'Lack of will' to prosecute pirates

A lack of will – and resources
– is limiting the number of
arrests made for piracy off
the coast of Africa, with even
fewer prosecutions.
That’s the view of Dr
Henri Fouche, associate
professor at the University
of South Africa (Unisa)
department of Criminology
and Security Science, who
believes there are two key
reasons for this. First is
what he terms the “catch
and release phase” of piracy
which relates to destruction
of evidence, and second
a lack of political will by
certain African states to
undertake the expensive
investigation, imprisonment
and prosecution of pirates.
Speaking at the South
African chapter meeting
of the Transported Asset
Protection Association
(Tapa), Fouche noted that
the “catch and release”
phase during 2008 to
2010 originated from the
United States marines
battling piracy off the coast
of Somalia. They believed
that all weapons and
equipment used by pirates
needed to be destroyed
in order to prevent them
being used again. He said
the department was now
hosting training sessions
for the South Africa navy –
deployed in Mozambique to
ensure piracy doesn’t reach
South African shores – to
sensitise them to abandon
the approach of destroying
evidence. “During the 2008
to 2010 period, nine out of
10 pirates who were arrested
were released from prison
as the evidence to prosecute
them had been destroyed,”
said Fouche.