The United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) has condemned the use of sailors as human shields. The IMO, in a statement issued yesterday from its London headquarters, said that it deplores all acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships and the treatment of seafarers held hostage. Using seafarers as human shields to continue to engage in piracy-one of the most heinous of crimes against humanity at sea-is totally unacceptable,the agency said.