Back home, travels over, no more posts!

TUESDAY, November 10

I've been back a month today.

Like a lazy bum I have posted nothing and done nothing since I got back except go to my beloved Bondi and wander about the city.

These photos are of my beach, which is perfect at the moment. Also of the Opera House and an Aboriginal man playing didgeridoo down at Circular Quay. Sydney is without doubt the most beautiful city in the world.

No more posts, as my travels are over for now.

Open invitation to my Portuguese sailors, and also friends from Darwin and my African travels to come and visit me here. You know who you are!

More Namibia

1) Chameleon sunning on a rock in the Namib desert

2) Same chameleon, p**d off with me

3) Bones of a shipwreck near Cape Diaz on the diamond coast. Where the cold Atlantic Ocean meets the hot Namibian desert, thick fogs form. Driving onshore winds then push blinded passing ships onto the shoals and beaches. Recently De Beers found the wreck of 500-year-old Portuguese trading vessel laden with gold in the gem-scattered sands near one of its mines. You can't go and see the wreck of the Bom Jesus, it's in the forbidden zone.

4) Wreck of a World War 1 German tank in Namib-Naukluft national park - less than a kilometre from where Australian mining company Bannerman Resources is drilling for uranium. Tourists are told not to leave the track as rare lichens take hundreds of years to recover and the environment is delicate. But drilling for uranium? no worries....

5) 1000-year-old plant that only grows in the Namibian desert and only ever sprouts two leaves. Over time they crack and split. Meet Welwitschia Mirabilis

6) On the beach you have to keep to the left... otherwise you might find diamonds and De Beers (or it's Namibian venture NamDeb) doesn't want that.

7) Another wreck on the diamond coast... this time it looks like a fishing boat.

Driving through Namibia

MONDAY, October 19

Driving through Namibia week before last.... no more pirates for now

Pictures:

1) Like wattle only nasty. Big thorns.

2) German settlers found diamonds lying glittering in the sands of the Namibian desert. Just over 100 years later the diamond mining centre of Kolmanskop is a ghost town being eaten by the dunes.

3) Kolmanskop again. De Beers (through its Namdeb venture with the Namibian government) has blocked off hundreds of kilometres of coastline from Oranjemund to Luderitz because there you can find diamonds on the beaches, and in the water...

4) Ostriches by the side of the road. You even see them in the harshest desert

5) Border crossing from South Africa

For the mothers of the disappeared

Today I did a vox pop in Eastleigh, Nairobi, full of Somali refugees, to gauge that community’s attitude to piracy.

I went looking for at least five men and five women, but was surrounded by a mob of more than 40 people clamoring to have their voices heard. Somalis are not often asked for their opinion and given half a chance they were eager to speak.

Many said they liked the pirates because they were keeping Somali waters safe from illegal fishermen and from foreigners who use the lawless waters as a rubbish dump for toxic waste.

Some said they didn’t like pirates because innocent fishermen were now being arrested by mistake.

All hated the European Union and United States for sending warships into their waters. All said the warships were there to steal minerals or resources from the Somalis and not to safeguard the shipping routes. All said it was unfair for Somalis to be tried in Kenya instead of Puntland.

A 35-year-old Somali woman, Saiida Ahmed Mahmoud, said one of her relatives, a fisherman, disappeared on the high seas two months ago.

“They catch him like a pirate,” she said. “They take him, arrest him and I don’t know where he is. He has no mother, no father. He was alone. I am his aunty. He was 18 years old.”

Mahmoud said two boys went missing that day two months ago, one a “little child”.

“Can you help me?” she asked. I could not - but I promised to post the names of those before the courts so she could see if her nephew was among them.

Ashe Gelle Dirie, Puntland’s minister for women, development & family affairs, said many families had loved ones missing on the high seas.

“The wife doesn’t know if the husband died or is captured. She cannot marry again. There is worry in the families,” she said.

For Somalis who don’t know where their loved ones are, here is a list of captured Somalis who are now before the magistrates' court in Mombasa, Kenya, and what they are charged with. The 10 convicted pirates serving their sentence in Kenyan prisons can be seen in the post below. All up, 101 names.

I believe more have come but these are all the names I have.

Case 1939/09

1) Abdirashid Jama Gas alias Kuria Jamaa
2) Abdifatah Said Bit alias Abdifatah Saeed
3) Mohamed Farah Abdi alias Mohammed Farah
4) Buluh Shohuru Abdi alias Abdi Ahmed
5) Buhug Osman Jamaa alias Buhe Ausman
6) Jachur Mohamed Said alias Jajuar Mahamed
7) Liban Said Ahmed alias Libaan Saeed
8) Abdirizak Osam Hirsi alias Abdirizak Ausman
9) Ahmed Mohamed Abdikadir alias Ahmed Muhammed Abdikadir
10) Abdirashid Abdilahi Jamaa alias Abdirashid Abdiulahi
11) Mohamed Mohamud Warsame alias Muhammed Muhammed
12) Ahmed Olow Ali alias Ahmed Olia
13) Abdirizak Said Abdi alias Ali Eid
14) Abukar Mohamed Ali alias Abubakar Muhammed
15) Abdirashid Mohgamed Said alias Abdirashid Saeed
16) Mohamed Ali Mohamud alias Muhammed Ali
17) Mohamed Hassan Abdi alias Muhammed Hasanabdi

Charged with:
On the 13th day of May 2009 in the IRTC upon the high seas in the central Gulf of Aden jointly being armed with offensive weapons namely 7 AK-47 , 1 RPG, 1 G3 rifle, 1 pistol and one sword attacked MV Amira and at time of such act put in fear the lives of the crew men of the said vessel.

