The Mauritius Contact Group on Piracy Off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) has condemned the premature releases of convicted pirates by Puntland and Somaliland authorities. Chair of the CGPCS and Mauritius government minister Nandcoomar Bodha, following a meeting on piracy in the region held in Port-Louis with ambassadors based in Mauritius, highlighted that the premature release of convicted pirates had compromised the extensive collective efforts of the international community to combat and suppress piracy off the coast of Somalia.
Bodha noted the premature release of the 19 convicted pirates by Somaliland authorities in 2019, as well as the release of a convicted Somali pirate by prison authorities in Puntland in 2018. He said that this significantly jeopardized regional and international efforts to combat piracy, as well as eroding the mechanisms that had been put in place to combat piracy and other crimes.
He emphasized the need for the international community to help combat and deter piracy off the coast of Somalia in order to guarantee the safety and security of the Western Indian Ocean region.
Mauritius is to make proposals to the Secretary General of the UN and the UN Security Council that it said would prevent a resurgence of attempts to release prematurely convicted pirates early.
IMN
