Tag: UNODC

UNODC: Counter Piracy Programme

UNODC Chief meets Seychelles President On Counter-Piracy Mission to East Africa

UNODC Counter Piracy Programme is offering its support to Indian Ocean The Regional Learning and Experience Exchange Workshop of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) started on Tuesday and will end on Friday.The UNODC Counter Piracy Programme is offering its support to Indian Ocean states which are prosecuting piracy cases.The workshop has two related aims: the support of regional piracy prosecutions, and the delivery of additional prison capacity in Somalia through the Piracy Prisoner Transfer Programme.Sergeant Ronny Narain from the Mauritius Police Force said that "there are 20 international participants in this workshop and they have been in Mauritius since last Friday and will remain here till Saturday."Mauritius has agreed to accept piracy suspects for prosecution from the many international navies operating in the Indian Ocean.Narain said, "Limitations for the regional states in accepting Somali pirates for prosecution is the impact on their prisons which are often already crowded with domestic prisoners."This workshop will explain how to tackle the pirates' arrests, their prosecution and their conviction.The UNODC police mentors will work with IMO to develop first-rate training for maritime justice practitioners based in the region, helping them to develop the instruments to respond to piracy and other ...

UNODC raises concerns for piracy Amid rising concerns that pirates are taking control of the waters off West Africa, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of UNODC, met Nassirou Bakou Arifari, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Benin , during the annual session of the General Assembly in New York."These are worrying developments that we should take seriously", Mr. Fedotov told Mr. Arifari. Benin, in particular, is seeing an increase in piracy off its coastline that may have implications for its national development and stability.Holding massive reserves of oil, cocoa and metals needed to supply hungry world markets, the Gulf of Guinea - a stretch of West Africa's coast spanning more than a dozen countries - is witnessing early signs that pirates may be keen to pounce on new and lucrative opportunities. Piracy, drug smuggling and political uncertainty have made the Gulf of Guinea a challenging environment for investors seeking to benefit from natural resources.UNODC, the United Nations Office for West Africa and the International Maritime Organization are therefore setting up a mission to assess the capacity of Benin to combat piracy. They will lend international support within the framework of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional action plan to ...

Pirate transfer from an EU NAVFOR French navy unit to Kenyan authorities During her port visit to Mombasa on the 11th April, EU NAVFOR warship FS GUEPRATTE welcomed a Kenyan delegation on board.This visit was organized by the UN Office for Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) who are deeply involved in the pirates transfer agreement process with East Africa, Seychelles and now Mauritius.The UNODC finances judicial establishments and courtrooms in Mombasa, as well as jails in Somaliland and Puntland. The delegation was represented by the Crime Investigation Department regional head as well as some home department and department of justice local representatives. They were accompanied by a British instructor from the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) mandated by the UNODC.The aim of this day was to highlight the key points of a suspected pirate transfer from an EU NAVFOR French navy unit to Kenyan authorities, in order to provide a fully legal, precise and indisputable dossier.The Kenyan delegation arrived on board in the morning and attended the operation officer and legal adviser conference. They described the chronology of a suspected pirate apprehension operation and the evidence process until their transfer to foreign authorities, such as Kenya.After the meeting, the delegation had ...