1 TRUST FUND TO SUPPORT INITIATIVES OF STATES COUNTERING PIRACY OFF THE COAST OF SOMALIA PROJECT DOCUMENT PROJECT OVERVIEW 1. Requesting Agency INTERPOL 2. Project Title Evidence Exploitation Initiative (“EVEXI”) 3. Duration 6 month 4. Estimated Starting Date Immediate 5. Location The Participating Countries 6. Application to Window of Fund A 7. Focus Area Intelligence Gathering and Evidence Exploitation 8. Overall Budget (needed to 198, 455.40 EURO implement the entire project) 9. Request to Trust Fund 198, 455.40 EURO 10. Brief Description Project EVEXI aims at streamlining INTERPOL/ EUROPOL intelligence gathering processes in relation to investigations of Maritime Piracy. Furthermore INTERPOL has been approached by several member countries that have arrested and detained Somali nationals in relation to acts of maritime piracy, to assist and provide expert advice in the debriefing of hostages, the interview of suspected pirates, and exploitation of physical evidence captured on pirates, for intelligence gathering purposes. Henceforth, Project EVEXI seeks to deliver the following tasks in the context of a multinational approach to the investigation of the organized crime aspect of maritime piracy: 1. To generate intelligence deriving from interviews of released hostages and Somali prisoners detained in relation to piracy attacks and exploit physical evidence collected during the detention and arrests of pirates. 2. To gather intelligence through targeted interviews, to obtain intelligence that can be used to initiate or support existing international investigations on maritime piracy. 3. To utilize the Analytical Work File (AWF) of EUROPOL to create links of information regarding the financing of Somali pirates by citizens of European countries. 1 4. To assist and support the Participating Countries in analyzing the information gathered in the interviews and exploitation of physical evidence and forward all raw 1 The EUROPOL Analytical Work File (AWF) on Maritime Piracy is the sole global database, where law enforcement data are stored and constantly analyzed. The aim of that database is to discover previously unknown links amongst entities and report them back to the data owners. Secondly, the AWF Maritime Piracy is used for strategic analysis to identify the high value targets of Maritime Piracy and their assets. PCS Trust Fund – INTERPOL Law Enforcement Intelligence Gathering 18 March 2011 2 data and analytical outputs into the Analytical Work File (AWF) on Piracy at EUROPOL for global analysis, aiming to learn more about the Pirates networks and identify the high-value targets (HVTs) of Piracy and their assets. At present, several states in the region of East Africa and the Indian Ocean have arrested and detained Somali nationals in relation to acts of maritime piracy and would therefore be the focus of this project: 1. Seychelles with 47 arrested pirates 2. Kenya (119 pirates) 3. Maldives (34 pirates) 4. Madagascar (12 pirates) 5. Tanzania (12 pirates) 6. Yemen (120 pirates) (“subject to improved security situation”) 1. SITUATION ANALYSIS AND JUSTIFICATION 1.1 Problem Analysis During the last year it has become increasingly clear that the arrest, detention and prosecution of pirates (i.e. the low-level operatives involved in piracy, and in reasonably small numbers) is having a minimal effect in deterring and preventing piracy. Thus, the critical investigative and prosecutorial targets should be the persons organizing, financing, leading, and acting as negotiators in Somali piracy also called high value targets (HVTs). There are obvious problems that the international community is facing: 1. Many HVTs are unidentified as of yet 2. They mostly reside in Somalia 3. Collecting intelligence/evidence on them is far more difficult than with pirates detained at sea 4. Even if a case against them could be prepared, it would still be difficult to apprehend and arrest them physically. This innovative and ambitious project proposes to target the key actors that have been involved in organizing acts of piracy which have impacted the participating countries by leveraging all of the human intelligence sources available and combining this with shared information from investigations by other jurisdictions, so that prima facie cases can be developed against them and international warrants issued for their arrests. Project EVEXI is in line with repeated declarations of the Contact Group on Piracy off the coast of Somalia that one of the pillars of the fight against piracy is the build up of the capabilities of the police forces in Kenya, Tanzania, the Seychelles, and Mauritius. Resolution 1950 from 23 November 2010 urges states in cooperation with INTERPOL and PCS Trust Fund – INTERPOL Law Enforcement Intelligence Gathering 18 