not only cover economy, trade, education and culture but also in various international organizations.

Right now Indonesia and Turkey are active in the Organization of the Islamic Coference (OIC), the D-8 and G-20.

After the meeting the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in the fields of politics, defense industry, small and medium industries, culture, transportation, manpower and joint programs for increasing investment and a news exchange program between Indonesian state television TVRI and Turkish television.

The documents were signed from Indonesia by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Industry Minister MS Hidayat, Tourism Minister Jero Wacik, Transportation Minister Fredy Numberi, Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, Head of the Capital Investment Coordinating Board Gita Wirjawan and TVRI News Director Yon Anwar.

Taiwan, China sign historic trade deal

CNN News, By the CNN Wire Staff, June 29, 2010

Chen Yunlin, right, the head of a semi-official Chinese agency, shakes hands with Taiwan's envoy Chiang Ping-kun, chairman for the Strait Exchange Foundation, during the fifth Taiwan and China trade talks in Chongqing, China, on Tuesday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• China to cut tariffs on 539 items from Taiwan
• Taiwan to cut tariffs on 267 items from China
• China considers Taiwan a breakaway province
• Analyst calls it 'a milestone in the economic relationship'

(CNN) -- Mainland China and Taiwan signed a historic free-trade agreement Tuesday that is expected to strengthen ties and reduce the potential for cross-strait tensions.

Officials signed the Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement, or ECFA, in Chongqing, China. Under the deal, China will cut tariffs on 539 items from Taiwan valued at $13.8 billion, or about 16 percent of the island's 2009 exports to the mainland.

Taiwan will cut tariffs on 267 items from China worth $2.86 billion, or about 10.5 percent of the country's shipments to Taiwan in 2009.

The deal is a major step in easing tensions six decades after China's civil war. Taiwan began as the remnant of the government that ruled over mainland China until a Communist uprising proved victorious in 1949. China considers Taiwan as a breakaway province and does not recognize it as a sovereign nation.

"It's really a milestone in the economic relationship between both China and Taiwan," said Frederic Neumann, an economist with HSBC in Hong Kong.

"Some of the other ASEAN economies have free trade access to China, thereby can integrate more competitively with China and Taiwan always faces higher trade barriers," Neumann said. "By removing these trade barriers, Taiwanese firms can compete on an equal footing with firms in Southeast Asia."

The landmark deal will strengthen ties and lay a foundation for growth, analysts say.

"The EFCA will have a great impact on the mutual economic development of Taiwan and China," said Chen Yunlin, chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.

"With regards to the economic development of both sides, this treaty will act as a foundation for the peaceful development of our relationship."

Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's Exchange Foundation, said the current global economic crisis calls for cooperation between both sides.

"And I'm sure this treaty could create a win-win situation for both sides and we would all benefit from it," Chiang said.

Now you can help save Greece: Athens to sell off some of its islands in desperate attempt to raise cash

Daily Mail, By KATE LOVEYS, 25th June 2010

Greece is selling off some of its islands in a desperate attempt to repay its mounting debts, it emerged yesterday.

Parts of sun-soaked Mediterranean tourist hot spots Mykonos and Rhodes are among the land to be offered for sale, or on long-term leases.

Affluent Russian and Chinese investors are believed to have expressed an interest, it is reported. Among them is believed to be Roman Abramovich, although his spokesman denied he is about to invest.

Parts of the Greek islands of Rhodes, above, and Mykonos, below, are believed to be for sale, though it is not clear which parts

Greece has embarked on the desperate measures after being pushed into a €110billion (£91billlion) bail out by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund last month, following a decade of over spending and after jittery investors raised borrowing costs to unbearable levels.

It is hoped the sales, or the earnings from long-term leases, will help boost the country's coffers and pay for basic utility infrastructure and police, attract investment and generate jobs on the islands.

While some of the islands offered for sale are more little more than tiny rocky islets on the market for €2million (£1.65million) - less than a town house in Mayfair or Chelsea - others are more vast.

The 1,235-acre Nafsika, in the Ionian sea, is on the market for €15million (£12.4million).

An area in Mykonos is one of the sites for sale . It is one-third owned by the government, which is looking for a buyer willing to inject capital and develop a luxury tourism complex, according to the Guardian.

Greece has 6,000 islands, only 227 of which are populated. The land currently offered for sale is listed on The Private Islands website.

