“I cannot understand why the opposition will vote against the Bill”, Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said as he initiated yesterday's House of Representatives debate on the Bill proposing the ratification of the ship boarding agreements between Malta and the US. The deputy prime minister said that he cannot understand the opposition's objections when, if ratified, ship boarding will only take place after permission from the Government of Malta has been obtained.
Minister for Competitiveness and Communications Censu Galea said the Bill being proposed will in practice ratify the two agreements between Malta and the US, providing for the boarding of ships suspected of proliferation by sea of weapons of mass destruction or of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.
Mr Galea noted that other countries which have signed a ship boarding agreement with the US in support of the Proliferation Security Initiative include Belize, Liberia, Panama, the Marshall Islands, Croatia and Cyprus.
The preoccupations that led to the agreement between Malta and the US are portrayed in the First Schedule, where it is stated that the two governments are “deeply concerned about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and related materials, particularly by sea, as well as the risk that these may fall into the hands of terrorists”.
Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said he is sure that Malta's interests are safeguarded in the agreement. Dr Zammit Dimech said that we are not signing a blank cheque as there has to be an element of reasonable suspicion that there is proliferation by sea of weapons of mass destruction or of illicit traffic in drugs so that ships are boarded and checked.
Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi said the agreement will provide for ship boarding taking place only in international waters. Dr Azzopardi said that Malta's sovereignty will not be jeopardised. Dr Azzopardi said that the use of force shall not exceed the minimum degree of force that is necessary, proportional and reasonable in the circumstances.
Dr Azzopardi reminded the House of the 1985 “hijacking” of the Achille Lauro in which four Palestinians took control of the vessel when she was off Egypt. The “hijackers” shot a US wheelchair-bound passenger by the name of Leon Klinghoffer. The legal problem was that up to 1985 there was no international law on the take over of a ship. While there were three international Conventions on the hijacking of aircraft (the Hague, Tokyo and Montreal Conventions), there was nothing of this sort relating to “hijacking” of naval vessels.
The event therefore led to the creation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts, commonly known as SUA Convention or Rome Convention. Dr Azzopardi noted that this Convention filled up the lacunae that existed prior to its adoption. Dr Azzopardi said that what everyone in the House has failed to mention is the fact that in 2005 there was a protocol to this Convention which provides for ship boarding. The agreement entered into between Malta and the US has a lot in common with the Protocol. Dr Azzopardi ended his contribution to the debate saying that we shall not succumb to the hostis humani generis (the enemy of mankind)
In his winding-up speech, Parliamentary Secretary Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said the agreement will not be of benefit just to the Nationalist Party as the opposition was saying. The agreement is a balanced one and it will be benefiting to all.
The Bill was given a second reading.
In the beginning of the parliamentary debate, the third reading of the amendments to the Malta Enterprise Corporation Act was approved.