# India treats pirates and war criminals differently on soil 2026-08-26T04:12:43+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India sentenced 44 Somali pirates to life imprisonment in July under the 2022 Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, while Eitan Gilboa, an Israeli soldier accused of war crimes in Gaza, reportedly left the country after complaints to authorities went unanswered. The contrast, says The Hindu in an opinion piece, shows India meeting its obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea for piracy but failing under the mandatory universal jurisdiction of the 1949 Geneva Conventions for war crimes. The Geneva Conventions Act, 1960, requires the Union government to make a complaint before a court can take cognisance of war crimes. The article argues this condition, absent in the anti-piracy law, creates a safe haven for those accused of the most serious international crimes. It calls on India to reassess its differential treatment of enemies of all humankind. ## Indian Opinion Analysis India's obligations under the Geneva Conventions are not optional, they are treaty commitments it ratified in 1960. The gap between how the state treats suspected pirates and suspected war criminals exposes a fault line in domestic implementation. The 1960 Geneva Conventions Act gives Indian courts jurisdiction over grave breaches, but the act requires a government complaint before a court can take cognisance, a procedural hurdle absent in the 2022 Maritime Anti-Piracy Act. That difference, not a legal vacuum, explains why Somali pirates end up in court while a foreign soldier accused of war crimes can reportedly leave without being detained. The Inter-Ministerial Committee on international humanitarian law, which the government set up in 2023 to review compliance, is the body that could recommend amending the 1960 Act. Whether it does so will determine if India's treaty promises match its enforcement on the ground. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Leads with a moral contrast between prosecuted pirates and unapprehended war criminal, using the gap to argue India is not meeting its Geneva Convention obligations This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Geneva Conventions, Himachal Pradesh, Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, Somali pirates Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/india-treats-pirates-and-war-criminals-differently-on-soil/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/india-treats-pirates-and-war-criminals-differently-on-soil/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/