Mr. Eugenio Vargas, Chair
e-vargas@northwestern.edu


Though it has taken on a different, more technologically advanced form, piracy still exists throughout the world today. Today, modern piracy is defined as the following crimes occurring at sea: kidnapping for ransom, murder, sabotage of a ship, seizure of a ship or items thereon, and robbery. The occurrence of pirate attacks has increased dramatically in the last 10 or 15 years, partially due to the enormous importance placed on shipping in international commerce. In addition, piracy occurs often in areas where there is much political strife and lawlessness. Recently failed governments or states in which debilitating civil wars are going on are prime targets for piracy.

Most notably, the political vacuum created after the collapse of the Somali government has generated a substantial increase in pirating. Several UN ships delivering food and aid to the war-torn region have been attacked. Also, aid shipments from other states and, in November of last year, cruise liners have been subjected to pirate attacks.

International law addresses pirating as “the earliest invocation of the concept of universal jurisdiction,” meaning that piracy is considered a crime against humanity and is thus punishable by any state, regardless of the location of the crime or the nationality of parties involved. Since piracy almost always occurs in either international waters or the territorial waters of politically unstable states, prosecution must look towards the principles established in international law

In 2002, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) released a series of recommendations and guidelines for preventing pirate attacks and what to do should one occur. While well intentioned and generally useful, the fact that incidents of piracy has continued to increase since then suggests that more must be done to control this plague on the high seas. The United Nations devotes a significant amount of time to addressing the dangers of sending aid to troubled states in regards to transportation within the state once the shipment has arrived. With piracy on the rise, the UN will be forced to dedicate more effort to addressing the dangers of shipping before the aid even arrives at the destination port. These considerations will affect not only United Nations aid shipments, but all maritime traffic that would be in danger of pirate attacks. As always, national sovereignty must be considered, especially when making recommendations vis-à-vis pirating in territorial waters.


http://www.wikipedia.org
http://www.imo.org/includes/blast_bindoc.asp?doc_id=941&format=PDF
http://www.news.bbc.co.uk
http://www.cnn.com
http://www.imo.org/home.asp
http://www.un.org/law