While the French were flying six of the captured pirates to Paris to face trial, the British Foreign Office issued a directive to the once vaunted Royal Navy not to detain any pirates, because doing so could violate their human rights. British warships patrolling the pirate-infested waters off Somalia were advised that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain and that those who were returned to Somalia faced beheading for murder or a hand chopped off for theft under Islamic law.
Captured pirates. Claim asylum. Thieves and rapists and murderers, and the Foreign Office is concerned about their welfare more than about the crimes they commit. Damn.
In 2007, 433 crew members were either taken hostage, assaulted, injured or killed by pirates. Three seafarers are still missing and presumed dead. According to the International Maritime Bureau, the anti-piracy watchdog of the International Chamber of Commerce, over the past 10 years 3,200 seafarers have been kidnapped, 500 injured and 160 killed.
To that I'll add "that we know of." In the case of smaller boats(awright, 'ships'), if they disappear nobody knows if they were murdered by these dirtbags or lost in bad weather or any of the other things that can kill you at sea(kind of like someone disappearing while diving or fishing and no body found; shark, drowning or what?)
I'll make a suggestion for the navies patrolling out there: pirates, if not shot in taking the ship, are to be given trial and, if convicted, hanged. Or stood on the rail and shot. If there are no hostages on the ship, give them one chance to surrender, and then sink them if they don't. It'd probably make a large dent in piracy pretty damn quick.
For that matter, cruise ships should have some kind of clearance to have some small arms, rifles and a light machinegun and crew trained with them, in any waters for defense of ship and passengers. Of course, idiots like the Foreign Office and various governments that shit bricks at the very thought of armed
Right?
No comments:
Post a Comment