Legal limbo makes Somalia piracy worse - Russia
06 Apr 2010 19:42:55 GMT Source: Reuters
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, April 6 (Reuters) - Piracy off the coast of Somalia is getting worse, partly due to the legal limbo that has led some countries to release captured suspects, Russia's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday. Over the past year and a half, the U.N. Security Council has passed several resolutions on piracy in the Horn of Africa and has authorized countries to use military force to pursue pirates in cooperation with Somalia's transitional government. "So far the results have not been entirely satisfactory," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters after a closed-door council meeting on Somalia, Iraq and other issues. "The problem continues to be there and, in some respects, is growing," he said. "We feel that one of the weak links in the entire setup ... is the legal process." He said a stable legal mechanism was needed "to be sure there is no impunity once pirates are caught off the coast of Somalia." Churkin said Russia had drafted a Security Council resolution that would call on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to outline options for ending the international legal ambiguities that have enabled pirates to escape prosecution. Council delegations would continue discussing the draft at the expert level before putting it to a vote, he said. It was not clear when the resolution would be ready to vote on. Churkin said Moscow was "concerned" about reports of European authorities releasing suspected pirates. Kenya has been holding a number of suspected pirates. But Churkin said media reports that Kenya would put an end to trials for them were unsettling. "This is one of the reasons we think this resolution would be timely and appropriate," he said. One option, he added, would be to establish a special tribunal to try suspected pirates captured off Somalia. Other Security Council diplomats have said privately that such special tribunals are complicated, expensive and might not be worth the trouble. It would be better, they said, to work with countries like Kenya to help them continue to prosecute pirates in national courts. (Editing by John O'Callaghan)
Comment:
I highly doubt, that Russian politicians know what they’re talking about, proposing to create legal mechanism to prosecute Somali piartes. Likewise I doubt anyone offering that International Tribunal as a remedy. Either these people don’t know situation, or they know too well what is it they’re after, and it’s a far cry from shipping safety. They’re after some personal gains, either publicity or funds. To prosecute Somali piracy means actually, to prosecute a good part of the nation, because Somali piracy is not an organized crime ring, it’s a movement, based on desperation, poverty and frightening inability to restore order in their own country. Hundreds are detained or perish in high seas, either from running out of fuel and water and storms, or from navy and guards fire, dozens prosecuted, but there are hundreds and thousands newcomers, eager to start a promising pirate’s career. Whom this mechanism is going finally to prosecute and imprison, a good part of coatsal population? Well then, they need not Kenya’s prisons, they will need a chain of concentration camps. From any aspect this initiative looks like very foolish indeed. Take legal one – most detained pirates were captured on a suspicion of piracy, not in the act of piracy. What court would will convict them, if it’s not Russian court with rich experience of convicting innocent people? What financing we’re talking about if this initiative is taken seriously? That means we’ll have to prosecute thousands. There are well-known methods to fight Somali piracy much more effectively on high seas, and to put an end to it once and for all, eliminating piracy roots – i.e. establishing order, stability and law in the country. Thsese methods may be much cheaper, than Tribunal and prisons, the main problem with these methods is, they require not bla-bla-bla, but a real international cooperation, understanding humankind as something of a whole, we’re all in one boat.
I think, Russia came up with this proposal, because after each highly doubtful step Russia hurries to show up with something positive, even when it’s as highly foolish – Russian politicians are famous not for their professionalism, after all. What I’m talking about, is a promise or agreement of Russia’s PM Putin during his visit to Venezuela, to sell arms to Chaves regime up to 5 bln US worth, news surely gladly received by leaders of North Korea, Cuba, Iran and I think, by Somali pirates also – the more international instability, the better for their business.
Mikhail Voytenko
April 8
