Pirates Can Claim UK Asylum, Detaining Them May Breach Their Civil Rights
I kid you not…
THE Royal Navy, once the scourge of brigands on the high seas, has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates because doing so may breach their human rights.
Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain.
The Foreign Office has advised that pirates sent back to Somalia could have their human rights breached because, under Islamic law, they face beheading for murder or having a hand chopped off for theft.
In 2005 there were almost 40 attacks by pirates and 16 vessels were hijacked and held for ransom. Employing high-tech weaponry, they kill, steal and hold ships’ crews to ransom. This year alone pirates killed three people near the Philippines.
Last week French commandos seized a Somali pirate gang that had held a luxury yacht with 22 French citizens on board. The hijackers were paid off by the boat’s owner and then a French helicopter carrier dispatched 50 commandos to seize the hijackers and the ransom money on dry land.
Britain is part of a coalition force that patrols piracy stricken areas and the guidance has troubled navy officers who believe they should have more freedom to intervene.
The guidance was sharply criticised by Julian Brazier MP, the Conservative shipping spokesman, who said: “These people commit horrendous offences. The solution is not to turn a blind eye but to turn them over to the local authorities. The convention on human rights quite rightly doesn’t cover the high seas. It’s a pathetic indictment of what our legal system has come to.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “There are issues about human rights and what might happen in these circumstances. The main thing is to ensure any incident is resolved peacefully.”
The guidance is the latest blow to the robust image of the navy. Last year 15 of its sailors were taken prisoner by the Iranians and publicly humiliated.
In the 19th century, British warships largely eradicated piracy when they policed the oceans. The death penalty for piracy on the high seas remained on the statute books until 1998. Modern piracy ranges from maritime mugging to stealing from merchant ships with the crew held at gunpoint.
(Times Online)
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WTF?!!!! The RN is done as a force to be reckoned with, I’m sad to say.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:53 amWell you can’t detain them if you sink them.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:56 amI say the brits should farm out their navy to the french…
April 14th, 2008 at 12:15 pmwell the pirates that hijacked the french cruise ship will be taken to France for their trial, I can say that they can count their years in jail on more than their 2 hands
I have made a report on my place with 3 videos
April 14th, 2008 at 12:26 pmUSMC Beans, you’re my hero.
It’s not the UK’s fault that the pirates could be hanged/killed/whatever for their crimes back home. If you don’t like how we punish criminals, DON’T COMMIT A CRIME!
For the love.
Oh, and yes, Franchie… Good deal. Have them suck the French and their tax payers dry because they had the stupid sense to commit the crime in the first place. Oh, no, us hard-working citizens slave away for governments who take more than their slice of the pie, and then give it to keep people like these filthy pirates alive. They should be tried for wasting our tax dollars, at the very least! Jail sentence? pffft. what a load of crock.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:35 pmThank you for saying out loud what I just thought and I’m pretty sure of, most Dollardians are thinking.
Accidents happen, or better;”A sudden invasion of a dangerous kind of bug made us being prompted to do a thorough clean-sweep”.
(Man, I’m doing a lot of
today. Am I getting another “Larry” without the 
again? 
)
April 14th, 2008 at 12:49 pmtrustme, you forgeot the the death penalty isn’t in the EU constitution, and as tax payers you got many more people in jail than us that suck you
what I wrote :
the sailing cruise ship “Le Ponant” has been hijacked by pirates in the past week. the “equipage” team has been released after that the “armator” had paid a “rançon” (rasom); though the french navy was alerted and surveyed the zone, they didn’t intervene untill the french prisonners got on the french navy ship that, afterword, brought them to Djibuti. In this operation, no death among the staff was allowed. It’s on Somalia’s territory that the special forces chased and catched the hijackers, that will be transferred into France for trial.
Contrary to what is “usally” expected from our american friends, the french staff didn’t first surrender ; they were defending themselves with the only arms they had on board, firefighters launches ; they even sunk a hijackers’ boat. BUT, they had to surrender nonentheless, cause of the “kalachnikovs” they were facing… when the pirates started to fire at them…
April 14th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
An easy call,take no prisoners.
Sounds like a great job opportunity for old gunners mates, hire out on the privates with twin 50s fore and aft.
April 14th, 2008 at 1:32 pmTimes like this I wonder why the British Navy ever moved away from Rocks and Shoals type law. I think keel hauling a pirate across a modern super carrier would be fitting.
Hell even a Judge Roy Bean trial would be fitting for pirates.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:33 pm