BBC News 21 May 2011
Piracy: IMO endorses use of armed guards on ships The UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) has endorsed the use of private armed guards to protect ships from piracy. After a meeting in London, the IMO issued guidelines for the use of guards on board ships in areas of high risk, including in the Indian Ocean. About one in 10 ships off the Somali coast already carry armed guards. But observers say this number is likely to rise now that the UN has endorsed the practice. The IMO says there were 489 reports of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2010 - up more then 20% on 2009. The areas worst affected were the Indian Ocean, East Africa and the Far East including the South China Sea, South America and the Caribbean. So far this year more than 200 cases have been reported. Correspondents say piracy in the Indian Ocean is getting more lucrative and more violent, despite an anti-piracy EU naval force patrolling the area. Torture The IMO's new recommendations are backed by the independent trade body for security companies operating at sea, the Security Association for the Maritime Industry (Sami), launched last year. Peter Cook, co-founder of Sami, told the BBC: "The pirates have been killing - they have been torturing and doing fake executions and the level of violence is increasing. "It is clear that something has got to be done in order for free trade to be able to continue and it is for that reason that the IMO have decided to go down this very unusual route." The IMO insists that the guidelines are not intended to institutionalise the use of armed, privately contracted security staff on ships and that they do not address all the legal issues that could be linked to their use. The IMO describes the guidance as "interim recommendations" and says it will review them in September. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
