Piracy - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

The Tamil people's liberation (terrorist) movement (LTTE) is currently foundering after a forty year effort to break off from Sri Lanka (Island of Ceylon). The government of Sri Lanka has pushed them into the northern portion of the country and the armed resistance is using the civilian population as human shields as the are they control is diminished and as the apparent end draws nigh. 

Piracy on the high seas is one of the means used by the LTTE to fund itself. The Sea Tigers is the naval arm of the LTTE and over the past years, it was a significant threat to the Sri Lankan Navy. According to a 2006 publication of the Woodrow Wilson school of Politics and International Studies, the Sea Tigers destroyed up to 50% of the Sri Lankan navy.  That activity has diminished in recent months (CLICK HERE) as the territory the LTTE controls shrank. In February, the Sri Lankan military captured the Sea Tiger naval base at Mullaitivu.

Among craft captured was the Sea Tiger submarine (above). 

As the threat of high seas piracy from the LTTE Sea Tigers diminishes, pirates that are not aligned with this movement remain in the general eastern Indian Ocean, making transits by small craft more at risk than they would otherwise be.

Vessels taken  in acts of piracy by the Sea Tigers include: Irish Mona, Princess Wave, Athena, Misen, Morong Bong, Cordiality, Princess Kash, Farah III, and the Sik Yang.

Somali Pirate- al Qaeda Connection?

To spite the speculation that there is such a connection - and everyone seems keen to make one - I'll argue here that it's unlikely to exist to spite al Queda's likely interest to form some sort of common cause with the pirates. In presenting this argument, I relied on several sources outside of my own general knowledge including discussions with friends who have more or less forgotten far more than I will ever know on the subject. This is a blog, not an in-depth analysis. I'm trying to make the complex situation in the area a bit more simple, not to patronize the reader, but to make the issue as clear as possible to people with a passing interest in the subject.

The first and most obvious difference between al Qaeda and the Somali pirates is ideology. The pirates are driven by greed and criminal intentions whereas al Qaeda derives it's "legitimacy" from its ideological background and goals.

Secondly, there is a difference in structure and culture between the typical and classic al Qaeda organization and the clans that dominate Somali social structure and to the extent that it exists, the culture. 

Thirdly, politics in Somalia is based on clan warfare where several clans are at war with each other for control of the country.

To date, al Qaeda's inroads into Somali Muslims have been made among the Hawiye clan in Central Somalia. Trained al Qaeda operatives work within and operate under the protection of this clan but don't control or influence much within the politics of the clan itself.

The Somali pirates are members of the Darood clan, the principal rival of the Hawiye clan, and operate out of Northeastern Somalia. The pirates launch their attacks from coves on the northern coast of the Puntland region into the Gulf of Aden. To date, hijacked ships have been taken back to those coves where they hold the ships and conduct negotiations.  Darood clansmen in Puntland, conspiring with regional government officials, are not going to let their rivals among the Hawiye come into their area and take over their lucrative piracy operations.

Al Qaeda publicists would like to jump on the back of the successful Somali pirates whether they enjoy any association or not. It simply makes al Qaeda look more powerful. It is POSSIBLE, though I have no proof, that the Yemeni "mother ship" in operation this past week might have an al Qaeda nexus of some sort. If true, it would be an interesting development and one to watch closely.

Said Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri (aka Abu Sufian al Azdi), a senior Saudi al Qaeda operative in operating in Yemen called on Somali jihadists to increase their strikes “against the crusaders at sea and in Djibouti.” He said, “The crusaders, the Jews and the traitorous rulers did not come to the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden except to wage war against you in Somalia and abolish your newly established emirate, and by Allah, they shall be defeated. They shall bring a curse upon their people.”  Al Shihri was captured in Afghanistan in Dec. 2001 and was released from Guantanamo Bay six years later to the Saudi government. He now says "By Allah we shall open against them (non-Wahabbis)  a major front in the Arabian Peninsula.”

So while the pirates have no reason to make common cause with al Qaeda, alQaeda does have significant motivation to ally itself with the pirates. It's something to watch, something to blog about from time to time and from a Western perspective, it will be interesting to see what moves (if any) Washington makes.

Dealing with Pirates

"There is not in all America a more dangerous trait  than the deification of mere smartness  unaccompanied by any sense of  moral responsibility." Pres. Theodore Roosevelt  - a speech made at Abilene, KS, May 2, 1903

Photo above - of Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, US Army and the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (Rough Riders).

