Climate Environmental Air Conditioning

Following the Somalia Spring 2009 Chronicles, I herewith republish the Ecoterra press releases issued in the second half of 2009. I reproduce the integral version of all Ecoterra press releases in a recapitulative effort to provide the global readership with the most comprehensive collection of texts published worldwide about the most abominable Western postcolonial involvement in Africa, namely the systematic effort of extermination of the Somali Nation. The vast documentation provided serves as basic point of reference to students, researchers, analysts and intellectuals.

ECOTERRA Intl.

SMCM
Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor

ECOTERRA INTERNATIONAL – UPDATES & STATEMENTS, REVIEW & CLEARING-HOUSE
2009-07-15 WED 20h46:23 UTC
Issue No. 211

A Voice from the Truth- & Justice-Seekers, who sit between all chairs, because they are not part of organized white-collar or no-collar-crime in Somalia or elsewhere, and who neither benefit from global naval militarization, from the illegal fishing and dumping in Somali waters or the piracy of merchant vessels, nor from the booming insurance business or the exorbitant ransom-, risk-management- or security industry, while neither the protection of the sea, the development of fishing communities or the humanitarian assistance to abducted seafarers and their families is receiving the required adequate attention, care and funding.

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” George Orwell

EA ILLEGAL FISHING AND DUMPING HOTLINE: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) – email: somalia[at]ecoterra.net
EA Seafarers Assistance Programme EMERGENCY HELPLINE : SMS to +254-738-497979 or sms/call +254-733-633-733

“The pirates must not be allowed to destroy our dream !”
Cpt. Florent Lemaçon – F/Y Tanit – killed by French commandos – 10. April 2009 / Ras Hafun
NON A LA GUERRE – YES FOR PEACE
(Inscription on the sail of F/Y TANIT – shot down on day one of the French assault)

“… obligation to fight oppression and cruelty wherever it appears, and that any group of people who are degrading another group of people have to be fought against with whatever tools we have available to us. “
B. H. Obama – US-American President, who said also: The world has changed ! YES, WE CAN !

CLEARING-HOUSE: Cut out the clutter – focus on facts !

BREAKING:

Sea-jacked dhow free

MSV NEFYA (aka NEFEYA), an Indian motorized cargo-dhow, has been freed and is heading to Mukalla in Yemen in order to take fuel on her way back to Sharjia (UAE).

The killing of one crew member in the sea-jacking episode, reported earlier via EU NAVFOR, could so far not be confirmed.

The in total 14 Indian crew are accounted for and all right, though vessel-equipment and -supplies as well as personal belongings had been looted. The Indian owner is based in the United Arab Emirates to where the vessel will return.

Pirates seized the Nefya on Saturday and then used it to launch a failed attack two days later on the 265,000-tonne, Liberian-flagged oil tanker VLCC A Elephant. The sea-shifta thereafter abandoned the vessel, which they misused as mothership.

Meanwhile EU NAVFOR confirmed and stated: “At 3:30 this morning (0030 GMT, 0600 hrs IST) the pirates who were holding the Indian dhow…abandoned the ship…and sped off to the Somali coast,” the European naval force Atalanta said.

“It has been confirmed that all 14 crew are safe and well,” it said in a statement. It added that the ship was left 15 nautical miles off the north-east Somali coast in an area naval forces call the piracy “hot zone”.

News from sea-jackings, abductions, newly attacked ships and vessels in distress

Hijacked Ship’s Crew Ailing
By Gitonga Marete

Crew members of a vessel hijacked by Somali pirates three months ago are “ailing” and short of supplies according to a regional seafarers’ assistance organisation that monitors piracy operations off the coast of Somalia.

The East Africa Seafarers Assistance Programme yesterday reported that the 24 crew members are “desperate”, with no drinking water, food and medication.

The organization’s coordinator Andrew Mwangura said talks on how a ransom would be paid before the release of the vessel were ongoing.

“Negotiations between the pirates and the Hamburg based ship owner, Leonhardt & Blumberg are progressing,” Mr Mwangura said, but added that the negotiators might be dealing with the wrong people who are out for a cut of the ransom.

“The pirates originally demanded $15 million ransom but reports from the ground say that pirates wanted to be paid between 2.5 and $3 million. The owner could be talking to the wrong people,” he said.

The 20,000-tonne container vessel was hijacked about 400 miles off the southern Somali port of Kismayu on April 4 on its way to Mombasa. Her crew members are composed of five Germans, 14 Filipinos, three Russians and two Ukrainians.

Mr Mwangura said three weeks after the vessel was hijacked, special troops from the German Federal Police prepared to storm the ship and free the hostages. Two hundred German anti-terror specialists practised the operation on board the navy ship USS Boxer less then fifty nautical miles away from the ship, he said. “But before German interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in Berlin gave the go-ahead for the operation, US national security advisor James Jones in Washington called off the operation, saying it was too risky,” he added.

Maritime experts say pirates have gone on the offensive once more after a month’s “ceasefire” – during which the monsoon winds deterred their operations since they use twin engine skiffs – hijacking two ships at the weekend and attacking an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

However, the presence of navies deployed by the international community under the EU banner has also contributed to reduced attacks by the pirates.

Abducted female maritime officer Aysun Akbay contacts family
By marinelog.com

Aysun Akbay, the 24 year old fourth officer of the hijacked Turkish-flag ship Horizon-1, today contacted her family via satellite phone, reports the Anatolia news agency.

Ms. Akbay called her sister’s mobile phone and asked her family to convince the owner of the ship to pay the ransom demanded by the pirates, her father Ozcan Akbay is quoted as saying. His daughter reportedly said that the pirates asked for ransom from the ship’s owner, but “representatives of the company told them that the ransom was too high and they could not pay such an amount.”

Meantime,it appears that Ms. Akbay is not the first female ship’s officer to be held by Somali pirates.

Among 11 Romanian seafarers aboard the German-owned MV Victoria, seized on May 5, is Ruxandra Sarchizian, a deck officer. Also among the hostages is her father, Hartin Sarchizian, described as the ship’s chief mechanic,

Ecoterra, a non-governmental organization with a presence in Somalia, says that a female Philippine citizen is also being held aboard another hijacked vessel.

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 15 foreign vessels (14 if M/S IO EXPLORER is truly “gone”) with a total of not less than 214 crew members are accounted for (of which 44 are confirmed to be Filipinos) and are held in Somali waters. They are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. MV JAIKUR 1 remains in Mogadishu harbor, but is an insurance and not a piracy case – all foreign crew was evacuated. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) had been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. presently held ones) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 148 attacks (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 47 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as at least three wrongful attacks (incl. one friendly fire incident) on the side of the naval forces. 111 Somalis are held in foreign prisons under charges of piracy. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures. Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season in winter and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon season starting from mid February and early April every year.

Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: GoA: YELLOW IO: YELLOW (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but very likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = possible, Green = unlikely). Allegedly still/again three groups from Puntland alone are out hunting on the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean, where also groups from Harardheere have set out again, despite the heavy seas and the rough weather.

Directly piracy related reports

Piracy on the rise along Somali coastline
By Patrick Mayoyo for the Kenyan Daily Nation

Piracy along the dreaded Somali coastline increased by a whooping 880 per cent from January to June this year compared to the same period last year the latest report released on Wednesday indicates.

The report released by the International Chamber of Commerce ‘s International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia also shows that Kenya recorded a single piracy incident during the period under review while Tanzania recorded five cases. [N.B.: These figures were, however, disputed at a recent conference in Mombasa. Many cases seem to go unreported for different reasons in different regions.]

The report shows that piracy attacks along the Somali coast increased from five between January and June last year to 44 during the same period this year representing a more than 880 increase.

