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Nations look to Kenya as venue for piracy trials
Several countries are now calling for piracy cases to be prosecuted in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa to tackle the wave of piracy in Somalia.
- Agencies
- Published: 12:33 April 17, 2009
The Hague: Several countries are now calling for piracy cases to be prosecuted in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa to tackle the wave of piracy in Somalia.
There is even talk of setting up a special piracy tribunal there similar to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
The United States, Britain and European Union have now all signed agreements allowing for piracy suspects to be handed over to Kenya for trial.
Five Somali pirates will be tried, likely next month. The bandits were captured by the Danish navy in January following a failed attack on a Dutch Antilles-flagged cargo ship off Somalia's lawless coast. Several more piracy suspects are in French jails awaiting trial.
As the international community grapples with the question of how and where to try captured pirates, the Netherlands and France have led the way by prosecuting them in their own courts.
Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association, said Kenya's courts would need financial and logistical help coping with an influx of piracy cases.
"Kenya has a number of challenges it is facing as a country and particularly as they affect the judicial system," Ellis said. "I don't think the hurdles are insurmountable, but it will take a much more structured and aggressive approach by the international community to assist Kenya in undertaking this type of trial."
Kenya's government said it would consider any US request to try suspects on an individual basis.
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