B2 The Daily of Geopolitical Europe. News. Files. Reflections. Reports

Blog Analysismaritime piracy

Debate on the judgment of pirates: the position of States

(BRUSSELS2) The debate, on August 25, in the Security Council gave rise to a lively exchange on the options to be taken in the face of the prosecution of the pirates (1). About thirty States took the floor to publicly express their position on the issue. While most countries welcomed the naval military effort pursued in the region to secure the sea lanes (2), recalled the need to strengthen Somali structures and find a solution on land - particularly by strengthening AMISOM, the opinions However, they differ on the solutions to be found in the face of bringing the pirates to justice.

Everyone is convinced that something must be done. Norway had the harshest words "the impunity of pirates sends the wrong signal. (...) It is unacceptable that suspects are released when there are sufficient charges against them. This undermines the credibility and effectiveness of the international naval presence in the Gulf of Aden." And that the "building of the national capacities of the States of the region" (in other words option 1) is necessary. But should we go further? This is where opinions differ.

A necessary burden sharing

African countries do not wish to be left alone with this problem. "The establishment of security measures off the coast of Somalia and the repression against the perpetrators of these acts would not be possible without the support and support of Member States" underlines Gabon. The Kenya orUganda, also insisted on the necessary "burden sharing". For the Ugandan representative, whatever the solution chosen, it would be necessary "grant sufficient financial guarantees, so that the financial burden is not too heavy for them".

But many Western countries do not want to be dragged into costly or complicated solutions. When Japan recommends"a certain caution regarding the idea of ​​creating a new international tribunal", he is not the only one... and speaks of gold! The United States thus remains very committed to the solutions to be found. But cautious about a solution. Thus for Susan Rice (USA), " there is no easy solution as to how pirates could be prosecuted remembering that any long-term solution requires political and financial commitments ". She endorsed the proposed solutions on “ the incarceration of convicted pirates (because) the prison system is "as important as that of prosecution and judgment ».

The divided European Union

We can classify the positions into three groups: the partisans of the international solution led by Russia, the partisans of a regional solution supported at the international level, and the partisans of a minimal solution on which the United Kingdom remains. The countries of the European Union are not united. They even display positions so different that its representative, Peter Schwaiger, had to be more than cautious. It's necessary "discuss these proposals further in the Contact Group" he explained. Audacious! He however confirmed the commitment of the EU to "continue to provide support to other countries in the region so that they can strengthen their own judicial capacity" or to rebuild the prisons in Somalia. But also recalled the requirement of "find a solution for the incarceration of pirates that is consistent with human rights".

1. Supporters of an international solution (Russia, Ukraine, Kenya, Tanzania, even China).

This is the solution advocated by the Russia. "The ideal solution would be an international judicial mechanism at the regional level that would complement national jurisdictions. This would make it possible to apprehend people who have so far escaped justice." explained his representative on the Security Council, Vitaly Churkin, who chaired the meeting. "A comprehensive solution to the problem of impunity will not be possible without increasing international participation" he added.

The ideal solution would be a "meinternational judicial mechanism at the regional level which would complement national jurisdictions“, added the Kenya. "This would make it possible to apprehend people who have so far escaped justice". Substantially analogous position for the Tanzania, which has just revised its penal code to bring hackers to justice and is preparing a suspect transfer agreement with the EU. It's necessary "a combination of the approaches presented, establishing shared responsibility for prosecution and incarceration, also with a United Nations mechanism".

THEUkraine is less enthusiastic but says to himself "ready to discuss the possible establishment of an international, regional or national mechanism to prosecute the perpetrators."

Finally for the China, international cooperation should be "enhanced". Without deciding precisely on the options, the country is in favor of a "international cooperation" in matters of prosecution of pirates and to "support for coastal countries".

2. Proponents of a regional solution, with international support (Denmark, India) including Somalis (France, Türkiye, Nigeria...).