However, the highest piracy incidents globally totalling 100 were reported in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea region while Nigeria reported 13 cases.

The report adds that worldwide, piracy attacks more than doubled to 240 from 114 during the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2008.

“As in the last quarterly report, the rise in overall numbers is due almost entirely to increased Somali pirate activity off the Gulf of Aden and east coast of Somalia, with 86 and 44 incidents reported respectively,” the report said.

The year’s second quarter saw 136 reports of piracy compared with 104 in the first three months of 2009, an increase of almost a third.

The highest number of piracy incidents globally were recorded during the month of April where 54 cases were reported while during the same period, a total of 561 crew members were held hostage, six killed and 19 injured.

The vessels attacked by pirates included bulk carriers, container and general cargo ships, oil and gas tankers, fishing vessels, yachts, passenger and motor vehicle carriers.

During the same period a total of 78 vessels were boarded worldwide, 75 vessels fired upon and 31 vessels hijacked.

The IMB Director Captain Pottengal Mukundan said the presence of navies in the Gulf of Aden from several countries have made it difficult for pirates to hijack vessels and has led them to seek new areas of operation such as the southern Red Sea and the east coast of Oman, where Somali pirates are believed to be responsible for a spate of recent attacks.

The report adds that attacks off the eastern coast of Somalia had decreased in recent months after peaking in March and April, with no attacks reported in June but the Piracy Reporting Centre attributed the decline in piracy attacks to heavy weather associated with the monsoons that are expected to continue into August.

The centre said vigilance should nevertheless remain high during this period.

Twenty-two Somali men appeared before a court in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Wednesday to face charges of piracy and attempted piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Prosecutors told the court the defendants were handed over to Yemen after they were arrested in two groups by Indian and Russian Navy ships in the Gulf of Aden in December 2008 and February 2009.

They said that 12 of the suspects were arrested by an Indian warship on December 13 after they commandeered a Yemeni fishing dhow in the Gulf of Aden and took 12 Yemeni fishermen hostage. According to the charge sheet, the suspects used the boat to attack an Ethiopian merchant vessel about 160 nautical miles east of the Aden port before they were captured.

The other 10 suspects were captured by a Russian Navy ship on February 12 as they attempted to attack an Iranian fishing ship off the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean, prosecutors said. Ten pieces of artillery were also seized. All the defendants denied the charges against them. Under the Yemeni Counter-Abduction Law, the defendants could receive jail sentences ranging from five to 10 years if convicted. A Yemeni lawyer defending the 22 suspects said the charges were “fake” and that the defendants were merely fishermen. The court adjourns their prosecution to October 7, following the end of the annual vacations of judges in Yemen.

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden has surged in recent months as Somalia descends further into chaos and the ineffectual central government continues to squabble rather than govern.

Yemen Government on spin while counting piracy losses

Yemen’s losses due to soaring piracy have been estimated at $ 350 million, including $ 200 million suffered by fishermen and $ 150 million suffered by the government, the governmental news agency Saba reported.

An official document noted that maritime piracy off Somalia caused a stop to fishing in some areas in the pirate-plagued Gulf of Aden, brining the losses of Yemeni fishermen.

Other losses are related to insurance on ships against piracy including Yemeni vessels.

Yemen has been assuming the responsibility for securing the waterways in the region, bearing, despite its fragile economy, funds to enhance the readiness of its marine forces through establishing security centers along its coast and buying boats at more than $ 150 million.

Piracy off Somalia’s coast continued to soar this year, with pirates stepping up their attacks to reach 126 incidents including 29 vessels which were already hijacked with 472 crew members onboard taken as hostages, while, 40 suspected pirates were sized, some of whom have already been on trial.

Yemen has adopted the idea to establish a Sana’a-based regional anti-piracy center, a topic which was discussed at a regional conference on security of the Gulf of Aden and the IORARC meeting. The idea gained support from regional countries and countries which took part in the two events.

But all this drumming is to get more “security-dollars” from donors or to waive debts – like the costs for military spendings to purchase Russian weapons-technology -, while hardly anything is done to curb the Yemen-originated part of the piracy menace, the abductions and killings of foreigners in Yemen or the battles between the ruling elite and the clans, which is seriously under-reported.

Anti-piracy measures

Puntland is a Reconciliation Model for a New Somalia

Keynote Speech Delivered by H.E. Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud (Farole) – President of Puntland, Somalia

Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people and Government of the United Kingdom for the hospitality and generosity they extended to Somali refugees fleeing civil war since the late 1980s.

I would like to make remarks about the situation in Somalia from a historical perspective with a realistic analysis of today’s quagmire.

I was elected the President of Puntland on January 8, 2009, in an orderly election held in Garowe, the capital of Puntland State in northeastern Somalia. This was a peaceful and transparent election held inside Somalia. The smooth transition of power from one President to the next President was a genuine practice of democratic principles in a part of the world where elections are often uncommon and at times violent.

Puntland is a stable part of Somalia. Since its establishment in 1998, Puntland has strived to help Somalia recover the collapsed nation-state by investing massively in terms of manpower, property and financial resources. Puntland opted for a federal government structure in 1998, followed by the 2004 signing of the Transitional Federal Charter, where Somalia officially adopted federalism as a national government system. Somalia has undergone periods of political upheaval in part due to the lack of a cohesive political system that respects and upholds local customs and Islamic principles and values, while conforming to international standards.

The Somali Collapse (post-1991)

The complete disintegration and political collapse of the Somali nation-state in 1991 was preceded by growing symptoms of social hardship, political confusion and blunders, and catastrophic policy failures in almost every sector of governance, as well as overall economic and security breakdown. The impact of the Somali political collapse reverberated beyond the borders of this East African country.

Somalis have fled to virtually every corner of the globe. Somalia’s immediate neighbors, including Kenya and Ethiopia, have struggled to cope with the hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees seeking safety and shelter from conflict and drought. The relative stability in Puntland State has attracted displaced peoples fleeing violence in the south-central regions since 1991.

The political collapse of Somalia has had ramifications for Somalia, the Horn of Africa region and the world as a whole. By definition, Somalia is a “failed state” because the country has not had a functioning national government since Gen. Barre’s departure in 1991. The ensuing national disorder and displacement dramatically shifted the social and political landscape of Somalia as a whole. Some regions became self-declared independent republics, like Somaliland in northwest Somalia. Other regions opted for self-rule and self-determination, but chose to remain part of a new model for Somalia. While some communities preserved their territory and properties, other communities were overpowered and subjected to clan-based militia rule – at times cruel and unreasonable.

Social relations among Somalis have been deteriorating during the years leading up to the eruption of the civil war. Clan tensions and hostilities were at first rare and nonpolitical, but as time progressed and the military dictatorship tightened its grip on power, clan militias were formed to fight against Gen. Barre’s military regime. The following cycle of violence pitted Somalis against Somalis, strictly divided along clan lines as tensions erupted into violent hostilities and relatives and neighbors transformed into enemies. The ensuing violence of 1991 to 1992 was undocumented, but without a question the worst round of violence during the ongoing Somali civil war, when entire communities were uprooted from their homes and subjected to clan-based cleansing. Somali clans lost trust and confidence in both the government and each other. However, despite this difficult history, it is critical that Somalis forgive each other for past grievances and look forward to creating a new and brighter future.

The impact on the Somali economy has been devastating to say the least. Global markets where Somalia exported its products became disconnected due to the civil war. Public funds and property were looted beyond recognition. Somali entrepreneurs were forced to find new sources of import and formulate a new export paradigm, given that the country no longer had a functioning central government with ability to regulate the market. In short, the civil war led to complete political and economic chaos. But I believe it is fair to say that the economy generally did better than the politics, mainly because the Somali business community developed inter-related networks and partnerships that transcended regional and clan affiliations.

