Kenya now sued for holding 22 sailors in detained ship

Some of the 34 armoured personel carriers on board the Norwegian flagged Hoegh Autoliners cargo ship that has been detained at the Port of Mombasa. [PHOTO: GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD]

A global agency that caters for sailors has now moved to the High Court to compel the government produce 22 Chinese sailors and crewmen detained aboard the Norwegian flagged ship placed under armed Kenyan guard since Thursday last week.

“We are under instruction to file a case to have the crew aboard this ship produced in court alive or have them released with immediate effect,” said lawyer Cliff Ombeta.

Mr Ombeta claimed his clients have been under arrest since last week without charge, which is against the Constitution. The law demands trial or appearance in court within 24 hours after arrest.

Criminal evidence

But government officials claim they have broken no law by detaining, inspecting the ship and interrogating the crew whose names have not been disclosed.

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett has defended the raid on the ship to verify its cargo. Yesterday, a source at the port told The Standard on Saturday that security officials are still holding the sailors and had began stripping rubber tyres off some of the trucks in search of criminal evidence or illicit cargo.

But Ombeta introduced a new angle to the deepening diplomatic fiasco by accusing the Kenya Navy of kidnapping the ship and its crew and the police of holding the seamen illegally against international law which confers immunity to UN officials and its cargo.

“Since these sailors are carrying out UN mission work, they are supposed to be accorded immunity being enjoyed by the UN. It is illegal for authorities to hold them,” said Ombeta. The lawyer claimed Kenyan officials have refused to allow Mission to Seamen, a global church organisation that cares for sailors, on board the ship.

“It is not right for the police to deny Mission to Seamen officials from visiting the sailors aboard the ship as it is the only recognised body that takes care of the welfare of seamen at any port of calling,” he said.

The ship was detained by the Kenya Navy on September 17 after allegations that the vessel, which was transporting armoured cars for the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was also ferrying undeclared weapons.

The detention of the ship has sparked a three-way standoff involving the Kenyan state, UN and the vessel’s owner, Hoegh Autoliners.

Hoegh Autoliners has accused the UN of breaching rules of engagement between it and the shipping firm by not declaring the weapons.

International protocol

But the UN claims it declared the weapons as components of the armoured cars in a certificate issued when the vehicles were loaded in Mumbai, India, on September 5. It also accuses the Kenyan state of ignoring international protocols and immunities by impounding and searching the vessel without involving it.

On Thursday, the UN admitted ferrying 34 cannons and 34 machine guns alongside 34 armoured personnel carriers.