The United Nations Security Council has unanimously endorsed a resolution calling on all of its 193 member states to share information with INTERPOL as part of a global response to maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia….
Commending INTERPOL for creating its Global Maritime Piracy database designed to consolidate information about piracy off the coast of Somalia and help develop actionable analysis for law enforcement, UN Resolution 2020 (2011) ‘urges all States to share such information with INTERPOL for use in the database, through appropriate channels’.
UN Resolution 2020 (2011) recognises the achievements made since the implementation of Resolution 1950 (2010) which called on all UN member states to work with INTERPOL and Europol to fight the criminal networks involved in maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia.
“This new UN Resolution is a significant development in terms of endorsing the central role of information sharing via INTERPOL to combat the criminal networks behind maritime piracy,” said INTERPOL Secretary General, Ronald K Noble.
“It recognizes that international law enforcement provides the critical link between arrests made through military interventions and the investigation and prosecution of maritime pirates and associated criminal networks,” said the head of INTERPOL.
Collaboration between INTERPOL and Europol in information exchange and analysis of piracy-related material has already led to the identification of links between a number of cases and individuals based on DNA, fingerprint and telephone analysis.
In this respect, INTERPOL‚Äôs Acting Executive Director for Police Services, Bernd Rossbach, added: ‚ÄúA collective approach that pools intelligence and resources via strategic partnerships is required to fight maritime piracy. Here, INTERPOL’s global tools and collaboration with international partners such as the United Nations and Europol play a crucial role against this transnational crime problem involving organized criminals, hostages and ransoms."
The adoption of UN Resolution 2020 (2011) came as a training course was being held in the Seychelles in the framework of INTERPOL’s European Union-sponsored project on capacity building and crime scene management best practice against maritime piracy in the Horn of Africa.
INTERPOL’s General Assembly in Hanoi (31 October to 3 November) adopted a resolution urging its 190 member countries to share information related to maritime piracy through the circulation of INTERPOL Notices and to populate INTERPOL’s databases, in particular its Global Maritime Piracy and Stolen Vessels databases.