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Case 1784/09

1) Aidid Mohamed Mohamud alias Mohamed Aidid
2) Mohamed Hassan Ali
3) Mohamed Jama Abdullahi Tahlil alias Mohamed Jaamac Dlaahi
4) Ali Omar Gaas alias Ali Onhar Gaas
5 Bishar Ahmed Abdi alias Bishaar Ahmed Abdi
6) Abshir Said Mohamud alias Hidieadle (corr) said mohamund
7 Abdikarim yasin ahmed alias abdi maasiin ahdmed


Charged with:
On the 7th day of May 2009 upon the high seas of the Indian ocean jointly … being armed with offensive weapons namely 2 pistols, one RPG and one knife, attacked MV Anny Petrakis

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Case 1695/09

1) Jama Abdikadir Farah alias Jaamac Clzaandir-Taarax
2) Awil Mohamed Ahmed alias Awil Manied Ahmed
3) Abdiweli Bare Abdile alias Clwali Barre Cldule
4) Shariff Osman Abdalla alias Shariff Cisman Elle
5) Abdirahman Ahmed Jama alias Abdi Raxhan Ahmed Jaamac
6) Mohamed Hersi Isse alias Mohamed Xirsi Ciise
7) Noor Hussein Mohamed alias Nuur Xuseen Manied


Charged with:
On the 6th day of may 2009 upon the high seas of the Indian Ocean, jointly with others not before court being armed with offensive weapons namely guns and one knife attacked a MV Nepheli and at the time of such act put in fear the lives of the crew
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Case 1184/09
1) Musa Abdullahi Said
2) Mohamed Abdikadir Mohamed
3) Mohamed Isse Said
4) Mohamed Ahmed Yusuf
5) Khalif Yusuf Farah
6) Mohamed Abdi Khalif
7) Ahmed Warsame Jama


Charged with:
On the 29th day of March 2009 at 12 noon upon the high seas of the Indian ocean jointly being armed with offensive weapons namely AK-47 rifles, one RPG, one SAR80 rifle, 2 Tokalev pistols and one knife attacked a German navy supply ship namely Spessart and at the time of such act put in fear the lives of the crew men of the said vessel.

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Case 2463/09

1) Shafili Hirsi Ahmed alias Shafici Xirsi Ahmed
2) Abdirahman Hassan Ali alias adbirahmam aassan ali
3) Farah Mohamed Abdi alias Farah Mohamud Abdi
4) Abdirazak Ahmed Dahir alias Abdirasak Ahmed Abdi
5) Haliye Farah Mohamud alias Xaliya Farah Mphamud
6) Ahmed Yussuf Abdullahi alias Ahmed Yusuf Abdullahi
7) Abdi Adan Abdulkadir alias Abdi Aden Abdul Kadir.

Charged with:
On the 26th day of May 2009 upon the high seas of the Indian Ociean, jointly being armed with offensive weapons namely AK-47 rifles , RPG launchers, two Tokalev pistols and one knife attacked MV Antonis and at the time of such act put in fear the lives of the crew men of the said vessel
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Case 2127/09

1) Said Abdalah Haji
2) Abdirahman Mohamed Ali alias Abdu Rahman Mehand Ali
3) Abdirahman Ali Hartan alias Abdullahi Ali Artan
4) Abdikadir Isey Ali alias Kadir Ease
5) Ali Mohamed Mohamoud alias Ali Mohamed Muhumed
6) Mohamed Farah Mohamud alias Muhamed Fara Muhamed
7) Mohamed Yussuf Said alias Muhamed Yusuf Muhamed
8) Musdafa Abdi Jamah alias Mustafa Abdi Jaam
9) Abdullahi Mohamed Hartan alias Abdulaahi Ali Artan

Charged with:
On the 22nd day of May, 2009, in the internationally recognized transit corridor upon the high seas in the central Gulf of Aden, armed with offensive weapons namely one AK-47 rifle and three knives attacked MV Maria K and at the time of such act put in fear the lives of the crew men of the said vessel.

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Case 1582/09

1) Ahmed Abdikadir Hersi alias Ahmed Abdurali Hersi
2) Abdirahim Mohamed Roble alias Abdalla Him
3) Abdullahi Salat Roble alias Abdullah Salaa
4) Abdullahi Yusuf Mohamed alias Abdulay Yusuf
5) Adbdullahi Mohamud Jama alias Abdidahir Ahmed
6) Abdi Dahir Ahmed alias Abdidahir Ahmed
7) Ahmed Maalim Omar alias Ahmed Omar
8) Ahmed Hassan Adow alias Tahab Hassan Adu
9) Ahmed Mohamed Osman alias Ahmed Mohamed
10) Abshir Ahmed Hassan alias Abchir Ahmed Hassan
11) Omar Ibrahim Jimale alias Omar Ibrahim

Charged with:
On the 3rd day of May 2009, upon the high seas of the Indian Ocean, jointly being armed with offensive weapons namely 2 AK-47 rifles, one RPG 7, 6 RPG launchers and one knife attacked MV FNS Nivose and at the time of such act put in fear the lives of the crew men of the said vessel.

