Russia frees captured Somali pirates

Link to Article

Russian forces have released 10 Somali pirates captured during a military operation to free an oil tanker this week, reversing an earlier pledge by President Dmitry Medvedev to punish them "under the full force of naval law".
The move highlights the legal and logistical challenges faced by foreign navies targeting the pirate gangs who have turned the waters off Somalia into the most dangerous in the world.
The hijackers were captured yesterday aboard the MV Moscow University, which was carrying oil worth $52m (£35m) from Sudan to China when it was attacked in the Gulf of Aden a day earlier. It was the first time a Russian-owned and staffed ship had been hijacked off Somalia.
After the 23-man crew cut the power and barricaded themselves in a safe room, a helicopter launched from a nearby Russian warship exchanged fire with the attackers, who quickly surrendered. One hijacker was killed.
Medvedev praised the rescue operation, and promised tough action against the attackers. "Perhaps we should return to the idea of creating an international court and other judicial instruments," Medvedev was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. "Until we get that, we'll have to do what our predecessors have done when they have encountered pirates."
But today, the Russian defence ministry said that the captives had been disarmed and freed. Aleksei Kuznetsov, a ministry spokesman, said the release was "connected to the imperfections in international law". But he also suggested that the cost of prosecution and subsequent imprisonment was a factor. "Why should we feed some pirates?" he said.
The release of pirates by foreign navies patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean is not uncommon. Somalia's lawlessness means handing suspects over for trial there is not possible, while there can also be problems with collecting evidence for trial abroad.
But other foreign governments have prosecuted Somali pirates in cases where their own citizens and vessels were attacked. The sole surviving hijacker of the US-flagged tanker Maersk Alabama, whose crew members were dramatically freed by American special forces last year, is awaiting trial in New York, while 11 other would-be Somali hijackers were taken to the US in April after firing on American warships on patrol. Somali pirates also currently face trial in the Netherlands and France.
More often, however, US and European navy ships have offloaded pirates in Kenya under an agreement with the government in Nairobi. But with its own legal and prison system under strain, Kenya now says it will only accept Somali prisoners on a case-by-case basis. Instead, the EU is looking for assistance from the Seychelles, whose maritime trade has been hit by Somali hijackings and which has announced plans to establish a regional centre to prosecute pirates.
Roger Middleton, who researches piracy for the Chatham House thinktank in London, said that effective prosecutions were important, but were unlikely to discourage most pirate gangs.
"I'm not sure that jail time in the US or Kenya is enough of a disincentive to stop young Somalis who can make $20,000 or $30,000 in a year at sea," he said.