Peacekeeping and Security
A bleak year for piracy
2008 has been a bleak year for piracy. The figures of the annual report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) surpass all figures for hijacked vessels and hostages taken recorded since it began its worldwide reporting function in 1992.
The responsibility to protect: Whom from what?
Undoubtedly the responsibility to protect is a hot item. Endorsed and explained in two detailed paragraphs (138 and 139) of the unanimously adopted Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit it has since been reaffirmed by the General Assembly (resolution 60/1) and the Security Council (resolutions 1674 (2006) and 1706 (2006)) and the subject of a major speech (SG/SM/11701) and a major report (A/63/677) of UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon. The General Assembly is expected to take up the Secretary-General’s report which lays out a comprehensive strategy for implementing the concept in what promises to be a lively debate at some point in the next two months. Civil society networks for researching and advocating the responsibility to protect have sprung up in many parts of the world as have any number of books articles and commentaries on the subject. It has acquired as well the ultimate symbols of trendiness: an acronym (or two really RtoP for the UN and R2P for most everyone else) and a devoted academic journal Global Responsibility to Protect. Not bad for a term first coined by Gareth Evans and the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) less than eight years ago.
From sea to land. An all-encompassing approach
Contemporary piracy is a booming criminal activity not only because of its high profitability with an extremely positive cost-benefit balance for the perpetrators but also due to the acute vulnerability of the targets lack of awareness and specific countermeasures along with the highly underreported nature of the crime. Since the beginning of 2008 UNICRI started to develop the idea of a programme taking into account the Institute’s competences in crime prevention and knowledge management and its expertise in the establishment of an effective public / private partnership to counter crime. The programme has been conceived within the framework of the UN convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) and on the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (1988) considering also the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1816 1846 and 1851 (2008) which authorize a series of decisive measures to combat the acts of piracy against vessels off the coast of Somalia.
Insurance world. New coverage for new threats
The last developments off the coast of the Horn of Africa have triggered a veritable media frenzy. Clearly piracy is not a new phenomenon. However the frequency and scale of recent acts of piracy are a real cause for concern especially those off the coast of Somalia currently the most perilous waters in the world.
Somalia. Media under attack
Freedom of information in Somalia is at risk: gripped by anarchic violence and chaos this nation of the Horn of Africa has been ranked among the deadliest country for media by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Iraqi elections
In his last unscheduled visit to Iraq last 6th of February UN’s Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated Iraqi people for the largely violence-free elections and restated the UN’s commitment to the country.
Victims of crime meeting with a killer
In 1986 Ellen Halbert was raped stabbed beaten with a hammer and left for dead in her home in Texas. During her recovery she began to speak out about victims’ rights and what needed to change in our “offender-focused” criminal justice system. In 1991 she was appointed by Governor Ann Richards as the first victim to serve on the Texas Board of Criminal Justice the board that oversees the massive adult criminal justice system in Texas. This six-year appointment ended in March 1997. Ms. Halbert has won numerous honors and awards for her work. Due to her dedication to crime victims and tireless advocacy for rehabilitation of offenders a 500-bed female substance abuse treatment prison honored her in 1995 by naming the facility the Ellen Halbert Unit. In 1996 both the Texas Corrections Association and the Texas Crime Victim Clearinghouse established awards in her name to recognize her work on behalf of crime victims. In 1997 she won the National Crime Victim Service Award the highest Federal award for service to victims. In 1999 she was named as one of Texas’ Women of the Century. In 2001 she was the mediator for a Court TV documentary “Meeting With a Killer – One Family’s Journey.” This documentary was nominated for an Emmy in 2002. Ms. Halbert is presently the Director of the Victim Witness Division at the District Attorney’s Office in Travis County Texas.
Cyber crimes in the financial sector
A few months ago Ian Rowan reported at Switched.com the news of a computer consultant who siphoned $1M USD from a Utah Bank. Mementosecurity commented the article on April 27th explaining how “An IT contractor hired to fix some bugs in a recent computer upgrade used his system access to make fraudulent electronic transfers into accounts under his control. He allegedly used the funds to remodel his home pay off his two car notes and cover a few mortgage payments. The fraud came to light when his business partner reported the suspicious transactions.”
