Child pirates: Rehabilitation, reintegration, and accountability.

Source: (2013) Case Western Reserve Journal of International law. 46:235-278.

It has been estimated that approximately one-third of
captured pirates are minors, that is, persons under the age of
eighteen. This article explores issues of accountability,
reintegration, deterrence and rehabilitation in the context of
child pirates. It recommends modalities of restorative and
reintegrative justice for child pirates that avoid the careless
superficiality of immediate release and the retributive heavyhandedness
of criminal trials. Regrettably, prevailing imagery
that cloaks juveniles enmeshed in international crimes, for
example child soldiers, does not favor this middle ground.
Instead, this narrative imagery facilitates either perfunctory
release (the faultless passive victim image) or criminal trials
regardless of age (the demon and bandit image). Unlike the case with child soldiers, however, the position of U.N. entities when it comes to child pirates tends toward greater punitiveness assuredly, a concerning development. In response, and after
examining why juveniles may end up in pirate gangs, this article proposes a new path, namely one that leads toward restorative justice initiatives. (excerpt)