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April 26, 2012 |  2 comments |  Print  Your Opinion  

NATO

Taking on the Pirates

NATO: The Danish warship HMDS Absalon has freed 12 hostages and taken on board 16 suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia. It is a successful end to their six-month deployment under NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield. But Denmark now faces a dilemma. Unless a country in the region can be persuaded to take them ashore and prosecute them, the suspects will have to be set free again in Somalia.

Source: NATO's YouTube Channel: NATO - Taking on the pirates

 

 

 

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Tags: | NATO | pirates | Denmark |
 
Comments
John Hadjisky

April 27, 2012

John Hadjisky, Blogger, Platinum Contributor (328)

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Assuming those captured are treated humanely and get a fair trial, etc, of which I have little doubt...remind me again why prosecuting alleged pirates is controversial? I can understand the political reluctance, but what exactly is the moral and legal basis for declining to prosecute? Aren't there real victims here? At what point, exactly, did International Law go from "settled" to "unsettled" re the issue of piracy. I sincerely want to hear from the experts on this. Thanks.
Tags: | international law |
 
Joshua Clapp

April 30, 2012

Joshua Clapp, Atlantic Community, Platinum Contributor (158)

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John,

I do not believe that prosecuting alleged pirates has become controversial – piracy is indeed an international crime. But rather the reluctance or difficulty surrounding prosecution stems from the fact that such prosecutions appear to mostly take place in national courts. As such, the problem seems to be in how national systems interpret international law regarding piracy and how to apply that law to individual cases. For example, see this recent journal article covering international piracy and domestic courts. Link here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1967746

Regards,

Joshua
 

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