PIRACY PROSECUTION IN TANZANIA A DISTANT PROSPECT

1. (SBU) Summary and Action Request: Although MFA is
cautiously positive about eventually accepting captured
pirates for prosecution, the EU's experience in frustration
with the GOT over the issue suggests progress towards
legislative changes and a memorandum of understanding will be
slow at best. We request the draft MOU to share with the
GOT, as well as guidance on cooperating with the EU to press
the GOT on legal changes to allow prosecution of pirates in
cases without a Tanzanian nexus. End summary and action
request.



2. (C) Polchief delivered ref demarche to MFA Americas and
Europe Director Amb. Radhia Msuya on October 9. Msuya
acknowledged the impact of Somali piracy on the Tanzanian
economy and agreed that Tanzania had an obligation to
cooperate with the international community against piracy.
However, she said the GOT had several concerns about agreeing
to accept pirates for prosecution, in particular Tanzania's
overcrowded jails, overburdened judges and limited court
facilities. She agreed to review a draft MOU and encouraged
outreach to other interested ministries, in particular
Justice, Home Affairs and Defense. Msuya advised, "Don't let
the other ministries tell you it's MFA" that's an obstacle.
She proposed that an interministerial team travel to Kenya to
observe arrangements for piracy prosecutions, in particular
the degree of international assistance Kenya was receiving to
support prosecutions. (Comment: Implicit in her proposal was
the idea that a source other than the GOT would pay for the
study tour.)



3. (C) On October 16, Swedish Poloff Andreas Ershammar
reviewed with Polchief the EU's fruitless efforts over ten
months to move the GOT on piracy prosecutions. A letter from
EU High Representative Solana to FM Membe in December 2008
led to a March meeting with EU experts and an array of GOT
ministries, which demonstrated that the GOT had no
coordination on the issue. The EU subsequently discussed
piracy prosecutions with several ministers individually; in
June Defense Minister Mwinyi told the Swedish Ambassador that
questions to MFA had gone unanswered for months. In July,
Membe finally responded formally to Solana, to the effect
that the GOT was working on the issue but in the meantime an
international court might be a better option; the EU
considers the response irrelevant given the impediments to
establishing an international mechanism. The EU plans to
raise the issue again in the context of a planned November
visit by a senior officer from EUNAVFOR (the EU's anti-piracy
operation).



4. (C) Ershammar commented that one problem with the initial
approach to Tanzania on piracy was the inclusion of requests
to address the possibility of EU naval pursuit of pirates
into Tanzanian waters and to establish a Status of Forces
agreement. He said Brussels had subsequently concluded the
SOFA was asking too much of the GOT; for the last several
months the EU has focused solely on the transfer of pirates
for prosecution. Ershammar welcomed U.S. interest in seeing
Tanzania prosecute pirates and offered to explore EU
willingness to jointly demarche the GOT to make the necessary
legal changes to enable prosecution of piracy cases without a
Tanzanian nexus.
ANDRE