Piracy
海盗问题

Wrong signals
错误的信号

May 7th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Confusing laws hamper international naval efforts to fight piracy
令人困惑的法律阻碍了各国海军打击海盗的努力

WHEN pirates attacked the MV Kition, a Greek tanker, late at night in the Gulf of Aden on May 1st, a Portuguese helicopter scared off the assailants and tracked their skiff to its “mother ship”. Portuguese special forces boarded the vessel and found dynamite, automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). That was plenty of evidence, but the pirates went free (after being disarmed). Other countries, including Canada and the Netherlands, have acted similarly. America says such leniency sends “the wrong signal”.

5月1日深夜，当海盗在亚丁湾攻击希腊油轮——“奎神号”内燃机船时，一架葡萄牙直升机吓退了袭击者，并且一路追踪小艇，找到了“母舰”的位置；随后葡萄牙特种部队登上母舰并查获了炸药、自动步枪和火箭弹。尽管有这么多证据，但海盗们还是在被缴械后获得自由；包括加拿大和荷兰在内的其他国家也有过类似的处理方式，美国认为这种宽大的做法发出了“错误的信号”。

Elsewhere in the lawless waters off Somalia, European navies have been more robust. French commandos have used lethal force to free hostages. Other navies have arrested dozens of suspected pirates and sent them for trial in nearby countries. On April 26th, a Spanish warship helped the Seychelles authorities detain nine Somalis linked to an attack on an Italian cruise liner, the MSC Melody, a day earlier. Sailors and security guards had fought them off; a passenger who saw them coming hurled a deckchair down at them.

在索马里附近另外一些海盗猖獗的海域，欧洲海军表现得更加强劲。法国突击队曾为解救人质使用过杀伤性武器；另几国海军则逮捕了数十名海盗嫌疑人并将他们押往邻近国家受审。在4月26日，一艘西班牙战舰帮助塞舌尔政府拘捕了九名索马里人，他们与前一日针对意大利邮轮——“MSC韵律号”的袭击事件有关连。水手和安保人员击退了海盗；一名发现了来袭海盗的乘客还向他们砸了把椅子。

The difference in outcomes is odd. The requirement to fight piracy is one of the oldest bits of international law. The idea that any country may take action against pirates is the precursor to the idea of “universal jurisdiction” used to prosecute heinous crimes such as genocide. In Latin legalese, pirates are termed hostis humani generis (an “enemy of mankind”). Moreover, the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea stretches the definition to include crewing a pirate ship and inciting or “intentionally facilitating” attacks. Surely sailing with RPGs, long ladders and grappling hooks should fall within this definition?

结局的差异令人奇怪。打击海盗的义务本是国际法最古老的成分之一；任何国家都有权采取行动对抗海盗的理念也是“普遍管辖权”的前身（这种权利被用来起诉一些极恶的罪行，如种族灭绝）；在拉丁法律术语中，海盗被称为hostis humani generis，即人类之敌；而且联合国海洋法公约中也界定了包括充当海盗、煽动或“有意协助”海盗袭击等行为。当然，携带火箭弹、长梯和抓钩航行应该也属于其中吧？

But many countries have not fully incorporated all this into their national legislation. Some make arrests only if their own nationals or ships are attacked; the Portuguese navy said this was why it released the pirates who attacked the Kition. Britain’s Royal Navy usually requires clear evidence of an actual attack. Just owning piratical kit may not be enough. It is not illegal to bear arms on the high seas.

但是许多国家并没有将这些完整地纳入其国内法体系中。一些国家只有在其国民或船只受到袭击时方才进行抓捕；葡萄牙海军表示这正是他们释放袭击奎神号的海盗们的原因。英国皇家海军往往要求有清晰的证据证明一次实际发生的袭击；仅仅拥有海盗装备可能还不足以触发行动；毕竟在公海上携带武器并不违法。

Coalition politics are also awkward. Navies taking part in the European Union’s Operation Atalanta have an agreement to hand over captured pirates to Kenya. But NATO doesn’t. So vessels under the alliance’s command (except British and American ones) can only “protect and deter”.

联军的政治运作也颇为笨拙。参与欧盟亚特兰大行动的海军签署过一份协议，答应将俘获的海盗移交肯尼亚方面；但北约却并未做出此般承诺。于是，除英美两国海军之外，其他隶属盟军指挥的舰艇只能采取“保护和威慑”措施。

Practical considerations count too. Naval cover is stretched thinly over a vast tract of ocean, so delivering suspects to Kenya, say, would take a valuable warship off patrol. Worse, cumbersome court procedures there tie up sailors onshore. Faced with that, some officers reckon it is better to chuck captured weapons overboard but let the people go.

从实际出发的考虑也产生了影响。海军护航力量稀疏地分布在辽阔的海域中；因此将嫌犯押解至肯尼亚意味着一艘宝贵的战舰将被移作他用。更糟的是，那儿繁冗的法庭程序将把船员们束缚在岸上。对此，一些军官认为缴械放人更加理想。

A new international court for pirates, as proposed by Russia, is one idea, but would take a lot of time and money. Douglas Guilfoyle, a law don at University College London, says efforts would be best aimed at boosting the legal systems of Kenya and other countries. The real answer is to sort out Somalia. And navies can’t do that.

由俄罗斯提出的、新建一个针对海盗的国际法庭的建议是一种办法，但它需要大量的时间和金钱。伦敦大学的法律教授道格拉斯•盖尔福勒认为努力的方向最好应该用于强化肯尼亚与其他国家的法律体系。真正的解决之道应该是整顿索马里局势，而海军并不能做到这一点。

 

译者/   lilywizardry：            http://www.ecocn.org/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=19117