Stepped up patrols of foreign warships off the Horn of Africa have curbed pirate attacks, pushing would-be hijackers out of a key international shipping lane, the Gulf of Aden, and denting what has become a multimillion dollar business.
But as warships enjoy greater success halting suspected pirate skiffs, another problem has emerged: What to do with them? Somali pirates have become a legal hot potato, with gangs held in several different countries and defense lawyers battling for their release. The difficulty prosecuting pirates means some are simply dropped back into lawless Somalia.
Most of those arrested in international waters wind up in Kenya, a U.S. ally with a developed justice system. Kenya’s government last year began accepting pirates captured by American and European navies for trial, according to agreements signed among the three. Recently, though, the Kenyan government said it didn’t want any more pirates.
“In the beginning we thought it would be a sporadic event,” said William Oddo, an attorney who works on piracy issues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Then we came to realize it wouldn’t be coming to an end very soon.”
The United Nations is trying to get different countries to share the legal burden. Last week, the United Nations Security Council signed a resolution urging countries to pass tougher antipiracy laws. The council said it would consider setting up some kind of international or regional tribunal reserved for piracy cases, as well as a place to jail convicts.
In the thick of the international legal fray are defense attorneys like Francis Kadima of Kenya. Mr. Kadima typically practices commercial law. But last year, he was asked to represent a group of young Somalis accused of piracy. Once he agreed to take that case, word spread. Suddenly, Mr. Kadima was representing 40 young men on separate piracy charges. The 50-year-old lawyer took the cases, he said, because they had no one else to defend them. He also says he takes the cases pro bono because the pirates have no means to pay him.
“These people were looking for any lawyer they could get,” said Mr. Kadima, in his booming voice. “It was becoming totally unmanageable.”
There are currently 99 Somali pirates on trial in Kenya. But in March, the government said it had enough. Officials worry the number of complex cases would overburden Kenya’s legal system, which is already strained. With too few judges and overcrowded prisons, it struggles to prosecute Kenyan suspects, let alone foreigners.
On Wednesday, meanwhile, the European Naval Force Somalia, an antipiracy task force, said pirates hijacked a Liberian-flagged oil tanker named the Moscow University, which was bound for China. The 23 Russian crew members were said to be safe, according to a statement on the EU website. It said a Russian warship was en route to help the oil tanker.
On April 21, two groups of suspected pirates, 11 in all, were charged with piracy and related offenses in a federal court in Virginia for attacking two American warships—the USS Nicholas, and the USS Ashland. Pirates fired on the Nicholas in late March, prompting the naval crew to return fire and capture the men. A few weeks later, the second group attacked the Ashland. Another suspect is on trial in New York for the 2009 attack on an American-flagged cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama and its American crew. In the attack, the captain was held hostage aboard a lifeboat from the ship. American snipers eventually killed one of the pirates. The other was arrested.
At least 15 suspected pirates, arrested as part of three different operations, are detained in France, and awaiting trial. France says it has jurisdiction to prosecute these men because they were allegedly involved in abducting French citizens.
Still, their lawyers are challenging the conditions of their arrest.
In April 2008, Youssouf Hersi was arrested with five other Somalis by French soldiers onshore, in Somalia. French soldiers had reclaimed control of the Ponant cruise ship, and used helicopters to follow a group of alleged pirates who had reached land.
Mr. Hersi’s French lawyer, Cédric Alépée, said his client was a taxi driver and had nothing to do with other alleged pirates. Mr. d’Alépée also said his client was arrested outside any legal framework.
“When you look at it, it’s tantamount to kidnapping,” Mr. d’Alépée said.
The gangs that operate from towns along Somalia’s lawless coast demand and receive huge ransoms, as much as $5 million. In recent weeks, a South Korean oil tanker was hijacked farther east in the Indian Ocean and, after a South Korean warship joined the pursuit, pirates threatened to blow up the vessel.
Young men will often float for days in small skiffs, hoping to catch a large ship. Sometimes they are instead scooped up by international warships.
When there isn’t enough evidence for a trial, or the apprehending navy isn’t sure where to take them, the men are often returned to Somalia. The officials confiscate weapons, grappling hooks or other pirate tools. But because Somalia’s central government is too weak to provide law enforcement, the men are free to return to piracy.
The amount of Western aid Kenya receives may also be a factor in threatening to close its courtroom doors to suspected pirates. The government has said it needs more of support from the U.S. and the EU, but hasn’t laid out its demands. An EU official said that representatives hoped to meet this week with Kenyan authorities to discuss the situation.
Kenya’s piracy trials can be laborious affairs, too. Proceedings must be translated twice, and sometimes three times, depending on the languages spoken by the defendants and witnesses. Mr. Kadima, who has yet to present the defense’s case in either of his trials, has filed countless objections related to evidence presentation, bail hearings and other issues. He has lost them all, save one: The men, who maintain they are fishermen, not pirates, have been allowed cellphones to call their families.
