UN Security Council urges nations to prosecute pirates

Apr 27, 2010, 16:37 GMT

New York - The UN Security Council Tuesday called for governments to prosecute pirates under national laws, saying that failure to do so would undermine global anti-piracy efforts.

The 15-nation council said in a unanimous resolution that all states should 'criminalize piracy' in their domestic laws and consider prosecuting and convicting suspected pirates apprehended off the coast of Somalia, 'consistent with applicable international human rights law.'

The council stepped up diplomatic efforts to fight piracy as new cases of seizures of ships and cargos have been reported. It said progress has been made to implement a code of conduct agreed by governments in Djibouti last year to fight piracy, but implementation of the code has not been widespread.

It called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to submit within three months a report on possible options to prosecute and imprison the pirates. Those options should include the creation of special domestic courts, and regional or international tribunals to prosecute the pirates.

At a meeting Kuala Lumpur last week, the London-based International Maritime Bureau said 67 incidents of piracy were reported in the first three months of 2010, down from 102 recorded in the same period last year.

Somali pirates were believed to be responsible for 35 of the incidents and nine hijackings ranging from the troubled Gulf of Aden and to the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea and even the Mozambique Channel, the bureau said in its quarterly report released in Kuala Lumpur.

'The diverse location of the attacks demonstrates the increased range and capabilities of the Somali pirates,' bureau director Pottengal Mukundan said.

He said navies patrolling the Indian Ocean have successfully disrupted suspected pirates and destroyed their boats, thus keeping the number of attacks under control.