pirates for a week said they were frequently beaten and their lives
were repeatedly threatened before South Korean commandos rescued them,
a news report said Wednesday.
Such abuse — and even torture — is being systematically perpetrated by
Somali pirates on their hostages, according to the top commander of
the European Union Naval Force.
Seven South Korean sailors from the cargo ship hijacked in the Arabian
Sea on Jan. 15 returned home Wednesday. The crew have been largely
kept away from the media while investigators interview them, but a few
recounted their ordeal to the Yonhap news agency.
One sailor said he lost several teeth when a captor beat him.
"Pirates trampled and beat me whenever I talked with my captain," Kim
Du-chan was quoted as saying by Yonhap. "I lost my four front teeth
after being hit by the elbow of one pirate."
The pirates frequently beat the captain and other senior crew while
shouting "kill," another sailor Choi Jin-kyung said.
Yonhap said it obtained the comments while the sailors were outside of
an investigation room at a local coast guard office at the
southeastern city of Busan.
Coast guard spokesman Eum Jin-kyung confirmed the sailors were being
questioned about their treatment but said he couldn't confirm the
reported beating.
The published report came a day after Maj. Gen. Buster Howes told The
Associated Press that Somali pirates have begun systematically using
hostages as human shields and torturing them.
Howes said that pirates have recently tied hostages upside down and
dragged them in the sea, locked them in freezers, beaten them and used
plastic ties around their genitals.
During last month's raid, South Korean commandos killed eight pirates
and captured five. None of the crew members was injured in the raid
except for the captain, who was shot in the stomach by a pirate. The
captain, who was brought to South Korea for treatment last week, was
regaining consciousness, a hospital official said. He asked not to be
identified as he was not authorized to speak to media. The rest of
crew — two Indonesians and 11 Myanmar citizens — are staying in Oman.
The five captured pirates were brought to South Korea on Sunday on
charges they hijacked the ship, requested a ransom and attempted to
kill the captain. If convicted, the pirates could face up to life
imprisonment.
Piracy off the coast of Somalia — which includes one of the world's
busiest shipping lanes — has flourished since the Horn of Africa
nation's government collapsed in 1991.
