TRIPARTITE APPROACH REVEALS LEGAL AND LOGISTICAL CONCERNS OF GOM PROSECUTING PIRATES

UNCLAS PORT LOUIS 000236

SIPDIS

AF/E FOR MARIA BEYZEROV
AF/RSA FOR BITTRICK
L/CID FOR LANDSIDLE
ANTAN FOR DAO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHSA PBTSEWWT MARR MASS MOPS MP
SUBJECT: TRIPARTITE APPROACH REVEALS LEGAL AND LOGISTICAL CONCERNS
OF GOM PROSECUTING PIRATES

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SUMMARY
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1. On July 20, Charge d'Affaires Virginia Blaser convened a meeting
with British High Commissioner (BHC),Dr. John Murton, and the
visiting Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Legal Adviser,
Katherine Shepherd, along with French Ambassador Jacques Maillard
and his Minister Counselor, to discuss jointly approaching GOM on
piracy issues. This meeting resulted in CDA and the French Minister
Counselor accompanying BHC and the FCO Legal Adviser to a previously
scheduled July 22 discussion with GOM officials to explore the
political will and legal and logistical capacities of Mauritius to
capture pirates on the high seas. The meeting revealed that
Mauritius can currently prosecute pirates in its maritime zone (up
to 200 nautical miles from its shore),but a change of law or
ministerial declaration would need to be issued to allow for
prosecution of pirates captured on the high seas. While other
logistical concerns loom, dialogue indicated that GOM is willing to
explore how it can better contribute to regional anti-piracy
efforts.

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BACKGROUND
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2. On July 22, Charge d'Affaires Virginia Blaser attended a meeting
to explore the legal and logistical capacities and concerns of
Mauritius in regards to capturing, prosecuting, and detaining
pirates caught in the high seas. The meeting, chaired by Ms. Doreen
Fong Weng-Poorun, Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's
Office, was held at the request of British High Commissioner, Dr.
John Murton, to capitalize on the in-country presence of Katharine
Shepherd, Legal Adviser UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Post
became involved when CDA invited Murton, Shepherd, and Jacques
Maillard, French Ambassador, to the Embassy on July 20 to discuss a
joint approach to GOM on piracy issues.


3. In addition to, Fong Weng-Poorun, Murton, Shepherd, and CDA other
attendees at the July 22 piracy meeting included: Mr. Jean
Blattes, Minister Counsellor of the French Embassy; the Commissioner
of Police; the Head of the National Coast Guard; the head of the
National Security Service; and representatives of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade,
Ministry of Shipping, Prime Minister's Office, and the State Law
Office.

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LOCAL LEGISLATION: COURTS HAVE JURISDICTION WITHIN MAURITIUS EEZ
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4. Mrs. Aruna Narain, Assistant Solicitor General of the State Law
Office, explained that according to the Merchant Shipping Act (MSA)
2007, the Courts of Mauritius have jurisdiction to prosecute an act
of piracy as long as it falls within Mauritius' EEZ. Commander
Vishal Kanwar of the National Coast Guard (NCG) then offered that
both the NCG and the Mauritius Police Force have the right to arrest
an alleged pirate or offender, so long as the arrest is within
Mauritius' maritime zone-- the area comprising Mauritius'
territorial waters and its EEZ. Narain added that, per section 218
of MSA 2007, beyond the 200 nautical miles that makes up Mauritius'
maritime zone, local courts can only prosecute piracy, if the act of
piracy involved a Mauritian nexus-- either a Mauritian citizen or
Mauritian vessel.


5. Katherine Shepherd, UK FCO legal advisor, noted that being able
to prosecute maritime offenses up to 200 nautical miles from shore
was a large area that differed vastly from the UK limit of 12
nautical miles, but asked what needed to happen to make local
legislation compliant with condemning piracy as an international
crime subject to universal jurisdiction. According to Narain, the
Government of Mauritius (GOM) would need to amend the law to grant
local courts jurisdiction on the high seas and be compliant with
international law (Note: Parliament will be in recess as of August
and not resume until October, so any new law would not be introduced
until after October. End Note.). If deemed necessary by GOM, Narain
did note that it may be possible for the Minister of Public
Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping, Anil Bachoo, to make a
regulation, as part of a national policy decision, that would simply
enact the pertinent international conventions domestically (Note:
Later, during a July 22 telephone conversation with EMBOFF, Narain

stressed that it would be preferable that GOM amends the law rather
than resort to regulations in order avoid creating a precedent
regarding Court jurisdictions. End Note.).

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LOGISTICAL CONCERNS
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6. After the legal framework was discussed, Narain raised GOM
logistical concerns involved with prosecuting and detaining alleged
pirates. As a lawyer, Narain was extremely concerned that any naval
vessels that helped detain suspected pirates would also agree to
cooperate and provide evidence in trials against them. Shepherd
assured Narain that this type of cooperation is common and is
reaffirmed through protocols in bilateral MOU's (NOTE: USDEL and the
French representative did not add any comment about US or ATALANTA
forces as Shepherd's comments seemed to answer GOM concerns. END
NOTE.).


7. Another concern raised was detention costs. Following a question
raised by Narain regarding assistance to help detain pirates,
Katharine Shepherd cited UNODC assistance to the Government of Kenya
to fortify prisons. Similarly Shepherd mentioned the assistance the
UK and other international partners may provide to the Government of
Seychelles to upgrade its prison facilities.


8. Narain also raised the issue of possible terrorism links and
piracy activities, which both CDA and Shepherd clarified. . The
Charge said, in no uncertain terms, that piracy and terrorism are
two separate issues that would be best to not conflate when there is
no hard evidence that link the two activities to date. CDA further
noted that Mauritius' Terrorism Act is a comprehensive and separate
law to try acts of terrorism, to which Narain agreed.

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ATALANTA FORCE TO CONDUCT RISK ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
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9. The representative of the French Embassy, Mr. Jean Blattes,
announced that following a meeting held in June in Saint Denis, La
Reunion Island, in presence of Ambassador Chantal Poiret, (Note:
Amb. Poiret is in charge of coordinating activities against maritime
piracy. End Note.),ATALANTA forces will explore the idea of
extending its coverage zone to include Mauritius by conducting a
"risk assessment exercise." Blattes did not give a timeline for
this exercise but did emphasize that it would be a collaborative
effort between GOM and ATALANTA Forces.

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COMMENT
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10. While it was established that this was an informal "exploratory"
meeting, the presence of various GOM stakeholders and the dialogue
among attendees indicates that combating piracy is garnering
political will in GOM. Fong-Weng Poorun seemed keen to continue
these exploratory talks and mentioned that GOM needs to increase its
efforts against piracy. Post, the first mission to engage GOM on
piracy, believes that a concerted effort with like-minded missions,
private sector, and GOM partners like the Attorney General is needed
to keep the pressure on GOM to increase its anti-piracy efforts.

BASHOR