Amidst passing of piracy law: Pirates attack several vessels in Berbice, Suriname

Jul 06, 2008 News

Amidst the passing of recent laws of death and life sentences for piracy acts, reports yesterday indicate that criminals have struck again on the high seas.
According to Berbice fishing officials, on June 27, the pirates reportedly snatched a fishing boat, but the engine was not working properly; and at Eversham, Berbice, they attacked another vessel on open waters.
The pirates, reportedly armed with shotguns and knives, took the engine, a drum of fuel and fish glue, before heading to Suriname waters last Monday.
There, according to reports still coming in, they attacked a number of fishing boats, and robbed the boats before fleeing to Guyana again.
Four boats from the Number 66 Village were attacked this time, and the pirates escaped with fish glue and other costly items.
According to the fishing officials yesterday, the Coast Guard stationed in the Berbice area was dispatched, but there was no sign of the pirates.
It is obvious that the pirates used the cover of darkness to escape, and were successful in escaping from the authorities, who scoured the area for them.
Piracy had eased considerably after Surinamese authorities, late last year and earlier this year, dented a gang that was suspected to be involved in a spate of hijacking and piracy acts.
While some are still before the courts in Suriname, a few of the arrested men were let loose and deported to Guyana.
Government officials had met with their Suriname counterparts to increase surveillance and fight the scourge of piracy.
Last week, Parliament passed legislation that approved life imprisonment for those found guilty of piracy and hijacking.
But opposition parties, the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), did not support the Bill, which they said was not extensive enough.
Harsher penalties will not deter criminals from committing the act of piracy. Rather, it is the preventative policing measures, or enforcement, that would instill a fear of being caught.
This was according to Deborah Backer, the PNCR shadow Home Affair Minister, during the debate on the tabling of the Hijacking and Piracy Bill.
The opposition parties further requested that the Bill be sent to a special select committee, where it could be reviewed and amended where necessary.
According to the Bill, presented successfully by Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, the offences of piracy and hijacking now carry a sentence of life imprisonment; and if a murder is committed during the act, the penalty is death.
Backer also emphasized that the emblazoned headlines of death penalties and life imprisonment for piracy will only provide false hopes for affected fishermen, given that the deviant persons first have to be caught before any of the harsh penalties could be imposed.
According to the explanatory memorandum accompanying the Bill, “Of late, there have been a considerable number of cases where sea-going vessels are hijacked or otherwise attacked, the passenger boats crossing rivers are robbed, or the fishing boats fishing in the rivers and territorial waters of Guyana are looted by armed robbers or pirates.
If piracy, armed robbery and hijacking continue to be unchecked by deterrent punishment, the fishermen will reduce their fishing activities, the country’s food security will be jeopardized and the exports diminished.”
The memorandum stated, too, that passengers will be under constant threat of fear, and in the circumstances it has become necessary to have stringent measures to deal with these menaces.
“This Bill, therefore, seeks to make special provisions for punishment for the offences of armed robbery, hijacking and piracy committed in rivers, internal waters and territorial sea of Guyana, and the high seas.”
When assented to, the new legislation will provide that any vessel or weapons used in the commission of the foregoing acts will be forfeited to the State. Piracy, according to the Bill, is defined as any illegal act of violence or detention, or any act of depredation committed for private ends by any person on board, including the crew or passengers of a private vessel, and directed on the rivers, internal waters or territorial sea of Guyana against another vessel, or persons or property on board such vessel.
The Bill also seeks to increase the penalty for the commission of robbery under arms to life imprisonment.
As it relates to bail, under the new legislation, bail will not be granted to a person accused of murder while committing the act of piracy.

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Amidst passing of piracy law: Pirates attack several vessels in Berbice, Suriname

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