[Kabar-indonesia] Asia Anti-Piracy Pact - incl: Strait of Malacca - Will Take Effect in Sept

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: Yomiuri Shimbun: Japan Coast Guard seeks foreign 
help in probe of Indonesia pirate attack

Anti-Piracy Agreement By 11 Asia Countries Effective September

SINGAPORE, June 21 (AP)--A regional agreement to combat piracy in Asian 
waters - including the busy Strait of Malacca that Washington fears could be 
a terror target - will take effect in September, Singapore's foreign affairs 
ministry 
said Wednesday. 

Singapore has signed and ratified the agreement with 10 countries, giving it 
enough signatories for the deal to take effect on Sept. 4, the ministry said 
in a statement. 

The ministry said it was "the first regional government-to-government 
agreement to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia." 

The pact has been ratified by Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Thailand, the 
Philippines, Myanmar, South Korea, Vietnam, India and Sri Lanka, while Brunei is in the 
process of final approval, the statement said. 

Under the pact, the countries would share information through a center to be 
based in Singapore. 

The city-state will also host the first meeting of the governing council 
toward the end of this year, the statement said. 

The pirate-infested Strait of Malacca - which lies between the Indonesian 
island of Sumatra, Malaysia and Singapore - has been the scene of many armed 
robberies and ruthless attacks. The U.S. fears the shipping lane, which is used by 
more than 50,000 ships a year carrying half the world's oil and a third of 
its commerce, could be used by terrorists linking up with pirates to blow up an 
oil tanker or use it as a floating bomb. 

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have already started joint air and sea 
patrols, while neighboring Thailand is also getting involved in the policing. 
Attacks in the strait fell to 12 in 2005 from 38 the previous year, according to a 
report by the International Maritime Bureau, a maritime watchdog. 

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The Yomiuri Shimbun (Tokyo)
Tuesday, June 20, 2006

JCG seeks foreign help in probe of pirate attack

Akihiro Ishihara, Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer, Yomiuri

The Japan Coast Guard will soon request that Jakarta cooperate in the
investigation of an attack on a Japanese shipping company's
Panama-registered cargo vessel by pirates in March off Indonesia.

It will be the first time that the JCG has exercised investigative
right on a crime committed outside the country. The investigative
right was stipulated anew in the revised Penal Code in 2003.

According to the JCG, on March 21, six men armed with swords attacked
the 79,855-ton cargo vessel Martha Verity as it was cruising the
Gerasa Straits in Indonesian territorial waters.

They tied up four crew members, including the Japanese captain, with
rope, and stole about 4,000 dollars worth of currencies before
fleeing. The swords reportedly were of a kind that are often used in
Indonesia.

Acting swiftly, the JCG began questioning the captain and other crew
members on March 31, the day after the Martha Verity arrived in Oita
Port in Oita Prefecture.

The JCG decided the same day to begin an investigation on suspicion of
robbery, and notified concerned nations, including Indonesia, through
diplomatic channels, of its intention.

Before the law revision, the JCG could not conduct its own
investigations. Investigative rights of Japanese investigative
organizations did not cover cases that occurred in foreign-registered,
tax-exempt vessels outside Japanese territorial waters.

The JCG had been prepared to begin investigations immediately, since
after the law revision. Pirate attacks in which Japanese suffer damage
occur often, regardless of the vessels' nationality, in the seas near
where the Martha Verity incident occurred.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, the number of piracy
cases in the world last year was 276. Among them, 122 cases occurred
in Southeast Asia, such as seas near Indonesia and in the Malacca
Strait.

The number of cases is declining, but many vessels that have ties with
Japan ply those waters. In 1999, the Panama-registered large cargo
ship Alondra Rainbow, with a Japanese captain, was robbed by a group
of pirates.

In March last year, a Japanese-owned tugboat was attacked, and three
crew members, including the captain, were abducted. They were later
released.

In the sea area around the Gerasa Straits alone, at least seven piracy
cases have occurred since March this year.

According to shipping industry sources, pirate groups have their
turfs. So by investigating the Martha Verity case, information that
could help solve other cases could be revealed.

Since the main organizations investigating piracy overseas are local
police and maritime safety organizations, the JCG requested
cooperation in the investigation to encourage local authorities and
heighten their awareness to solve the case, a senior official of the
JCG said.

The JCG said it wants to actively apply the Penal Code's stipulation
on crimes committed outside the country and deepen cooperation with
maritime safety organizations of other nations.

The JCG will establish a pirate countermeasures office next January in
the International Criminal Investigation Division of its head office.
The office will analyze and examine information on pirates in
Southeast Asia, and promote systems to protect Japan-related vessels.

Nations that have vessels plying sea areas where piracy occurs and
other coastal nations should cooperate in an integrated manner to
counter piracy. Stronger cooperation among concerned nations is
necessary.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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