Southern African Development Community tackles regional piracy

MAPUTO, Mozambique, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Senior naval officers from member states of the Southern African Development Community began meeting Wednesday in Maputo to discuss combating maritime piracy.

The objective of the three-day meeting is to discuss developing strategies to cope with rising piratical attacks on the East African coast originating in Somalia, Noticias reported Thursday. The meeting was preceded by the 16th Meeting of the Standing Maritime Committee of the SADC navies. The meeting runs concurrently to joint exercises held by nine SADC navies in Maputo.

General Staff of the Mozambican armed forces head Paulo Macarringue said, "If we combine the threat that piracy represents with the role that the sea plays in international commerce, we are left with no doubt that maritime security is essential." Cautioning that combating the problem was beyond the resources of a single state he continued, "It is known that maintaining a navy that can meet the threats to maritime security requires huge financial resources that are beyond the capacity of our economies."

According to Macarringue, close cooperation between the navies of the 14 SADC member nations is an important tool to minimize the economic strains on any single member state of combating the problem.

The Maputo Conference also aims to promote and strengthen cooperation among SADC member states on general defense and maritime security matters, as well as outlining strategies for maintaining the operational stability and peace in the region.

Quite aside from the issue of countering or repelling pirate attacks is the broader international legal issue of prosecuting them if taken into captivity. On Wednesday, as the U.N. Security Council convened to discuss the issue, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon observed, "Over the past three years, the international community has made concerted efforts to combat the problem, including by establishing a Contact Group and deploying significant naval assets to the region. Nonetheless, we can do more. In particular, we need to implement the existing legal regime, so the fight against piracy in international waters is effective. We will need both to establish the mechanism and ensure that it has the capacity and resources to prosecute a large number of suspects, while ensuring due process. Furthermore, in considering the establishment of such a mechanism, a host State will need to be identified. This, in turn, will require adequate arrangements for transferring those convicted to third States for their imprisonment. This is particularly relevant given the large number of suspects apprehended at sea."

Since the beginning of the year there have been 139 piracy-related incidents off the coast of Somalia, resulting in 30 ships being hijacked, of which 17 ships and 450 sailors are being held for ransom by their Somali captors.