Somali Pirate Arrives in New York

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Trials
Posted on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 11:48:06 AM EST
Tags: Somali Pirates (all tags)

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Abduhl Wali-i-Musi, the sole surviving pirate of the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama and kidnapping of Captain Richard Phillips has arrived in New York. He will be arraigned today in federal court.

Omar Jamal, Director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis, a group that helps Somali immigrants with legal and social issues, said Musi's family has asked his organization to assist in his defense.

The AP has details on his background...he's called "Muse" and he could be 16 or 18. He wasn't born in a hospital and Somalis don't keep birth records. [More...]

The boy's father, Abdiqadir Muse, said the pirates lied to his son, telling him they were going to get money. The family is penniless, he said. "He just went with them without knowing what he was getting into," Muse said in a separate telephone interview with the AP through an interpreter.

He also said it was his son's first outing with the pirates after having been taken from his home about a week and a half before he surrendered at sea to U.S. officials.

Here's a video news report. The BBC has this audio of Muse's mother. She wants the U.S. to bring her here for the trial if they won't release him.

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Somali Pirate Arrives in New York | 31 comments (31 topical)

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he looks happy to be here (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by Capt Howdy on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 11:49:10 AM EST

who can blame him?

Looks older than 16--or 18--to me. (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by oculus on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 11:52:09 AM EST

Who knows (none / 0) (#3)
by andgarden on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 11:54:40 AM EST

My guess is that there's a way to test his bones or something, but I'm not sure.


Hold still. This won't hurt much. (none / 0) (#4)
by oculus on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 11:55:28 AM EST

And BTW, the U.S. does not torture!


Not funny (none / 0) (#5)
by andgarden on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 11:58:47 AM EST

: I was referring to your bone test. (none / 0) (#6)
by oculus on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 12:01:37 PM EST

idea, not getting a confession.

It would be x-rays. (none / 0) (#28)
by Fabian on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 02:47:15 PM EST

And it wouldn't prove all that much either.

Might give us an idea of his health history though.


: Upon googling (none / 0) (#29)
by Fabian on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 02:50:11 PM EST

the only thing a skeletal age assessment could conceivably prove is that he is significantly younger than is claimed - say 14 instead of 16.

No there really isn't. (none / 0) (#13)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 12:58:44 PM EST

The difference in human development between 16 and 18 is pretty minimal. There is no way to accurately assess his age that accurately. Anyway, he looks like a kid to me and if he is acting "inappropriately", I'd say that probably points to less maturity rather than more. Depending on how poorly nourished he has been over the course of his lifetime, he could have some brain dammage too.


I think if both parents are saying, (none / 0) (#15)
by scribe on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:11:31 PM EST

as they are, that he is 16, then there is a substantial reason to - even a presumption - that he, in fact, is.

You know, the old hearsay exception "Statements of family history".

The FBI and intel agencies have been so screwed up in trying to dig out info on purported terrists, I'm willing to take the chance that he's 16.

Worst case for the government, they have to go through a hearing in which they have to come up against the laws about prosecuting juveniles as adults, and prove that he should be prosecuted as an adult. Not likely that they're going to lose that hearing, after all, now is it?


in a country like Somalia (none / 0) (#16)
by Capt Howdy on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:17:35 PM EST

a 16 year old is not likely to think or look like we expect a 16 year old to look or think. or act.

but being 16 could be the reason the did not send him to a Kenyan jail.


asdf (none / 0) (#21)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:47:40 PM EST

We pluck people out of other countries with some regularity to assure prosecution.

Jeralyn noted when the news came out that they were bringing him here that a Somali judge gave some other pirates 23 years recently.

What's the deal with everyone saying he might have been charged in Kenya?


The Kenya deal is (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by scribe on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:56:49 PM EST

that EU/NATO countries, the US and Kenya recently concluded a treaty or agreement (I'm not sure which) under which Kenya (being more "ocal") could have jurisdiction to try the Somali pirates.

Traditionally, under jus cognens (IIRC that as the correct term) principles (i.e., applicable to all nations) pirates are considered the enemies of all countries (and civilization, for that matter) and all countries have jurisdiction to prosecute them. That, FWIW, is one of the heads from which the principles of universal jurisdiction over torture (under which, for example, Pinochet or the Bush 6 could be prosecuted in Spain for events not-in-Spain), and exraterritorial jurisdiction (like air hijackings) grew.


: Oops. (none / 0) (#23)
by scribe on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:57:40 PM EST

which Kenya (being more "ocal") could

should read:

which Kenya (being more "local") could

: I heard someone on the teevee today (none / 0) (#25)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 02:06:22 PM EST

saying that this would be the first piracy case to be tried in the US in 100 years.
I thought that was interesting given the fact that we do have pirates in the Caribbean and the Gulf. I wondered if they are generally tried under drug laws instead when and if they are captured because that's generally why boats are pirated in our realm.

Take a look at Greg Oden (none / 0) (#7)
by Dadler on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 12:06:22 PM EST

Please. I remember kids in junior high school who shaved.


So, I googled. Oden was born (none / 0) (#8)
by oculus on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 12:13:30 PM EST

in 1988.


: Okay (none / 0) (#20)
by Dadler on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:41:04 PM EST

Does he look 21? He looks 40. google him about his high school basketball days, you'll see a teenager who looks 35.

I think this kid is unsophisticated (none / 0) (#9)
by scribe on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 12:33:51 PM EST

enough such that he thinks one always smiles for the camera.

That, or he's pretty dazed and likely has never felt weather where it's 40-something and raining.

I remember, back in the Cold War day at my officer's basic, we had a couple Somali guys in the class. This was when there were two competing governments in the Horn of Africa - and Somalia's was our proxy. I forget whose government was the Soviet proxy - might have been Djibouti or Ethiopia. Anyway, those guys always smiled. Happy, sad, indifferent, you name it. They always smiled.

So, I wouldn't read too much into a smile for the camera.


something tells me (none / 0) (#10)
by Capt Howdy on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 12:47:37 PM EST

he is smart enough to know he is better off than he would be in Kenya.


Well, it would be a better world (none / 0) (#11)
by scribe on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 12:52:37 PM EST

if all criminal defendants smiled in happiness when they were brought into custody, secure in the knowledge that while they might be inside for a while - even many years - at least it would be safer and better than whence they'd come or where they could have been sent.

To paraphrase MLK: you can tell a lot about the character of a country by the way it treats its prisoners.

If he is smiling because he's happy to be here, that says a lot about the changes in the reputation of America and its prisons in the couple months since Obama's election.


true enough (none / 0) (#12)
by Capt Howdy on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 12:54:35 PM EST

but I think that even under Bush he was probably better off here.


: Worst case scenario, under Bush: he'd be (none / 0) (#14)
by scribe on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:08:33 PM EST

in a box filled with insects. With no hope of ever seeing the light of day again. See, e.g., Hassan Ghul.
Best case scenario, under Bush: he'd be fish food on the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

: Good lord. (none / 0) (#17)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:19:52 PM EST

If he is smiling because he's happy to be here, that says a lot about the changes in the reputation of America and its prisons in the couple months since Obama's election.

Ron Kuby, a New York-based civil rights lawyer, (none / 0) (#18)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:28:06 PM EST

Ron Kuby, a New York-based civil rights lawyer, said he has been in discussions about forming a legal team to represent the Somali suspect.
"I think in this particular case, there's a grave question as to whether America was in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas," said Kuby. "This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate. He was then captured. There is a question whether he is lawfully in American custody and serious questions as to whether he can be prosecuted because of his age."

That's very interesting. n/t (none / 0) (#24)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 02:00:17 PM EST

Well if he's good enuff for the Dude... (none / 0) (#27)
by desertswine on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 02:38:51 PM EST

"In the film The Big Lebowski, Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (played by Jeff Bridges) demands representation either by Mr. Kuby or Bill Kunstler during the Malibu Police Station scene."


: Lost Hills Sheriff's station. (none / 0) (#30)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 04:52:18 PM EST

No po-leece in the 'Bu.

: Ron Kuby (none / 0) (#32)
by Peter G on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 06:05:16 PM EST

Ron was Bill Kunstler's protege and junior partner, before Kunstler's death some years ago. Although he is fond of publicity, he is also a fine lawyer -- and utterly fearless in defense of the unpopular. He takes few cases, as he has a good gig as a progressive talk radio voice on some NYC station or other.

Sandra Jenkins, a lawyer (none / 0) (#19)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:31:41 PM EST

Sandra Jenkins, a lawyer who has represented juveniles in federal court in New Orleans, said she expects the initial battle over his age will come when prosecutors claim he's an adult and a defense lawyer tries to convince a judge he's not. At that point, the defense would likely file a motion claiming the court is without jurisdiction, she said.

So is being a pirate and taking a captive (none / 0) (#26)
by of1000Kings on Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 02:20:08 PM EST

not a form of terrorism?

guess not, considering terrorists generally do not get a trial....