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Case 1374/09

1) Liban Ahmed Ali
2) Tahlil Mohamed Hassan
3) Alas Ali Hashi
4) Abdinasir Abdi Hassan
5) Abdullahi Omar Ahmed
6) Hassan Ahmed Mohamed
7) Abdi Osman Farah
8) Abdi Hassan Ali
9) Ahmed Dahir Shuriye
10) Hirsi Hassan Gedi
11) Mohamed Dahir Osman

Charged with:
Piracy contrary to section 69 (1) as read with section 69 (3) of the penal code cap 63 laws of Kenya.
On the 15th day of April 2009 upon the high seas of the Indian Ocean, jointly being armed with offensive weapons namely four AK-47 rifles, 199 rounds of ammunition and three knives attacked a merchant ship namely Safmarine Asia and at the time of such act put in fear of their lives the crew men of the said vessel.
--

Case 3486/08

1) Aid Mohamed Ahmed alias Sicid Mahamud Ahmed
2) Abdinasir Mohamed Said alias Cnaasir Maxamuud Siciid
3) Amin Osman Said alias Aamin Cismaam Sicid
4) Ahmed Mohamed Omar alias Ahmed Maxamed Cumar
5) Feysal Ahmed Farah alias Faysal Ahmed Faarah
6) Farah Said Yusuf alias Faarax Siid
7) Hussein Mohyamud Ismail alias Hussen Mahmoud Ismail
8) Abdi Hamud Kassim alias Carbdi Xaamud Qaasim

Charged with - Count 1
On the night of 8th/9th November 2008, at about 2am upon the high seas of the Indian Ocean, jointly with others not before court, being armed with offensive weapons namely AK-47 rifles and RPG 7 portable rocket launcher attacked and detained a … vessel namely Waadi Omar 2 and at the time of or immediately after such acts put in fear of their lives of the crews of the said vessel.

- Count 2
On the 11th day of November, 2008, upon the high seas of the Indian Ocean, jointly with others not before the court, being armed with offensive weapons namely AK47 rifles and RPG-7 portable rocket launcher attempted to hijack a ship, the MV Powerful, putting in fear of their lives the crew men of the said ship.

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Case 791/09

1) Mohamud Abdi Kheyre alias Mohamed Abdi Khayre
2) Abshir Salat Elmi
3) Abdullahi Ahmed Hussein
4) Abdirahman Hussein Hassan
5) Abdikarim Abdullahi Hassan
6) Hassan Isse Muse alias Mohammed Issa Musa
7) Feysal Ali Hussein alias Faisal Ali Hussein

Charged with:
On 11th February 2009 at 2.20pm on the high seas of the Indian Ocean, jointly being armed with offensive weapons namely five AK-47 rifles, one pistol make Tokalev and one RPG-7 portable rocket launcher attacked a … vessel namely MV Polaris and at the time of such act put in fear the lives of the crew men of the said vessel

Kenya's little secret

FRIDAY, September 25

What can the Somalis being tried for piracy in Mombasa expect if they are convicted and must serve their sentences in a Kenyan prison?

I don't know, but not for lack of trying.

There are 10 convicted Somali pirates in Kenya's prisons now.

Their names are:

1) Hassan Muhamud Ahmed
2) Diwan Maalim Abdullah
3) Abdikadir Labhale Warsame,
4) Hussein Noor Ali
5) Liban Abdi Ali
6) Muktah Mohamed Hassan
7) Mohamed Ali Farah
8) Mohamed Abdi Fitah
9) Mohamud Mohamed Jama
10) Aweh Mohamed Hassan


They were arrested by the US Navy in 2006 for attacking an Indian dhow, beating the crew and demanding US$50,000 ransom. They are the first and only group of Somalis so far to be convicted for piracy in Kenya and to be serving their sentence here.

They were sentenced to 7 years' jail and I wanted to interview them.

After more than a month of requests to the Office of the Commissioner of Prisons which have been diverted, ignored and politely fobbed off, I was told today I could not visit the five who are in the GK maximum security prison at Naivasha.

The reason? They said I had not provided a letter stating my request in time. But that is not true. I emailed my request to the office more than a month ago, as instructed by Shimo La Tewa prison. I rang and followed it up. I sent another email a week later when I got no reply. The second email was ignored also.

The email counted as a letter, I was told by Shimo La Tewa. It stated my aims and my project.

But Kenya's prison service doesn't want journalists to look inside the prisons.

If bureaucrats want to hide something there's a thousand ways to block it.

When I said I had emailed more than a month ago I was told I needed to be "introduced" by my embassy - otherwise I could be anybody - I could be "a spy". What a load of crap.

Kenya is on the brink of having the roles and identities of top level police and politicians unmasked for their part in the post-election violence that wracked the nation late last year.

UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston exposed a culture of arbitrary killings, death squads and cover-ups in the police force right up to the highest leveland called for the immediate sacking of Attorney General Amos Wako and police commissioner Hussein Ali. But nothing happened.

So it is no surprise that I - just another journalist and a freelancer at that - would be blocked from interviewing pirates in a Kenyan prison.

I wonder about the welfare of those convicts, especially as their countrymen on trial in Mombasa have repeatedly complained about being beaten, including by prison guards.

