Navy releases four of the five suspected Somali pirates

Navy releases four of the five suspected Somali pirates
Britain criticized for having made ​​particularly poor "in the international fight against piracy on the Indian Ocean

Hundreds of suspected pirates apprehended by the Royal Navy off the coast of East Africa have been released immediately - continue to threaten shipping in one of the ways of the world's busiest shipping. Less than one in five suspects picked up around the Horn of Africa over the past four years have been prosecuted for offenses related to piracy, the MoD has admitted. The figures will fuel the growing criticism of British participation in the anti-piracy operation.
Official figures MoD obtained by The Independent on Sunday show the Royal Navy boarded 34 vessels suspected of piracy in the Indian Ocean since volunteering to conduct Operation Atalanta, the European Union the first naval mission in 2008 . However, on all six occasions, but the gang rounded were taken to the beach and released - despite often being caught with equipment, including guns and scales. A list of boardings since November 2008 shows that the navy has arrested a total of 279 probable pirates, but allowed 229 of them to go free, some in groups of up to 17 at a time. Fifty others were sent to prosecutions in Kenya, the Seychelles and Italy.
The government has recognized the "catch and release" strategy is often an "adverse result", although ministers also helps maintain the Pirates disrupt networks.
But the shipping industry also condemned the government's failure to prosecute captured pirates "red handed" attempting to take a slice of an illicit trade believed the cost of global trade over 7 billion pounds per year.
MPs have condemned the number of press releases, a British diplomat who warned pirates had given "a sense of invulnerability."
A report of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs complained that "the collection of evidence to ensure a successful prosecution for piracy is clearly difficult, but when the pirates are seen in boats with guns, ladders and even hostages, it is amazing that they can not be prosecuted ". MEPs also insisted the strategy has not threatened the" mother ships "from which crucial gangs operated on small vessels.
MoD figures are the most complete account of the performance of the Navy since Atalanta was launched amid growing concerns over the hundreds of hijackings in the waters around Somalia.
Advisers of the Foreign Office has warned that hackers who try ministers in the courts of the United Kingdom was "not desirable", saying that "the liberation of Somali pirates on a beach after the destruction of pirate ships and weapons and equipment is not attractive either in deterrence or in form. "
European governments have spent the last years of trying to encourage neighboring states to try and imprison suspects. Kenya and the Seychelles in particular, have received tens of millions of pounds to strengthen their judicial and prison systems. Britain has spent £ 9m - a quarter of all United Nations of the Indian Ocean against piracy funds - the improvement of prisons and legal expertise in the Seychelles, Somalia and Kenya. A British-built prison in the Seychelles is currently home to nearly 100 convicted pirates, guarded by prison officers in Britain.
An international conference on Somalia, organized by the UK earlier this year, has identified the need to "bring suspects to trial in countries far from Somalia" as a key element of efforts to "fight against piracy. "The ministers also endorsed plans to allow ships to carry armed" sea marshals ".
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said last night: "We are also a leader in establishing a center of maritime intelligence fusion for the Indian Ocean to the Seychelles, bringing together police officers to share information and develop measures against hackers and financial leaders. "
But the Baltic Exchange as the UK had "a particularly poor record" in the treatment of suspects. A statement to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Special Committee said: "The UK has gained notoriety in within the international maritime community for its inability to prosecute those caught in the act of piracy.
"Once captured, the pirates captured by British forces are widely perceived simply to receive subsistence and medical care before being returned to the mainland without being challenged
."

Source:independent