Achieving zero, new victims of landmines
As we think about how we can continue to reduce and if possible eliminate new victims of landmines we are reminded of the remarkable advances during the evolution of mine action work which began with the establishment of the mine action operation for Afghanistan in 1989. We remember those lost and those affected and our determination to live in a world free of the threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war is fortified. It is my fervent hope that a world with zero new victims of landmines will become a reality in my lifetime.
Criminalization of illegal enrichment
According to the public opinion’s group of definitions some behaviour or act should be considered as corruption as the public opinion considers it as corruptive. Corruption also can be defined as a process in which at least two persons through an illegal exchange conducted with purpose of getting certain personal benefits do something contrary to public interest and by breaching moral and legal norms threaten the fundamentals of democratic society and the rule of law. In any case corruption is the generic term set for criminal offences such as bribe giving bribe accepting trading in influence and so on.
How does corruption translate in social sectors?
Corruption is often depicted as a major impediment to poverty reduction. Being detrimental to good governance corruption undermines the smooth implementation of sound economic and social policies. First as far as petty corruption is concerned extra payments in the forms of bribes are required from users of public services; therefore fair access to public services is denied. The poor segments of the population are the most vulnerable to corruption either because they cannot afford to pay bribes or because they have no possibility to escape corrupted public services (the wealthy elite can always afford private expensive clinics). Secondly non transparent public procurements often lead to accepting offers which are not cost-effective and are sub-optimal. Public monies are therefore not allocated in the most efficient manner and are partly wasted. Thirdly as far as grand corruption is concerned embezzlements of public funds results in a gap in budgetary means.
Ending the impunity of corrupt officials and returning the proceeds of corruption: The stolen asset recovery initiative (SIAR)
The local public seems to be bombarded with stories about corruption. It seems that there are weekly front-page headlines boldly announcing that some former president of an African country had stolen billions of dollars and hidden them outside of their country. Another news report targets a senior politician from the Americas who is hiding in Europe with untold sums of monies. Or that a former minister from Southeast Asia had been convicted of corruption but their monies and properties remain safe in various financial centres around the world. This was the state of anti-corruption efforts in 2007. This arrogance and impunity had to be addressed by the international community.
In the spotlight: Crakcing down on money laundering: Illicit cash couriers under the spotlight!
GIS and satallite applications for piracy-monitoring
Without a central government for nearly two decades the people of Somalia have had to cope with natural disasters civil war and humanitarian crisis as best as they can often resorting to informal and illegal economic activities for survival. Although the origins of Somali maritime piracy remain obscured it is likely that this was a response of Somali fishermen to the illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing within their territorial waters by foreign companies who sought to capitalize on the lack of a national coast guard in the 1990s.
What makes news newsworthy?
In order to provide counter piracy support in the Gulf of Aden and to ensure the delivery of the Humanitarian Aid intended to the territory of Somalia NATO escorted World Food Program vessels off the coast of Somalia from October to December 2008. This mission was assigned to the NATO Standing Maritime Group 2 and was acting under the name of Operation Allied provider. Following the request of the Secretary General of the United Nations on 25 September 2008 the operation took place in support of UNSC resolution 18141816 and 1838.
Intelligence in the fight against piracy
With one of Africa’s longest coastlines stretching for 3300 kilometres Somalia enjoys a strategic location in the Horn of Africa. Vital world trade flows around this failed state torn from within by belligerent clans warlords and Islamist jihadists. Despite this strategic location Somalia is a fast changing entity whose unfolding events upset the international community.
Legal disputes over maritime piracy
Somalia is not party to any of the relevant international treaties and does not have any modern domestic legislation directly applicable to piracy or environmental protection. However the countries currently providing naval forces to combat piracy at sea off Somalia are parties to one or more of the relevant treaties. In addition neighboring countries such as Kenya Djibouti Yemen and Tanzania are also parties to some or all of these treaties and these countries have enacted the legislation necessary to implement one or more of the treaties.