More resources on the Maersk Alabama piratical attack and hostage-taking incident.
- Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard was interviewed on ABC's This Week (transcript here). At issue is his call for an international framework to address Somali piracy. This appears to call for a need to address the "endgame" or what-do-we-do-with-the pirates we capture. While this is probably more of a political issue than a legal one, the shipping nations of the world must take steps to protect their fleets. In my mind, a practical endgame is that the top 20 shipping nations agree that for any pirate apprehended by any naval force, the shipping nation agrees to prosecute the offenders. When conceiving criminal prosecutions in domestic courts, however, there are certainly practical concerns (i.e. envision Indian Navy personnel testifying in U.S. courtrooms about how Somali pirates were apprehended, 5th Amendment warnings, etc). Kenya appears to be emerging as an option for prosecution with the benefit of proximity to the pirate area. The effectiveness of the Kenya option is certainly an issue to watch.
- Survey of the blogs, news outlets: Marinelog article here, gCaptain live press conference here, New ABCNews article.
- Reflecting on our nation's early brush with piracy in Africa, the NY Times has an interesting piece about the Barbary pirates, here.
My initial thoughts on the Maersk Alabama incident here.
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