The donor countries, through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, have provided some legal training to court officials on topics such as evidence handling, and worked to improve Kenyan prisons. In Shimo La Tewa prison in the port city of Mombasa, where many of the pirates are held, donor funds have helped to refurbish the kitchen, improve water and sanitation facilities. All the prisoners now have mattresses..
Over the next six months, Kenya has said it will accept additional suspects on a case-by-case basis. The Foreign Ministry’s Mr. Oddo said it would take several more weeks for the government to determine how it wanted to proceed. The government is also seeking additional resources to maintain the trials.
“We’re trying to refine the policy,” he said.
For now, Kenya remains the simplest solution for the international community to prosecute pirates. “If these people can’t be put on trial, the deterrent effect goes down,” said one EU official.
Other options are beginning to surface. The island nation of the Seychelles has agreed to put 30 suspects on trial. Tanzania, Kenya’s neighbor, is working to broaden its antipiracy laws to allow it to accept cases involving foreign nationals, though those laws haven’t taken effect.
And while the Somali government remains too weak to fight the piracy problem, one pocket of the country has begun a crackdown. In 2008, Puntland, an autonomous region in the northern tip of the country with its own government and military, began to raid pirate towns and arrest suspects for trial. The security minister, General Yusuf Ahmed Khayre, said that 264 convicted pirates are currently in Puntland prisons, some from foreign warships.
But before accepting any more from foreign navies, Gen. Khayre says, Puntland would like some financial assistance.
………And Hijackings Rise As Pirates Expand Area Of Operation
Somali pirates were responsible for 35 of the 67 piracy incidents reported worldwide during the first quarter of the year, the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported last week.
The number of incidents represents a sharp drop from the 102 attacks reported during the first quarter of last year. “This marked reduction can be attributed to the continued presence and success of the navies in the Gulf of Aden along with the robust anti piracy measures adopted by the merchant navy fleet,” the report said.
Twenty-six vessels were boarded during the first quarter of 2010, with 18 ships fired upon, 12 suffering from attempted attacks, and 11 vessels hijacked. A total of 194 crew members were taken hostage, 12 of whom were injured.
The east and south coast of Somalia recorded 18 incidents including five vessels hijacked and 11 fired upon in the first quarter of 2010 compared with 21 incidents including four vessels hijacked and 11fired upon for the corresponding period in 2009. Within the Gulf of Aden and in the adjacent Red and Arabian Seas 17 incidents were reported, including the hijacking of four vessels, compared with 41 incidents, including five hijacked vessels, in the first quarter of 2009.
“Somali pirates are dangerous and are prepared to fire their automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades at vessels in order to stop them,” the report said.
But even as the total number of incidents decline, the range of action by Somali pirates continues to expand, spreading from the Gulf of Aden and the southern part of the Red Sea to the coasts off Kenya, Tanzania, the Seychelles, and even Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and Oman in the Arabian Sea.
IMB Director Captain Pottengal Mukundan said that attacks so far from the Somali coast can be possible only through the use of mother ships, some of whom have been destroyed by the navies of the various countries that are operating in the area. Mother ships are large vessels from which smaller boats or skiffs can take to sea, thus allowing the pirates to go increasingly further into the ocean. Some attacks, in fact, have taken place 1,000 nautical miles from the Somali coast.
“Such positive and robust action by the navies against mother ships, pirate skiffs and pirate action groups have been vital to keeping the attacks under control and must be sustained,” Captain Mukundan added.
In other African waters, only two incidents were reported in Nigeria although violence towards crews remain high. In one of the two reported incidents, two crew members were injured and had to be taken ashore for medical treatment.
Indonesia reported eight piracy incidents during the first quarter, compared with only one incident for the corresponding period last year. It was the highest number of first quarter incidents the country has seen in two years. It should be noted that while the number of incidents has risen, many were low level attacks against vessels at anchor or at berth.
Serious incidents of piracy, including armed robbery, have been declining in Indonesia since 2003. In the late 1980’s and 1990’s Indonesian waters were among the world’s most dangerous, but steps taken by the Indonesian authorities have been effective in reducing acts of violent piracy. Nonetheless, due regard and caution should be exercised while transiting these waters, the report said.
In the first quarter of 2010, no incidents were reported in the Malacca and Singapore Straits, and only one incident was reported off the coast of Bangladesh.
SAFETY 2
Hijacked and Freed: The Mid-Week Story Of Oil Tanker Moscow University
The Liberian hijacked tanker Moscow University, which was hijacked last Wednesday, May 5, 2010, has been dramatically freed by the Russian warship; the Marshal Shaposhnikov.
The Liberian flagged (Russian operated) oil tanker, Moscow University, was hijacked approximately 350 miles east of Socatra. It was reported that the crew had locked themselves into the “rudder compartment” and a Maritime Patrol aircraft made contact with the crew a few hours later to confirm that they were safe. A Russian warship, Marshal Shaposhidov, was reported to be heading at full speed towards the hijack position. EU Naval Forces in the area offered support to the Russian ship and EU NAVFOR Maritime Patrol aircraft were put on alert to support any operation.