Somalia cannot be reinstituted or re-imagined in the old way. This is a country whose citizens have brutalized each other for the past 20 years. The wounds of war are still fresh in the hearts and minds of many, including the young generation that has grown up in a chaotic and violent way of life. Our duty is not only to rebuild the Somali nation-state, but it is to re-stitch together the fabric of Somali society and restore trust. Perhaps, this is the most daunting of all challenges.

The Failure of Centralism (1960-1991)

Between Somalia’s independence in 1960 and the eruption of civil war in 1991, Mogadishu served as the national capital which received a disproportionate amount of government funding. Mogadishu was turned into a “city-state” while much of the rest of the country was neglected, especially Puntland State. National politics in the years following independence was largely defined by an emotional zeal and drive to re-unite all Somali-speaking populations in the Horn of Africa region. This drive – known commonly as pan-Somalism or Greater Somalia – led to decades of open hostilities between Somalia and its immediate neighbors, namely Kenya and Ethiopia, both of which have large territories inhabited by ethnic Somalis. This policy of irredentism combined with the investment of a “city-state” in Mogadishu marked the key failures of centralism in Somalia and the beginning of self-ruled regions.

Successive governments in Somalia invested massively in Mogadishu and neighboring regions in terms of education,healthcare, employment opportunities, and infrastructure development.While much of Somalia remained rural and at times inaccessible, Mogadishu was well-built and once considered one of the most beautiful capitals in East Africa. Students from other regions of Somalia had to travel to Mogadishu for exams or access to higher education like the Somali National University. Everything from passports to medical tests to jobs was largely concentrated in Mogadishu, giving the capital an unfair advantage over all other regions of Somalia.

It is worth mentioning that the state’s economic infrastructure was also concentrated in Mogadishu and the southern regions. One key exception would be the international airport and port facility in Berbera, a coastal city in present-day Somaliland region. There were major ports constructed in Mogadishu and Kismayo, and jetties in Merka and Barawe towns. Airports were in Mogadishu, Kismayo, Baidoa and Baledogle, all located in the southern regions and within a 750km range of each other. There were light industries concentrated in southern towns like Jowhar, Balcad, Marerey, Afgoye and Kismayo.

Comparatively, the Puntland regions did not receive much assistance from successive Somali governments. Three projects are worthy of being mentioned here: 1) the construction of a small port in the Gulf of Aden city of Bossaso; 2) the completion of a 800-km paved road which connects Puntland’s main towns from Galkayo to Bossaso; and 3) the construction of a fish factory in Puntland’s coastal town of Las Qorey. The latter is a reflection of the Puntland people’s historic fishing culture, which is now threatened by the piracy phenomenon. Furthermore, there was not a single tarmac runway airport constructed in Puntland, a region that is approximately one-third of surface land in Somalia.

The military dictatorship era solidified the restrictions of centralism and further alienated Somalis outside Mogadishu. By nature, Somalis are a decentralized society that has been traditionally led by various clan chiefs and local customs (xeer). This is the primary reason that clan-based Somali rebels began a bloody insurgency against Gen. Barre’s military regime in the early late 1970s; the campaign to overthrow the military dictatorship first began in Mudug and Nugal regions, both located in present-day Puntland State. The military regime’s brutal response to rebel attacks in the early 1980s was organized violence against civilians targeted for being associated with clan rebel leaders. The violence further alienated major clan groups from the Gen. Barre regime, leading to the formation of other clan militias in regions like Somaliland and the south. Somalis overthrew the military dictatorship in part because of abhorrence for a highly centralized government that completely ignored the participation of various communities in the political process.

Federalism: Antidote to Civil War

Somalia is a single country inhabited by a single ethnic group. However, there are clan distinctions and the different clans inhabit traditional lands in different regions of Somalia, where the land is owned by the community and therefore each clan has claims to a particular piece of land in the country. This land distribution has shifted at times, but was in place long before the arrival of European colonizers.

Since Somalis are a decentralized society, self-rule is a key factor in the restoration of the nation-state in a new political paradigm. The clan-based society with its unique chiefs and customs cannot all be placed together under a single order imposed from above. Such a formula is a recipe for failure and will ultimately lead to disaster. The new political paradigm must show respect for the distinctive qualities of Somali socio-political culture. As such, centralism cannot work.

The alternative is a federal government structure for Somalia. Federalism protects the unique characteristics of the culture, while upholding the powers of a national government that can direct Somalia towards a new, stable future.

Puntland is a role model state for a future Federal Republic of Somalia. The political system in Puntland blends modern-day democratic principles with cultural customs and Islamic values to ensure that the rights of communities are well-protected. Puntland wishes to remain part of a future Federal Somalia and has fully endorsed Somali peace conferences since 1991. However, Puntland is not willing to compromise its hard-won stability and progress for any political system short of federalism. Puntland is committed to federalism as the only viable solution to the Somali civil war.

In Puntland State, social re-integration has achieved a measure of success unmatched in the rest of Somalia. Puntland society has overcome much adversity and animosity – whether among each other or with outside clans. In the early 1990s, Puntland people faced an Islamist uprising led by local youth, which caused much bloodshed and havoc throughout the State. At the end, however, the State’s religious leaders, traditional elders, politicians and intellectuals, collectively spearheaded a grassroots community reconciliation process that resulted with a peaceful resolution to the conflict. That process led to success because all actors were included and the interests of the State and the common good superseded the interests of select individuals who could have benefited from continuation of conflict.

Today, Puntland is stronger for its experience in Somalia’s post-collapse era. The lessons learned from war for the people of Puntland is that violence will only bring destruction. The 2009 election in Puntland was an exercise of the people’s democratic ambitions and yearning for progress. The peace-loving people of Puntland have rights to live in a safe world, find jobs to take care of their families, and enjoy a life of peace and prosperity. Remarkable advances have been made in the fields of peace and governance, but much more needs to be accomplished to keep Puntland the role model state for a New Somalia.

Symptoms of a Greater Tragedy

Somalia today is renowned as a place of political violence and crimes, such as terrorism and piracy. It must be underscored that such crimes are products of state collapse. When Somalia had an effective national government, the country was a responsible member of the international community. There were no crimes on the scale of today where public safety has hit an all-time low, especially in the south-central regions, including Mogadishu.

We believe that four key factors have contributed to the continuation of this tragedy: 1) the lack of a legitimate unifying authority; 2) the excessive availability of guns across Somalia; 3) the lack of educational and employment opportunities for youth; and 4) the international community’s inability to properly address the Somali crisis by empowering genuine stakeholders.

The insurgent groups causing turmoil in parts of south-central Somalia, with concentration in Mogadishu, pose serious security risks to Puntland and beyond. It would be a foolish miscalculation for the international community to stand idle as the insurgents overrun Mogadishu.

Puntland has played a pro-active role in ensuring internal security in order to defend against the spread of extremism emerging from the bloodbath in the south-central Somalia. In this regard, Puntland is a buffer zone against the spread of political violence towards its neighbors – namely, the Somaliland region in northwest Somalia, the Somali Regional State of eastern Ethiopia, and the Republic of Yemen across the Gulf of Aden.

But containing political violence cannot be limited to military means. Puntland has achieved a degree of self-government and relative stability because of the close connection between the government and the public. The people of Puntland are aware of the serious threats and consequences emanating from the south-central regions. Therefore, Puntland people are committed to helping their own elected government defend itself against insurgent groups who wish to spread the mayhem and self-destruction in south-central Somalia towards the stable region of Puntland and beyond.

A combination of democratic reforms and development projects is the best way to fight against extremists. Their war is not limited only to the use of violent force. The extremists have infiltrated the minds of the young and vulnerable and have injected a heavy dose of false visions without national or regional political agenda.

