Somalia: Conditions and Prospects for Lasting Peace - Article Example

The paper discusses the arrest, trial, and conviction of pirate gangs, as well as raids on suspected pirate hideouts and confiscation of weapons and equipment; ensuring the adequate coverage of the regional authority's anti-piracy efforts by both local and international media; sponsoring a social campaign led by Islamic scholars and community activists aimed at discrediting piracy and highlighting its negative effects; and partnering with the NATO alliance to combat pirates at sea.”

         In the Horseed Media website, it said “In May 2010, construction also began on a new naval base in the town of Bandar Siyada, located 25 km west of Bosaso, the commercial capital of Puntland. The facility is funded by Puntland's regional government in conjunction with Saracen International, a UK-based security company, and is intended to assist in more effectively combating piracy. The base will include a center for training recruits and a command post for the naval force.”

            ABC News International reports, “After years of wreaking havoc on the open ocean, Somali pirates are being squeezed on land and sea by authorities and a militant group looking to put them out of business. Security forces in northern Somalia arrested a prominent pirate on a U.S. government watchlist during a raid against 12 pirates, an official said Thursday.  Puntland's security forces also reportedly managed to force out the pirate gangs from their traditional safe havens such as Eyl and Gar'ad, with the pirates now operating from only one main town, Harardhere.

Aljazeera reports, “Following the seizure by Somali pirates of an Egyptian ship and a Saudi oil supertanker worth $100 million of oil, the Arab League, after a meeting in Cairo, has called for an urgent summit for countries overlooking the Red Sea, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Jordan, Djibouti, and Yemen. The summit would offer several solutions for the piracy problem, in addition to suggesting different routes and looking for a more secure passageway for ships. Another possible means of intervention by the Red Sea Arab nations' navy might be to assist the current NATO anti-piracy effort as well as other navies.”

       Aljazeera on November 21, 2008, reported that “On June 2, 2008, following the letter of the Transitional Federal Government to the President of the Council asking for assistance from the international community in its efforts to address acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a declaration authorizing nations that have the agreement of the Transitional Federal Government to enter Somali territorial waters to deal with pirates.”  

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on 20 November 2008 that was proposed by Britain to introduce tougher sanctions against Somalia over the country's failure to prevent a surge in sea piracy.

The resolution also welcomed the initiatives of the European Union, NATO, and other countries to counter piracy off the coast of Somalia. US Alternate Representative for Security Council Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said that the draft resolution "calls on the secretary-general to look at a long-term solution to escorting the safe passage of World Food Programme ships."

Even Somalia's Islamist militants stormed the Somali port of Harardheere in the hunt for pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker, the MV Sirius Star.

On 17 December 2008, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a tougher resolution, allowing for the first time international land and sea occupations in the pursuit of pirates. Resolution 1851 takes current anti-piracy measures a step further. 

         A Russian-drafted resolution, Security Council Resolution 1918, adopted on 27 April 2010, called on all states to criminalize piracy and suggested the possibility of establishing a regional or international tribunal to prosecute suspected pirates.

         Nearby countries in Africa have been reluctant to take on the burden of trials. Moreover, in 2008, the Royal Navy was instructed by the Foreign Office not to arrest pirates for fear of breaching their human rights.

        In May 2010, a Yemeni court sentenced six Somali pirates to death and jailed six others for 10 years each for hijacking a Yemeni oil tanker, killing one cabin crew, and leaving another missing in April 2009.

          In November 2008, the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, a group of ship owners representing 75% of the world's independent tanker fleet, asked for United Nations intervention. It called on the United Nations to co-ordinate anti-piracy patrols and suggested the possibility of a naval blockade of Somalia and monitoring all vessels leaving the country's coastline. However, NATO responded by saying that it would be impossible to effectively blockade Somalia's vast coast.