Somali Pirates Torturing Hostages

Somali pirates beat, tortured, and threatened to kill captured South Korean sailors, the Telegraph reports. “Pirates trampled and beat me whenever I talked with my captain,” said one of the seven rescued sailors, who went home yesterday. “I lost my four front teeth after being hit by the elbow of one pirate.” During beatings, the pirates would yell “kill,” noted another sailor.

An EU naval commander said the pirates have systematically been torturing captives and making human shields of them. They’ve tied hostages upside down and pulled them through the water, shut them in freezers, and tied their genitals, the commander said. South Korean commandos rescued the seven sailors last month; pirates were taken to South Korea Sunday and face life in prison on charges of hijacking a ship, demanding a ransom, and threatening the captain’s life.
(More Somali pirates stories.)