He is the last man who held the office of President of the United States that I personally admire. He knew how to deal with Pirates, he knew how to deal with people who abused US Citizens and he was a rampant conservationist, pushing for the creation of a National Park System. President Roosevelt was not shy about sending the "Great White Fleet" to protect Americans and American interests, yet his oft spoken motto was, "Walk softly and carry a big stick." He was responsible for the Panama Canal - that was given back to Panama in modern times...

When an Ilio and Eden Pedecaris and their two children were kidnapped by the Berber sharif, Mulai el Raisuni [and pirate] ) pictured right, President Roosevelt declared, "Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead!" US Marines landed at Tangiers and deposed the Pashaw of Tangiers because he did not aid in the repatriation of the Pedecaris family. The story was popularized in a very good movie, "The Wind and the Lion" written and directed by John Milius.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

"Citizenship in a Republic,"    Speech delivered by Pres. Roosevelt at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Paying Ransom to Pirates

A good article on BBC dealing with ransom paid to pirates can be accessed by CLICKING HERE. 

I understand how insurance works, but paying Somali pirates $1 million to $3 million per incident is one of the reasons that the problem has become so rampant. Ransom is always a bad idea as it encourages every Somali with a motor boat and and an RPG launcher with a dozen rockets to go into the pirate business. In a sense I can't blame them. If the pirate's carcasses washed up on shore with the tide, I suspect the whole enterprise might be less attractive.

Clear Policy on Piracy Needed

I've commented and I've criticized the problem of political inaction on the subject of piracy. The International Marine Bureau reports that at least 80 ships have been attacked on the high seas by Somali pirates in the Horn of Africa area since January 1, 2009. Of those, 19 have been seized by pirates who subsequently held the ships and their crews for ransom. 

Piracy on the high seas is not a new crime. In fact it's one of the oldest and there is a clear body of law that snakes back into antiquity. The only way to deal with pirates is with swift, severe and certain action. US President Obama is new at this, so he can be excused to some extent for not understanding the requirements of military operations. While I am clearly not usually an apologist for Pres. Obama, I hope he learns from this situation. I am surprised that the Dutch (who I have personally worked with and find to be VERY GOOD) were hamstrung by laws to the extent that they have not been able to be effective in rendering the pirates permanently harmless. 

Sending NATO ships into the area is a complete waste of time unless the rules of engagements are modified from their present standing. Ship's captains should be allowed to exercise their initiative in dealing with pirates as legal tradition and precedence allows.

Canadian sailors on the warship Winnipeg, part of the NATO mission, meanwhile helped ward off a suspected pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden on April 17, Sky News said today, citing Michael McWhinnie, a spokesman on the ship. The Winnipeg sent a helicopter after a civilian vessel reported that four people in a skiff were firing at it, according to Sky. The suspects fled, throwing their arms overboard; they were caught hours later and released after questioning, according to Sky. (Jones Hayden and Maud van Gaal - Bloomberg April 19, 2009)

One wonders what the Canadians learned from the pirates and why they were not held --  and why the Winnipeg's helicopter did not return fire after being fired upon and kill everyone in what was clearly a pirate skiff. I wasn't there, I'll withhold judgment. I'm simply curious, but I know the answer. Political realities tie the hands of military ship's captains. None of this serves to end piracy and only tends to encourage more of it.

Piracy Laws

Piracy is important  in international law as it is commonly held to represent the earliest invocation of the concept of universal jurisdiction. The crime of piracy is considered a breach of jus cogens, a conventional peremptory international norm that states must uphold. Those committing thefts on the high seas, inhibiting trade, and endangering maritime communication are considered by sovereign states to be hostis humani generis (enemies of humanity) [source Wikipedia].

In the United States, criminal prosecution of piracy is authorized in the U.S. Constitution, Art. I Sec. 8 cl. 10: The Congress shall have Power ... To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations.

In English admiralty law, piracy was defined as petit treason during the medieval period, and offenders were accordingly liable to be drawn and quartered on conviction. Piracy was redefined as a felony during the reign of Henry VIII. In either case, piracy cases were cognizable in the courts of the Lord High Admiral. English admiralty vice-admiralty judges emphasized that "neither Faith nor Oath is to be kept" with pirates; i.e. contracts with pirates and oaths sworn to them were not legally binding. In 2008 the British Foreign Office advised the Royal Navy not to detain pirates of certain nationalities as they might be able to claim asylum in Britain under British human rights legislation, if their national laws included execution, or mutilation as a judicial punishment for crimes committed as pirates. (Huh?)

Pirates were legally subject to summary execution by their captors if captured in battle. In practice, instances of summary justice and annulment of oaths and contracts involving pirates do not appear to have been common.

