Conference and Arrests

At the end of October the six men on trial in Spain were convicted of piracy related charges, and at the beginning of November another trial began in the USA. There was also the arrest in Belgium of Mohamed Abdi Hassan (also known as "Afweyne" or Big Mouth). Hassan was arrested at the Brussels airport on 12th October after been invited to Belgium on the ruse of becoming an advisor on a film about piracy around the Horn of Africa. Others who may be involved with piracy have also recently been invited to Belgium but there will be no actual trial of them, they are attending a conference hosted by Environmental Justice Foundation on illegal fishing. Pirate fishing around the Horn of Africa is a key focus at the November conference and countries that are criticised as not taken action against IUUs (or 'pirate' vessels) are attending. 

Spain, in publicity about the conference, is listed as one of those countries, however it was in Spain that the six men were sentenced just under a month ago - one man to 12-and-a-half years in prison and the other five to eight years in jail each. The men have been in Spain awaiting trial since October 2012 so have already served one year. In 2011 two men convicted of piracy by a Spanish court received sentences of 439 years each.

The trial in the US is of a former Washington DC resident, Ali Mohamed Ali, who is charged with helping Somali pirates who seized a Danish cargo vessel in November 2008. His defence is that he was actually working for the US as an intelligence source. Ali is charged with piracy, conspiracy, attacking a vessel and hostage-taking, and faces life in prison if convicted. He has been held in jail for two and a half years. Another person, Mohammad Saaili Shibin, charged in the American courts with negotiating was convicted in August 2012 and sentenced to "10 concurrent life sentences...two consecutive life sentences...10 years consecutive...and two 20-year sentences... and is also required to pay restitution in the amount of approximately $5,408,000US."

The event promises to offer a lively debate on where responsibilities lie in taking urgent measures to tackle IUU fishing, which costs the global economy an estimated US$ 10 to 23.5 billion and represents between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish. - See more at: http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/21697/landmark-event-encourages-eu-member-states-to-take-stronger-action-on-illegal-fishing#sthash.mqxrp5QY.dpuf

Publicity about the Environmental Justice Foundation says the conference will involved 'a lively debate on where responsibilities lie in taking urgent measures to tackle IUU fishing, which costs the global economy an estimated US$ 10 to 23.5 billion and represents between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish'.

The event promises to offer a lively debate on where responsibilities lie in taking urgent measures to tackle IUU fishing, which costs the global economy an estimated US$ 10 to 23.5 billion and represents between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish. - See more at: http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/21697/landmark-event-encourages-eu-member-states-to-take-stronger-action-on-illegal-fishing#sthash.mqxrp5QY.dpuf

Letters to Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse

There has been a plea for letters to be sent to 15 year-old Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse imprisoned in the US. (Address below)

In May 2011, the teenager was tried as an an adult for offences related to piracy and sentenced to 33 years and nine months in prison. At the time, the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, confirmed the group that Muse was part of were "untrained teenagers with heavy weapons."  The other three teenagers in the group were killed by US snipers.

Write to Muse, the teenager jailed in the US:

Abdulwali Abukhadir Muse 70636-054
 FCI Terre Haute
 Federal Correctional Institution 
 PO Box 33
 Terre Haute, IN 47808
 USA

Negotiators in Court

As a deterrance to other 'pirate negotiators', in early August Mohammad Saaili Shibin was sentenced in a US court to multiple sentences of life imprisonment. He was sentenced to "10 concurrent life sentences...two consecutive life sentences...10 years consecutive...and two 20-year sentences... and is also required to pay restitution in the amount of approximately $5,408,000US." Mohammad Saaili Shibin was one of the first 'pirates' renditioned from Somalia to the USA, and was convicted in April this year for supposedly acting as a negotiator for both the hijacking of an American yacht in February 2011 and a German merchant ship in 2010. He allegedly admitted to some of the charges after being captured in Somalia and whilst being taken to the US on a flight that took three days. The US thanked Germany for its help in the prosecution.

In contrast, in April 2011 Ali Mohamed Ali, another alleged 'pirate negptiator', was arrested whilst travelling in the USA and was charged with piracy. His trial is still on-going, but already the judge has found that universal jurisdiction does not apply as Ali was arrested on land. He was not arrested at high sea.

USA Re-defines Piracy

The US Court of Appeal has held that unsuccessful attacks on boats is piracy.

On May 23rd the US Court of Appeal upheld sentences of life + 80 years imprisonment for five Somali men convicted in November 2010 of piracy against a US navy frigate; the court also sent another case back to a lower court to be retried.

It is alleged that the five men sentenced to life plus 80 years had, in April 2010, fired at the USS Nicholas, a warship that had been disguised as a merchant ship. The Somali men had been captured and transported to the US where they had been tried for piracy, found guilty and sentenced. At the same time, there had been another court case with very similar circumstances and even in the same month: in April 2010 a group of Somali men had approached but not boarded the USS Ashland. The men were captured and taken to the US for trial. One man plead guilty and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment, the others had piracy charges against them dismissed as the men had not taken control of or robbed the ship. The US Court of Appeal sent that case back to the lower court for further proceedings.

Thus it is now clear in US law that piracy does not have to actually involve boarding or robbing a vessel, piracy can be a threat of an attack.

In the meantime, prosecution continue to say that they want the death penalty for the remaining three Somali men still awaiting trial for the hi-jacking of the US yacht Quest in February 2011. During that incidence, the four Americans on board the boat were killed.