Court records show Shimo La Tewa failed to follow magistrates' orders to tender reports on the beatings. This is what Alston meant by a "culture of impunity".

I wonder what dirty secrets are hiding inside those walls with their brightly painted yellow, red and dark stripes that look so incongruously like a liquorice allsort.

Is Kenya the right country to partner Western nations in prosecuting Somali pirates when Western countries are supposed to take human rights seriously? Is this another case of "rendition" - where those arrested are handed over to a country where human rights are not respected to do our dirty work by proxy?

If the Western world is willing to turn a blind eye to prisoner welfare and to pay for the legal process, then why not spend the money in Puntland and at least try the pirates in their own country instead?

The true test of civilisation is not in how you treat your "big men" but your most despised criminals. What are we becoming?

Back with a vengeance off the island time forgot

Maps of Africa thanks to Google MapMaker. Dragon's Blood trees from Socotra courtesy French blog GogMag

SATURDAY September 19

Pirates reportedly attacked several merchant vessels near Socotra Island early this morning, a maritime security organisation has said.

The Office of Naval Intelligence, a maritime watchdog, said multiple ships reported being struck by pirates about 134 nautical miles northwest of the remote island which is part of a tiny archipelago just off the tip of the Horn of Africa (Somalia). That puts the hits about where the channel between Yemen and Somalia opens out into the wider Indian Ocean.

There is a high probability of pirate aggression in this area for at least the next 24-48 hours, the agency warned.

Pirates are said to be highly opportunistic, and often sit and wait before attacking any likely target that comes past.

Weather conditions are now favorable for pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden and are expected to remain so, the group said in a shipping advisory.

Meanwhile, the remote and little-known islands of Socotra deserve some air time.

They have been described as the most alien-looking places on Earth and they belong to Yemen. The four main islands and assorted outcrops are home to hundreds of magnificent plant species found nowhere else on the planet, such as the Dragon's Blood Tree. The archipelago is thus recognised by UNESCO as a world natural heritage site.

For awe-inspiring images see this site.

The main island from which the archipelago takes its name has wide sandy beaches, mountains, limestone caves and was historically important to seafarers as a navigation point. It is still sometimes used as a safe haven by dhows fleeing Somali pirates.

Reuters reported in 2008 the population was about 50,000 across the island chain with most living on Socotra itself.

New York Times has a travel piece on this jewel here.

It looks like the kind of place I would LOVE.

On another matter I note with outrage that Spain is allowing its tuna fishing trawlers to hire armed security to guard against pirates. They should NOT be fishing in Somalia's territorial waters. Foreign fishing fleets including boats from South Korea are illegally looting Somalia's fisheries.

The international community has a moral duty to force them to stop.

The warships of the world are unfortunately protecting the illegal fishing industry as a byproduct of their anti-piracy patrols. This needs to stop.

Camera, up my bum

WEDNESDAY, September 16

Oh, the indignity.

I am to have a camera up my bum.

That is the prognosis from Mombasa's Aga Khan hospital.

Tomorrow it is off to the gastroenterologist who will book me in.

I had been hoping to spend a break in court action going on a mad adventure to the DRC to see the diamond miners, and to see the town of Goma, half-smothered in lava by an eruption a few years ago.

Instead it will be a case of "bend over".

No, there will be no photos to accompany this post!!

UPDATE: No camera. Thankfully I have earned a reprieve. The gastroenterologist put me on antibiotics until further notice :) sweet relief :) :)

SECOND UPDATE: I couldn't escape. I had a colonoscopy in Sydney on October 6 - ulcers!!! caused most likely by amoeba histolytica which you get from people not washing their hands after the toilet, then making food for you. Thanks Mombasa for that lovely souvenir. You can kill it with special antibiotics thankfully.

Good news for seafarers but I'm off to hospital

PICTURES: Crew of EU Navfor Belgian ship Louise Marie pick survivors from the water and give medical aid on Monday morning. Pics courtesy EU Navfor.

TUESDAY September 15

I have developed a medical problem which I suspect is ulcerative colitis, but I have to go to hospital to check it out. So I will be not doing any more piracy research for a few days.

Yesterday saw some action on the high seas. It was a 'good news' kind of day.

In the morning, Operation Atalanta rescued Somali refugees from the sea. A great humanitarian effort. I filed a story for Reuters but they were taken up with US missile strikes in Southern Sudan and I think they have ignored it. This is why I tell people NOT to try being a freelance journalist. It's a lot of heartbreak and wasted effort. So, to avoid wastage, it is posted below.

Then in the afternoon, the news that the Irene EM was freed with all 22 crew members safe and sound.

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MONDAY, September 14: A Belgian warship has rescued 38 Somalis from the sea after a skiff carrying 46 people on board sank off the coast of Yemen, maritime authorities said on Monday.

European Union Naval Force spokesman Commander John Harbour said eight people were still missing after a large skiff sank 60 nautical miles south off the Yemeni coast between Aden and al Mukalla.

Lookouts on the Belgian frigate Louise Marie saw the skiff sinking with people already in the water at 8am on Monday morning, the EU naval force said in a press release.

“The Louise Marie immediately went to assist the skiff but it sank before she arrived on the scene,” Harbour said via email.

