Legal concerns delay deployment of Finnish Navy ship to Somali coast

Fear that Finland could be required to arrange trials for piracy suspects

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Deployment of the mine vessel Pohjanmaa, the flagship of the Finnish Navy to the coast of Somalia to take part in the international anti-piracy operation in the area has been delayed because of legal concerns.
      Sending a ship to the area would be part of the Atalanta operation launched by the European Union last December, aimed at repulsing pirate attacks on the Somali coast, and to protect ships bringing in food aid to Somalia.
      The matter has been discussed at a meeting of the joint foreign policy committee of the Finnish government and President.
      Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition Party) says that the committee has “positive expectations” that Finland could take part in the operation.
      “I don’t want to commit to this myself before reports and conclusions have been made. I am not sending it forward, or blocking it, but I have reservations to say the least”, Häkämies told Helsingin Sanomat on Friday.
     
Häkämies sees potential legal problems with such an operation. He mentions the move by the United States to take the suspected Somali pirate from the coast to trial in the United States.
     “If Finns detain pirates, we could face a situation in which they would be brought to Finland for trial”, Häkämies said.
      Marcus Laurent, head of legal matters at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, confirms the view.
     “A pirate detained at open sea can be taken to face trial in the country whose flag the ship sails under. However, in this situation thought has to be given to distance, among other things. Human rights treaties can come into play, and obligations concerning maximum times of arrest”, he says.
     Laurent would not say on Friday when the report would be ready.
     
The Pohjanmaa often sails on long training voyages. The proposed Somalia operation would be something new.
     “This would involve armed pirates. We need to ascertain rules on the use of force in case our forces are fired upon. This is to a very great extent a question of the security of our forces”, Häkämies notes.
     He says that the ship can be deployed next year at the earliest.
     The 78-metre long Pohjanmaa is the only Finnish naval vessel that is big enough for such a task.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish naval vessel to waters off Somalia? (27.4.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat