Somali pirate accuses
US Navy of torture
Reuters
August 3, 2006
The 10 Somali pirates were seized by the destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, which is pictured here in January 2006 in Somalia.(AFP/HO-US NAVY/File/Shane McCoy)
MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - One of ten suspected Somali pirates captured by the U.S. Navy early this year accused on Thursday the United States of torture at the opening of a trial intended to deter rampant piracy off Somalia's coast.
"We were arrested by the U.S. Navy and forced to board the American ship. Inside the ship we were tortured by the Americans who could not understand our language," defendant Hassan Mahamud Mohamed told the court in Kenya's coastal town of Mombasa.
He did not give details on the alleged torture.
U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment.
Piracy is endemic off Somalia's coastline, but more foreign patrols and the anti-piracy stance of Mogadishu's newly powerful Islamists have stemmed a wave of attacks in Somali waters.
U.S. Navy sailors captured a ship near the Somali capital Mogadishu in January with the 10 suspected pirates on board and 16 Indians believed to be hostages.
The 10 men pleaded not guilty in late January after U.S. officials handed them over to authorities in neighboring Kenya.
Mohamed said he and the nine others were stranded fisherman who boarded an Indian-owned ship looking for refuge, and were not pirates.
"We had gone fishing when our engine boat stalled and we got stranded in the high seas. Then we saw an Indian vessel and we sought help from the crew by raising our hands. We boarded the Indian vessel then we saw an American ship," he said.
The accusation came as a Kenyan magistrate said earlier on Thursday the suspects would stand trial in Kenya.
Lawyers for the accused had questioned in February Kenya's right to try them, saying the United States had seized the Somalis in international waters.
"You have a case to answer," magistrate Beatrice Jaden said.
Defense lawyers said they planned to appeal the ruling.
Washington has praised Kenya for taking custody of the suspects, but relatives of the arrested Somalis have warned the east African nation against cooperating with the Americans.
The hearing was postponed until August 8.
--------------
© Copyright 2006 Reuters. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Reuters or its third-party content providers. Any copying, republication, or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2006ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
August 3, 2006
|
|
| The 10 Somali pirates were seized by the destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, which is pictured here in January 2006 in Somalia.(AFP/HO-US NAVY/File/Shane McCoy) |
"We were arrested by the U.S. Navy and forced to board the American ship. Inside the ship we were tortured by the Americans who could not understand our language," defendant Hassan Mahamud Mohamed told the court in Kenya's coastal town of Mombasa.
He did not give details on the alleged torture.
U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment.
Piracy is endemic off Somalia's coastline, but more foreign patrols and the anti-piracy stance of Mogadishu's newly powerful Islamists have stemmed a wave of attacks in Somali waters.
U.S. Navy sailors captured a ship near the Somali capital Mogadishu in January with the 10 suspected pirates on board and 16 Indians believed to be hostages.
The 10 men pleaded not guilty in late January after U.S. officials handed them over to authorities in neighboring Kenya.
Mohamed said he and the nine others were stranded fisherman who boarded an Indian-owned ship looking for refuge, and were not pirates.
The accusation came as a Kenyan magistrate said earlier on Thursday the suspects would stand trial in Kenya.
Lawyers for the accused had questioned in February Kenya's right to try them, saying the United States had seized the Somalis in international waters.
"You have a case to answer," magistrate Beatrice Jaden said.
Defense lawyers said they planned to appeal the ruling.
Washington has praised Kenya for taking custody of the suspects, but relatives of the arrested Somalis have warned the east African nation against cooperating with the Americans.
The hearing was postponed until August 8.
--------------
© Copyright 2006 Reuters. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Reuters or its third-party content providers. Any copying, republication, or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2006ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
