Press Conference by Contact Group on Piracy Off Coast of Somalia

 

More naval ships and aircraft were needed to confront Somali-based pirates who were expanding their area of operations into the Indian Ocean and, possibly, working in collaboration with terrorist groups, the Chairman of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia said today at a Headquarters press conference.

Speaking after a closed meeting at Headquarters of the Contact Group, which generated “very good discussions”, Ambassador Moon Hayong of the Republic of Korea said that increasingly organized pirates were operating further and further from the coast of Somalia and beyond the Gulf of Aden to prey on merchant shipping.

Reiterating figures given by B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, to the Security Council yesterday, he said that, as of September this year, 37 ships had been hijacked and 682 seafarers had been taken hostage.  (For details of that briefing, please see Press Release SC/10079.)

“The expanding activity of Somali piracy is quite worrisome for the international community,” said Mr. Moon, who is his country’s Ambassador for Overseas Koreans, Consular Affairs and International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation.

“What is even more worrisome,” he added, “is that there seems to be a possibility of a connection between the pirates and terrorist groups in Somalia.”  Terrorist groups have been giving global positioning system (GPS) information to pirates, who have become increasingly organized, as well as “training pirates militarily” and perhaps also sharing ransom payments.

In response to that situation, the international effort to confront piracy off Somalia must be redoubled, Mr. Moon stated.  “The feeling is that we should do more.  We should increase our military pressure,” for which the Group was seeking more military assets, including naval ships, aircraft “and other means available”.

Asked to elaborate, he said that combined naval forces from around the world could not remain in the region forever.  In the long run, the goal would be to assist States in the region to strengthen their own naval capacity.  That was an avenue that needed to be discussed, he said.

Among other points to emerge from today’s meeting, Mr. Moon said the Contact Group had underscored the importance of prosecution.  “Impunity cannot be accepted by the international community,” he said, recalling seven options laid out by the Secretary-General in his latest report to the Security Council on piracy (document S/2010/556) and the appointment of Jack Lang as the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Legal Issues Related to Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.  Mr. Lang would be issuing recommendations before the end of the year.

To help States in the region address the piracy issue, efforts were under way to strengthen the legal capacity of Governments in the region, including the interim Somali Government.  Contributions to a trust fund established in January were being encouraged.

As for the Contact Group’s own working methods, Mr. Moon announced that it would regularly hold plenary meetings in New York in March, July and November every year.  It would also be launching a website to promote its work.

Joining Mr. Moon at the press conference were Bae Hanjin, Director, International Security Affairs Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea; and Shin Boonam, Deputy Permanent Representative of the country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

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For information media • not an official record