U.S. Navy nabs pirates, but prosecution is complex

U.S. Navy nabs pirates, but prosecution is complex    A U.S. Navy frigate sank a skiff and captured suspected pirates after being fired upon in international waters off the Seychelles islands, the Navy said Thursday.
   A small pirate boat fired on the USS Nicholas at night apparently after misjudging the ship for a commercial ransom target. The frigate returned fire and pursued the disabled skiff until it stopped. Sailors confiscated ammunition, sank the skiff, captured a ship that served as the pirates' operating base and took five men into custody.
   Meanwhile, the USS Farragut, operating as the flagship of a coalition task force in the Gulf of Aden, responded to an attack on a Sierra Leone-flagged tanker. The tanker was able to avoid capture and the Navy captured 11 suspected pirates, along with fuel drums and grappling hooks.
   The actions come just days from the one-year anniversary of hijacking of the U.S.-flag vessel the Maersk Alabama and the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips, who is writing a book about his experience.

This week marked the one-year anniversary of the hijacking of the U.S.-flag Maersk Alabama.

   In a speech before the American University Law Symposium this week, Andrew Shapiro, the U.S. State Department's assistant secretary for politico-military affairs, said more countries should contribute to prosecuting pirates and helping governments in and around sub-Saharan Africa build the capacity of their criminal justice systems to handle pirates.
   Companies have paid Somali pirates from $30 million to $50 million in ransoms to date, according to conservative estimates.
   'But capacity building in the region is more than just enacting laws and training prosecutors. It is also a need for the infrastructure and logistical support necessary to any effective criminal justice system — buildings, equipment, materials and vehicles to support piracy prosecutions,' he said.
   Shapiro commended the efforts of Kenya and the Seychelles to prosecute and incarcerate pirates, but added they need more assistance. Courts in those two countries are prosecuting more than a dozen cases.
   'But at the end of the day, two countries are not enough. Kenya and Seychelles simply do not have the capacity to handle all of the potential suspects that are apprehended. For reasons of both fairness and pragmatism, the burden currently shouldered by these countries must be shared more broadly both within and beyond the piracy-affected region.
   'We cannot ask just a few states in one region of the world to bear the burden of holding, prosecuting and incarcerating pirates. The cost of this crime is borne globally. The cost of combating and defeating it should likewise be borne by many states in all corners of the world,' Shapiro said, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
   Deterrence could be improved by more certain prosecutions through better evidence gathering at sea. One way to do that, Shapiro said, is through the use of biometric identification technology to more effectively track individuals previously stopped by naval forces for suspicious maritime activities. Another option might be more selective pursuit of prosecution, trying only senior pirate leaders among the crew.
   An international working group is also studying the concept of prosecuting cases of attempt or conspiracy to commit piracy in which suspects are not captured in the act of attempting to hijack a vessel but are caught lying in wait for a target.
   And Shapiro said the United States and the European Union may need to accept more piracy cases in their courts if regional courts cannot meet demand. ' Eric Kulisch