The problem of piracy is a product of the Somali civil war. Pirate attacks off the Somali coast have contributed to the overall insecurity in Somalia and aggravated economic hardship, including the livelihoods of coastal communities. Pirate attacks are not limited to the hijacking of foreign-owned vessels alone. For example, pirates hijacked a merchant ship last week moments after it left the Port of Bossaso, in Puntland State. Such attacks are a threat to Puntland’s lifeline trade link to the outside world. The piracy problem is mainly concentrated in Puntland due to its strategic location along the shores of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, a vital international maritime trade route where an estimated 20,000 vessels pass through each year. The policy of the Government of Puntland is strictly not to pay ransom money to pirates, because ransom payments help fuel future pirate attacks and attract new recruits.

The Puntland Government is committed to fighting and defeating pirates. Currently, the piracy problem is being addressed in two different ways simultaneously: 1) by empowering the Puntland police and courts to apprehend and sentence active pirates; 2) and by directly engaging community leaders such as traditional elders and Islamic scholars to conduct an educational and spiritual campaign to discourage new recruits, convince active pirates to quit and help rehabilitate former pirates.

Foreign warships off the Somali coast cannot fight the pirates alone. It is a fact that pirate attacks are organized on land and therefore targeting pirates on the ground will be a crucial part of the anti-piracy effort, for which Puntland requires assistance. Furthermore, strengthening cooperation between international naval warships (including NATO) and local authorities (especially Puntland) in order to gather and share intelligence, isolate pirate targets and prevent future piracy attacks is instrumental in defeating piracy.

We believe that finding a permanent solution to the piracy problem is linked in part to finding a political settlement for Somalia.

Lastly, it must be emphasized that Puntland has been developing socially, economically and politically since the outbreak of the Somali civil war in 1991, when hundreds of thousands of people who were displaced from Mogadishu and originally from the Puntland regions returned home to begin reconstructing new lives. These families brought skills and expertise to their new home in Puntland, for example, helping transform Bossaso from a coastal town in 1991 to today’s bustling port city that supplies not only Puntland, but as far as parts of Somaliland, south-central Somalia and the Somali Regional State of eastern Ethiopia. There is great cooperation between the Puntland Government, the public and the business community. For instance, a public-private partnership is now building a general hospital in Bossaso and improving road safety by establishing traffic signs along the 800km-long stretch of paved road.

However, much needs to be done to help Puntland reach its full potential. There is a very high unemployment rate, recurrent droughts and overall infrastructural under-development. But there are plenty of investment opportunities in Puntland, including developing the livestock and fisheries sectors, light industries and exploitation of natural resources.

Next group of Korean anti-piracy troops to depart for Somali waters: Navy
By Sam Kim

A South Korean destroyer will leave Thursday for waters off the Somali coast to replace a 300-strong naval unit that has operated there as part of a multinational anti-piracy drive, the Navy said.

The 4,500-ton Dae Jo Yeong will take over from the Munmu the Great destroyer, which has escorted South Korean vessels in the Gulf of Aden since April and conducted six rescue operations.

The 300-crew destroyer is expected to join the U.S.-led Combined Task Force in the region in mid-August, according to the South Korean Navy.

“The next group of Cheonghae unit soldiers is to depart Thursday for the Gulf of Aden from Jinhae port” located on South Korea’s southern coast, the Navy said in a release.

Approximately 500 South Korean ships ply the Gulf of Aden each year. About 150 of them are vulnerable to pirate attacks because of their low speed, according to the ministry.

Somalia has not had a functional government since its dictator was overthrown by warlords in 1991. Poverty has driven a large number of locals to piracy, and black market sales of weapons run rampant.

The Dae Jo Yeong was commissioned in 2003 and can travel at a maximum speed of 29 knots.

[N.B.: Illegal South Korean fishing vessels in Somali Waters are notorious and recently obviously even protected by the South-Korean Navy]

The Horn Armada (status July 12, 2009)
5th Fleet Focus: Order of Battle
Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)
USS Chancellorsville (CG 62)
USS Decatur (DDG 73)
USS Howard (DDG 83)
USS Gridley (DDG 101)
USS Thach (FFG 43)

Bataan Amphibious Ready Group
USS Bataan (LHD 5)
USS Ponce (LPD 15)
USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43)

EU NAVFOR
SPS Numancia (F83) (Flagship)
SPS Marques de la Ensenada (A-11)
HS Nikiforos Fokas (F466)
FGS Rheinland-Pfalz (F 209)
FGS Brandenburg (F 215)
FGS Emden (F 210)
FGS Berlin (A 1411)
FS Nivose (F 732)
FS Aconit (F713)
ITS Maestrale (F570)
HMS Malmö (K12)
HMS Stockholm (K11)
HMS Trossö (A264)

Combined Task Force 150
PNS Tipu Sultan (F185)
HMS Cumberland (F85)
RFA Wave Knight (A389)
HMS Cumberland (F85)
FS Marne (A 630)
FS Commandant Bouan (F797)
HMAS Toowoomba (FFH 156)
HMS Al Dammal (816) (RSNF)
JS Akebono (DD 108)
JS Tokiwa (AOE 423)

NATO Allied Mission Protector
HMS Cornwall (F99)
HS Navarinon (F461)
ITS Libeccio (F572)
TCG Gediz (F-495)
USS Laboon (DDG 58)

Combined Task Force 151
USS Anzio (CG 68)
USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1)
PNS Badr (D184)
ROKS Munmu the Great (DDH 976)
TCG Gaziantep (F-490)
RSS Persistence (209)

In Theater Ocean 6
ITS San Giorgio (L9892)
KD Sri Inderapura (L1505)
INS Talvar (F40)
INS Brahmaputra (F31)
HMS Makkah (814) (RSNF)
HMS Al Dammal (816) (RSNF)
RBNS Sabha (FFG 90)
PLAN Shenzhen (DD 167)
PLAN Huangshan (FFG 570)
PLAN Weishanhu (A887)
USS James E Williams (DDG 95)
USS Scout (MCM 8)
USS Gladiator (MCM 11)
USS Ardent (MCM 12)
USS Dexterous (MCM 13)
USS Typhoon (PC 5)
USS Sirocco (PC 6)
USS Chinook (PC 9)
USS Firebolt (PC 10)
USS Whirlwind (PC 11)
USCGC Baranof (WPB 1318)
USCGC Maui (WPB 1304)
USCGC Adak (WPB 1333)
USCGC Aquidneck (WPB 1309)
USCGC Wrangell (WPB 1332)
USCGC Monomoy (WPB 1326)
HMS Atherstone (M38)
HMS Chiddingfold (M37)
HMS Grimsby (M108)
HMS Pembroke (M107)
USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7)
USNS Walter S. Diehl (T-AO 193)
USNS Catawba (T-ATF 168)
RFA Diligence (A132)
RFA Cardigan Bay (L3009)
JS Sazanami (DD-113)
JS Samidare (DD 106)

http://www.informationdissemination.net/search/label/5th%20Fleet%20Order%20of%20Battle

5th Fleet Order of Battle

No real peace in sight yet

Islamist Forces Sent to Mogadishu

The Islamic administration of Bardere town in Gedo region have said on Tuesday that they sent more forces to Mogadishu, just day after heavy fighting between the transitional government troops and Islamist forces in the capital.

The Islamic administration officials said that they deployed more fighters to Mogadishu to join other forces in the capital to take part the fighting between the Islamist forces and government soldiers backing by the African Union troops AMISOM which is going on the Mogadishu.

Abdiwahab Xashi Hassan, a chairman of the Bardere administration told Shabelle radio that they had decided to assault the TFG and foreign troops to take over the control of the small areas they are in the capital pointing out that some of the fighters had left from parts of Gedo and Middle Jubba regions in the south of the country and reached Mogadishu declining to mention the number.