'I am sad – selling off your islands or areas that belong to the people of Greece should be used as the last resort,' Makis Perdikaris, director of Greek Island Properties.

'But the first thing is to develop the economy and attract foreign domestic investment to create the necessary infrastructure. The point is to get money.'

Greece is also planning to sell its rail and water companies to raise funds. Chinese investors are understood to be interested in the Greek train system, as they already control some of the ports.

In a deal announced earlier this month, the Greek government also agreed to export olive oil to China.

A number of the super-rich already own islands, including Sir Richard Branson who has Neckar in the Caribbean, and the billionaire Barclay brothers who own Brecqhou in the Channel Islands.

Related Article:

Greek gov't denies report on sales of islands, large estate properties to Chinese, Russian

Cooperation Needed in Shift to Multi-Currency Global Reserve System - Report

Asian Development Bank, 24 June 2010

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - A reform in the global reserve system is critical to avoid a repeat of the recent global economic crisis and Asia's fast recovering countries need to cooperate to ensure a smooth transition to a multi-currency alternative, says a new report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Columbia University's Earth Institute.

The report, The Future Global Reserve System - An Asian Perspective, says that while the US dollar will remain the leading currency of international exchange for now, a rebalancing in the global economy means that in the future, a wider range of currencies will need to be used to settle trade and investment.

"Our current global reserve system, unfortunately, is not functioning too well," ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said in a message in the report. "That means, more than ever, we need to work together both globally and regionally to find solutions—however gradually implemented—that will bring about a workable reform of the global reserve system."

There is no single alternative to the US dollar as the world's reserve currency. The Greek debt crisis has exposed the euro's lack of a solid sovereign backbone. The yen is Asia's most internationally accepted currency but its reserve status has declined recently. The yuan, the currency of the fast expanding economy of the People's Republic of China, may well become a reserve currency sooner than most anticipate but for now, cannot fill the role.

The report is the result of an ADB-financed study by 17 internationally renowned monetary experts led by Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute and ADB Chief Economist Jong-Wha Lee. It describes the strengths and weaknesses of the current system, the case for cooperation in bringing about reform, and the increasing role Asia must play in making this happen.

Reforming the global reserve system has huge implications for Asia. The region holds close to half of the world's total foreign exchange reserves and is highly dependent on international trade and capital flows for its growing prosperity.

"The dollar-based reserve system has been fraying for years," said Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate and a contributor to the report. "A new global reserve system is absolutely essential if we are to restore the global economy to sustained prosperity and stability. But achieving this is not easy."

The report recommends that with Asia’s growing economic clout, the region should increase economic integration and policy coordination to smooth the transition to a multi-currency reserve system.

Exchange rate and monetary policy coordination needs to be stepped up and there need to be formal mechanisms for economic consultation and surveillance between regional and global institutions. Regional foreign exchange reserves must be more actively deployed through swap lines, special drawing rights and other types of borrowing so there is no repeat of the recent credit crunch.

The report also suggested that given the failure to develop globally binding agreements on climate change, a portion of the revenue that a country receives through seignorage could be used to help their region tackle climate change. Seignorage refers to the profits resulting from the difference in cost of printing money and the face value of the money.

On a global level, the report recommends a stronger set of capital market rules be devised given the failure of the financial system to police itself, and regularly gathering international monetary experts to discuss current account imbalances and thus avoid unnecessary friction between countries on issues such as trade or varying exchange rate regimes.

About ADB

Leave W. Sahara to the UN: RI

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 06/22/2010 10:52 AM

The Indonesian government maintains its stance of not recognizing Western Sahara, a non-self governing territory in Africa, as a sovereign state, following the line of the United Nations.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Indonesia hoped for immediate results from “an ongoing process” by the UN to hold a referendum in the territory of Western Sumatra.

“We have good relations both with Morocco and Algeria. We cannot send anyone to a disputed territory or send aid there. It could be interpreted as recognition [of Western Sahara’s standing as a sovereign state],” he told The Jakarta Post recently.

“One thing is for sure, we will support any efforts made by the UN,” he said.

Indonesia’s decision not to recognize Western Sahara’s sovereignty will likely win favor from Morocco, which claims sovereignty over the territory, but risk the ire of Algeria, which supports the establishment of Western Sahara as an independent state.

