Digest

Digest

Scholar Argues For Tougher Reponse to Piracy

In the wake of steadily increasing aggression on the part of pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden, law enforcement mechanisms for preventing piracy are falling short. Eugene Kontorovich, a scholar of international law at Northwestern Law School claims that new tools are needed to combat piracy in the waterways off Somalia that carry about one-third of the world’s seaborne trade.

The international community has recently tried to fill this security deficit. A new U.N. Security Council resolution, strongly backed by the United States, authorizes military attacks on suspected pirates in the area in and around the Aden Gulf.  The authorization includes attacks on land bases, even when those bases are in Somali territory.  Additionally, the U.K. and Kenya have agreed that the British Royal Navy will submit all pirates it captures during operations around Somalia to trial in domestic courts in Mombasa.

Kontorovich claims that these measures are responses to a larger inability of international criminal law to address the problem of piracy.  As international law favors trials over direct engagement, Kontorovich argues that the international community will, and should, turn away from judicial remedies to control piracy.  He believes that granting pirates the full spectrum of rights due criminal defendants unfairly ties the hands of the world community.  Yet, he also argues that the credibility of international criminal law is at stake. Kontrovich believes that that if international criminal law fails to effectively combat piracy, it will not bode well for its ability to prevent or punish graver war crimes.

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Digest

Ukranian Arms Ship released by Somalian Pirates

On February 11, 2008, the Ukrainian arms freighter ‘Faina’ returned to the Kenyan Port of Mombasa with twenty sailors. The ship had been captured by Somali Pirates in the Gulf of Aden region more than four months ago, and was released after a ransom of $3.2 Million was para-dropped onto the ship by its owner. The capture of the ship was of particular concern to the international community because it was carrying arms including T-72 tanks, grenade launchers, antiaircraft guns, and substantial ammunition.  For more information on this story click here.

Pirates have attacked more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden region in 2008. In an unrelated event five suspected Somali pirates have been extradited to Netherlands for the failed attempt to hijack the Dutch Cargo Freighter ‘Samanyulo’ on 2nd January 2009. They will be prosecuted before the Dutch criminal courts and could face up to nine years of imprisonment if found to be guilty with the group leaders punishment extending up to 12 years. For more information on this story click here.     

In another piracy-related event in the Gulf of Aden, the US Navy arrested seven suspected pirates on February 11, 2009, who were attempting to hijack the tanker ‘Polaris’. The seven suspects were taken aboard the USS Vella Gulf, which has been patrolling the area since January 2009 in responnse to the heightened piracy threat in the region. The US Navy intends to hand over the suspects to Kenya, which is setting up a new court system to try foreign pirates. For more information please click here.

Digest

ICC to Investigate Gaza War Crimes Pending Jurisdiction Review

This week Palestinian officials traveled to the Hague to press the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israeli forces during the recent violence in Gaza. ICC  prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, had originally rejected Palestinian requests for the investigation, on the grounds that the ICC lacked jurisdiction. However, Palestinian officials recognized the court’s authority on January 22 and as a result the prosecutor has agreed to explore whether he has jurisdiction in this case.

The ICC has jurisdiction over any citizen of its 108 member states.  Cases can be brought to the court by individuals, countries, or the UN Security Council. However, neither Israel nor Palestine fall under the traditional jurisdiction of the court because Israel is not a member state and Palestine is not recognized as a sovereign state.  Nevertheless, this past month, the Palestinian Authority presented a declaration to the ICC subjecting itself to the court’s jurisdiction for acts committed on Palestinian territory since the ICC’s authority began in July 1, 2002. A similar declaration gave the court jurisdiction for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone, which is also not a member state.  The jurisdictional review in this case is complicated by allegations that Palestinian officials are attempting to use the court to tacitly recognize Palestinian statehood. A legal expert involved in the case confirmed that the ICC will not deal with issues of Palestinian statehood even if it does investigate the case. 

The ICC has received over 200 complaints from Palestinian citizens alleging that the Israeli military targeted civilians and non-military buildings and illegally used weapons such as white phosphorous. Conversely, Hamas has also been accused of war crimes including indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and the use of civilians as human shields. If the ICC decides it has jurisdiction over this case, both Israeli and Palestinian actions during the war will be subject to investigation and prosecution.

For further reading please click here and here. 

Digest

Obama Responds to Leahy's "Truth Commission" Proposal

In the first press conference of his presidency, U.S. President Obama seemed to reserve judgment on Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy’s calls for a “truth commission” to probe the Bush administration’s potential abuses. While Obama stressed that his “general orientation is to say let’s get it right moving forward,” he also did not rule out potential prosecutions or commissions. “My view is also that nobody is above the law. And if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, [those] people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen,” Obama said.

Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, proposed a truth commission along the lines of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in post-apartheid South Africa. He has suggested that such a commission would provide an intermediate response between criminal prosecution of those responsible for abuses and no response at all. “People would be invited to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments, but to assemble the facts,” Leahy said.

Obama also reiterated the U.S.’s commitment to the Geneva Conventions, the tradition of rule-of-law, and to a no-torture policy.

For further information, please click here.

Digest

US to "Reset" Foreign Relations

At a major international security conference in Munich last week, Vice President Biden attempted to hit the “reset button” on American foreign relations by signaling out Russia and Iran for increased diplomatic efforts.

“I come to Europe on behalf of a new administration determined to set a new tone in Washington, and in America’s relations around the world,” Mr. Biden said. “We will engage. We will listen. We will consult. America needs the world, just as I believe the world needs America,” he continued, asking for cooperation on the deactivation of Guantanamo Bay and assistance in Afghanistan.

The speech also highlighted the importance of institution-building and the involvement of civil society in strengthening democracy worldwide.  Additionally, Mr. Biden addressed the global economic crisis and international environmental issues.

For more information, see here and here.

Digest

Somali Pirates Paid Ransom

Pirates and Kenyan officials reported that the Somali pirates, who hijacked the Ukrainian arms freighter Faina over four months ago, were finally paid the ransom they demanded. The ship’s owners dropped $3.2 million (lower than the original $35 million the pirates asked for) via parachute onto the ship and the last pirate left on Thursday, February 5. The ship is now safely in the hands of the U.S. Navy.

Although Somali pirates have hijacked more than 100 ships in the past year, the hijacking of the Faina received particular attention because its cargo included tanks, grenade launchers, antiaircraft guns, and ammunition. American officials worried that the Islamist insurgents of Somalia might get possession of these dangerous goods. The original destination of the weapons is unclear: the Kenyan government claims to own them, while the pirates and Western officials claim that they were headed to former rebels in southern Sudan.

One of the pirates, Isse Mohammed, says that his gang would continue hunting ships. Meanwhile, the warships of thirteen countries, including the United States, have joined the antipiracy campaign.

For further information, please click here and here.

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