“The fighting continuing in Mogadishu is Jihad (an Islamic war) against the aggression and the enemy of Allah,” Abdiwahab said.

There has been a military movement in parts of Gedo region as Balad-Hawo, Luq, and Bardere towns in southern Somalia in over the past few days.

The statement of Bardere town leader comes as there has been heavy fighting between the Islamist forces and government soldiers with AMISOM forces in the north of capital that caused more casualties of deaths, injuries and loss properties.

Islamist rebels holding French hostages
By Abdi Guled for Reuters

One of Somalia’s militant Islamist rebel groups was holding two French security men on Wednesday after receiving them from abductors linked to the government, police said.

Gunmen from an Islamist faction within President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s security forces seized the two in a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday, then handed them to Hizbul Islam insurgents, senior police officer Abdiqadir Odweyne told Reuters.

Hizbul Islam was now arguing over the Frenchmen’s fate with another militant rebel group, al Shabaab, whom western security services view as al Qaeda’s proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state that has been mired in conflict since 1991.

“Al Shabaab wants to take the Frenchmen from Hizbul Islam, they are on the verge of fighting,” said Odweyne.

“Al Shabaab wants to kill the Frenchmen and Hizbul Islam refuses. The situation is not good.”

With the rebels battling government troops on a daily basis, Mogadishu is one of the most dangerous cities in the world and has a history of kidnappings of foreigners, mainly aid-workers and journalists. Hostages are normally released for ransom.

The Somali government said the two Frenchmen were posing as reporters while working as security consultants to train presidential security guards. Gunmen burst into a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday and went door-to-door until they found them.

The police officer, Odweyne, said a government minister with close links to the rebels was behind the abduction. City residents and a prominent NGO have repeated that allegation.

ANGER AT JOURNALIST GUISE

The government has not responded specifically to that accusation, but vowed to help ensure a quick release.

Somali Defense Minister Mohamed Abdi Gandi told Radio France Internationale the motives for the abduction were financial.

“We don’t know their names but we know their affiliation and their group,” he said. “These are people who are armed and who carry out kidnappings to demand ransoms, but these are not political kidnappings.

“There is some direct or indirect contact, we are going to try to use several means,” he said. The head of Paris-based Reporters without Borders, Jean-Francois Julliard, said it would be scandalous if it is true the two French agents had pretended to be journalists.

“If this is confirmed, it is shocking because these are official agents on a mission for the French government who have used the title of journalist as a cover,” he told Reuters.

“There are foreign journalists abducted almost every month, there is no need to add any more. Journalists are already in the line of fire in Somalia.”

Foreign correspondents in the region were similarly outraged at the idea the two Frenchmen would have posed as reporters. Only a very few correspondents still travel to Somalia, employing dozens of security guards when they do.

A more than two-year insurgency has killed at least 18,000 civilians and uprooted one million people in Somalia.

Captures of foreigners, however, generally garner world headlines in a way the daily death toll seldom does.

Sources close to the presidential palace suggest that Somali president Sharif Sheik Ahmed nominated a committee headed by Somali police commander General Abdi Hassan Qeibdeed to facilitate the release of the two French agents. Witnesses in Mogadishu said they saw heavily armed militias guarding a house in Wardhigley district in Mogadishu where the two were held hostage. The French miltary advisers had been abducted from Sahafi Hotel in Mohgadishu, where they has registered themselves as journalists.

Do we have Plan B in Somalia?
By THE OBSERVER – Uganda

Mogadishu is on fire. The radical Al-Shabaab rebels are closing in on the battered capital of Somalia. As a result, Ugandan soldiers who form the bulk of the African Union peace-keepers in the lawless horn of Africa country are in harm’s way. Three were reportedly killed last week, in addition to the dozen or so killed earlier.

There was no consensus in the country when the government decided to send troops to Somalia. Critics felt it was too risky a mission which Uganda could not afford, moreover at a time the country was facing its own insurgents in northern Uganda.

Besides, this was conceived as a peace-keeping mission but there was clearly no peace to keep in Somalia, which has had no central government since the early 1990s. Then there were allegations that this was actually a United States project with Uganda being used as a proxy. Such sticking issues perhaps explain why only Uganda volunteered to contribute troops, recently joined by a handful of soldiers from Burundi.

However, this background is now secondary. Our soldiers are in harm’s way in a foreign land, and it doesn’t make sense to dwell on “we told you”. Instead, we need practical solutions out of this predicament.

As a country, we need to discuss how feasible it is to “keep” peace in Somalia right now. Perhaps we should lobby for the amendment of the terms of engagement and opt for “peace enforcement”?

Besides, only 4,000 soldiers in a lawless country, appears to be optimistic at best and reckless at worst. What happened to other countries that pledged soldiers for this mission? Shouldn’t we consider cutting our losses and fly our soldiers home if the African Union [and the international community] has failed to meet its part of the bargain?

The Uganda Government ought to evaluate what it can possibly achieve in Somalia under the circumstances. For instance, does it make sense to keep protecting a government that has no chance of expressing itself as insurgents gain more ground every passing day?

Ugandans deserve assurances that these questions are being addressed one way or another, as soon as possible, because Somalia has become too dangerous for our soldiers.

Somalia to Recruit 6,000 Soldiers, 10,000 Police
By Sarah McGregor for Bloomberg

Somalia plans to recruit as many as 6,000 soldiers and 10,000 police officers, a more than five-fold increase, to help counter an Islamist insurgency, Nicolas Bwakira, head of the Africa Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, said.

Many of the 3,700 Somalis who had joined Somalia’s interim government’s armed forces have since defected and been absorbed by clan-militia groups, Bwakira told reporters today in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.

“It’s difficult to say how many officers remain because many of those trained have gone to clan militia,” Bwakira said. “We are now going to train national patriotic forces committed to the state of Somalia, not clans.” The new recruitment will take place within a year, he said.

Reforms of the armed forces and police should include better pay and a stronger command chain so officers aren’t tempted to break rank, Bwakira said.

Training camp started this month in bordering Djibouti and more will follow in the African nations of Botswana, South Africa, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, he said. Amisom expects its current force of 4,300 peacekeepers in Somalia from Burundi and Uganda to increase to 5,000 “very soon,” said Bwakira. Burundi has promised to send an extra battalion of soldiers, he said.

The Horn of Africa nation hasn’t had a functioning central administration since the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre, the former dictator, in 1991.

Vulnerable children hardest-hit in Mogadishu fighting

At only 14, Ali Hussein Sid is already the sole breadwinner of his family, his father having been killed in Somalia’s ongoing civil war and his mother seriously injured when a mortar landed on their home in the capital, Mogadishu.

As a shoe-shiner, Sid sometimes goes home empty-handed as customers are hard to come by in war-torn Mogadishu, where fighting between government troops and Islamist insurgents has been most intense in recent months.

“My family depends on what I make shining shoes in the city but sometimes I go back home without making a cent,” he told IRIN on 13 July. “I feel very alone when I am faced with a problem.”

The situation for orphaned and vulnerable children such as Sid is especially critical in Somalia as there is no government support and assistance for them.

The absence of a central government since the ousting of President Siad Barre in 1992 resulted in the collapse of the government’s support system for the vulnerable across the country.

Ahmed Dini, a civil society activist and member of Peace Line Group, a local NGO, said orphaned and vulnerable children had borne the brunt of Somalia’s 18-year civil war.

“A lot of the orphans and vulnerable children lost their parents in the ongoing violence,” Dini said. “They are among the people facing the hardest times in the whole country; in fact the most vulnerable people in the country now are the orphans as they were forced to flee from their homes yet they do not have fathers to be responsible for them.”

