Countries seek legal weapons against Somalia pirates
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PARIS — With pirates terrorizing the shipping industry by hijackings in the busy waterway off Somalia’s coast, legal experts are chasing their tails trying to find a way to put them in the dock.
Some suspected pirates have been taken to face justice in Germany, where 10 Somalis are due to go on trial in Hamburg on Monday accused of attacking a German cargo ship.
But Kenya, which last year signed a deal with western states to try suspected pirates in its courts, was forced to acquit 26 suspected Somali pirates this month and said handling the cases was too big a burden.
Pirates based in lawless Somali territory have been bagging millions of dollars in ransoms for boats seized around the Gulf of Aden, though warships from various countries patrolling the passage have overpowered some.
But even if the pirates are caught, the lack of central rule in Somalia since a 1991 civil war makes it impossible to put them on trial there, experts say.
A lawyer specializing in maritime law, Isabelle Corbier, said Somali suspects arrested in international waters fall into a “legal void.”.... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101121com3.html
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