Naval Response
No activity planned or implemented.
Industry Response
No activity planned or implemented.
Plight of Seafarers
UNODC supported the Hostage Support Programme (HSP) until 2015, which is dedicated to the safe return of hostages as well as serving as a base of support for both the hostage and their family after the incident. The Hostage Relief Programme was an integral part of repatriating the hostages of the MV ICEBERG 1, the longest held hostages by Somali pirates and currently continues to provide support to the hostages remaining in Somalia. The HSP has five specific elements funded by the CGPCS Trust Fund: Objective 1: Monitor and track all hostages held in Somalia, Objective 2: Provide support while in captivity (to captives and familites), Objective 3: Facilitate recovery to a safe location, Objective 4: Assist with repatriation to home country, Objective 5: Provide victim support post release. As of 2014, the Hostage Support Programme has assisted in the repatriation home of 73 hostages (including the 11 Albedo hostages released in 2014). Though the Programme is no longer under the umbrella of UNODC, it is in operation.
Regional Capacity
The UNODC Maritime Crime Programme (MCP) delivers assistance to strengthen law enforcement capabilities and to improve prison conditions and capacity in Kenya, Seychelles, Mauritius, Tanzania, Maldives, and Somalia. In all but Somalia the UNODC assists with judicial, prosecutorial, and police capacity-building programmes in addition to office equipment, law books, and specialist coast guard equipment. In Seychelles, the design for a Vulnerable Prisoner Unit for Montagne Posee prison was completed and submitted to the government in May 2014. Construction will begin soon. Within Somalia, the MCP’s focus is on upgrading its prisons and courts with the hope that Somali pirates convicted in other countries can serve out their sentence at home. The Hargeisa prison has been completed in Somaliland, while the UNODC is currently constructing and upgrading prisons within Puntland. In March of 2012 the first prisoners were transferred from the Seychelles to Hargeisa as part of the UNODC’s Piracy Prisoner Transfer Programme (PPTP). Throughout 2014 the PPTP seeks to support operations at the Hargeisa prison and the Mandhera Prison. The Maritime Crime Programme has also introduced best management practices for investigation to the police in Kenya and the Seychelles. In a recently launched new flagship training initiative, the Maritime Crime Programme has also continued to support training courses on maritime crime and criminal justice; in 2014 they delivered a week-long training course to 28 judges, prosecutors, and legislative advisers from Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, and Mauritius and have held the first meetings of two working groups set up to establish and train a prison inspectorate and develop emergency plans for a Mauritius prison system.
Somali Capacity
"The Maritime Crime Programme focuses on supporting law enforcement and criminal justice institutions within Somalia so that they will one day have the ability to deter, apprehend, prosecute and punish piracy and other maritime crimes domestically." The MCP provided training in December 2013 to the Somaliland Coast in the first of a series of such trainings. Additionally, the MCP Piracy Prisoner Transfer Programme which transfers detainees from prosecuting states back to Somalia to carry out their sentences has gone hand in hand with constructing and improving prison facilities in South Central Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland, providing training and mentoring to custodial staff and implementing education, vocational training and rehabilitation programmes for detainees. Work on facilities in Hargesia, Bosasso, Mandera and Garowe has been completed, while groud has been broken on the refurbishment of Mogadishu Prison where UNODC staff will also begin a training and mentoring program. In Puntland, medical equipment and medicine have been delivered to Garowe and Bosasso Prison and in Hargesia and Mandera, training and mentoring of Somali prison personnel as well as vocational training for inmates will be ongoing until the end of 2015.
Additionally in 2015, the Maritime Crime Programme and OBP jointly conducted a survey of Somali prisoners, in order to explore motivations and deterrents for participating in piracy. The full report can be found here.
Rule of Law
UNODC has completed reviews of the legal frameworks of Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania, assessing the adequacy for meeting the demands of prosecuting piracy and recommended changes to be implemented in the short, medium and long term. In Somalia, a draft anti-piracy law has been passed to the three authorities in Somalia for implementation. The UNODC Counter-Piracy Programme has also supported prosecutors in Kenya, the Seychelles, and Somalia by providing training and administrative support, and has developed and improved court facilities, such as a refurbishment of the Shimo la Tewa Courtroom in Mombasa, Kenya. With cooperation from INTERPOL, UNODC has facilitated a Learning & Exchange of Experiences course between prosecutors and judges with participants from Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, and the Maldives. In March of 2012 the first prisoners were transferred from the Seychelles to Hargeisa prison in Somaliland as part of the UNODC’s Piracy Prisoner Transfer Programme. In late summer 2013, the UNODC together with donor nations such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, as well as the Trust Fund, begun construction on a new Supreme Court Annex in Victoria, Seychelles. The new building will have modern courtrooms and advanced technology to conduct piracy trials and other trials that require special security arrangements. The UNODC’s Piracy Prisoner Transfer Programme continues to work on vocational training at constructed prisons. Successful graduates of vocational training will be presented with certificates outlining the skills that they have acquired to improve their employment prospects after their release. In Hargeisa, Somaliland, the UNODC began on 4 September, 2013, an entry level training for 35 prison officers; the training covered topics such as prison management, treatment of prisoners, human rights, and security. The course will lasted three weeks and marked the beginning of an extensive and comprehensive training plan that the UNODC expects to deliver until the end of 2014. The UNODC has continued to facilitate the repatriation of Somali inmates in 2014, with 18 Somali nationals, who had completed their sentences in Kenya, returning to Somalia on 4 February, 2014. UNODC, has also continued to support training courses on maritime crime and criminal justice; in 2014 they delivered a week-long training course to 28 judges, prosecutors, and legislative advisers from Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, and Mauritius. Also in 2014, the Piracy Prisoner Transfer Programme completed training of 35 custodial staff in Hargeisa, Somaliland and 35 recruits at the Puntland Prison Service. The courses focused on human rights, anti-corruption, search procefures and professional standards and included training for senior and duty prison officers on crisis management, dynamic and static security and observation techniques.
Coordination
UNODC is coordinating all activities around the Horn of Africa with other UN agencies, including the IMO, WFP, UNDP as well as with the EU and regional States.
