At January the US State Department announced the end of Blackwater’s contract in Irak. Days before, the Iraqi government had announced they wouldn’t renew the licence that the company had to work in the country.

Some see it as a sign of the new times: Obama’s new government has brought a significant change to international relations. On the other hand, 10.000 “workers” belonging to twelve private military companies (PMC) are still on the ground and they have such an important paper on rebuilding Iraq that it seems unlikely that they will be leaving soon.

Indeed, the Iraq war has made clear the rise of direct intervention by PMCs on armed conflicts all over the world. A Guardian investigation made in December 2003 showed that <<the proportion of contracted security peronnel in the firing line is ten times greater than durind the first Gulf Whar>>. The newspaper also revealed that $30bn, one third of what was spent on central Asia conflicts, was spent on paying PMCs.

The trend of using contractors instead of army soldiers is due to the fact that they are cheaper than regular soldiers. Governments only pay for the services given therefore, they don’t have to face the costs of housing and pensions.

Besides, PMCs guarantee a fast arrival at almost any point of the planet: PMC EO can <<deploy a fully supported battalion of about 650 men within fifteen days>> says Professor Herbert Howe in an article for the National Defense University.

PMCs provide speciallized services as well: from post services to diplomatic security, cooking, maintenance of all kinds of installations, armament, vehicles and planes; there isn’t probably any service they can’t offer.

Nevertheless, PMCs intervention on military actions is not out of controversy. Several cases of corruption among the Bush administration, drugs traffic and sex slavery scandals in the Balkans and unjustified shootings to civilians in Iraq have been on and off the news for the last years.

NOGs denounce that when working for companies, PMC workers are legally considered as civilians. As a result, in case of crime, they are judged by the local law and not by the military law of the country they come from.

This has been the case of employees from american PMC Dyncorp, who were accused of selling the services of twelve year-old girls in Bosnia. They were fired but never prosecuted. Again, Blackwater employees have been accused of opening fire against civilians in Iraq and in 2003 american contractors Titan and CACI were implicated on Abu Ghraib scandal.

The lack of regulation on PMCs has led NGOs to active campaigns asking governments to set a regulation of the activities of those companies. Paul Collins, spokesman of British NGO War on Want explains the situation in his country: “Last July we began a campaign asking for regulation. The government started working on it but it stopped at some point, we still don’t know why”.

The fight for regulation of PMC activities is old. Protocol 1 Additional to the Geneva Convention from August 1977 already discouraged mercenary activity and so did the 1989 UN Mercenary Convention.

However, both were written before most of PMCs started they activity. Today, NGOs such as War on Want and even UN members have proposed including the PMCs into the definition of mercenary in the 1898 UN Convention, but they haven’t achieved any success. <<Even more, none of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have ratified the Convention>> denounces Collins.

Few countries have regulated the activity of PMCs themselves: the US and South Africa have. Oddly, twenty-four over the sixty-one PMCs actively working in Iraq are from those two countries.

The US regulates arms sales and export of military services since 1980. The law obliges contractors to register for a licence, but it also allows companies to collaborate directly with the government.

In contrast, War on Want informs that South Africa is working on an unprecedented law that will regulate military assistance, allow the government to declare some conflicts prohibited to South Africans.

In the last years PMCs have turned into very lucrative bussiness. Today their extended presence in all conflicts and their efficiency on the ground seem to make them essential. However, continuously denounced human rights violations should alert governments from using the services of such companies. Moreover, the lack of legislation allows employees escape from military legislation and the accuseds are almost never judged or punished. Governments using the services of PMCs should take previous denounces against contractors into account and start working to set a regulation for their activities in order to make them respect human rights.

International piracy has been on and off the media for the last two years. Now and again, pirates coming mostly from Somalia attack the shipping routes going through the Horn of Africa. Only last year, pirates performed ninety two attacks. The Maritime Secure Center is the EU organ that coordinates the European mission in the Horn of Africa. Achim Winkler, Commander of the German Navy and spokesman for the EU Naval Force, brings us the latest news directly from their base in Mombasa, Kenya.

What are the latest developments in the Horn of Africa?

In Mombasa the German frigate FGS Rheinland-Pfalz has just berthed in order to get rid of 9 suspected pirates that they arrested earlier this week.

Have you registered more attacks since December, when the international force started opperating in the area?

There are still attempts of highjacking being carried out, but the rate of successful attacks has been significantly reduced since ATALANTA has been established. The last major attack was the one last week, when after that the German frigate forced the pirates to surrender, and two more attacks we had last night, also unsuccessful.

What is the EU Naval Force doing in order to improve the situation in the area?