He said the numbers of children on the streets was continuing to rise as the conflict worsens.
Dini said the children just wanted a childhood. “When we talk to them, they want to go to school and play football. They basically want to be children.”

There is a new phenomenon of children taking care of other children “because both parents have died and there are no relatives to help”, Dini said.

He said the long civil war had eroded the social support network that sustained Somalis.

“The absence of [a] government structure is the greatest factor causing daily problems [for these children],” Dini said. “It would be good to get a strengthened institution that would care for young Somali orphans.”

Meanwhile, Sid continues to struggle to make ends meet in his home in Howl-Wadag district of Mogadishu.

“My father died last year and my mother was seriously injured when a heavy mortar landed on our old home,” Sid told IRIN. “No one cares about us. We need to go to school and we deserve to get our rights [just] as those children whose parents are alive.”

Sid appealed to the international community and Somalis in the diaspora to help orphaned and vulnerable children.

“I am requesting different relief organizations to assist us; my family and I are in a critical condition, we need help,” he said, adding that food and education were their most urgent needs.

Somali TV director arrested
By Shafici Mohyaddin Abokar

Police in Somalia have arrested Ibrahim Mohamed Hussein, the director of the internationally-popular Somali language TV channel, Universal Television.

A Universal TV journalist, who requested anonymity, told the Somali sports press association (SSPA) that the director was arrested three days ago and is being kept in custody where his condition is said to be deteriorating.

“Police told me that our director’s health is poor. He is being held in a small room deep down the ground,” the reporter said.

“It was on Monday when Somali police spokesman colonel Abdullsahi Hassan Barise called and told him that there is a case against him and asked him to come to the criminal investigation department to defend himself,” he added.

“We have no more details about why he was arrested but some officers told us that the director was accused of broadcasting secret films about the Somali military,” the journalist said.

Somali sports press association is demanding the unconditional release of Ibrahim Mohamed Hussein.

“This is an unjustifiable step and we are calling on the Somali government to free him,” Somali sports press association president Abdi Aziz Godah Barre said.

Somali police spokesman Colonel Barise was approached for a comment by the SSPA but did not say why they arrested the director.

Somalia is said to be the second most dangerous country for journalists to work in after Iraq, with six journalists killed this year.

Somali gov’t concerned about Swedish-Somalis radicalizing

Some Swedish-Somali youths are taking part in that African country’s civil war – now the Somali Justice Minister is visiting in order to discuss how to stop fighters travelling to Somalia from Sweden.

According to minister Abdirahman Janaqoo he is certain that almost ten people from Sweden have gone to fight in Somalia. Some are already dead, and others are prepared to fight to the death against his government.

The Justice Minister and two Somali members of parliament will meet representatives from the Swedish government and the Foreign Office and will discuss the radicalisation of the Swedish Somali community.

Impacting reports from the global village

Kenya coastal ‘port’ turns into smugglers’ paradise
By CCI Team for the Standard

The whispering palm and the mangrove trees, swaying in rhythm with the gentle breeze paint a picture of blissful serenity along the virgin beach.

The waves, lapping and taping at the base of the three-deck-fibre vessel crudely docked, complete the picture of a village where residents have no reason to double bolt their doors at night.

The Kenyan and Italian flags flap atop a powerful yacht, which too is docked less than 50 metres from the boat.

The yacht is docked against the backdrop of highly sophisticated equipment, which support a ultra modern space centre, San Marco project. San Marco acts as the eye for Europe, Asia and Africa, watching their airspace and launching satellites for interested countries. The facility is guarded by police who have a police post at the entrance.

Navy base

Towards the west about 100 metres away, partially hidden by the mangrove trees dotting the craggy shoreline lies a powerful government facility — Ngomeni Kenya Navy base.

The base is staffed with gallant soldiers who are supposedly always ready to defend their motherland.

But right under the noses of these highly trained and armed security agents from Kenya and Italy, and their long-range surveillance equipment, criminals have established an illegal port where they dock and offload their merchandise freely.

They have managed to effectively turn the sleepy village of Ngomeni into a resort for criminals.

Incidentally, some Kenya Revenue Authority officials now seem to recognise the port. The Immigration Department too has been forced to establish an office at the illegal port, overlooking the site where the boats docks.

When CCI visited the illegal port at Ngomeni recently, it was business as usual for the Kenyan and Somalia smugglers.

Here there are no cranes or forklifts to load and unload ships. This is the work of bare back casual labourers contracted when there is illegal cargo.

Ngomeni village is 20 kilometres from Malindi along Lamu Road and a further 10 kilometres off the highway.

Loading Of Ship

On this Friday afternoon, CCI finds a group of casuals loading a vessel just under the nose of immigration officials.

The vessel is anchored with two ropes tightly tied to crude pegs planted on the beach. The workers are breaking their backs under the watchful eye of their agent, Yusuf Abdi Majid.

“This vessel has been here for the last two days. We do not know what it brought ashore. It is not supposed to be here as there is no port here,” Fred Ogeto, a senior immigrations officer in Malindi explains looking helpless.

When CCI fishes for more answers, Majid rises from under the tree where he has been commanding the operation and approaches us.

“I am the agent for the boat. We came two days ago from Mdoa in Somalia. We brought fish here. We have sold it and will go back for more,” the agent explains.

He adds that the boat is one of the three owned by his brother, Haroun Omar, who at the time was in Mombasa.

He produces some documents allegedly issued by Kenya Revenue Authority in Malindi to prove that he just docked with seven tonnes of fish.

On its return journey, he says the boat is to carry six tonnes of ice. There is no Government official to ensure that the contents of the white USA branded bags are actually ice. Three years ago his group was allegedly at the centre of a scandal which saw shiploads of black market sugar, drugs and electronic goods smuggled into the country.

A witness recalls how the group would dock ship in the high seas near Ngomeni and then use small boats to bring the goods to the shore.

“They would bring in illegal aliens, sugar drugs and at times illegal weapons. They were well organised and employed as many as 100 labourers,” the source recalls.

Majid admits they were doing it, then shakes his head and laughs when asked whether they are still involved in smuggling and human trafficking. “Hayo maneno yaliisha kutoka wakati ule watu walikamatwa. Sisi twafanya biashara halali (this ended when some people were arrested. We now do legitimate business,” he says.

Illegal Docking

Majid’s explanations do not wash, even with the Immigration department.

“Since there is no port here, who has allowed you to dock? Where is your captain and your manifest?” Ogeto asks.

The agent explains that the captain, a Mr Suleiman Salim, has gone to Malindi to have a pump repaired. Our investigations established that Ngomeni continues to be a notorious port of entry for smugglers, arms and human traffickers and some terrorists.

It is the same port where eight years ago terrorists sneaked in explosives, which were later used to bomb a hotel in Kikambala, Mombasa on November 28, 2002.

A rocket missile aimed at an Israel aircraft, which had just landed at Moi International Airport, Mombasa, missed the target.

Villagers whisper in fear remembering how one of the suspects, Omar Said Omar sojourned at Ngomeni as he smuggled his arsenal for the Kikambala bombing.

In a worried conspiratorial voice, an elder who pleads for anonymity told CCI: “This man stayed there for three days. He then left for Kismayu where he married a local girl before he relocated.”

Although he was acquitted of the bomb attack, Omar was convicted for illegally smuggling two SAM-7 “Sterla” missiles and sentenced to serve nine years.

Residents who did not want to be quoted fearing reprisals said the security situation at the illegal port has not improved.

Our informant pleads: “Please, if you want to see me again do not divulge my names. These are dangerous people. They can come for me any time.”

Terrorists are believed to have used the same route to smuggle the materials for the deadly 2000-pound bomb, which was used in the US Embassy in Nairobi in 1998 killing 219 people.

Despite this, the Government is yet to intensify security at the port.