The Marshal Shaposhnikov arrived at the oil tanker Moscow University’s position and sent a helicopter to investigate. The helicopter was fired upon by the pirates holding the ship. The Russian warship, knowing the crew were locked down and safe, returned fire on the pirates. Eventually the pirates surrendered and a boarding team from the Marshal Shaposhnikov arrived onboard the Tanker, captured all the pirates and freed the crew. All the crew are safe and well.
EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation Atlanta’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Programme WFP) and vessels of African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM and to protect vulnerable vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EU NAVFOR also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.
Maritime Security Gets Fillip As Protocols On Suppression Of Unlawful Acts Comes Into Force
The Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA), 1988 is set to enter force on 28 July 2010 when it will be rolled out.
Maritime security will no doubt get a boost with the latest ratification of the 2005 Protocol to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA), 1988, thereby meeting the criteria to bring it into force in 90 days time, on 28 July 2010, along with the related 2005 Protocol to the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf, 1988.
The Republic of Nauru deposited its instrument of ratification of the 2005 Protocols on 29 April 2010, becoming the 12th country to ratify the 2005 SUA Protocol and the 10th to ratify the 2005 Fixed Platforms Protocol.
The 2005 Protocols revise the original SUA treaties of 1988 to ensure that the legal framework developed by IMO is kept up to date and provides an adequate basis for the arrest, detention and extradition of alleged terrorists acting against shipping or ports or when using ships to perpetrate acts of terrorism.
They substantially extend the list of criminal offences actionable under the 1988 treaties and include new rules on consensual boarding, which are of prime importance as they provide States with the necessary legal basis to intercept terrorist activities at sea that are planned or already in progress.
The 2005 Protocols were adopted on 14 October 2005, at a Diplomatic Conference held in London at the Headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the regulation of international shipping from the points of view of safety, security and prevention of marine pollution by ships.
The Convention, as amended by its 2005 Protocol, enters into force ninety days after the date on which twelve States have either signed it without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval, or have deposited an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Secretary-General. The 1988 Protocol, as amended by its 2005 Protocol, requires ratification from three States that are also party to the SUA Convention, but it cannot come into force unless the 2005 SUA Convention is itself already in force.
Welcoming the latest ratification, IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos said the entry into force in three months’ time of the 2005 Protocols would provide a welcome boost to the fight against terrorism.
“In these uncertain times, when terrorism has tragically succeeded in shaping the political agenda worldwide, it is vital that the international community has in place a framework for legal action capable of ensuring that suspected terrorists are apprehended and brought to trial wherever in the world they may seek to hide. In the maritime domain, we now have a much-strengthened framework with the imminent coming into force of these important IMO instruments" Mr. Mitropoulos said.
He noted that the SUA treaties are complementary to the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, which aims at putting in place practical measures to make international shipping and port facilities safe from terrorist activity and is mandatory under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended.
Pirate Hub; Harardhere Deserted As Islamic Militants ‘Seize Power’
Heavily armed Islamist militants from Somalia’s Hizbul Islam group have seized the port town and pirate hub of Harardhere, while the pirates have fled.
The pirate town had been threatened by the army of Al-Shabaab militants, and rather than falling to Shabaab, the town elders reportedly invited a rival group called Hizbul Islam to come into the town and offer them “protection” from Shabaab.
The Associate Press reports that Hizbul Islam incursion on Sunday sent the pirates “fleeing with big screen TVs piled into luxury cars bought with millions of dollars of ransom money.”
The report also claims that Hizbul Islam is promising to eliminate piracy in the town and free all foreign hostages.
But there are other reports that the combination of the pirate money and encroaching on Al Shabaab territory are what made Harardhere so attractive to Hizbul Islam.
The rampant piracy of the last few years has yet to be directly tied to the network of Islamic fighters that has been classified by Washington and other western countries as terrorists.
For a long time the two remained separate, divided as much by geography as by ideology. The two have had an uneasy co-existence. While there’s little evidence the Islamists are directly involved with piracy, Puntland’s Director General Abdiwahid Mohamed Hersi told ABC News that some of the millions of dollars in pirate ransoms end up in Shabaab’s hands.
“The pirates pay Shabaab ‘taxes’ of up to $100,000 on ransom monies,” Abdiwahid Mohamed Hersi told ABC News during a recent trip to Somalia.
Shabaab is Somalia’s largest Islamist group, and has pledged its allegiance to Al Qaeda along with collaborating with operatives from Afghanistan and Yemen to fight to defeat the country’s weak transitional government. Shabaab wants to rule Somalia under strict Sharia law.
Hizbul Islam also wants Sharia law, but is considered slightly more moderate than its rival. At one time the two worked together, but they split apart last year and the feud has grown increasingly nasty.
In less than 48 hours there have been two bombings of mosques in Shabaab-controlled areas. The first occurred Saturday inside Mogadishu’s crowded Bakara market, while worshippers were waiting for noon prayers. At least one high-level Shabaab operative was killed in the blast along with more than 45 other people, according to African Union officials. A mosque in the southern port city of Kismayo, the heart of Shabaab territory, was hit last night killing two people.
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