For France, if in the short term, the solution lies in the conclusion by the States of the region "transfer agreements like those concluded by Kenya and the Seychelles", the solution "in the medium term, is that of a delocalized Somali trial chamber" because it "best prepares for the future while being realistic".

A point of view rather shared by the Turkey for whom the ideal solution is "enable the Somali authorities to take on more and more responsibility for prosecutions, by strengthening their judicial system". Until this is possible, these are "the countries of the region (which) play an important role in the fight against piracy". And the United Nations must make "capacity building efforts".

That a Somali court can take over the prosecution is a solution "idealalso for the Nigeria who believes that "the United Nations (must) play an active role in finding an adequate solution in this area". In the long term, he pleads for "international cooperation allowing the States of the region to initiate proceedings" and to resolve the issue of funding on the international tribunal.

Le Denmark supports special chambers with strong international support (Secretary General's option 4). That is to say "judicial chambers already existing in one or more countries of the region (which) would be exclusively dedicated to the judgment of pirates, with financial and personnel support important from other States or organizations". He also believes that "all States had to start by taking national measures to ensure that their own legislation enabled them to prosecute pirates". Which is quite...interesting for a country that has so far refused to prosecute pirates caught by its ships."The establishment of a special chamber within the national jurisdiction of the State or States concerned in the region, supported by the United Nations" is also "the most appropriate solution" for'India.

3. Proponents of a minimal support solution to existing structures (UK, Norway, Lebanon, Mexico).

Le United Kingdom at "doubts" on the viability of creating new regional or international mechanisms to prosecute pirates, seeing this as a " risk of wasting resources ". He prefers the solution of reinforcement by the international community of the capacities of the States of the region to prosecute a large number of suspects”.

For Norway, also, "lIdeally, Somalia would try and detain the pirates who are its nationals. This is indeed the case in some parts of the country. And such efforts should be encouraged. " But "extradition to Somalia is not yet possible, and therefore it is necessary to have effective alternative mechanisms with sufficient capacity". Norway wants pirates to be tried in the region where the crime takes place, near the place where they committed their crimes, for reasons of deterrence, but also cultural and linguistic. And therefore decides in favor of "option 1". Suiting the action to the word (it is the only country to have done so!), she announced that her country would "immediately double its contributionto the Trust Fund established by the Contact Group on Countering Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.

Other measures

Several States mentioned additional measures to bring to justice suspected pirates arrested by multinational forces.

Sanctions targeted at the instigators. The "problem of establishing evidence" and the need to "tackling the impunity of those who fund and equip pirates"for Brazil who called"to make the best possible use of the regime of targeted sanctions against pirate leaders, in particular by strengthening the sharing of information".

Prohibition of ransom payments. Several states, particularly in Africa, have come out in favor of a ban on the payment of ransoms (South Africa). A "harmonized response to ransom demands" is necessary "to avoid panic measures taken by shipowners" (Kenya).

Getting shipowners to contribute. This is an interesting proposal made by Turkey to find additional funding to the fixed contributions of States: "helping the maritime industry".

Develop Somali Coast Guard. The "training of the coastguards" was mentioned by several countries (South Africa, Gabon).

Monitoring illegal fishing. A proposal from South Africa which is the only one, according to my information, to have spoken about it: "The pirates justify their actions by invoking the problem of illegal fishing off the coast of Somalia before inviting each State to respect the applicable international law in the matter".

Strengthen AMISOM or UN Mission. Uganda insisted on this point, of course. It is known that the Ugandans - together with the Burundians - are the only forces present and active in Somalia to defend the interim government against the rebel militias. He wasn't the only one. But the most ambitious was South Africa, which advocated "the deployment of a United Nations mission to take over".

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) Read: The 7 options of Ban Ki Moon

(2) It may be noted that the American representative, Susan Rice, took great care to salute not only " NATO's role but also "that of Operation Atalanta, deployed by the European Union" and forces engaged at the national level.

See the report

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

Comments closed.

s2Member®