Regrettably, the local provincial administration, immigration and some security officers agree security surveillance has not improved in Ngomeni.

The Italian Consul stationed at Malindi, Mr Roberto Macri says: “Our equipment has not detected these illegal activities as we concentrate on satellite and meteorological issues.”

Area residents say most ships dock near Ngomeni at night. Small boats are then dispatched to fetch the illegal aliens.

“That boat over there can carry as many as 300 people. Once they land, the agent organises transport from Ngomeni to Malindi and Mombasa through buses and lorries,” a source confides pointing at a vessel docked on the shores.

Human Trafficking Centre

“For a long time, Ngomeni has been the nerve centre of illegal activities in this area. A lot of smuggling and human trafficking takes place here,” Ogeto explains.

He says this is the reason the Immigration Department has established an office at Ngomeni.

“We have no plans of issuing papers to the night boat travellers. Surely how do you recognise travel documents from Somalia. We will round them up and hand them over to the police,” Ogeto explains.

So far only two immigration officers, have been posted to keep vigil over the leaking port.

“We do not have speed boats so we cannot patrol the beach. Even if we sight smugglers, we cannot match their fire power,” a security officer told CCI.

Malindi OCPD, Peter Kattam confirms that Ngomeni has been used in smuggling of aliens.

“Since January, we have arrested 28 aliens who sneaked into the country through Ngomeni. They have all been charged and are serving their sentences in Kenyan jails,” he says.

He adds out of those nabbed, Somalia with 23 aliens recorded the highest number, followed by Uganda and Seychelles with two each, while Ethiopia had one case.

He laments that they have no speedboats to patrol the ocean.

The area DC Arthur Mugira too is unhappy with the notoriety Ngomeni has gained over the years.

Recently during a baraza in the area, the DC told residents: “Some of you are assisting these aliens to acquire Kenyan papers.”

The aliens, the DC warned, are a national security threat.

“We have reliable information that these aliens come at night and some of you assist them. I have instructed chiefs to interrogate all suspected aliens and hand them over to the police,” the DC warned.

And as the Government watches helplessly, besides continuing with their unscheduled nocturnal trips, the racketeers have decentralised some of their operations to other centres such as Mayunungu, Takaungu, Kinyaole and Mida.

French ambassador tells Kenya to end impunity
By Mehret Tesfaye

Kenya should end impunity to avoid reoccurrence of post-election violence and attract foreign investors, the French Ambassador to Kenya Elizabeth Barbier has said.

Speaking during the French National Day (Bastille Day) celebrations yesterday Ms Barbier said undertaking fundamental reforms is the only way to ensure stability.

The ambassador said: “If Kenya wants to make sure the terrible events of last year never happen again, there is only one way: fundamental reforms — not only process but progress and results. An end must be put to impunity. It is not easy but it is the only way to ensure long-term stability”.

Barbier said France and other European Union members are ready to help Kenya stabilise.

Justice for victims

Prime Minister Raila Odinga who was expected to grace the occasion failed to turn up as he was held in a Cabinet meeting.

Speaking during the celebrations, Assistant Minister for Trade Omingo Magara said all is not lost for Kenya despite the handing of Waki envelope to International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

The minister said: “Whether we settle for a local Tribunal or The Hague, what we want is justice for victims of post-election violence. We need to curb impunity for purposes of growth”.

He said proceeding with the trials would, in addition to ending impunity, deter would-be perpetrators of crimes against humanity.

“Hague was initiated by the Serena Team and, therefore, Government should not panic. Let perpetrators of violence face justice,” he added.

On the crisis in Somalia, the French Ambassador said Kenya and the international community should be worried of the “extremely worrying humanitarian and security situation”.

“This is a cause for deep concern for the International community and Kenya in particular,” she said.

Dead people on U.N. terrorism sanctions list: envoy
By Anupreeta Das for Reuters

Dozens of terrorism suspects remain on a U.N. sanctions list despite having likely died and information on others is so scant as to render their inclusion useless, a U.N. ambassador said on Tuesday.

These flaws make it tough to impose bans on people and companies on the list linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban, even as new threats emerge in countries like Somalia, said Thomas Mayr-Harting, who chairs the U.N. Security Council’s Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee.

Of 513 entries on the list, 38 people are reported or believed to be dead, Mayr-Harting, who is also Austria’s ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters.

“It is not the purpose of the list to contain dead people,” he said.

Taking the dead people’s names off the list requires consensus among all members, which slows the process, Mayr-Harting said. Relatives of the dead cannot access assets that were frozen until the names are struck off, he added.

A third of the entries are missing basic information, such as full names, dates of birth and other particulars. Without these details, police, border guards and financial institutions cannot freeze funds or ban travel, he added.

“Either you improve credibility by improving the list or by taking the names off,” he said.

A resolution adopted last year has helped the committee make the list more relevant to today’s threats. The committee is reviewing the list case by case and expects to weed out the irrelevant entries by the middle of next year, Mayr-Harting said.

The Security Council set up the committee, made up of all 15 members, in 1999 to impose sanctions on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan for its support of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The list now includes names of people and firms that have ties to the Taliban, al Qaeda and bin Laden.

The threat posed by them has grown dramatically since then but the sanctions list has not reflected the changes, Mayr-Harting said.

Somalia’s al Shabaab insurgents, whom the United States accuses of having close ties to al Qaeda, are not on the U.N. sanctions list, said Richard Barrett, coordinator of the U.N. Sanctions Monitoring Team.

“The links between the two (groups) clearly aren’t enough for the Council to add it to the list,” Barrett said.

Al Shabaab has made gains this year in its bid to overthrow the Western-backed transitional government of Somalia.

[N.B.: Most mainstream media have falsely reported on the listing of Al-Shabaab or other groups - it is high time that these lists are solidly reasoned, cleaned up and updated, if they shall be of any use. However, Somalia's Special Representative of the UNSG already had wanted that also people like Hassan Dahir Aweys are removed from the US list, because the listing actually would cause more harm than good to any reconciliation process. Let also nobody forget the historic perspective: The international combatants, who came to Spain in order to fight alongside the Spanish people against fascist Franco, would certainly be on any such terrorist-lists today and branded as insurgents.]

Spain: US Supercarrier Hosts NATO Head, 100 Top Military Chiefs by United States Navy

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Hosts North Atlantic Council Day at Sea

-”The U.S. Navy is really part of a global coalition of navies carrying out important missions all over the world from anti-piracy, counter-narcotics, deterrents, and strikes to exercises and training. All of those missions are really part of a global effort and the U.S. Navy fits terrifically in that,” said Stavridis.

-It was noted with interest that Stavridis, the first Admiral to assume the position of SACEUR, visited the aircraft carrier whose namesake was appointed the very first Supreme Allied Commander Europe in December 1950.

-”When I heard that, literally, the first operational thing I would do as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe would be to come to the decks of the ship named after the first SACEUR, I felt surprised and humbled,” explained Stavridis. “Standing here aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower makes me very proud of our U.S. Navy’s contribution to this larger, global effort, of which NATO is an extraordinary part.”

USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, At Sea: Nearly 100 senior military leaders, officials of the North Atlantic Council and Military Committee participated in the NAC at Sea Day aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, July 14.

This event, held annually, demonstrates the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’ s maritime capabilities to the assembled leadership.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to bring all the senior leadership of the North Atlantic Council – NATO’s governing body – out to visit USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and observe exactly how we do our mission,” said Rear Adm. Kurt W. Tidd, commander, Carrier Strike Group 8.

The embarked guests included the NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO Ambassadors and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe Admiral James Stavridis. SACEUR serves a dual role as the leader of all NATO military operations and Commanding Officer of U.S. European Command including the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet.

