Russia wants to move forward on the idea of ​​an international tribunal for piracy

(BRUSSELS2) Russia, which has taken over the presidency of the UN Security Council for this month of August, intends to make progress on the "piracy" file. By presenting its program for the presidency, the Russian permanent representative in New York, Vitaly Churkin (1), deemed relevant"the prospect of setting up an international tribunal to try these pirates".

Despite the difficulties, he considers it necessary to "progress on the issue". Important financial resources have already been lost and they will be lost again, he remarked. And the establishment of such a court "won't cost more". A debate will be organized on August 25 at the UN, with the objective of "priority"to study the different solutions proposed by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, to prosecute and imprison those responsible for acts of piracy and armed robbery committed off the coast of Somalia.

Leads from the international community

Three avenues have been considered by the international community: 1. Create special chambers in national jurisdictions, possibly with international elements (NB: such as, for example, in criminal matters, to try those responsible for the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia; 2. Create a regional court 3. Create an international court.

This is without counting the strictly national solutions. Need we recall that the Resolution 1918, adopted unanimously in April 2010, on a Russian proposal, called on all States "(to) establish piracy as a criminal offense in their domestic law, (to) favorably consider prosecuting suspected pirators who have been apprehended off the coast of Somalia and imprisoning them". A measure already requested by other UN resolutions (including 1946 of 2008). A small minority of EU Member States comply with this request.