A story from MailOnLine in England about the Royal Navy treatment of Somali pirates, has the MoD responding. The Mail story:
Navy gives Somali pirates food and water... then lets them sail off scot free
By Jason Groves
Last updated at 7:43 AM on 27th January 2010Suspected Somali pirates captured by the Royal Navy are being given fuel, food and water and sent on their way.
In three cases they were released even though hostages had been found on board their vessels.
The extraordinary revelations yesterday by Defence Minister Baroness Taylor will add to concern about the role of the Navy in tackling piracy.
Hands up: Royal marines board a suspected pirate vessel off Somalia last June - the gang were later released
In November it emerged that a Navy ship had stood by as pirates kidnapped British sailors Paul and Rachel Chandler. They are still being held and threatened with death by their captors.
Baroness Taylor said there had been four instances in the last year when heavily armed gangs operating off Somalia had been given supplies on humanitarian grounds. None of the 66 suspects captured by the Navy in the last year have been taken into custody.
One former Navy commander said the Navy appeared to be operating a 'maritime welfare system' rather than enforcing law on the high seas.
Mike Critchley, publisher of Warship World magazine, said: 'I feel pretty sorry for Navy officers these days who have to phone a lawyer in London before they are allowed to do anything.
'In the old days the captain would have been told to just go and sort it out.
[...]
'I am sure that word will soon get round the pirate community that even if you run out of fuel 200 miles off shore a large grey vessel will come and help you on your way.
'If we are going to make a difference then we have to shake a fist at people.'
Former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit, who has tabled a series of Parliamentary questions on the issue, said ministers had indicated privately that suspected pirates were not being arrested because of fears they might claim asylum in the UK.
Lord Tebbit said the Navy appeared to be hamstrung by the 'morass of human rights laws and political correctness'.
He said the release of armed suspects, some of whom were holding hostages, 'illustrates how absurd our laws on immigration and asylum have become.'...
They have more, of course, and you can read that here. [Be sure to check out the readers' comments.)
The Ministry of Defence has this in rebuttal:
Treatment of pirates
An article in the Daily Mail claims 'suspected Somali pirates captured by the Royal Navy are being given fuel, food and water and sent on their way'. The Royal Navy treats encounters with suspected pirates seriously and in each case will carry out detailed analysis of all physical evidence and witness statements.The reality is that when patrolling some 1.5 million square miles (four million square kilometres) of international waters and operating legally within the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Royal Navy regularly stops and searches mariners who routinely carry a variety of weapons for self-protection. If there is sufficient additional evidence that gives confidence that there is likely to be a successful prosecution, suspected pirates are transferred to Kenya, and more recently the Seychelles, for trial.
It is only when there is insufficient evidence and uncooperative or unreliable witnesses to ensure a successful prosecution in a regional state that equipment is destroyed and the suspected pirates and any claiming to be hostages are released. They are released only with enough fuel and supplies to allow them to return to land, in accordance with our international legal obligations.
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