Piracy at Sea and Non-Lethal Weapons—Somali “Mother Ships”

Last week, we discussed a pirate attack on a luxury cruise ship off the coast of Somalia. Since that time, at least five more attacks have taken place, most of them occurring in the waters northeast of the war-torn country.^[1] Andrew Mwangura, the program director at the Kenyan Seafarer’s Association, says that, in total, seven ships and crews have been taken into captivity in that part of the Indian Ocean.^[2]

Authorities are now investigating reports of a “pirate mother ship” spotted by fishermen in the area.^[3] The ship was spotted in July, on November 5, and late last week, and there may be more than one; it apparently has a well-organized crew of about ten men, including a captain and engineer.^[4]

In related news, the cruise ship that evaded capture last week apparently used a sonic weapon to fend off the pirates.^[5] The weapon, known as a Long Range Acoustic Device—or LRAD—was developed by the US military after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen.^[6] The device directs an ear-splitting noise at its target, and the makers of the LRAD liken its noise to a smoke detector, only much louder.^[7]

The LRAD is one of a number of so-called “non-lethal” weapons that have been or are being developed for use against civilian populations. The New York City Police Department deployed at least one during the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City,^[8] and it has also been used in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,^[9] and in Iraq during the elections.^[10]

Another type of non-lethal weapon is called a Directed Energy Weapon—or DEW—which focuses a beam of energy that flash-heats its target.^[11] The DEW’s “beam of concentrated electromagnetic energy or atomic or subatomic particles [can be used] primarily as a direct means to damage or destroy enemy equipment, facilities, and personnel.”^[12] While the weapon, as envisioned for use on civilian populations, does not burn flesh, it does “create an unbearably painful burning sensation.”^[13] A DEW system can also be more powerful: “[t]hese weapons range in power from non-lethal to highly lethal and destructive and range in size from man-portable to platform based.”^[14] The DEW is sometimes called the Active Denial System, and it has recently been announced that the system will be deployed in Iraq next year.^[15] Recent tests of the system proved to be quite troublesome as test subjects were encouraged to remove glasses and contact lenses to prevent damage to their eyes, and were also told to remove coins and other metal objects from their pockets to avoid burning their skin.^[16]

The most controversial use of a non-lethal weapon occurred in 2002 when Russian commandos stormed the Theater Center on Dubrovka where Chechen rebels were holding more than 800 Russians hostage.^[17] The commandos piped a gas derived from fentanyl, which is supposedly non-lethal, into the theater.^[18] 117 people died as a result of the gas.

The Russian incident shed light on a problem plaguing the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction,^[19] which created an exception for non-lethal weapons for domestic riot-control purposes.^[20] That carve-out raised questions about the propriety of developing other, non-chemical-based, non-lethal weapons, a controversy which clearly has not slowed the development of things like the LRAD and the DEW.

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[1] Pirate “Mother Ship” Spotted, CNN.com, Nov. 12, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Cruise Ship “Used Sonic Weapon,” CNN.com, Nov. 8, 2005, available here.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Amanda Onion, Listen Up: Unusual Forms of Sound to Emanate from RNC, ABCNews.com, Aug. 25, 2004, available here (noting that New York’s police department claims that they would use it only as a very loud loud-speaker). Note: the original story has been removed from ABC’s website.
[9] Adam Blenford, Cruise Lines Turn to Sonic Weapon, BBC News, Nov. 8, 2005, available here.
[10] Matt Wickenheiser, Super-Loud Device Helps Cruise Ship Evade Pirates, MaineToday.com, Nov. 9, 2005, available here.
[11] See Lev Grossman, Beyond the Rubber Bullet, Time.com, Jul. 21, 2002, available here.
[12] Weapons, Space, and Nuclear Safety Division, Directed Energy Weapons Safety, Department of Defense, available here [hereinafter WSNSD]; see also Air Force Research Laboratory, Directed Energy Directorate, Department of Defense, available here.
[13] Grossman, supra note 11..
[14] WSNSD, supra note 12.
[15] Microwave Weapon Use in Iraq Worries Scientists, ABC News (Australia), Jul. 21, 2005, available here.
[16] Id.
[17] See Romesh Ratnesar et al., Russian to the Core, Time Reports, Nov. 11, 2002, available here.
[18] Id.
[19] Jan. 13, 1993, S. Treaty Doc. No. 103-21 (1997), 32 I.L.M. 800, available here. (PDF)
[20] Id. art. II, para. 9, sec. d (“Purposes Not Prohibited Under this Convention” includes “Law enforcement including domestic riot control purposes.”)