The president of local NGO InSahara, Luluk Nur Hamidah, earlier said the Indonesian government’s silence on the issue was one of the main reasons for a lack of public knowledge about “the last colonized state in Africa”, and had resulted in little or no local support for a global recognition of Western Sahara.

“As the world’s largest Muslim majority country and the [third] largest democratic country, Indonesia’s voice will be listened to by Morocco and other countries if it has a clear stance on the Sahrawi people,” she told the Post, referring to the name of the ethnic population of the disputed region.

“Indonesia can play the role of mediator between Morocco and Western Sahara, or be active and bring the matter to ASEAN, for instance,” she said.

Echoing Luluk, Middle East expert at the University of Indonesia Hanief Saha Ghafur said that a lack of information among academics on the conflict, which involved Morocco, Algeria and Western Sahara, was one of the reasons why Western Sahara remained off the radar.

Indonesia, Luluk said, should help the Sahrawi people attain their rights to a referendum.

“I’m not saying whether they should be independent or not. But their first right to self-determination, whatever that is, must be fulfilled,” she said.

She also said the UN had on three occasions cancelled a planned referendum for the Sahrawi to choose whether they would reject Morocco’s sovereignty over the region.

Moroccan Ambassador to Indonesia Mohamed Majdi said Western Sahara belonged to Morocco, based on historical, religious and political factors.

“Western Sahara is Moroccan territory. It is proven by international treaties. Many dynasties that ruled Morocco came from there,” he said.

He also said Morocco had proposed autonomy for Western Sahara before the UN Security Council to help settle the prolonged issue.

But Polisario is "not interested in solving the issue", he said referring to the region's national liberation movement.

Prosecutors Seek Nine-Year Sentence For Saudi ‘Financier’ of Hotel Bombings

Jakarta Globe, Heru Andriyanto, June 21, 2010

Suspected militant Al Khelaiw Ali Abdullah speaks to reporters from behind bars of a holding cell as he waits for the start of his trial at a district court in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Feb. 24, 2010. The retired Saudi Arabian school teacher went on trial charged with financing suicide bombings at two Jakarta hotels that killed seven and wounded more than 50. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Prosecutors on Monday urged a court to impose a nine-year jail sentence on a Saudi national charged with financing last year’s twin hotel bombings in Jakarta.

Al Khelaiw Ali Abdullah, 54, is accused of providing cash for several members of the terror group that carried out the July 17 bombings after he came to Indonesia on a tourist visa. He is also charged with misusing his travel documents.

“The fact the money was handed over not long before the bombings indicates the defendant acted as a financier,” prosecutor Iwan Setiawan told the South Jakarta District Court.

On Dec. 22, 2008, Abdullah handed over Rp 55 million ($6,105) to Saefudin Zuhri and Amir Abdillah under the guise of buying into an Internet shop, the prosecution said.

Saefudin, the field coordinator in the attacks who died in a police raid several months later, was paid Rp 2.2 million in January 2009.

Iwan said it was common for local terrorists, including masterminds Azahari Husin and Noordin M Top, to receive funding from overseas.

He said Abdullah had known Saefudin and Amir quite well as they had joined in communal prayers together. Saefudin had sponsored Abdullah’s visit and had been involved in the business deals.

“He knew who Saefudin was from his first visit here,” the prosecutor said.

He said Abdullah had twisted the truth and refused to admit wrongdoing, “accordingly we recommend the judges find him guilty of providing assistance to acts of terrorism and misusing his stay permit, and sentence him to nine years in jail.”

Abdullah, who walks with the aid of a cane, shook his head when his interpreter told him the demand and waved his hands to the judges in confusion. He spoke to prosecutors in Arabic but refused to talk to journalists.

“Prosecutors are pushing for the terror charges because an immigration offense is only punishable by five years in jail,” lawyer Asludin Hatjani said. The trial resumes on Thursday.

The Saudi first came to Indonesia in November 2008 on a one-month tourist visa and Saefudin rented a house for him in Bogor.

During that first stay, according to the indictment, Abdullah gave the owner of a medical clinic $1,000, supposedly a downpayment on a $30,000 business deal.

On Dec. 21 Abdullah arrived in Indonesia again, this time on a cultural visa with Saefudin as his sponsor.

Prosecutors say he tried to buy a toy store in Kuningan, West Java, for Rp 90 million but his offer was refused by the owner, Iwan Herdiansyah, who suggested Abdullah open an Internet cafe with a minimum investment of Rp 55 million.