The warship, which had been patrolling the shipping transit corridor in the Gulf of Aden for EU anti-piracy force Operation Atalanta, began searching for survivors with both its own helicopter and the help of a Japanese maritime patrol aircraft.

The search will end on Monday afternoon.

Survivors were brought on board and given medical help, food and drinks.

The Somalis were traveling from the port city of Bossaso in Somalia to al Mukalla when their boat capsized in strong winds, said Commander Shugaa Almahdi, Director of Operations for the Yemen Coast Guard Authority.

“They were refugees … they will be handed over to Yemen,” Almahdi said. “We are going to put them in the UNHCR refugee camp."

Increasing numbers of Somalis have been fleeing the chaos and violence of their own country and sailing to Yemen in a bid for a better life.

The United Nations has reported there are already over 150,000 registered Somali refugees and many more unregistered economic migrants living in the Arabian peninsular state, which is itself suffering from poverty and political strife.

Magistrate strikes down court challenge

Pictures: The accused sit in the pews with the public as there is not enough room for all 17 in the dock. During proceedings they stand before a packed courtroom.

WEDNESDAY September 9

Quietly-spoken magistrate M.O. Kizito today struck down a submission to challenge his court's jurisdiction to try 17 Somalis for piracy.

The Somalis are accused of attacking merchant vessel Amira on May 13 in the Gulf of Aden with AK-47s, an RPG, a pistol, a rifle and a sword. They were captured by American guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg and Korean destroyer Munmu The Great before being detained on the US warship.

The Somalis have said they spent 40 days on board the US warship before being deposited in Kenya for trial.

Defence lawyer Donald Muyundo last month requested their case go before the High Court on numerous grounds including that Kenya had no right to try the citizens of another country.

Other reasons included that the accused Somalis were not informed that life imprisonment was the penalty for their alleged offence which violated their right to a fair trial, and that the magistrate’s court was not competent to try the accused as the matter was an admiralty offence which should be handled by the High Court.

But before a packed court including five European naval force officials there to hear the decision, senior resident magistrate M.O. Kizito ruled that after careful consideration he agreed with prosecution lawyer Alex Muteti that the magistrate’s court had jurisdiction to try the piracy suspects.

“The issues… have already been considered and settled by the High Court,” said Kizito as those in the court struggled to hear his soft voice. “I dismiss the application and order that the matter proceeds to full trial.”

The court set a hearing date for mid-November and several of the accused Somalis put up their hands to speak. One of them said (through the court translator): "That date is very far, we need the nearest date."

No reply was given and they were led away.

In a landmark judgement on May 12, High Court Judge F. Azangalala ruled that Kenyan courts have the legal right to try alleged Somali pirates even though the offence was not committed in Kenyan territory or against Kenyan citizens. Though the precedent decision could have been appealed against, so far it has remained unchallenged.

Court records show the Somalis have frequently been ill since their incarceration in Shimo La Tewa prison. In July, Ahmed Mohamed Abdikadir, one of the accused, said he had been urinating blood and complained that if he asked to go to the prison dispensary at Shimo La Tewa, he was beaten. It is believed he has since received treatment.

Pirate court hears claims of starvation, forced confessions

Pictures: Some of the accused in the dock wait for their hearing to start. An AK-47 and other items tendered as evidence.

TUESDAY September 8

I am back in Mombasa for the pirate trials.

On Monday and Tuesday nine Somalis accused of attacking Greek bulk carrier Maria K in May appeared in court for two days of hearings. They have pleaded not guilty.

I watched on Tuesday as sailors appeared from Italian warship ITS Maestrale to testify.

In what was quite possibly a hi-tech first for Mombasa Magistrates’ Court, video evidence was tendered. The EU Naval Force sailors brought in a digital video projector and the bumpy white wall of the court became a movie screen for footage taken from the video camera on the warship's helicopter.

Defence lawyer Oruko Dickson told the court there were allegations the Somalis had been forced to confess at a special court convened on the Maestrale by video conferencing, and that they had been starved for five days.

Angelo Virdis, captain of the Maestrale, denied the allegations, saying the accused had not been forced to take part in the warship court.

Virdis told the court the accused Somalis had both a defence lawyer and a translator during the video-conferenced hearing, convened on the warship as a necessity under Italian law after the accused were detained.

He said while many of the Somalis had admitted attacking the Maria K, they had said they were forced to attack the ship by people who had kidnapped their relatives.

Virdis also told the court the Somalis had been fed on his warship. Outside court he elaborated, saying they had been given food three times a day with a menu based on rice, pasta and fruit. As the accused are Muslims pork and alcohol were not served, he said.

Helicopter co-pilot Gennaro Liodi told the court how three minutes after being sent to investigate the suspected pirates on May 22, he had spotted their light blue skiff in the water.

The helicopter fired three rounds of warning shots to stop the skiff, then circled overhead.

“We started going round the skiff and saw them throwing in the water the rifles, two stairs (ladders) … and the guns put on the shoulder like RPG,” Liodi told the court.

Defence lawyer Dickson asked why the helicopter co-pilot expected the skiff to stop when it was in international waters, being shot at.

“Do you think the skiff was aware you were there to stop them? … The only thing you did was fire at them,” he said.

But under re-examination by prosecution lawyer Alex Muteti, Liodi revealed this was standard practice to stop vessels, and that many ships stop as soon as they see the helicopter.

