Ready to work with UN for legal mechanism to check piracyuri

From Yoshita Singh
United Nations, Sep 14 (PTI) India has called upon the
international community to address the "serious" problem of
hostage-taking by pirates, saying it is ready to work with UN
Security Council members on a draft resolution on the
necessary legal mechanism for prosecution and detention of
pirates.
Piracy off the coast of Somalia remains a serious problem
facing the international community, India's Permanent
Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said at a UN
Security Council debate on Somalia here.
He said as of August 31, the Somali pirates held 19 ships
and 405 hostages.
Given the expanding problem, the international community
must work towards adopting a comprehensive counter-piracy
strategy.
Puri said such a strategy should include an UN-led
anti-piracy force to conduct naval operations, enactment of
national laws to criminalise piracy, effective sanitisation of
the Somali coastline as well as identifying safe corridors and
buffer zones.
Steps taken by India, including anti-piracy patrols in
the Gulf of Aden and deployment of ships in Eastern and North
Eastern Arabian Sea, have helped neutralise several attempts
of piracy.
"While we will continue our counter-piracy operations,
there is also an urgent need for the international community
to address the serious problem of hostage-taking by pirates
and consequent humanitarian problems faced by the hostages and
their families," Puri added.
He said India hoped that the Secretary General's report
on piracy, due in October, would contain concrete
recommendations on all aspects of the problem of piracy,
including hostage-taking and plight of hostages.
Addressing the worsening humanitarian situation in
Somalia, Puri said combating maritime piracy is an important
issue "intrinsically linked with security situation" in the
country.
The Transitional Federal Institutions in Somalia have not
paid adequate attention to this problem and should work to put
into place mechanisms including adoption of a legal framework
against piracy, hostage-taking, payment of ransom and
appointment of a counter-piracy coordinator, Puri said.
"We will engage constructively with the members of the
Security Council on the draft resolution on legal mechanism
for prosecution and detention of pirates.
"We also stand ready to help in capacity building of the
TFIs and the states in the region for effective measures
against piracy off the coast of Somalia," he added.
Puri said India sees as a positive sign the signing of
the Kampala Accord and its subsequent approval by the Somali
Parliament.
India welcomed the high-level consultative meeting on
'Ending the Transition in Somalia' early this month in
Mogadishu.
"We reaffirm our support to this process...This alone
would enable a genuine, inclusive and comprehensive national
reconciliation to take place in Somalia for ending two decades
long instability and insecurity".
Puri added that the opportunity presented by the
withdrawal of Al Shabaab from Mogadishu should be utilized by
the transitional institutions to increase its effective
presence all over Mogadishu through delivery of basic
services.
More than half of the Somali population is in the grip of
the humanitarian crisis.
Nearly 2.8 million people are living in the hardest hit
areas controlled by Al Shabaab, where access of humanitarian
agencies is severely restricted.
India urged all Somali groups to provide unfettered
access
to the humanitarian agencies and facilitate the delivery of
aid to all those in need.
India has provided humanitarian assistance of eight
million dollars to the countries afflicted with severe famine
and drought in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, Kenya
and Djibouti, through the World Food Programme.
This is in addition to the 1.5 million dollars
contributed
by India to the AU Trust Fund for Somalia and 0.5 million
dollars to the UN Trust Fund for augmenting the AU Mission in
Somalia.