Prosecutors have said opening businesses was a common way for militant groups to funnel funds.

According to the indictment, after receiving the money, Saefudin organized a meeting at Hotel Santi in Kuningan to discuss the bombings with Noordin M Top, JW Marriott florist Ibrahim and Dani Dwi Permana, one of the two suicide bombers.

Abdullah, who was arrested in Garut, West Java, in August, has claimed the money he gave to Saefuddin was payment for his assistance as an interpreter.

Abdullah is the second foreign national to be tried under Indonesia’s antiterror law. The first, Singaporean Fajar Taslim, was given an 18-year jail sentence for leading a terror network in Palembang.

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Iranians biggest drug smugglers to Indonesia

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 06/20/2010 5:30 PM

The Indonesian government has said that Iranian nationals are the most common smugglers of class-A drugs into the country as of January this year.

Malaysians were the next-highest group, with eight suspects arrested so far this year, followed by India with six suspects, tempointeraktif.com reported.

The Customs and Excise Office at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, has arrested 15 Iranian nationals this year linked to 22 cases. It has also seized a total 115 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu), ketamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

"All of the evidence together is worth Rp 278 billion (US$30.5 million) at market value," the office's head Baduri Wijayanta said Sunday.

All of the arrested Iranian smugglers were believed to be part of an Iran-based international drug syndicate, he added.

The office's head of prosecutions Gatot Sugeng Wibowo said the Iran-based drug mafia might not have been aware that Indonesia enforced the death penalty for drug smuggling.

The 2009 Narcotics Law carries the death penalty and a Rp 10 billion fine for anyone in possession of more than 5 grams of drugs.

News maker: Journalists take pictures of Soekarno-Hatta airport customs office head Bahaduri Wijayanta following a press conference on the arrest of three Iranians for a drug smuggling attempt. The Iranian nationals were presented during the conference on Wednesday.-- JP/Multa Fidrus

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RI still pushing Israel to international court

Antara News, Saturday, June 19, 2010 06:41 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is still trying to push Israel to responsibility of its attack on the humanitarian flotilla in international waters who was about to enter the Gaza Strip on May (31/5), a minister said.

"We demand for an impartial, transparent and neutral investigation according to the United Nations Security Council (UN SC) decision to ask for Israeli accountability," Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said here Friday.

There are several types of accountability that Israel would face, such as political responsibility if the matter is taken to the UN SC and international law sanction if it was done in an International Court of Justice (ICJ) trial, he said.

Certain case can only be proposed to the ICJ if it was approved by the relevant parties, whether Israel agreed to take the matter in international court or not, the minister said.

"As a matter of fact, Israel seems unwilling in taking the case to the international court, they seem to take the political responsibility through the UN SC," Minister Marty said.

The minister also said that the UN SC had called for an investigation which is still ongoing right now.

Due to the humanitarian aid which are now flowing into the Gaza Strip, it is the Egyptian policy that only allows aid goods or the humanitarian figure entering the Gaza Strip.

"It`s whether the goods or the worker enters the area, and it is not our decision to take, but the Egyptian government," Marty said.

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Malaysia pressed by UN over detentions without trial

BBC News, 18 June 2010 16:19 UK

Former detainees said they were scared of the police

Malaysia has been urged to repeal security laws that allow for detention without trial.

The recommendation was made by UN officials investigating alleged widespread abuse of detainees.

According to the UN group, almost all those it interviewed said they were tortured or mistreated in Malaysia's detention centres.

Malaysia says it is amending the laws, but has not yet said how.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention spent a week visiting prisons and detention centres.

It reported that between 2003 and 2007, over 1,500 people died while being held by authorities.

Of the detainees it interviewed, almost all complained of beatings, being confined in small spaces without light and having dirty water thrown on them.

No appeal

That is in stark contrast to the country's prisons, where there were no allegations of abuse, says the BBC's Jennifer Pak in Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Malick Sow, who led the UN working group, said people preferred being in prison rather than police stations and immigration detention centres, because they felt safer there.

He said much of the abuse happened in the initial period of detention when detainees are not allowed to contact their lawyer or family.

He said the problem was more acute under the country's preventive laws including the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial for up to 60 days with the possibility of extensions for years.

