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Journalism of Courage
The UN Security Council unanimously voted on Tuesday to authorise nations to conduct military raids, on land and by air, against pirates plying the waters off the Somalia coast even as two more ships were reportedly hijacked at sea.
The vote represented a major escalation by the world’s big powers in the fight against the pirates, who have disrupted commerce along one of the world’s most active sea routes and acquired tens of millions of dollars in ransom. It came as China, which has seen several ships commandeered in recent month, said it is seriously considering joining US, European and Russian warships policing the region.
The US-drafted resolution authorises nations to “use all necessary measures that are appropriate in Somalia” in pursuit of pirates, as long as they are approved by its transitional federal Government. The resolution also urges states to deploy naval vessels and military aircraft to carry out the operations, and calls for the creation of a regional office to coordinate international cooperation.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who personally pushed for passage, hailed the vote as sending “a strong signal of commitment to combat the scourge of piracy. Piracy currently pays. But worse, pirates pay few costs for their criminality; their dens in Somalia provide refuge from the naval ships in the Gulf of Aden”.
Rice said the US would help establish a contact group of governments to share intelligence and to coordinate naval and military operations in the region.
She also called on the shipping industry to strengthen the defenses of commercial vessels, and urged countries to detain captured pirates and prosecute them.