March 2011 3 EUROPOL to further investigate international criminal networks involved in piracy off the coast of Somalia, including those responsible for illicit financing and facilitation. The landmark resolution also underlines the importance of continuing to enhance the collection, preservation and transmission to competent authorities of evidence of acts of piracy. In his presentation on piracy to the Security Council, UN Special Adviser, Mr. Jack Lang, proposed in Section 8 of his report, to establish an international procedure on what he calls “Procès verbal,” translated by international courts as “witness statement” in cases of maritime piracy. This would include a format of allowing regional law enforcement agencies to conduct interviews of arrested or convicted alleged pirates, making sure that all necessary aspects of the criminal networks behind maritime piracy are covered. Written statements of arrested pirates, if successful, will provide an invaluable tool in the investigation of operational networks behind maritime piracy attacks, but so far little effort has been made to explore further on such interviews. At this stage where an extensive number of Somalis are held in custody for piracy-related offenses, it is important to understand the aspects surrounding the occurrence of piracy, such as the recruitment methodology, structure of the criminal piracy enterprise, cultural factors that need to be understood in order to develop an effective prevention strategy, those facilitating the process, and the operation of piracy networks. Many prisoners have received lengthy prison sentences, some up to twenty years, and will in most cases be transferred to Somalia in order to serve their full prison sentence. It is imperative to exploit all testimonial and accompanying physical evidence before these individuals are returned to Somalia. 1.2 Synergies/Partnerships INTERPOL is in a unique position to coordinate regional naval efforts with the law enforcement community’s efforts to identify, investigate and prosecute the criminal networks supporting and financing maritime piracy. INTERPOL has welcomed and supported the establishment of the CGPCS, a model of effective international cooperation in response to a complex regional security issue INTERPOL works closely with all other worldwide law enforcement agencies, as well as with international Police institutions, the private shipping industry, the EU/EUNAVFOR, NATO and the United Nations. INTERPOL and UNODC have jointly conducted a gap analysis for the Seychelles, where, amongst others, the strong need of Analytical capacity building in Seychelles has been identified. INTERPOL is providing Police support to Somalia, and actively participating in the Kampala meetings. INTERPOL is supporting the implementation of the Djibouti Code of Conduct through the PCS Trust Fund – INTERPOL Law Enforcement Intelligence Gathering 18 March 2011 4 delivery of complementary training. INTERPOL supports the COMESA and IOC led Regional Plan of Action to Combat Maritime Piracy, adopted in Mauritius on October 7, 2010. INTERPOL is a participant in Working Group I (Operational Coordination and Capability Development), Working Group II (Legal Issues), Working Group III (private industry), the sub- Working Group on Maritime Piracy, and the ad hoc Piracy Financing Working Group, and thus contributing to many forms of Police support. In particular, INTERPOL, jointly with EUROPOL, is providing the sole international criminal database on piracy off the coast of Somalia (Analytical Working File AWF Piracy). This database is being populated by both, the worldwide law enforcement community as well as by EU NAVAL FORCES. INTERPOL, in coordination with the private Shipping Industry, and IMO, is introducing a Regional Task Force to East Africa and Indian Ocean States to preserve Evidence from released Vessels, which evidence is not systematically being collected during the post- release phase of a piracy incident. INTERPOL is supporting international efforts against maritime piracy by providing ongoing support to the global law enforcement community, by following up on international leads and ensuring that important investigative and identifying information pertaining to offenders and criminal cases are checked against IPSG databases and further made available to the global law enforcement community, through INTERPOL secure global communication channels. Only through this basic (yet critical) effort, can INTERPOL enrich and populate the referenced global databases (i.e. Criminals, Fingerprints, Ballistics, DNA, Stolen and Lost Travel Document, Photos, Telephone subscribers, etc); provide guidelines for corroborating and validated evidence; collect information; enhance info-sharing; provide operational