Modern Piracy Human Rights: the core of prosecution and prevention Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law of Universidade Nova de Lisboa to fulfil the necessary requirements to obtain the Master’s Degree in International Law by Maria de Deus Cordeiro Vara Branco Student No. 001524 Supervised by William Kevin Sheehy Lisbon 2014 Abstract The definition of piracy or to define its origin in time and space is far too complicated and difficult than it has been in the recent times. This study attempts to reveal how piracy was originally perpetrated and understood, proceeded by a contemporary perspective. It also intends to identify limitations of laws and counterattacks, such as: conceptual limits, gaps, marginal strategies and other aspects. We attempt to contemplate a range of solutions to prosecute pirates, revealing the legal weakness and jurisdictional conflicts. Finally, the course of history gives us the following perception: piracy was seen as a crime if it opposed to interests of nations. The lack of interest of States to suppress piracy and its unconcern led to its entrenched, proliferation, domain and sophistication in certain regions of the globe. This work has the aim to bring the branch of human rights to the core of the problem in a three – pronged approach: piracy prohibition, suppression and roots, studying the available theories about this epidemic problem. Keywords: modern piracy, roots, human rights, Somalia, Nigeria, responses and system dynamics 2 Resumo A definição de pirataria ou a desmistificação da sua origem, no tempo e espaço, revela maiores dificuldades do que atualmente. Com este trabalho propusemo-nos a estudar como é que a pirataria era perpetrada e entendida no passado, bem como no presente. Também nos propomos a identificar limitações legais e as medidas operativas no combate à pirataria, como por exemplo: limites conceptuais, lacunas, estratégias, entre outros. Por outro lado, atendemos as soluções encontradas no combate à pirataria sem deixar de observar fraqueza da lei e conflitos entre jurisdições. Por fim, o curso da história dá-nos a seguinte percepção: a pirataria era tida como crime se fosse contra os interesses das nações. O desinteresse dos Estados para reprimir a pirataria possibilitou o seu aumento, proliferação, domínio e sofisticação em certas regiões do Mundo. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo trazer para o centro da discussão os direitos humanos numa perspetiva tripla: proibição da pirataria, supressão e raízes, aliando o estudo de possíveis respostas a dar a esta epidemia. Palavras-chaves: pirataria moderna, raízes, direitos humanos, Somália, Nigéria, soluções e sistema dinâmico. 3 Anti –Plagiarism commitment I declare by my honour that the work I am submitting is original and the references made in it are properly identified. I am aware that the non-compliance with these requirements constitutes a severe disciplinary and ethics breach. 4 Contents ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ 6 INTRODUCTION .......................................... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 1 PIRACY ....................................................... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 1.1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ............................. ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 1.2 MODERN PIRACY ............................................ ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 1.2.1. Definition of Piracy ........................................ Erro! Marcador não definido. 1.2.2. How pirates are labelled? .............................. Erro! Marcador não definido. 1.3. PIRACY AT THE PRESENT STAGE: THE APPROACH OF TWO CASE STUDIES. .. ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 1.3.1. Piracy and the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden ..... Erro! Marcador não definido. 1.3.2. Piracy and Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea ..... Erro! Marcador não definido. 2 CHALLENGES OF PIRACY .................... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 2.1. WHY IS PIRACY CONDEMNED? ...................... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 2.2. LIMITATIONS IMPLIED BY UNCLOS’ DEFINITION........... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 2.3. INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS A USEFUL INSTRUMENT OR AN OBSTACLE? .......................................................................................... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 2.4. BRIEF ANALYSIS ON STUDY CASES ................ ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 2.4.1. The Aden’s Gulf: the core of oil intersection .. Erro! Marcador não definido. 2.4.2. Nigeria the core of foreign investment ........... Erro! Marcador não definido. 3 HOW TO PROSECUTE AND PREVENT PIRACY? . ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 3.1. THE ROLE OF UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION ....... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 3.2. LEGAL RESPONSE .......................................... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 3.3. SYSTEM DYNAMICS ....................................... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. CONCLUSION ............................................... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................... ERRO! MARCADOR NÃO DEFINIDO. 5 Abbreviations ACHR American Convention on Human Rights BPUFF Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms CGPCS Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia ECHR European Convention on Human Rights EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone EU European Union GPD Generalized Pareto Distribution HOA Horn of Africa ICC International Criminal Court ICCPR International Convenat on Civil and Politic Rights ICTR International Tribunal for Rwanda ICTY International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia IMB International Maritime Bureau IMO International Maritime Organization MPHRP Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme NIMASA Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ReCAAP Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery RECOFI Regional Commission for Fisheries SUA Convention Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation UN United Nations UNCAT United Convention against Torture UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNDOC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime VCCR Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 6 Introduction The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute a reliable basis for analysing maritime piracy. After a thorough search, this paper intends to present the key points on the subject of piracy. The definition of piracy or to define its origin in time and space is far too complicated and difficult than it has been in the recent past. If we do not want to dig or go far beyond the time of the division of the world by Pope in the fifteenth century between Portugal and Spain, it would be much easier to explain. As after the demarcation of the World, separated by two lines, decided the legality or illegality of any one plying those seas or oceans without the permission of Portugal or Spain were the violators of the laws and considered as pirates. It is altogether a different question whether they were right or wrong in terms of international laws. But the question rises was there any international law to prohibit or to permit any individual or group of individual to navigate in the sea for any purposes. Navigation was free and no one needed any permission to travel anywhere. But the division of the World by Pope Alexander VI, in 1494, during the treaty of Tordesilhas, gave exclusive powers to the two above mentioned countries which, on the basis of rights they received in the form of a Papal Bull, declared their rights of navigations and prohibition for any Catholic or non-Catholic countries. Portugal was the first to initiate and exercise its power over the discovered countries by providing them a Cartaz, which could be explained as a passport for navigation from one place to the other, paying the legal taxes or customs to the Portuguese authorities. This Cartaz has exclusive features: who the captain was, the name of the ship or ships, crew members, their nationalities or origin, merchandise permitted to import or export. All those ships navigating without the Cartaz, were subject to confiscation of their merchandise or goods and were only allowed to navigate after the payment of customs/duties. In many cases, they were burnt and destroyed if they resisted the Portuguese ships demanding to show the Cartaz. On the other hand, those who disobeyed the Portuguese authorities were considered as Pirates, since they escape the payment of duties. This system was known as Mare Clausvm or the sea is 7 close. In general, Portuguese faced a lot of resistance from the Asian countries in the Indian Ocean region where they found an organised political and navigational system. They did not obey the Portuguese or they did not think right or logical for the Portuguese to collect taxes over their goods and prohibiting them to ply, although they were having the support of their local governments. However, the Portuguese theory of Mare Clausvm was refuted by Hugo Grotius towards the end of the sixteenth century, claiming that the seas are open for all, and his theory cost him his life. Once this theory was refuted, there was a Portuguese answer by Frei Serafim de Freitas, Do Justo Império Asiático in 1625, which was earlier elaborated by João de Barros, the well-known Portuguese chronicler and theorist. Later, in 1635 the theory of John Selden appeared, who wrote: “An abridgement of all the Sea-Laws”, which denied the right of all other theorist but the right of the English over the entire world. After this a number of theories were presented by several