The United Nations special envoy on maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia today proposed the setting up of two special courts inside the country and one in Tanzania to try suspected pirates, saying the problem in the Indian Ocean was getting out of hand and required “strong and decisive action.”

Jack Lang, the Special Adviser on Legal Issues related to Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, said the international community should work towards “Somaliazation” of responses to piracy by helping local authorities in the regions of Puntland and Somaliland to enhance their judicial and prison capacities in order to prosecute and jail captured pirates.

In his report to the Security Council, Mr. Lang also proposed the establishment, for a transitional period, of a Somali “extraterritorial jurisdiction court’ in the northern Tanzania town of Arusha to deal with piracy cases.

Tanzania has indicated it would be ready to accept such a court, Lang's entourage said. It could perhaps use the same facilities as the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which sits in Arusha.

Some 780 pirates are currently being held in 13 countries, but nine out of 10 pirates caught at sea by the international fleet are freed almost straight away because there is nowhere to try them.

Somali pirates have captured nearly 2,000 people and been paid ransoms of up to $9.5 million for seized tankers since 2008. As of December 31, 612 people and 26 ships were still being held, according to UN figures.

Lang told the Council, as well as a news conference following the meeting, that the raiders who seize ships and sailors and demand huge ransoms are becoming “masters of the Indian Ocean” with their increasingly sophisticated means of carrying out the criminal actions.

The cost of the measures he has proposed is estimated at about $25 million, a “relatively modest” expense compared to the estimated $7 billion which he said was the cost of piracy.

The international component of the cost to train judges, prosecutors, lawyers, prison guards is “essential,” Mr. Lang said, adding that the UN, the African Union, the European Union and other organizations should contribute.

He also proposed strengthening the forensic element of gathering evidence and the imposition of sanctions against the leaders of piracy gangs.

“We cannot be satisfied with the status quo,” he said, noting the “extreme gravity” of the situation which he said requires “solutions of extreme urgency.”

Mr. Lang said his report is the result of “extensive consultations with 50 States, international organizations, private companies and research institutes.”

(Source: UN News Centre/AFP)