Last month the nine alleged pirates complained they had been beaten by wardens at Shimo La Tewa prison. At least one of them had malaria but has now been treated.

The case before senior resident magistrate R. Makungu continues later this month.

Weekend on Lake Victoria

Pictures: Fisherman asleep on the lake. Another fisho throws his net. The tour boats: 1000 shillings per hour. Val gets on a bicycle taxi: only 20 shillings to the lake.

TUESDAY September 1 – Monday September 7

My mate Val came out from the UK to visit. She is a 67-year-old great grandmother with more adventure in her than most 20-year-olds.
She came hobbling in from the baggage section of Jomo Kenyatta airport laden with 4 massive suitcases full of clothes to give away to poor people in the slums.

Over the weekend we headed up to Lake Victoria where we took a boat tour to see some hippos. We saw two babies who only poked their pink-and-grey heads out of the water for a second, so no good pics. No flamingoes either though we did see some ducks.

We paid 2000 shillings for 2 hours. That is about A$40.
Out of that 2000 shillings, 800 goes to the Kenyan Government in taxes, 200 goes to Kenya Fisheries Management and another 100 goes to the organization that “manages” the bit of dirt where the wooden skiffs depart from.
So even before fuel is taken out, tour operator James is already down to 900 shillings (A$18). We were his only customers that day.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the Kenyan Government actually gave the people something in return for their taxes, but they don’t.
Starving street kids swarm in the dirt around the shanty shacks that sell fish from the lake. Many people go hungry or wear rags.

It was hard for Val, who has a big heart. She gave one kid a chocolate bar and he ran away as quick as his legs could carry him so the other kids couldn’t take it off him.
Later we had lunch at an Indian cafe where expensive new Toyota Landcruisers lined the pavement – all owned by locals, not tourists.

It's truly better to own an old bomb in a place with paved roads, than a Ferrari in Kenya. One day African politicians may stop trying to emigrate with the money they've looted and use it to fix their own country.

UPDATE: Val's Kenyan adventure has come to an abrupt and unexpected halt. On the train back to Nairobi she developed pain in her calf muscle. By yesterday she was in Mombasa with me, could barely walk and had shortness of breath. She is now in the Aga Khan hospital being treated for a blood clot and will be stuck there at least three days.

Alleged pirate wages law against German navy

German lawyer Markus Goldbach talks to legal researcher Amboko Wameyo on Monday, August 24. Goldbach says he has lodged a criminal complaint of false imprisonment in Germany against the captain and crew members of the warship Rheinland-Pfalz, along with Germany's former ambassador to Kenya. Picture: Alison Bevege

SATURDAY August 29

Found a good story in the court on Monday, took a while to write though. Here it is:

ALLEGED PIRATE WAGES LAW, NAMES CREW IN COMPLAINT

An alleged pirate has filed a criminal complaint for false imprisonment against the crew of the German warship that caught him, his lawyer said on Monday. (Aug 24)

Abdullahi Omar Mohamed was caught along with eight other Somalis in the Gulf of Aden by German frigate Rheinland-Pfalz after the group allegedly attacked cargo ship MV Courier with a bazooka and automatic weapons on March 3.

They were taken to Kenya are now in Shimo La Tewa prison while their case goes through the Mombasa magistrates’court.

The nine accused, who have pleaded not guilty, face possible life sentences if convicted.

Twice they have complained of prison beatings, and court orders to investigate and report to the court on the matter have not been complied with by Shimo La Tewa, court records reveal.

Lawyer Markus Goldbach said he filed the complaint of false imprisonment against Captain Markus Rehbein on behalf of Mohamed in Oldenburg, Germany.

The complaint also names Lieutenant Commander Bornkessel, First Lieutenant Roggenbruck and First Lieutenant Schneider along with unnamed “others” from the warship.

Goldbach said he believed the captain and top lieutenants could be held personally, legally accountable in Germany, and while German prosecutors dropped the case in July he has appealed against the decision so the matter is now pending.

It is believed to be the first time the crew of a military ship has been subjected to legal action over the arrest of piracy suspects in the lawless waters off the Horn of Africa and it is a worrying development for navies tasked with the difficult mission of fighting Somali piracy.

The move may inspire other groups of accused pirates to seek legal action in the home countries of their arresting warships, providing an unforeseen challenge to more than 15 nations who have sent their navies to counter the threat of piracy in the waters off Somalia.

The captain of the Rheinland-Pfalz was not contactable and the German Navy did not respond to emailed requests.

But EU Naval Force spokesman Lieutenant Commander Daniel Auwermann said there was no question that military forces operating under the aegis of Operation Atalanta, such as the Rheinland-Pfalz, had the legal ability to arrest, detain and transfer suspected pirates or armed robbers.

“They can seize the vessels of the pirates or the vessels captured following an act of piracy … as well as the goods on board,” he said.

The EU agreement to send piracy suspects to Kenya for trial is also recognized as an international treaty, said Lieutenant Commander Eric Wacongne, also from the EU force.

Goldbach, in Mombasa on Monday to see the accused, said he was working alongside prominent German lawyers Andreas Schultz and Oliver Wallasch on behalf of the Somalis because they were victims of “civil war” in their country who would not get a fair trial in Kenya. “They can’t afford the best legal representation ... we want to ensure justice.”