The law has been used in the past against politicians and journalists.

Those held under the Act have no access to judicial appeal.

However, fewer people have been held under the law in recent years and the Malaysian government is expected to table amendments to address some of the issues next month.

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Regional human rights court needed for greater freedom

RI to host 7th Asian court conference

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 06/18/2010 10:16 AM

Indonesia’s Constitutional Court will host the 7th Conference of Asian Constitutional Court Judges, which will take general election laws and constitutional practices as its theme, from July 12 to 15.

“A nation cannot restrain nor avoid the establishment of democracy and both law and human rights enforcement,” Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud M.D. said Thursday.

He explained that nations needed to discuss each country’s past experiences with electoral systems and constitutional practices, then to find future plans to facilitate development.

Twenty-five countries are expected to participate at the conference, including Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Timor Leste and Uzbekistan. The conference will also invite non-Asian countries: Austria, Germany, Turkey, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Egypt and Morocco.

“At the conference, we will discuss elections issues and shortcomings of electoral courts in each country,” Mahfud said.

Mahfud said in terms of settling election disputes, Indonesia’s experience was considered exemplary by other countries.

“The Indonesian Constitutional Court has resolved 640 electoral disputes in the 2009 presidential and regional elections peacefully,” he said. Of these cases, the court delivered rulings in 70 cases that consequently changed the election results, Mahfud said.

He claimed that a peaceful settlement of electoral disputes through courts was rare in other countries.

Mahfud explained that Indonesia’s elections proved that laws could be drafted to settle any disagreement. He said he believed the Constitutional Court contributed to the country’s democracy.

However, Mahfud admitted there were still incidents of electoral violations, such as vote buying, unfair nomination processes and nepotism.

Eight Asian countries at the conference will also establish the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalents Institutions by signing the Jakarta Declaration, Court secretary-general Janedjri M. Gaffar said.

The eight countries are the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as host Indonesia.

The objectives of the association are to protect human rights, promote democracy and supervise the implementation of the law, as well as overseeing the independence of constitutional courts and other similar judicial institutions.

“I hope the formation of the association can improve our role,” Mahfud said. (ipa)

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Whistleblower aims to expose dark side of Japanese whaling

'Mr Whale' alleges widespread criminality among former colleagues on mother ship of Japanese whaling fleet

guardian.co.uk, Justin McCurry in Tokyo, Monday 14 June 2010

'Mr Whale' wearing his Kyodo Senpaku whaling fleet uniform. Photograph:
Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Greenpeace

He once wielded a knife on the deck of a Japanese whaling ship, slicing apart the behemoths of the ocean in the name of "scientific research", while much of the rest of the world looked on in horror.

Now, as Japan pushes to overturn the 24-year ban on commercial whaling, the former whaler has come forward with allegations of widespread criminality among the men with whom he spent months in the freezing waters of the Antarctic.

Sent every winter to slaughter the mammals for research that Japan says is vital to our understanding of whale populations, the crewmen are instead seizing and selling prized cuts of meat to earn extra cash and, in at least one case, earn many more times their annual salary, says the whaler-turned-whistleblower.

He refers to himself only as "Kujira-san" (Mr Whale), a precaution necessitated by a genuine fear for his safety. But the personal risks will be worthwhile, he says, if it means the world learns the truth about the dark side of Japan's whaling industry.

"Even before we arrived in the Antarctic Ocean," he says of a recent expedition, "the more experienced whalers would talk about taking whale meat home to sell. It was an open secret. Even officials from the Institute of Cetacean Research [a quasi-governmental body that organises Japan's whaling programme] on the ship knew what was happening, but they turned a blind eye to it."

Kujira, who worked aboard the Nisshin Maru mother ship, saw crew members helping themselves to prime cuts of whale meat and packing them into boxes they would mark with doodles or pseudonyms so they could identify them when the vessel reached port. "They never wrote their real names on the boxes," he said.

Some whalers would take home between five and 10 boxes, he said, while one secured as many as 40 boxes of prime meat that fetches ¥20,000 (about £148) a kilo when sold legally. One crew member built a house with the profits from illicitly sold whale meat, he said. "Another used the money he earned to buy a car," he said. "They were careful to select only the best cuts, like the meat near the tail fin. I never dared challenge them."

Kujira paints an unpleasant picture of life at sea, although he is reluctant to divulge details for fear of revealing his identity.

