More than two dozen Pirates of Somalia apprehended at sea are being held in a Mombasa prison. Their lawyers say Kenya has no right to try them. So what will become of them?Shimo la Tewa Mombasa's maximum security prison, is surprisingly close to the port city's luxury beach hotels. Located just across the road from the holidaymakers, it may as well exist in another world. Beyond its imposing gates set with thick iron bars are some of the most dangerous men in the Horn of Africa, crowded into a prison already at three times its capacity.
Among the inmates are more than two dozen Somalis – alleged to be members of the pirate gangs that have been terrorising shipping. Dozens more are set to join them as Kenya is used as a dumping ground for pirates being picked up every week by international navies. The Somalis already inside the stultifyingly hot and humid Shimo la Tewa are set apart from the other prisoners. Speaking in confidence, a duty officer said: "We are scared having them here. We don't know if they are al-Qa'ida or who they are."
Unable to speak Swahili or English, and in some cases unable even to understand each others' dialects, these young men are guinea pigs in an experiment in international law. The suspected pirates will face the Mombasa courts under the terms of a secret agreement signed between the UK and Kenya last December and later copied by the US and the EU. These memorandums of understanding will see what Human Rights Watch calls "Kenya's deeply flawed judicial system" take on cases described by maritime experts as a jurisdictional nightmare. The success or failure of these prosecutions will decide the fate of the attempted military solution to the piracy crisis..more..http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-jailed-pirates-that-nobody-wants-1668268.html
Pirates vow to kill U.S., French sailors
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