The final ruling in the Italian marines case by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Netherlands came on 31 May 2020 but it has largely gone unnoticed in India.
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In all my 50 years of Government Service here in-India, I have learnt the truth of the words “Tell me who is the to be accused and I will tell the rule under which the delinquent is to be charged”. The case of Italian marines dispensed outside India reinforces this
The ship and the property may have been private but, don’t forget, protecting private property is sovereign responsibility. Every country tries to protect its property in international waters. The Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean are rife with pirates
Did you ever see one ship that was hijacked near Kerala?, Did they doesn’t have minimum info about where they have been sailing at that time, did they don’t posess any image magnifying devices?
All this discussions have only become necessary because the Government of India let these Italian Marines leave the country! Whoever facilitated their exit from India is the real culprit…Antonio Maino??
I must disagree with the author. The Italian Marinesr responded correctly as per their rules of engagement. They were in International pirate infested waters which are not effectively policed by the jurisdictional claimant, India to ensure the safety of other vessels.
A terrible judgement by the ICJ.
How can two soldiers (not officer cadre)purportedly from the Italian navy be placed on board a merchant navy ship and claim that they Soverign immunity.
If that is so then the ship is a man of war armed unit of the Italian Navy.
Did they have overriding authority over the Captain of the ship?
Did they follow the instructions laid down for Merchant vessels sailing the high seas? (stages of warnings, stages of collision avoidance, stages of proper lookout, stages of having the crew on anti boarding procedures,etc)
What has been the witness testimony of the Duty officer, duty helmsman, duty seaman)?
Why is everything in this case kept under wraps?
All seafarers must get a complete dossier of this case (public) so they know what they can do and what they cannot do.
I am a disillusioned seafarer seeing this verdict as I was grown up to learn that on a ship the Captain is the final decision taker; here I see two soldiers have usurped this autority and got away with it thanks to the ICJ.
Thanks for this really clear summary. I’ve followed the Enrica Lexie case since the first reports of the incident came through, and I have to agree with P S Rao’s conclusions. The marines were merely contracted as a private maritime security team; in no way were they acting on behalf of the Italian state. It’s frankly bizarre that Italy has been allowed to perpetuate this fiction. In effect, the country was hiring out its military as a sort of mercenary force. The lack of control able to be exerted over such military personnel acting for commercial interests is seriously worrying and raises a range of human rights issues. I have a lot of respect for the well- trained private maritime security personnel who I’ve met; they are highly capable professionals and I don’t believe they would have acted as hastily towards the St Antony as Latorre and Girone did. The irony is that the much-criticised PMSCs were quick to self-regulate by grouping together (in, for example, the now-disbanded SAMI) and then had regulation imposed on them, but none of this regulation was able to touch the state-sponsored military detachments on commercial ships.
There’s also the whole issue of whether the Right of Innocent Passage is fit for purpose in these daays of huge ships that pose serious risks to coastal states, eg the Wakashio spill in Mauritius.
Italy was ready to compensate One crore each to the affected family and the government could have settled with that. Idiot beaurocrats
In all my 50 years of Government Service here in-India, I have learnt the truth of the words “Tell me who is the to be accused and I will tell the rule under which the delinquent is to be charged”. The case of Italian marines dispensed outside India reinforces this
The ship and the property may have been private but, don’t forget, protecting private property is sovereign responsibility. Every country tries to protect its property in international waters. The Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean are rife with pirates
Did you ever see one ship that was hijacked near Kerala?, Did they doesn’t have minimum info about where they have been sailing at that time, did they don’t posess any image magnifying devices?
All this discussions have only become necessary because the Government of India let these Italian Marines leave the country! Whoever facilitated their exit from India is the real culprit…Antonio Maino??
I must disagree with the author. The Italian Marinesr responded correctly as per their rules of engagement. They were in International pirate infested waters which are not effectively policed by the jurisdictional claimant, India to ensure the safety of other vessels.
the whites win again. racism under guise of? we europeans must stick it to the brown man!!!!
A terrible judgement by the ICJ.
How can two soldiers (not officer cadre)purportedly from the Italian navy be placed on board a merchant navy ship and claim that they Soverign immunity.
If that is so then the ship is a man of war armed unit of the Italian Navy.
Did they have overriding authority over the Captain of the ship?
Did they follow the instructions laid down for Merchant vessels sailing the high seas? (stages of warnings, stages of collision avoidance, stages of proper lookout, stages of having the crew on anti boarding procedures,etc)
What has been the witness testimony of the Duty officer, duty helmsman, duty seaman)?
Why is everything in this case kept under wraps?
All seafarers must get a complete dossier of this case (public) so they know what they can do and what they cannot do.
I am a disillusioned seafarer seeing this verdict as I was grown up to learn that on a ship the Captain is the final decision taker; here I see two soldiers have usurped this autority and got away with it thanks to the ICJ.
Shame
Thanks for this really clear summary. I’ve followed the Enrica Lexie case since the first reports of the incident came through, and I have to agree with P S Rao’s conclusions. The marines were merely contracted as a private maritime security team; in no way were they acting on behalf of the Italian state. It’s frankly bizarre that Italy has been allowed to perpetuate this fiction. In effect, the country was hiring out its military as a sort of mercenary force. The lack of control able to be exerted over such military personnel acting for commercial interests is seriously worrying and raises a range of human rights issues. I have a lot of respect for the well- trained private maritime security personnel who I’ve met; they are highly capable professionals and I don’t believe they would have acted as hastily towards the St Antony as Latorre and Girone did. The irony is that the much-criticised PMSCs were quick to self-regulate by grouping together (in, for example, the now-disbanded SAMI) and then had regulation imposed on them, but none of this regulation was able to touch the state-sponsored military detachments on commercial ships.
There’s also the whole issue of whether the Right of Innocent Passage is fit for purpose in these daays of huge ships that pose serious risks to coastal states, eg the Wakashio spill in Mauritius.
YES!! NO VALUE OF THE KILLED FISHERMEN IN THE EYES OF COURT BUT ONE HAS TO SAVE THE ITALIANS FROM PUNISHMENT ???? WHAT A JUDGEMENT!!1