Newcomers are badly treated by more experienced whalers, fuelled by a machismo culture that is disappearing from other parts of the fishing industry. "The treatment of junior crew has improved a lot elsewhere over the last 40 years," he said. "But the industry seems to be trapped in time."

He contradicted Japan's claims that the industry, which reportedly required government subsidies of almost $12m in 2008-09, is highly efficient. The fleet would sometimes catch more whales than necessary, he said, strip them of their most expensive parts and throw what was left overboard.

"I didn't think of the embezzlement at first. I just couldn't stand the waste. A lot of meat was being thrown away because we kept catching whales even after we'd reached our daily quota. I decided I had to tell someone what was happening."

Oddly, perhaps, for someone with his professional background, he sought help from Greenpeace. In 2008, the organisation launched a secret investigation into embezzlement by the crew of the Nisshin Maru, during which two activists, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, intercepted a box containing 23kg of whale meat – worth about ¥350,000 – at a warehouse in Japan that they later presented as evidence.

After initially agreeing to act on their claims, prosecutors dropped the case and instead, Sato and Suzuki were arrested and charged with theft and trespassing.

Last week, prosecutors demanded an 18-month prison sentence for the "Tokyo Two", who were held without charge for 23 days and interrogated while strapped to chairs without their lawyers present. A ruling is expected in the next few months.

Kujira's allegations come as the International Whaling Commission [IWC] prepares to meet next week in Morocco to discuss a proposal that could end the moratorium on commercial whaling in return for whaling nations agreeing to smaller quotas. In the run up to the meeting, Japan has reverted to its preferred tactic of using aid to sway small islands and even landlocked nations to vote with it in the 88-member body.

Under the IWC moratorium, Japan is permitted to catch just under 1,000 whales – mainly minke – in the name of scientific research. Meat from the cull is sold on the open market and the profits used to fund future whaling expeditions.

Japan denies allegations of vote-buying, but has acknowledged that it invests heavily in the fishing industries of some IWC allies, and pays the expenses of delegates from poorer countries.

Kujira says Greenpeace's investigation has forced whaling crews to change their ways. "I heard from my sources that the theft of whale meat has stopped because of the media attention. But dozens of younger crewmen have left the fleet because they can no longer steal whale meat. They only joined the fleet because they knew they could make lots of money at the end of each trip. It was the only perk of a very tough job. The older whalers are just hanging on for their pensions."

The Institute of Cetacean Research has insisted that crew members take home only small quantities of whale meat as a reward for spending months working in some of the world's most inhospitable waters.

Kujira is trying to generate interest among Japan's media, which are reluctant to criticise the country's research culls while it defends itself against mounting international criticism of the annual slaughter.

Although he no longer works for the fleet, Kujira adds that he will continue to campaign behind the scenes, at great risk to his own safety, until the Japanese public learn the truth about the industry: "I dread to think what the other whalers would do to me if they knew who I was. They could do anything they wanted to me. I would be living in fear of my life."

A whale tale

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is bitterly divided over Japan's research whaling programme.

The country slaughters about 950 mainly minke whales every year in the name of scientific research, but critics say the culls are commercial whaling in disguise, since the meat is sold on the open market.

Under a proposal submitted by IWC chairman Cristian Maquieira, Japan would be permitted to resume commercial whaling for 10 years, but would have to adhere to strict quotas "significantly lower" than current ones.

One estimate says the move could spare more than 5,000 whales over the next decade. Two other whaling nations, Iceland and Norway, would also be able to take part in the experiment. The three nations have killed 35,000 whales since the IWC ban went into effect in 1986.

They would have to agree to other conditions, such as the presence of observers on ships, DNA registers of slaughtered whales and market sampling to detect illegal whaling.

Campaigners fear the proposal could lead to a return to large-scale commercial whaling and say the IWC should be forcing whaling nations to end the culls altogether.

There are large numbers of minke whales in the north Atlantic and western north Pacific, but the proposal would also permit limited catches of fin and sei whales, both listed as endangered.

The move is under discussion and would require the support by 75% of the IWC's 88 members to pass. Despite allegations of vote buying, Japan is currently some way short of acquiring the votes it needs.

Allegations: The Yushin Maru ship
 captures a whale. Japan has been
 accused of bribing small countries
with cash and prostitutes to help
end the ban on whaling

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