Kenyan prosecutor Alex Muteti disagreed, saying Mombasa’s courts worked well. "I don't think there's any issue about it. We have given them (the defence) all the space they need and any issues can move to the High Court."

Atalanta spokesman Peter Benn has said a process of due diligence was undertaken before the EU agreement was signed to satisfy European authorities that standards of justice in Kenya were acceptable.

Goldbach has also filed a criminal complaint on behalf of Mohamed for false imprisonment against former ambassador to Kenya Walter Lindner.

He says he will also file a civil case for compensation against both Mr Lindner and the warship next month over the loss of the Somalis’ skiff, time spent in prison, and weapons.

Facing the court

Somalis on trial: (left) 17 suspects can't all fit in the dock, or even in the frame of the picture. Top: those accused of attacking the MV Courier in March do have a case to answer, the magistrate ruled.

MONDAY August 24

Thirty-six Somali pirates faced court today for a hearing, a mention and in the case of the MV Courier, a decision on whether they had a case to answer before the court.

At the mention there were 17 Somalis in court - too many of them to even fit in the dock.

Magistrate Mwangi in Court 4 ruled those Somalis alleged to have attacked the MV Courier - and detained by German frigate Rheinland-Pfalz - did indeed have a case to answer based on the evidence and would face court for a trial in October.

At the hearing, as in every case I've seen so far, the defence is arguing that Kenya has no jurisdiction to hear the cases.

But the High Court has set a precedent ruling back in May, so it will be interesting to see what eventuates. See my story here on Lloyds (subscription required).

Meanwhile the prison guards have expressed some concern over the security aspect of having to truck so many accused people to and from Shimo La Tewa prison for their hearings.

All up an interesting day.

A year in Mogadishu

Nigel Brennan and Amanda Lindhout, picture courtesy Reuters

SUNDAY August 23

Today marks another anniversary: it's now a year since Australian photographer Nigel Brennan and Canadian reporter Amanda Lindhout were snatched in Somalia.

They have since been prisoners and hostages.

The following I understand to be true:

- Nigel is suffering ill health possibly dysentery
- The Australian Government has repeatedly offered a small ransom to the hostage takers, far below what they will accept, angering them.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has repeatedly refused to comment, requesting journalists not to report on the kidnapping case saying it could jeopardise the pair's chance of release.

But that has also prevented a light being shone on the tactics being used by DFAT to negotiate, and a discussion of where those methods have failed.

Since the pair have been held for a year already it is difficult to see how reporting on the issue can make their situation any worse.

After a year in captivitiy I sincerely hope that the pair are freed soon.

Here is the ABC story on the anniversary.

A day for Dad

John at McKenzie's Park on the cliffs overlooking South Bondi, June, 2004. Thanks to Allister

FRIDAY, August 21

John Rodney Frank Bevege
June 3, 1934 – August 21. 2004

My father died five years ago today.

He had been the second oldest lifesaver on active duty at Bondi before pancreatic cancer robbed him of the number 1 title.
Though he was 70, he was fit. He swam every day, twice the length of the beach.
After swimming, he’d escort retired 98-year-old heart surgeon and former prisoner-of-war Frank Mills into the water, right up to a freezing June morning two months before he died, when the cancer was nearly crippling him with pain. He was a civic-minded man and big-hearted.

He did not die alone; I was there at the Sacred Heart Hospice in Darlinghurst, Sydney, as he drowned, unconscious, in his own phlegm.
I held his hand.
It was not easy but John Bevege never took the easy path.
He was not afraid.
He did not reach for religion at the last minute. He did not make a fuss or complain or bemoan his bad fortune. He faced death with dignity, courage and fortitude.
In his last weeks he calmly ordered his affairs with the strategic mind of an engineer - and whatever he needed done, I made it happen.

My father was a child of the Depression Era and World War II.
He grew up in Maroubra in a typical three-bedroom workers cottage with his parents and two sisters, Eunice and Gwenda. His father, Frank, was in the navy for the war and was nearly sunk at Guadalcanal, defending Australia from the Japanese.
The family were poor, but my father had endless adventures, scampering about the Maroubra rifle range.
Down there in the marshes he used to see old diggers left over from World War 1 camping, and they’d share their bully-beef and biscuits with the curious little boy.
He was always drawn to the ocean and would dig deep pools in the sand, catching fish by chasing them in through a channel he’d made, shutting the “gate” with a big wet clod of dark gold.

When he got older he started fishing off the rocks at Maroubra with long rods, catching black bream and jew fish.
He also fished off his surf ski, paddling to a good spot off the rocks and casting in his hand-line.
One day he caught some silver bream off Maroubra. The blood of his catch was dripping into the water, and before long he saw a large black shadow. “It was longer than my surf ski,” he said.
Then a fin broke the surface.
It was a shark. It was circling and my dad was terrified.
But he was smart, he didn’t panic.
“I sat still like a log,” he said. "I didn't move."
As luck would have it the tide was coming in, carrying him closer to the breakers.
With the eye of a surfer he spotted a wave that he could catch.
As the swell peaked he broke out in a spurt of paddling, slicing down the face of the wave and escaping the shadow. “I rode that wave all the way to the shore,” he said.
He joined the Maroubra lifesavers as a young man, later moving to the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club, and was always happiest on a good wave.

John decided early on that he would be an engineer, but his family did not have enough money to send him to study.
So he worked hard all day to earn money and studied at TAFE at night to get his qualifications.
It was hard, but my father was not lazy. He worked like a dog under difficult circumstances before graduating.

Being an adventurous sort, he saved up his pennies and went to England where he froze, miserably through a London winter.
“I didn’t have two bob to put in the heater,” he used to say.
He went to South Africa where he designed dams and bridges.
One night at a work camp, he was jumped from behind by a big African man who wanted to steal his watch. “He hit me on the head from behind,” he said. “I lay down perfectly still and pretended to be dead.” When the man wasn’t expecting it my dad jumped up and knocked him off balance. He hit him hard and ran away.
Dad even later told me he married a South African woman for a short time before leaving the dark continent. When I was a small girl, he gave me two lumps of tiger’s eye, as big as a man's hand and twice as thick: one tan, and one of the rare black variety. He had found them somewhere in Africa working on a project. I used to use them as rocks for my fish tank.

When Dad returned to Australia he wandered for a while. He went to Darwin where he designed one of the few houses to withstand the devastation of Cyclone Tracey which flattened the rest of the city in 1974.
He also reinforced the giant storage tanks that hold sulphuric acid out at Alcoa’s Gove bauxite mine and alumina refinery in remote Arnhem Land. They still stand today.

On returning to Sydney my father gadded about town with various “sheilas” until he had a car accident.
Then he thought he’d better settle down. So in the late ‘60s, he married my mother and moved into a two-bedroom workers terrace on Grafton St Bondi Junction.

Dad was an independent sort of a man and started his own engineering consultancy which became successful. He went halves with a man named Ed Perry, and they bought a two-story terrace near Edgecliff train station as their office. Ed took the bottom, my dad took the top. He taught engineering at TAFE and later had his life’s history recorded in the State Library for his professional achievements which was a great honour.

When I was born, my father loved me to bits. He tied a big bow around my bald baby head and paraded me around to the relatives saying: “This is my Alison”.
Of course he had me in the surf at Bondi before I could even walk. My earliest memory is sitting in the bedroom in my bathers waiting to go. Then he would dunk me in the waves and sing silly songs: “Over the ocean waves, da da da da dum da dee” and so on.
He would hold my hand and take me snorkeling right out to the point when I was barely 5 years old, and had to have a special kids-size face mask.
That was back in the days when the sewer pipe was right there. I still remember the water was sometimes murky and had bits of paper in it – the effluent of a million people was pumped out at Bondi and Manly in 1980.
The council has since moved the pipe 2km offshore but on a bad day when the currents are right, it comes straight back in: only now it’s the effluent and chemical pollution of 4 million people. It’s disgusting – they don’t do that in Europe, and I suspect that is why all the old lifesavers are getting cancer.
But regardless of water quality, Bondi was our break and we loved that beach.

After my brother was born, the little terrace became too small for our family so Dad moved us down to a dilapidated workers cottage in Bellevue Hill, which was still affordable – barely – in 1980.
Dad had a lot of work to do as the place was a wreck.
But he sure knew how to pick a location: Bellevue Hill was blue-chip Sydney real estate. It was the home suburb of Kerry Packer, at that time Australia’s richest man.
Since then the price went crazy and now there is no buying a place anywhere in Sydney’s east at all, at least not for ordinary people like me.
Dad had a mantra: “Buy the worst house on the best street”. And it was.
He put a new roof on, made structural repairs and built a deck. He spent a lot of time working on that place.
Sunday mornings would see Dad sitting out on the deck in the sun with his feet up, reading his newspaper and drinking a cup of hot lemon tea. Or studying the form guide for the races.
He built an aviary underneath so we could have canaries, which sang in the mornings to wake me up.

Life continued like that for about a decade until the early 1990s. My brother turned 18, I was at university and my dad decided to get divorced.
He said he proposed splitting the assets down the middle but the lawyers told mum she should go to court.
In the end the lawyers took the money.
My dad was always bitter about the process. But he soon regained a positive outlook on life once he was free and threw himself into volunteer lifesaving, his work and socializing.

He swam in all the races down at Bondi, with great enthusiasm. He didn’t care if he came in late in the pack – at 68 he was proudly competing with 20-year-olds.
For his great spirit and years of service, the surf club named a race in his honour, the John Bevege Memorial Trophy B-grade Division, which is still being swum.

In 2002 he took a big trip around the world. “The trip of a lifetime,” he said. I met him in Paris and we went to see the Eiffel Tower.
After waiting in the long queue for an hour, somebody tried to push in. Dad got really angry and told them off. He was never one to keep quiet. At the time I was a bit embarrassed but I realize now that I do exactly the same thing.
I am my father’s daughter and I miss him a lot, and I’m proud of him.

That is why there are no pirate tales today. I wish I was at Bondi with Jack Chaboisseau, my brother and Dad’s remaining surf club friends like Les Hawkins who gave me swimming lessons, Albert Seeler, Ross Fowler, Paul Williams and Kieran Speed.

NOTE: I don’t have many digital photos of Dad as I have moved around so much in the last five years and I’ve gone through 2 computers. I am far from home where all my pictures are. Thanks to my brother Allister for the one that I have. If somebody would kindly email me one I would like to put one up. Ta. Also if anybody has some good stories about Dad, I'd love to hear them. Just email.