Friday, December 12, 2008

Age of Piracy

The age of piracy has returned, and it has virtually paralyzed the world’s navies. Currently 13 vessels are held by Somali pirates, and pirate attacks are becoming more frequent and more blatant in the Gulf of Aden and in other parts of the world. Recently pirates attempted to board a cruise ship with 1000 passengers aboard, and capture was only avoided because the cruise ship was able to outrun the pirates. The Danish war ship Absalon captured 10 pirates this summer, and had to set them free because they couldn’t figure out what to do with them. More recently, the Absalon intercepted a pirate mother ship after interrupting a pirate attack on a freighter. When the Absalon ran along side the pirate vessel, the pirates lined up and raised their hands in surrender, but since Danish authorities didn’t want to deal with the pirates the Absalon sheered off and left the pirates alone. The Absalon finally did sink a pirate ship about a week ago, after the pirates radioed for help. Their engine had quit, and their boat was laboring in heavy seas. The Absalon took the pirates on board, and then sank the pirate vessel to prevent it being a hazard to shipping.

The last time the Absalon captured pirates they turned them loose because the Danes didn’t want to incur the expense of trying them, and the Danish courts would probably have released them anyway, since there was no way to prove these particular pirates had attacked Danish ships. The same thing happened when a German patrol ship captured some pirates this summer. The German government ordered their ship to release them, and to avoid capturing pirates in the future.

It seems odd that the fate of pirates should be an issue in this day and age, since the law concerning piracy has been clear for 2000 years. The Roman lawmaker Cicero defined piracy as a crime against civilization, and British law considered pirates “enemies of the human race.” They could be seized by anyone, at any time, anywhere they were found, without regard to nationality. The United States sent a fleet to the Mediterranean 200 years ago, where they blew up the fortifications of the Barbary pirates along the southern coast of Africa, and sank every pirate ship they found. Yet, today the United Nations will not allow international patrol ships to pursue pirated into Somalia coastal waters.

Since piracy was one of the first subjects of international law I thought the International Court might have jurisdiction to prosecute pirates. However, my daughter, who is working at the International Court this winter, disagrees. She claims the International Court has a narrow mandate, and a limited budget, due to American, Russian, and Chinese efforts to weaken the court. Besides, she asserts, these pirates are polite, and don’t even kill their hostages.

Gråulf

No comments: