18 months after the start of Atalanta (2): the return to justice stalls

(BRUXELLES2) It is an inescapable fact, the handing over of suspects to justice is marking time. In recent months, if the interception of pirates has increased, the rate of prosecution has indeed declined, due to the lack of host countries.

This season, all forces combined, nearly 400 pirates have been intercepted and disarmed (the season corresponds to the end of the winter monsoon, at the end of February). But few have been brought to justice: just 2 in 10, compared to more than 5 in 10 last year. And yet this rate is only maintained at this level thanks to the handovers to justice in Puntland, autonomous province of Somalia, made by France under the national flag (1).

The milestone of 1000 suspects intercepted since April 2008

Since the resurgence of pirate attacks - which I date to the capture of the Ponant -, according to my regularly updated report (2), all forces combined (local, national, multinational), we have thus passed the milestone of 1000 suspects arrested and disarmed (1064 according to a last count)

Of this figure, 469 were delivered to court, the vast majority in the coastal States: 165 in Somalia (138 in Puntland and 27 in Somaliland), 123 in Kenya, 95 in Yemen, 42 in the Seychelles (of which 11 have been liberated). 44 were however repatriated according to the law of universal jurisdiction contained in the Montego Bay Convention (State of the flag, of the shipowner or of the crew): 15 in France, 12 in the United States, 10 in Germany, 5 in the Netherlands, 2 in Spain.

Of the suspects brought to justice, 111 were convicted : essentially those handed over to Puntland, a trial has been completed in Kenya. No conviction has yet been pronounced in the countries of "repatriation". Judgments are expected imminently in Yemen.

It can be noted that on this assessment, half of the arrests were carried out by the European forces of EUNAVFOR Atalanta: 510 suspects intercepted, of which 176 were brought to justice, the remainder having been disarmed and released and the mother ship destroyed, according to the principle defined by the operation commander. 32 pirates are still on board the French frigate La Fayette (delivery to Puntland remains possible).

NB: My balance sheet differs a little from the official balance sheet. I take into account the operation to which the ship belongs when the pirates are arrested and not when the retrial is carried out. Indeed, in several cases (notably for delivery to Puntland), EUNAVFOR's French vessels took over their national flag during delivery. Formal legal and political coverage but which does not meet operational imperatives.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) Read: Deliver the pirates or free them? Puntland or not
Puntland  

(2) Read:  Review of anti-aircraft operations-piracy
(EUNAVFOR Atalanta, CTF)