The EU Naval Force ATALANTA is carrying out a task in order to protect international merchant shipping and in particular WFP shipping into Somalia.

What international forces are taking part on the operation?

Involved in the operation are 5 ships from the ATALANTA Task Force, doing patrol missions along the transit corridor in the Gulf of Aden. One ship is always detached to Kenya to carry out escorts for ships from UN WFP heading to Somalia. Besides the EU-Force there are also other warships from the US-led coalition forces, from Chima, Russia, India, Iran and we are expecting ships from Japan as well. Between all these units (approximately 15 to 20 on average) there is quite good coordination in terms of a reasonable distribution inside the AOO.

Do you think that the political problems in Somalia are somehow the cause of the piracy attacks?

Piracy never has been just a naval problem. The reasons behind are always ashore. In the case of Somalia the reasons most likely are to be seen in the political and perhaps the economical situation in that country. However this is a question which could be answered much more qualified by other sources, rather than by military people.

The litterature from the XIXth Century is full of vibrating adventures of brave pirates fighting noble wars in the wild Caribbean Sea. How surprised would be Emilio Salgari, José de Espronceda or even Rudyard Kipling to see that the heros they created have turned into real two centuries later. Only that instead of swords and black flags they have Kalashnikov and don’t refugee in Tortuga Island but in Eyl, Somalia.

In the last five years the routes passing through the Red Sea towards the Suez Channel have been seriously disturbed by the action of Somali pirates. Despite the measures taken by the UN Security Council and the European Union, the situation doesn’t seem to improve: the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reports that last year Somali pirates performed ninety two attacks, thirty six of which succeeded.

However, these numbers may be even bigger, as ship-owners usually don’t report the attacks in an attempt to avoid media attention on their companies. Actually, it is estimated that about 98% of the attacks remain unreported.

Those are truly international kidnappings

Though some of them have become front page news as ships from China, Spain, Saudi Arabia and even Turkey were attacked and kidnapped by Somali pirates.

The case of Saudi Arabian oil tanker Sirius Star was largely commented: the ship was kidnapped by Somali pirates in November 2008. It contained two million oil barrels and pirates asked for it a ransom of twenty five million dollars. The ship was freed last January after paying a ransom of three million dollars.

Others haven’t been that lucky: according to the International Herald Tribune, fourteen ships carrying more than two hundred and fifty crew members are still in the power of the pirates into the city of Eyl.

Somalia, a country sank into caos

The reason of such rising of piracy in the area is explained by the current situation in Somalia and also by the large amount of ships passing every day through Somali waters. According to the IMO, at least seven ships which carry by seven per cent of the world’s oil production are sailing by the area every day.

Oil tankers and fish boats represent a really juicy pray for Somali pirates, whose country has been collapsed politically and economically since the fall of Somalia dictator Sayid Barre in 1991. Right after, a long civil war followed and it has turned into an extremely complex conflict between different clans nowadays. For the last fifteen years, Somalians have dealed with a country plunged into the caos, a consequence of constant betrayals, aliances and wars between clans.

The appearance of islamic fundamentalists through a Council of Islamic Courts (CIC) in 2006 complicated the situation even more: it added another actor to the conflict and introduced the religious factor as well. Despite the existance of organs such as the Transitional Federal Government, a Parliament and a Prime Minister, etc.

Today, Somalia remains a collapsed country where institutions are an illusion without any real power. In fact, they are the chiefs belonging to local clans who have the control over little areas and whose main objective is becoming as richer as possible.

Attacking and kidnapping oil tankers and fish boats are very lucrative businesses in a country where most people don’t make much more than 600 Euros per year: it is estimated that pirates get a plunder of around 8.000 Euros in each attack. Besides, insurance companies paid 100 million dollars last year in order to rescue kidnapped ships.

The international community reacts

In the last months, the UN has tried to minimize the risk of ships making the route to the west through the Suez Channel. Last December, the UN Security Council autorized the use of  ”all necessary measures in Somalia” in order to fight the pirates. The resolution, which was proposed by the US, allows the use of foreign ground and air forces in other countries a part from Somalia.

Besides, China, Spain, Turkey and some other European countries have sent warships to patrol the area. Despite all the measures taken, pirates don’t seem to be reducing their attacks: fourteen ships were attacked in January and the presence of a twenty ship international force couldn’t stop them.

Because of the constant pirate attacks a number and the large ransoms paid by insurance companies, some shipping lines are seriously considering changing their routes and moving them towards South African waters instead of using the route of Suez. It all has a consequence on the price of oil, which has rised over the last months because of that. Considering that insurance companies have increased their prices by ten percent and that a new route by the Cape of Good Hope is longer -and more expensive- it is likely that oil price will continue rising in the near future.