Stepped up patrols of foreign warships off the Horn of Africa have curbed pirate attacks, pushing would-be hijackers out of a key international shipping lane, the Gulf of Aden, and denting what has become a multimillion dollar business.
But as warships enjoy greater success halting suspected pirate skiffs, another problem has emerged: What to do with them? Somali pirates have become a legal hot potato, with gangs held in several different countries and defense lawyers battling for their release. The difficulty prosecuting pirates means some are simply dropped back into lawless Somalia.
Most of those arrested in international waters wind up in Kenya, a U.S. ally with a developed justice system. Kenya's government last year began accepting pirates captured by American and European navies for trial, according to agreements signed among the three. Recently, though, the Kenyan government said it didn't want any more pirates.
Reuters
A suspected Somali pirate arrives Wednesday in Mombasa, Kenya."In the beginning we thought it would be a sporadic event," said William Oddo, an attorney who works on piracy issues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Then we came to realize it wouldn't be coming to an end very soon."
In the thick of the international legal fray are defense attorneys like Francis Kadima of Kenya. Mr. Kadima typically practices commercial law. But last year, he was asked to represent a group of young Somalis accused of piracy. Once he agreed to take that case, word spread. Suddenly, Mr. Kadima was representing 40 young men on separate piracy charges. The 50-year-old lawyer took the cases, he said, because they had no one else to defend them. He also says he takes the cases pro bono because the pirates have no means to pay him.
"These people were looking for any lawyer they could get," said Mr. Kadima, in his booming voice. "It was becoming totally unmanageable."
There are currently 99 Somali pirates on trial in Kenya. But in March, the government said it had enough. Officials worry the number of complex cases would overburden Kenya's legal system, which is already strained. With too few judges and overcrowded prisons, it struggles to prosecute Kenyan suspects, let alone foreigners.
On Wednesday, meanwhile, the European Naval Force Somalia, an antipiracy task force, said pirates hijacked a Liberian-flagged oil tanker named the Moscow University, which was bound for China. The 23 Russian crew members were said to be safe, according to a statement on the EU website. It said a Russian warship was en route to help the oil tanker.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Suspected pirates fled their skiff, swimming toward their mother ship, as a helicopter fired warning shots in a March incident off the coast of Somalia
On April 21, two groups of suspected pirates, 11 in all, were charged with piracy and related offenses in a federal court in Virginia for attacking two American warships—the USS Nicholas, and the USS Ashland. Pirates fired on the Nicholas in late March, prompting the naval crew to return fire and capture the men. A few weeks later, the second group attacked the Ashland. Another suspect is on trial in New York for the 2009 attack on an American-flagged cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama and its American crew. In the attack, the captain was held hostage aboard a lifeboat from the ship. American snipers eventually killed one of the pirates. The other was arrested.
Still, their lawyers are challenging the conditions of their arrest.
In April 2008, Youssouf Hersi was arrested with five other Somalis by French soldiers onshore, in Somalia. French soldiers had reclaimed control of the Ponant cruise ship, and used helicopters to follow a group of alleged pirates who had reached land.
Mr. Hersi's French lawyer, Cédric Alépée, said his client was a taxi driver and had nothing to do with other alleged pirates. Mr. d'Alépée also said his client was arrested outside any legal framework.
"When you look at it, it's tantamount to kidnapping," Mr. d'Alépée said.
The gangs that operate from towns along Somalia's lawless coast demand and receive huge ransoms, as much as $5 million. In recent weeks, a South Korean oil tanker was hijacked farther east in the Indian Ocean and, after a South Korean warship joined the pursuit, pirates threatened to blow up the vessel.
Young men will often float for days in small skiffs, hoping to catch a large ship. Sometimes they are instead scooped up by international warships.
When there isn't enough evidence for a trial, or the apprehending navy isn't sure where to take them, the men are often returned to Somalia. The officials confiscate weapons, grappling hooks or other pirate tools. But because Somalia's central government is too weak to provide law enforcement, the men are free to return to piracy.
The amount of Western aid Kenya receives may also be a factor in threatening to close its courtroom doors to suspected pirates. The government has said it needs more of support from the U.S. and the EU, but hasn't laid out its demands. An EU official said that representatives hoped to meet this week with Kenyan authorities to discuss the situation.
Kenya's piracy trials can be laborious affairs, too. Proceedings must be translated twice, and sometimes three times, depending on the languages spoken by the defendants and witnesses. Mr. Kadima, who has yet to present the defense's case in either of his trials, has filed countless objections related to evidence presentation, bail hearings and other issues. He has lost them all, save one: The men, who maintain they are fishermen, not pirates, have been allowed cellphones to call their families.
The donor countries, through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, have provided some legal training to court officials on topics such as evidence handling, and worked to improve Kenyan prisons. In Shimo La Tewa prison in the port city of Mombasa, where many of the pirates are held, donor funds have helped to refurbish the kitchen, improve water and sanitation facilities. All the prisoners now have mattresses..
Over the next six months, Kenya has said it will accept additional suspects on a case-by-case basis. The Foreign Ministry's Mr. Oddo said it would take several more weeks for the government to determine how it wanted to proceed. The government is also seeking additional resources to maintain the trials.
"We're trying to refine the policy," he said.
For now, Kenya remains the simplest solution for the international community to prosecute pirates. "If these people can't be put on trial, the deterrent effect goes down," said one EU official.
Other options are beginning to surface. The island nation of the Seychelles has agreed to put 30 suspects on trial. Tanzania, Kenya's neighbor, is working to broaden its antipiracy laws to allow it to accept cases involving foreign nationals, though those laws haven't taken effect.
And while the Somali government remains too weak to fight the piracy problem, one pocket of the country has begun a crackdown. In 2008, Puntland, an autonomous region in the northern tip of the country with its own government and military, began to raid pirate towns and arrest suspects for trial. The security minister, General Yusuf Ahmed Khayre, said that 264 convicted pirates are currently in Puntland prisons, some from foreign warships.
But before accepting any more from foreign navies, Gen. Khayre says, Puntland would like some financial assistance.
—David Gauthier-Villars in Paris, and Abdinasir Mohamed in Mogadishu, Somalia, contributed to this article.
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