2.5 The Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts
Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (1988) [SUA
Convention] and Protocol
The 1988 SUA Convention and its Protocol, which deals with fixed platforms, was
one result of the 1985 hijack of the Achille Lauro. Rather than including “unlawful
acts against the safety of maritime navigation” within the concept of international
piracy, it followed what Prof. Tullio Treves has called a “sectorial approach,”
“identifying particular offenses . . . and working out specific international instruments for their suppression.”
28 Rear Admiral Baumgartner of the USCG described
the agreement as “designed to ensure that appropriate action is taken against persons
committing unlawful acts against ships, including, among other acts, the seizure of
ships by force; acts of violence against persons onboard ships; and the placing of
devices on board a ship which are likely to destroy or damage it.”
29 While the
Convention focused on the problem of maritime terrorism rather than that of piracy,
its act-specific nature covers both areas. A revision, which added additional acts, was
a response to the attack on the World Trade Center but did not materially affect
coverage of problems related to piracy. The prosecute or extradite provisions of SUA
proved particularly useful in connection with piracies off the Horn of Africa; it has
been noted that (with the exception of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia) all States
within a thousand nautical miles of the Gulf of Aden are signatories.
30
Although SUA is a multilateral treaty in the tradition of the 1958 Geneva
Conventions and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, it represents
a break with prior attempts to refashion piracy law. Rather than redefining the crime,
with all the baggage that that process would carry, the Convention has concentrated
on fighting piracy through the criminalization of specific activities disapproved of by
the international community.
2.6 Asian Agreements: Early Cooperative Frameworks
and the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating
Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia
[ReCAAP] (2005)
A series of some two hundred piratical attacks occurred in the straits of Malacca and
Singapore in 1991; on several occasions the attackers manipulated maritime
28 Menefee (1995), p. 46.
29 Statement of RADM William Baumgartner on International Piracy on the High Seas before the
Subcommittee on Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation, Committee on Transportation &
Infrastructure, U.S. House of Representatives, February 4, 2009.
30 Id.
A Century of Piracy Treaties: An Overview for the Future
553
Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (1988) [SUA
Convention] and Protocol
The 1988 SUA Convention and its Protocol, which deals with fixed platforms, was
one result of the 1985 hijack of the Achille Lauro. Rather than including “unlawful
acts against the safety of maritime navigation” within the concept of international
piracy, it followed what Prof. Tullio Treves has called a “sectorial approach,”
“identifying particular offenses . . . and working out specific international instruments for their suppression.”
28 Rear Admiral Baumgartner of the USCG described
the agreement as “designed to ensure that appropriate action is taken against persons
committing unlawful acts against ships, including, among other acts, the seizure of
ships by force; acts of violence against persons onboard ships; and the placing of
devices on board a ship which are likely to destroy or damage it.”
29 While the
Convention focused on the problem of maritime terrorism rather than that of piracy,
its act-specific nature covers both areas. A revision, which added additional acts, was
a response to the attack on the World Trade Center but did not materially affect
coverage of problems related to piracy. The prosecute or extradite provisions of SUA
proved particularly useful in connection with piracies off the Horn of Africa; it has
been noted that (with the exception of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia) all States
within a thousand nautical miles of the Gulf of Aden are signatories.
30
Although SUA is a multilateral treaty in the tradition of the 1958 Geneva
Conventions and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, it represents
a break with prior attempts to refashion piracy law. Rather than redefining the crime,
with all the baggage that that process would carry, the Convention has concentrated
on fighting piracy through the criminalization of specific activities disapproved of by
the international community.
2.6 Asian Agreements: Early Cooperative Frameworks
and the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating
Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia
[ReCAAP] (2005)
A series of some two hundred piratical attacks occurred in the straits of Malacca and
Singapore in 1991; on several occasions the attackers manipulated maritime
28 Menefee (1995), p. 46.
29 Statement of RADM William Baumgartner on International Piracy on the High Seas before the
Subcommittee on Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation, Committee on Transportation &
Infrastructure, U.S. House of Representatives, February 4, 2009.
30 Id.
A Century of Piracy Treaties: An Overview for the Future
553