US to sign Kenya deal to prosecute Somali pirates

Richard Meade - Friday 16 January 2009

THE US government is understood to be nearing a deal with Kenya to detain and prosecute pirates captured off Somalia. 

The deal, if successful, will join a growing number of bilateral agreements between countries engaged in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and states willing to take pirates into custody. 

US forces in the region have so far limited their operations to deterrence and disruption because no country, including the US, had been willing to hold the pirates. 

According to a statement issued on Friday by US Navy Vice-Admiral William Gortney, commander of the US 5th Fleet, the US State Department is now close to finalising an agreement with a partner country to prosecute pirates captured by US forces. Industry sources have told Lloyd’s List they understand this country to be Kenya. 

The deal is not unprecedented, but it is thought to be the most significant move yet towards formalising a process for prosecution of Somalian pirates. 

Bilateral agreements between countries do exist, but naval sources suggest that each case is different and can be swayed by political and practical considerations. 

“There are agreements and there are agreements,” a spokesman for the EU Naval force told Lloyd’s List. 

Article 3 of the UN Security Council resolution 1815 urges “states and regional organisations fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia to conclude special agreements or arrangements” with countries willing to take custody of and prosecute pirates. 

The resolution has already spurred a number of ad hoc arrangements. Somalian pirates caught by the UK frigate HMS Cumberland, which operates under the EU Naval Forces in the region, were handed over to Kenyan authorities for prosecution last month. The pirates are currently being processed through the Kenyan legal system. Indian naval forces meanwhile are understood to have handed over pirates to official in Yemen following capture. 

“We are working with a number of countries on this issue,” explained an EU Navfor spokesman. “There is a need to prosecute, but a lot will depend on the individual circumstances of a capture and where [the pirates] are detained.” 

The Netherlands has signed an agreement with Denmark to extradite five Somalians held by the Danish Navy who attacked a Netherlands-Antilles cargo vessel in the Gulf of Aden. The Dutch public prosecutor has started proceedings against the Somalians for piracy, a crime which can fetch a maximum jail sentence of between nine and 12 years in the Netherlands. 

A Danish Navy ship intercepted the Somalians in the sea on January 2 after the crew of the cargo vessel Samanyulo responded by firing flares at the pirates and a Danish navy helicopter opened fire on the pirates’ boat. The five Somalians are still on board the Danish ship Absalon. 

Last week 24 countries and five major international organisations came together at the United Nations to form the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. 

At the first meeting of the body, which will be known by its acronym CGPCS, the members commited themselves to “examine practical options for strengthening the ability of countries willing to detain and prosecute suspected pirates”. It has also pledged to consider other means of addressing piracy, including international judicial mechanisms. 

Send to Colleague Printer Friendly Format Email the Editor