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Box 3.7.1 Piracy off the Coast of Somalia

Piracy off the Somali coast continues to voluntary international military group, of a Somali legal framework for prose- present a significant challenge to inter- continued facilitating coordination be- cution. UN Security Council Resolutions national security, prompting concerted tween independently deployed navies in 2015 (2011) and 1976 (2011) call for effort from a diverse group of actors to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. In Somalia to strengthen its governance counter the threat. Since 2008, over May, members agreed to further bolster and rule of law structures to play a more 1,900 individuals have been kidnapped communication mechanisms, strengthen substantial role in combating piracy. In from Somali coastal waters1 and hun- operational cooperation, and enact re- the resolutions, the Council further reit- dreds of millions of dollars have been gional capacity-building measures to in- erated its call for the adoption of a com- paid in ransom, disrupting one of the crease the organization’s efficacy. prehensive set of counter-piracy laws world’s key shipping routes. In 2011 NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield and the construction of correctional fa- alone there were twenty-six successful and the EU’s Operation Atalanta also cilities for convicted pirates. In addition, ship hijackings in Somalia, representing maintained critical assistance and protec- the Council also noted the need for spe- nearly 70 percent of the global total.2 tion through their presence in the water- cialized anti-piracy courts in Somalia While the success rate of attacks off the ways. Operation Ocean Shield engaged and other states in the region. As a first Somali coast has decreased over the past in a number of counter-piracy operations, step, Resolution 2015 requests the UN several years, mainly due to the presence successfully freeing pirate-held ships and Secretary-General to provide further in- of naval vessels, the level of violence, dismantling mother ships. The NATO op- formation on the technical and financial sophistication, and frequency of attacks eration also liaises with regional states, requirements needed to implement these hit a record high in 2011. including Djibouti and Somalia, to pro- courts. International collaborative efforts mote anti-piracy efforts. Additionally, Piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the through the Contact Group on Piracy off Operation Atalanta continued to provide Indian Ocean is inextricably linked to the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) and the assistance to the anti-piracy efforts of the crisis in Somalia, and many of the group Shared Awareness and Deconflic- Somalia’s Transitional Federal Govern- root causes, including political instabil- tion (SHADE) to counter piracy con- ment and the African Union’s peacekeep- ity and poverty, persist. However, the tinue. As a voluntary international forum, ing mission in Somalia through 2011. challenge is not isolated to Somalia, and the CGPCS coordinates the responses of During the course of the year, inter- the threat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea over seventy member states and several national attention also turned to bolster- is an increasingly pressing international major international organizations, includ- ing onshore anti-piracy mechanisms, concern. Concerted international support ing on operational matters, legal issues, particularly in the judicial and security and a multipronged approach that targets shipping self-awareness, and public infor- sectors. Although 1,046 individuals are piracy offshore, supports the develop- mation. In 2011 the CGPCS created a currently being prosecuted or have faced ment of institutions and capacity on- group to strengthen international efforts prosecution for piracy in twenty coun- shore, and addresses root causes such as aimed at dismantling complex pirate tries,3 more than 90 percent of captured widespread poverty and high unemploy- financial networks—an area of increas- pirates are immediately released due to ment, will be critical for responding to ing international attention. SHADE, a judicial obstacles, including the absence international maritime piracy.

Notes: 1. United Nations, Report of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Legal Issues Related to Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, S/2011/30, 25 January 2011. 2. International Maritime Bureau, Piracy Reporting Center, “Piracy News & Figures,” http://www.icc-ccs.org/piracy-reporting-centre/piracy newsafigures. 3. Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, “WG2: Chairman’s Conclusions from the 9th Meeting,” fact sheet, 11–12 October 2011, http://www.thecgpcs.org/doc.do?action=doc.