Since piracy often takes place outside the territorial waters of any state, the prosecution of pirates by sovereign states represents a complex legal situation. The prosecution of pirates on the high seas contravenes the conventional freedom of the high seas. However, because of universal jurisdiction, action can be taken against pirates without objection from the flag state of the pirate vessel. This represents an exception to the principle extra territorium jus dicenti impune non paretur (the judgment of one who is exceeding his territorial jurisdiction may be disobeyed with impunity).

In the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, and the International Maritime Bureau define "maritime piracy".

Pirates seize Belgium Ship

Somali Pirate

I relied substantially on an AP wire article for this posting by Todd Pitman and Katharine Houreld.

Today NATO/Dutch forces rescued twenty fishermen from pirates who launched the latest attack today, but then they let the pirates go because they had no authority to arrest/detain them.  Please, somebody tell me what I'm missing here. I understand that I may not be bright enough to grasp the concept of freeing hostages and then releasing the pirates who seized them on the high seas. Pirates took a Belgian-flagged ship carrying 10 foreign crew near the Seychelles islands and have started hauling it toward Somalia today.  AP reporters quoted London based piracy expert Roger Middleton who told them, "There isn't a silver bullet" to solve the problem. He said it's common for patrolling warships to disarm then free brigands because they rarely have jurisdiction to hold/try them. Middleton, the U.K.-based piracy expert, said NATO sees its "main role as deterring and disrupting pirate activity" — not prosecuting brigands.   Pirates have attacked more than 80 boats this year alone, nearly four times the number assaulted in 2003, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau. They now hold at least 18 ships and over 310 crew hostage, according to an Associated Press count.   The first attack Saturday occurred in the pre-dawn darkness, when pirates hijacked the Belgian-flagged SS Pompei a few hundred miles (kilometers) north of the Seychelles, said Portuguese Lt. Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes, who is traveling with a NATO fleet patrolling further north in the Gulf of Aden.   Belgium officials said the ship sounded three alarms indicating it was under attack as it headed toward the palm-fringed islands, a high-end tourist destination, with a cargo of concrete and stones. The dredging ship had 10 crew: two Belgians, one Dutch, three Filipinos and four Croatians, Fernandes said.   As pirates steered the ship slowly northwest toward Somalia, 430 miles (700 kilometers) away, a Spanish military ship, a French frigate and a French scout ship all steamed toward the area to try to intercept it.   In Brussels, government officials held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and possible intervention. "There is no contact with the pirates, not with the crew, not with any other parties," Jaak Raes, director general of the Belgian Crisis Center, told reporters. "We are sure that the ship now is heading to the coast of Somalia."   In a second attack later Saturday, pirates on a small white skiff fired small arms and rockets at a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker. Fernandes said the ship, the SS Handytankers Magic, issued a distress call shortly after dawn but escaped the pirates using "speed and maneuvers."   The attack occurred in the Gulf of Aden, a vital short cut between Europe and Asia and one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.   A Dutch frigate from the NATO force responded immediately to the distress call and trailed the pirates to a Yemeni-flagged fishing dhow the brigands had seized Thursday, Fernandes said. The bandits were using the Yemeni vessel as a "mother ship," a larger vessel that allows the pirates' tiny motorboats to hitch rides hundreds of kilometers off the Somali coast, greatly expanding their range.   The pirates climbed into the dhow and Dutch marine commandos followed soon after, freeing 20 fishermen whose nationalities were not known. Fernandes said there was no exchange of fire and Dutch forces seized seven automatic weapons and one rocket-propelled grenade launcher.   Pirates plucked from the sea by foreign militaries are being tried abroad. French soldiers take pirates who have attacked French citizens to Paris; pirates who have attacked other nations are hauled to Kenya, such as the 11 seized Wednesday when the French navy found them stalking a Lebanese-owned ship. India took 24 suspects to Yemen, since half were from there. The Dutch took five suspects to Rotterdam, where they probably will be tried next month under a 17th-century law against "sea robbery."   And Wal-i-Musi, the Somali teen who was one of four pirates who tried to hijack the SS Maersk Alabama this month, will be sent to New York to face trial. The three other pirates with Wal-i-Musi were shot dead by U.S. Navy snipers who freed the ship's 53-year-old captain, Richard Phillips, in a dramatic rescue a week ago.   The vast majority of detained pirates are set free to wreak havoc again because of legal barriers to prosecuting them. It can be difficult or impossible for prosecutors to assemble witnesses scattered across the globe and find translators. Many countries are wary of hauling in pirates for trial for fear of being saddled with them after they serve their prison terms.   Why aren't they tried, hanged and then buried at sea in a weighted sack?