Catch and release video
The Canadian Navy shows our sailors doing exactly what they are supposed to do to thwart pirates---and all they can do:
The prime minister reacts:
The prime minister reacts:
...Update: See VW's comment, nail on head.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised HMCS Winnipeg's 240 crew members, who were sent to the Gulf of Aden earlier this month to join a patrol of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that includes ships from Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.S.
Still, Mr. Harper was forced to confront what is emerging as a significant weakness in the international effort to combat piracy off Somalia, a lawless country that lacks a governing authority strong enough to crack down on its growing number of the seafaring gangs.
The NATO patrol saved the Norwegian tanker from capture and robbed a gang of bandits of weapons, most of which the pirates tossed into the sea while being chased.
But after all that, the Somalis were released. The Canadian sailors, like their NATO allies, lack the authority to make arrests in international waters.
"We did briefly detain pirates and disarm them," Mr. Harper told reporters after concluding a summit with leaders from the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. "Those were the appropriate measures under the circumstances."
Asked whether Canada might take a more aggressive role and even fire on pirates' crafts, Mr. Harper said, "We use force when necessary, but only when necessary."..
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 3:34 p.m.
5 Comments:
Just my 2 cent worth but for the life of me I do not see why they would want to apprehend and arrest them. They are pirates. Blow them out of the water and keep on doing that until they stop. A side note to all of this if I may. Why are the shipping companies not making arrangements for the security of their ships. Seems to me a few trained and armed personal would go a long way towards solving the problem.
Well we can expect some international victim whining agency to file a law suit against the Navy because they forced these "sailors" to drop their "fishing gear" overboard.
Just because their gear looked like AK's & RPG's . . . .
I love our military, but the political impotence of the West is ridiculous.
Bob -- it's called rules of engagement.
A warship isn't supposed to sink another vessel unless it has specific orders and circumstances to do so. NATO hasn't issued or approved such orders; neither has Canada.
Because piracy is an international crime, rather than an act of war, the rules right now say you've got to catch them, with evidence to prove they're pirates, and allow a court to try them on charges.
And until either the UN or NATO are convinced that stopping piracy is a matter of high priority, those rules aren't going to change.
Wikipedia's issues with authority aside, I think this bears consideration:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostis_humani_generisIf what I read there is correct (and I've heard similar descriptions recently from real lawyers) then perhaps we made a mistake letting them go:
"Perhaps the oldest of the laws of the sea is the prohibition of piracy, as the peril of being set upon by pirates, who are motivated by their own greed, rather than by national allegiance, is shared by the vessels and mariners of all nations, and thus represents a crime upon all nations; as such, since the time of the Ancient Romans, pirates have been held to be individuals waging a private warfare, a private campaign of sack and pillage, against not only their victims, but against all nations, and thus, pirates hold the peculiar status of being regarded as "hostis humani generis", the enemies of mankind. Since piracy anywhere is a peril to every mariner and ship everywhere, it is held to be the universal right and the universal duty of all nations, regardless of whether their ships have been beset by the particular pirate captured, to capture, try, and either execute (which is the traditional custom of the sea) or otherwise suppress the pirate, such as by imprisonment.
"In these more civilized times, much of the customary law of the sea has been codified. Piracy is the broadest exception to the principle that a ship on the high seas is subject to the protection of, and jurisdiction of, her flag state. Piracy is considered an offense of universal jurisdiction, such that any state may board and seize a ship engaged in piracy, and any state may try a pirate and impose sanctions according to that state's own law. Piracy is defined in Article 101 of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the 1958 Convention on the High Seas also regulates this exercise of jurisdiction." (emphasis mine)I would think that the Canadian Armed Forces had not only the right to apprehend these pirates and take them to Canada for trial but had an obligation to do so.
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