Our sailors finding true justice elusive

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This article was published 28/05/2009 (5988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GULF OF ADEN — News that a Swedish warship had arrested nine suspected Somali pirates in these waters was met with mixed emotions on this Canadian frigate.

Aboard one of the 50 of so warships cruising this critically important shipping route, the crew of the Winnipeg applauds the work of any ship that is able to not only fend off a pirate attack, but also bring the alleged perpetrators to some form of justice. That opportunity to arrest a pirate and see him taken before a court of law has been one aspect of the anti-piracy mission here that has evaded the diligent crew of the Winnipeg.

On a half-dozen occasions, the Winnipeg has stopped and boarded suspected pirate vessels. Just last week, the ship had its best day in the gulf, seizing a significant cache of automatic weapons, ammunition and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, the weapon of choice for discerning pirates. But there was just the slightest hint of muttering among some of the crew about the fact that these pirates, as was the case each and every time before, had to be released.

It is growing increasingly difficult to determine who is winning the war in the Gulf of Aden.

Certainly, pirate attacks are way down and it has been more than three weeks since pirates have actually seized a merchant vessel. This latest period of quiet stands in stark contrast to the first three months of this year, when pirates attacked more than 100 vessels seeking cargo and ransom they could earn from the hostages.

It is expected pirate attacks could decline even more as monsoon season settles on this part of the world. The high seas and winds that come with the rain are perhaps the most effective deterrent to the Somali pirates and their small, tenuous fishing skiffs.

Politically, events in Somalia hold remote hope that forces within the country are trying to frustrate the criminal organizations behind the piracy. This week, some 200 self-declared pirates gave up their life of plundering and pillaging in what appeared to be a highly staged event in Puntland, one of the breakaway states within Somalia thought to be ground zero for the syndicates behind the attacks.

Infamous pirate leader Abshir Abdullah, whose cellphone appears to be available to many of the world’s news agencies, claims he and his marauding comrades have found religion, and have been convinced by Islamic leaders to put away their ladders and RPGs in exchange for amnesty. It’s not clear whether this is a conversion timed to coincide with monsoon season, or just a ploy to convince the international armada to leave the gulf.

And yet, no one on this ship really believes the pirates have been completely discouraged. As soon as calm waters return, there is a strong sense that piratical acts will resume with extreme prejudice. Each and every night, the crew of the HMCS Winnipeg is reminded that this threat is hardly over.

In the past four days, there have been nightly attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden shipping corridor. All the attacks have been repelled, and in two instances pirates were actually arrested. One may wonder how Swedish and Italian warships were able to arrest pirates, while the Winnipeg has repeatedly been forced to release their suspects.

In both recent incidents, the Swedes and Italians arrived as an attack was going on and witnessed the shots being fired at the merchant vessels. This is a small but important legal element that determines whether arrests can be made.

International shipping law, as defined by various United Nations declarations and resolutions, requires warships to witness a piratical act in progress before arrests can be made. If a warship stumbles upon a pirate skiff full of armaments and boarding devices before any piratical act has taken place, all the warship can do is seize weapons and other boarding tools and set the pirates free.

The Winnipeg is clearly ready and willing should the right conditions present themselves. A shower has been installed on a deck behind the ship’s flight deck to prepare pirate suspects for detention on board; detainee jumpsuits sit nearby at the ready. The crew recently completed a training simulation to ensure proper procedures are followed if and when suspects are brought on board.

If they are, however, there is no consensus about what should be done with them.

The Swedes took their suspects to Djibouti, for reasons that are not well-known. The European Union has struck an accord with Kenya to try those accused of piracy, a process that Canada has publicly indicated it would like to join.

However, at last word the Italians were keeping their detainees on board, awaiting word about where to take them. And there has been no indication what ships from China, Russia and Iran, the latest nation to join the ragtag armada in this gulf, would do with pirates caught in the act of piracy.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca