Transaction Search Form: please type in any of the fields below.
Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:56 pm
Time: 9:56 pm
Results for the new danger zone
1 results foundAuthor: Jacobsen, Katja Lindskov Title: Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea Summary: The Gulf of Guinea is a vast area: 6000 kilometres of coastline stretching from Senegal in the north to Angola in the south, with 20 sovereign coastal states and islands plus a number of landlocked states. The area also spans two regions, namely West and Central Africa. Even though the number of reported piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea has recently increased, 'Somali' piracy continues to receive far more attention internationally than piracy on the other side of the continent (Hart 2014:2). However, various research institutions have recently begun to address the issue of maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, an area that the International Crisis Group has recently referred to as “The New Danger Zone” (ICG 2014). Recent statistics seem to support this description (Blombaum 2014). However, given the problem of “massive underreporting of attacks” (Palmer 2014:156; see also Montclos 2012), these numbers must be viewed with a certain degree of caution. Indeed, the problem of underreporting would seem to suggest that the actual number of incidents is in fact even higher. The problem of maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea is not a new phenomenon. Piracy itself has a long history (Palmer 2014) but a contemporary form of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has arguably developed over the past 25 years. In the 1990s, "coastal communities of the delta regularly attacked passing boats on an ad hoc basis" (Montclos 2012:534). Such piracy activities were more "akin to sea robbers" and less organised than the piracy activities that we are now witnessing in these waters today. Similarly, it has recently been stressed that, in the past, most of the piracy incidents were cases of maritime robbery (UNODC 2013:46-49). Bearing that in mind, this report sheds light on the contemporary nature of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as these activities have developed from maritime robbery (petty theft) to being characterised by high levels of violence and high levels of organisation. Besides the issue of how the phenomenon of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has developed, another important question is how and when the issue gained attention internationally. It has been suggested that maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea started receiving sustained attention from the U.S. with the publication of "More than Humanitarianism: A Strategic U.S. Approach towards Africa” in 2005. Indeed, this report mentions the oil-production in Nigeria and Angola as part of "vital U.S. interests in Africa" (2005:15) and arguably marks the beginning of the U.S.'s focus on security in the Gulf of Guinea as part of a broader energy security strategy (Watts 2008; see also Ukeje & Mvomo Ela 2013). As Patrice Sartre also notes, "since 2005, West Africa has demanded the attention of the United to meet 25 percent of its hydrocarbon needs from the wider Gulf of Guinea" (2014:3; see also Raidt & Smith 2010:23). Besides individual states, influential international institutions have more recently called attention to the issue of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. The United Nations (UN) has adopted two resolutions on the issue; one in 2011 (UNSC Resolution 2018) which condemns acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Gulf of Guinea and calls on regional actors to take strong action against perpetrators; and one in 2012 (UNSC Resolution 2039) in which the Security Council expresses deep concern and urges states in the Gulf of Guinea region to convene a summit to develop a common maritime strategy. Importantly, it was also in 2012 that the Gulf of Guinea surpassed the Gulf of Aden “as the region with the highest number of reported piracy attacks in the world” (Osinowo 2015:1). Both of these UNSC Resolutions are mentioned in the new Danish Counter-Piracy Strategy (UM February 2015) in which the Gulf of Guinea has been defined as a new focus area, in addition to continued Danish engagement in the Gulf of Aden. In addition to oil production and related commercial interests combined with the legitimacy conferred by these two UNSC Resolutions, another important factor to bear in mind when considering the question of why the problem of piracy and illegal maritime activities in the Gulf of Guinea has recently become an area of concern for various international actors is that piracy attacks in the region have become more violent. Finally, the amount of attention that Somali piracy has received internationally may well have contributed to a securitisation of piracy with implications beyond the case of Somalia; the representation of piracy as a global threat has arguably contributed to the recent increase in international attention in piracy activities in the Gulf of Guinea. Piracy or armed robbery: What is the difference and does it matter? The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) offers a definition of the criminal activities that the term piracy covers: "a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed; (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft" (UNCLOS Article 101). This UNCLOS definition defines piracy as an act conducted on the high seas i.e. beyond territorial waters. Accordingly, similar criminal activities that take place within territorial waters are not defined as acts of piracy following this definition in international law. However, this distinction between armed robbery (in territorial waters) and piracy (on the high seas) is a legal distinction, which is primarily important in settling the jurisdictional issues that are likely to arise when a "pirate" is arrested, prosecuted and convicted. However, regarding the act itself and its impacts on the region as well as on local communities, the distinction between armed robbery and piracy is not of much importance: neither the acts of piracy nor their effects differ depending on whether they occur on one side of a 12 nautical mile border or the other. Since the focus of this report is not primarily on international law but rather on acts of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, their effects, and the issue of maritime security more broadly, we will use the term 'piracy' throughout the report to refer to any piracy activities, regardless of where on the sea they occur. Anti-piracy or counter-piracy: what’s the difference? The two terms anti-piracy and counter-piracy are used interchangeably throughout the literature. In our understanding, the term 'anti' refers to a direct reaction to specific, whereas the term 'counter' refers to a broader approach including pre-emptive measures. Accordingly, this report uses the term counter-piracy to reflect our view that piracy requires a broad, long-term approach rather than a reactive response. Details: Copenhagen, Denmark: Royal Danish Defence College Publishing House, 2015. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 20, 2019 at: http://www.fak.dk/publikationer/Documents/Maritime%20Security%20in%20the%20Gulf%20of%20Guinea.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Africa URL: http://www.fak.dk/publikationer/Documents/Maritime%20Security%20in%20the%20Gulf%20of%20Guinea.pdf Shelf Number: 154261 Keywords: Acts of Piracy Anti-Piracy Armed Robbery Counter-Piracy Gulf of Guinea Maritime Insecurity Maritime Robbery Maritime Security Piracy Pirate Sea Robbers The New Danger Zone |