Somaliland: War on Piracy and Pirates Exchange Now Official

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Somaliland: War on Piracy and Pirates Exchange Now Official

 

Wednesday, 21 March 2012 21:03

 

Some of convicted pirates in Hargeisa prison

 

Some of convicted pirates in Hargeisa prisonHARGEISA (Somalilandsun) - Somaliland is now officially in the fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden after president Silanyo signed two laws.

President Silanyo formally legitimized the country's war on piracy after he signed two laws pertinent to Anti-piracy and pirate exchange.

A presidential decree # JSL/M/XERM/249-988/032012 stated that President Silanyo has officially signed Piracy law # Xeer Lr. 52/2012 thus legitimizing Somaliland's participation in the international concerted war on Piracy.

The same decree also divulged that pirates exchange has been legitimized after the president signed law # Xeer Lr. 53/2012. This formally allows Somaliland to receive pirates sentenced in other countries for imprisonment in its prisons.

The president said that he signed the two laws in pursuant to Articles 75 & 90 of the Somaliland constitution as well as a parliamentary approval of the two laws # GW/G/KF-17/555/2012 ee 21/03/2011

The two laws were recently approved by both houses of parliament after the president asked the law makers to prioritize them before his departure to the London conference on Somalia held late last month.

Parliamentary approval of the two laws facilitated President Silanyo's discussions with world leaders on concerted efforts to eliminate piracy as well as pirates exchange especially with Seychelles from where the first batch of 14 convicted pirates is expected in the country soon.

Currently Somaliland which has managed to protect its water from pirate activities while devoid of international support and sufficient materials holds over 70 convicted pirates in its prisons a bulk of who are in the UN refurbished Hargeisa prison.

The international community has provided low scale support for these anti-piracy activities through coast guard training by the British Navy and refurbishment of the Hargeisa central prison by the UNDP.

Following this legislation Somaliland will be in a position to not only receive funding for its anti-piracy activities but legally imprison pirates convicted in Special courtrooms in the Seychelles and Mauritius.

On the other hand drastic action is needed: more than 4,000 Somali pirates have been captured and released since 1999, nearly five times the number that has been successfully prosecuted. Not a single convicted pirate has completed their sentence.

Peter Cook, founder of the Security Association for the Maritime Industry, says: "Having internationally certified prisons in Somaliland and Puntland ensures that pirates stay within Somalia and is ultimately more constructive than someone disappearing into a Western country. It will build rather than destroy confidence in the regions, and ensures that there is a rule of law that sets a precedent. Eventually it could work its way down the coast."

Seafarers and shipping operators are increasingly angry that more has not been done to curb piracy in the Indian Ocean. Attacks rose to a record 237 in 2011, with ransoms worth £100m paid to release 31 hijacked vessels, according to a One Earth Future Foundation report released last week.

The UK remains one of the few Western nations not to have prosecuted a single pirate in the past three years, despite the taking of British hostages such as Paul and Rachel Chandler, who were kidnapped by Somalis for 13 months, and Judith Tebbutt, who was released recently after being kidnapped from a Kenyan beach resort last September after her husband was shot.