Convicted in the USA

One of the first ever alleged 'pirates' renditioned from Somalia to the USA, Mohammad Saaili Shibin, was found guilty on 27th April of charges of piracy, hostage taking, kidnapping and conspiracy. The prosecution said that he worked as a hostage negotiator for both the hijacking of an American yacht in February 2011 and a German merchant ship in 2010, and as a result earned between $30,000 and 50,000US for negotiating the ransom payments.

He faces a mandatory life sentence of life in a U.S. prison. Mohammad Saaili Shibin's lawyer has said that the conviction will be appealed. He says that the case should have been heard in Somalia rather than his client been kidnapped and taken to the USA.

In connection with the hi-jacking of the American yacht, there have already been other people convicted: eleven Somali men have been sentenced to life imprisonment and it was announced on 1st May that three more men who are defending the charges will face the death penalty if convicted.

Those already sentenced to prison have also been ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution.

The hijacking of the yacht in February last year resulted in the death of the couple who owned the boat, two guests on the boat, and four of the alleged pirates. After the incident, the US apparently reviewed their policy in relation to piracy around the Gulf of Aden.

Rendition

An American judge has refused to dismiss all charges against Mohammad Saaili Shibin, one of the first ever people renditioned from Somalia to the USA on piracy charges. And the judge has also said that statements made by the man whilst been flown from Somalia to the USA can be used as evidence.

Mohammad Saaili Shibin's defence lawyer demanded that all charges against be dropped for several reasons, including the fact that the arrest and rendition to the USA was illegal; he was basically kidnapped from Somalia.

It is alleged that Mohammad Saaili Shibin searched the internet using his cellphone to try and ascertain how much of a ransom could be demanded for an American yacht hi-jacked in early 2011. Whilst in custody and been flown to the US (three days after he was first arrested and interrogated) he is alleged to have confessed to being the negotiator when the German ship,  Marida Marguerite, was hi-jacked in 2010. As a result he now faces two charges, one in relation to the US yacht and the other to the German merchant ship.

Germany was thanked by the USA for its role in bringing the charges against the man.

The trial is set down to begin on the 17th April.

A 1 in 300 risk

There's been an interesting argument going on in the English courts over the last few months. It's a debate that focuses on the risk of a ship being attacked by pirates whilst going around the Horn of Africa. And the risk, both shipping companies and the courts agree, is actually only 1 voyage out of every 300 transits a ship does.

That is, one transit out of every 300 is at risk.

And allegedly because of this risk, the EU has continued Operation Atalanta to the end of 2012 and is considering expanding its powers so that Atalanta forces can now legally go on Somali land. The USA has just announced that it is expanding its presence in the Gulf of Aden with a floating SEAL base.

Somali piracy is seen as a huge threat and money continues to be poured into stopping the 'pirates' but little is done to stop the IUU fishing boats or the dumping of toxic wastes. It continues.

The details of the actual court case have received minimal coverage in the mainstream press, however it is covered in legal websites and journals. The case involved a Panama flag-flying ship, Triton Lark. The ship was charted by a Hong Kong company, Pacific Basin, to carry a load of Potash from Hamburg to China via the Suez Canal from its disponent owner - the Norwegian firm 'Bulkhandling Handymax' (The real ship owner is Triton Navigation B.V., an Amsterdam company part of the Japanese multi-national Sumitomo Group).

Because of the risk of piracy, the Norwegian firm refused to sail through the Suez Canal and therefore costs of the voyage increased. Pacific Basin then sued for those costs to be covered; both sides agreed that the actual risk is only one in 300 transits. The matter has been referred back to the arbitrators.

Court cases continue

Nine Somali men have now been sentenced to life imprisonment in the USA for the hijacking of a US yacht in February 2011, two more men are yet to be sentenced and three are defending the charges. These three face the death penalty if convicted.

Those sentenced to prison have also been ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution.

Earlier this year, in May, the US courts sentenced Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, a 15-year old, to 33 years and nine months in prison. He was tried as an adult despite evidence that he was only a young teenager and despite the fact that the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, confirmed the group that Muse was part of were "untrained teenagers with heavy weapons."  The other three teenagers in the group were killed by US snipers.

Muse is not the only teenager sentenced or facing trial in foreign lands. In the Netherlands one of the people sentenced there said he was only 13 years old, so-called expert tests put his age at between 14 and 15 years.

In Germany, ten Somali are being tried in a Hamburg juvenile court as three of the group are teenagers.

In Japan a teenager is to be tried in a youth court, the three others in the group will be tried as adults.

'Pirates' sentenced in the USA

The United States sentenced Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, a 15-year old, to nearly 34 years in prison in May 2011. He was arrested in May 2009, the sole survivor from a group of four alleged pirates, the others were killed by US navy sharp-shooters. All of them were under 20 years of age. Despite evidence from Somalia that Abdiwali was a juvenile, the US tried him as an adult.

Currently facing court is a man alleged to be a negotiator in two hijacking incidences. One incident involves a German yacht hijacked in May 2010. The other involves an American yacht with a crew of four, all four crew were killed and two alleged pirates also died.

A total of 14 men are currently facing charges in the US over the hijacking of this yacht. Six pleaded guilty to hijacking early and of these four have received life in prison and one other given a sentence of two concurrent life sentences. Five others later pleased guilty and are currently waiting to be sentenced to mandatory life, while three others are facing the death penalty if convicted.