Atalanta is launched, Jones and Labonne report

(B2) For once, the blue and gold uniforms of the Navy had taken precedence over the gray blazers or dark suits of diplomats and ministers, in the press room of the Justus Lipsius of the Council of the European Union.

This Tuesday, the "rear-admiral" Philip Jones (vice-admiral in French), and his deputy the French rear-admiral Jean-Pierre Labonne (*), had come to explain to the European press (and international: our Asian and Arab colleagues were particularly present), the last mysteries of the system set up by the European Union against pirates off the coast of Somalia.

The deployment plan corresponds roughly to the one announced on this blog. But several interesting clarifications were made by the two men who, apparently, complement each other wonderfully.

“He is the pasha, I am the second” Jean-Pierre Labonne explained to me. " But like in a boat, we are interchangeable. We work on the same files all the time. »

Operational issues

Deterrence and if necessary repression

The priority mission of “EUNavfor Atalanta” will be to provide support for the World Food Program (WFP) ships that are delivering humanitarian aid to Somalia. A task hitherto carried out by States, individually (the Netherlands last). From now on, it will be the work of Eunavfor (and not of NATO as it has indicated). Then, it will be a matter of ensuring the safety of merchant and fishing vessels, " the most vulnerable ". Of course, Admiral Jones acknowledged, " we cannot claim, with a few ships to eradicate piracy. But we will make a useful contribution to the fight against the phenomenon ". Our goal is the " deterrence and if necessary repression Jones clarified. " We will put pressure on the pirates, disrupt them added - in an aside we had - Admiral Labonne.

Strengths present

The 'force generation' is still ongoing. And we don't know exactly what the device is yet. What seems certain is that around ten Member States will participate throughout the operation, with a relay every four months. With six boats at cruising speed and two patrol planes in the first period. (see device). Only one novelty: Italy, which now seems to want to participate for the entire duration of the operation with a frigate made available in January.

Sufficient means

« 6 boats, 2-3 planes is enough to carry out all our tasks, to make a useful contribution to the fight against piracy” Jones said. " But clearly, the more boats we have, the better. »

Coordination with other forces in the area

The work will be done in close coordination with the other forces present in the area, such as the anti-terrorist coalition, whose HQ is in Bahrain (US Navy) or NATO - which has a " maritime standing force (SNMG) in the area. " We will share information, intelligence on hacker activity Jones considered.

The participation of third States

The participation of other countries is not yet really fixed. " They are welcome assured the rear admiral. Expressly referring to "Japan" following the question of a Japanese journalist. But " it is also a political question he clarified. If several States (USA, Russia, India, South Korea, Egypt, Ukraine) have boats in the area or have announced their intention to send them, none has however formally made an offer to integrate the European force.

Legal issues

Arrests and prosecutions

EU ships will be able to pursue and arrest pirates on the high seas – as permitted by international law – in Somalia's territorial waters – as permitted by UN Resolution (1846 last) – as well as in certain third States which have consented to it: Djibouti has already given its consent (which must still be formalized). Other agreements are under negotiation, notably with Kenya.

On earth ? " This is another thing ". The " mandate of my operation was not extended to this mission ". Authorization from the UN or the Member State is required. And the UN has only authorized access to the territorial waters of Somalia ».

Issues under discussion

The question of the applicable law, the possibilities of arrest, detention and transfer for judgment in an EU Member State remain as delicate as ever. The principle is clear, according to international law – recalled Rear Admiral Labonne “ The law which applies is that of the flag of the first State which seizes the pirate. At EU level, only 4 states (Germany, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands) can exercise this possibility automatically. »

Other States – such as France – have the possibility of translating pirates if the interest of a national (sailor, boat) is in question. " If the pirate cannot be transferred to an EU country clarified Labonne, “ we will do it to the riparian countries (country of origin of the pirates). But no transfer by the EU will be made to a State without having the formal guarantee that the death penalty will not be applied to the pirate or that he will suffer inhuman or degrading treatment. “Clearly this excludes any transfer to Somalia, concedes a diplomat, given the state of decay of the country.

Transfer rule

There is no predetermined rule. Because there are a multitude of cases. " We have a principle of doing case by case said Jones. " It depends on where the action is taking place (high seas, territorial waters), the flag of the boat concerned, the nationality of the shipowner, pirates, etc. » And to add: We have defined a common approach for all our ships but the answer cannot be the same in all cases”. “We will apply the rule which appears to us to be the best in the event of a transfer »

Police and magistrates

« For the moment, there are no plans to embark police or magistrates on board warships Jones clarified. " But judges and police may be present upon arrival on land to complete all instruction and transfer procedures. And to add: The United Nations convention imposes the arrest of pirates. And all EU boats are mandated to do so. I do not believe that a State escapes its obligations ».

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(*) The British have one rank more, the "commodore", than the French. As a result, the British “rear admiral” corresponds more to a French “vice-admiral” than to a rear-admiral (a rank which is lower than him). This explains why we sometimes see Philip Jones decked out in the rank of "vice-admiral" or "rear-admiral". Even Javier Solana has lost his Latin. Since the Council's first press release announced the appointment of Vice Admiral Jones. The press release was originally written in French. He was then translated into English as "vice-admiral". And Jones had thus risen in rank "through the fault" of Europe. Strangely, the British tabloids so inclined to look for lice in the head of Europe at the slightest prank have said nothing against this "wild interference" and this "denial of sovereignty" as they are used to... 🙂