“The U.S. Navy is really part of a global coalition of navies carrying out important missions all over the world from anti-piracy, counter-narcotics, deterrents, and strikes to exercises and training. All of those missions are really part of a global effort and the U.S. Navy fits terrifically in that,” said Stavridis.

The embarked guests enjoyed an information brief, static displays and a pass and review from five ships from various navies. The distinguished group then moved to the flight deck via an aircraft elevator to observe an air power demonstration.

It was noted with interest that Stavridis, the first Admiral to assume the position of SACEUR, visited the aircraft carrier whose namesake was appointed the very first Supreme Allied Commander Europe in December 1950.

“When I heard that, literally, the first operational thing I would do as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe would be to come to the decks of the ship named after the first SACEUR, I felt surprised and humbled,” explained Stavridis. “Standing here aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower makes me very proud of our U.S. Navy’s contribution to this larger, global effort, of which NATO is an extraordinary part.”

This visit by the SACEUR and members of the NAC helps build relationships among members of the NATO Alliance nations and in turn promotes stability, crisis management and strategies for effective defense.

“Our maritime strategy is all about building partnerships with other maritime forces all around the world to provide security and stability in international waters,” said Tidd. “We have decades of experience working with our North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners at sea, and we’ve had an opportunity to develop all of the procedures that we use today and that we share now with partners all around the world.”

The Secretary General of NATO explained the important role the carrier strike group plays in NATO’s overall sea component mission.

“Carrier strike groups are in a position to do everything from projecting power to providing humanitarian assistance wherever it is necessary in the world,” said de Hoop Scheffer.

According to Stavridis, the entire Eisenhower Strike Group has helped promote the NATO mission during its 2009 deployment.

“The men and women of USS Eisenhower have been contributing wonderfully these last six months,” added Stavridis. “The eyes of the Navy are on the men and women of Eisenhower and we thank every single one of them for their extraordinary service. They’ve done a terrific job on this cruise, from everything to working with NATO to operational missions over Afghanistan – the performance of the entire Eisenhower Strike Group has been superb.”

The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is currently operating in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility after a regularly-scheduled five month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Maritime Security Operations.

From WW II To WW III: Global NATO And Remilitarized Germany
By Rick Rozoff

The reunification of Germany in 1990 did not signify a centripetal trend in Europe but instead was an anomaly. The following year the Soviet Union was broken up into its fifteen constituent federal republics and the same process began in Yugoslavia, with Germany leading the charge in hastening on and recognizing the secession of Croatia and Slovenia from the nation that grew out of the destruction of World War I and again of World War II.

Two years later Czechoslovakia, like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia a multiethnic state created after the First World War, split apart.

With the absorption of the former German Democratic Republic into the Federal Republic, which since 1949 had already claimed an exclusive mandate to govern all of Germany, the entire nation was now subsumed under a common military structure and brought into the NATO bloc.

Wasting no time in reasserting itself as a continental power, united Germany inaugurated its new claim as a geopolitical – and military – power by turning its attention to a part of Europe that it had previously visited in the two World Wars: The Balkans.

With military deployments and interventions in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia from at least as early as 1995-2001 onward, the German Bundeswehr had crossed a barrier, violated a taboo and established a new precedent that paralleled the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936, the latter in flagrant contravention of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Hitler’s sending the Wehrmacht into the Rhineland in that year has been observed by historians to have marked a decisive turning point in plans by the Third Reich towards territorial expansion and war. In fact, the standard argument runs, the provocation in 1936 made possible the next year’s bombing assault on the Spanish town of Guernica, the Munich betrayal of Czechoslovakia and the Anschluss takeover of Austria in 1938, the attack on Poland in 1939 and with it the beginning in earnest of a second European conflagration which wouldn’t end before some fifty million people had been killed.

The comparison between German military deployments in the Rhineland in 1936 and later ones in the Balkans in the 1990s will only appear extreme if the history of the years immediately following World War II are forgotten.

In the last of three meetings of the leaders of the major anti-Axis powers in the Second World War – Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States – in Potsdam, Germany after the defeat of the Third Reich, Winston Churchill [later replaced by his successor as prime minister, Clement Attlee], Joseph Stalin and Harry Truman met and discussed precise plans for Europe in general and Germany in particular for the post-war period.

The Potsdam Conference issued a Protocol which stipulated that there was to be “a complete disarmament and demilitarization of Germany” and all aspects of German industry that could be employed for military purposes were to be dismantled. Additionally, all German military and paramilitary forces were to be eliminated and the production of all arms in the nation was prohibited.

It is now evident in retrospect that two nations whose heads of state were present either had no plans at the time to adhere to the Potsdam Agreement or if so quickly abandoned them.

A British document from the months preceding the surrender of Nazi Germany in May of 1945 and the subsequent Potsdam Conference of July 17-August 2 called “Operation Unthinkable: ‘Russia: Threat to Western Civilization’ ” was declassified and made public in 1998. A photocopy of the Joint Planning Staff of the British War Cabinet report identified by the dates May 22, June 8, and July 11, 1945 is available for viewing on the website of Northeastern University in Boston at: http://www.history. neu.edu/PRO2/ pages/002. htm

“The overall political objective is to impose upon Russia the will of the United States and the British Empire.”

“A quick success might induce the Russians to submit to our will….That is for the Russians to decide. If they want total war, they are in a position to have it.”

A few years ago a Russian appraisal of the document would state “This was the groundwork for the notorious Operation Unthinkable, under which World War II was to develop immediately, without interim stages, into a third world war, with the goal of ensuring the total defeat of the Soviet Union and its destruction as a multinational community.” [1] The total defeat of the Soviet Union and its disappearance as a multinational community in fact occurred in 1991.

The British wartime document consistently refers to the then Soviet Union as Russia, incidentally, and as such suggests plans not only for war but for a change of political system and a vivisection of the sort seen later in a post-war – that is, post-World War III – Russia.

When revelations concerning Operation Unthinkable became public in the late 1990s the strongest response to them came, not surprisingly, from post-Soviet Russia.

In March of 2005 Russian historian Valentin Falin was interviewed by the Russian Information Agency Novosti website in a feature called “Russia Would Have Faced World War III Had It Not Stormed Berlin” and spelled out the details of Churchill’s plans:

“The new war was scheduled to start on July 1, 1945. American, Canadian, and British contingents in Europe, the Polish Expeditionary Corps and 10-12 German divisions (the ones that had not been disbanded and kept in Schleswig-Holstein and Southern Denmark) were supposed to participate in the operation.” [2]

In further observations that provided the article its title, Falin added, “Behind the determination of the Soviet leadership to capture Berlin and reach the demarcation lines established during the 1945 Yalta conference attended by Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill was a task of great

importance – to make all possible efforts to foil a political gamble envisioned by the British leader with the support of influential US circles, and to prevent the transformation of World War II into World War III, where our former allies would have turned into enemies.” [3]

The Russian scholar, author of the book The Second Front, argued further that the taking of Berlin, which cost the lives of 120,000 Soviet soldiers, preempted Western plans for what may well have triggered a continuation of the Second World War into a third one.

“The battle for Berlin sobered up quite a few warmongers and, therefore, fulfilled its political, psychological and military purpose. Believe me, there were many political and military figures in the West who were stupefied by easy victories in Europe by the spring of 1945.

“One of them was US General George Patton. He demanded hysterically to continue the advance of American troops from the Elbe, through Poland and Ukraine, to Stalingrad in order to finish the war at the place where Hitler had been defeated.

“Patton called the Russians ‘the descendants of Genghis Khan.’ Churchill, in his turn, was not overly scrupulous about the choice of words in his description of Soviet people. He called the Bolsheviks ‘barbarians’ and ‘ferocious baboons.’ In short, the “theory of subhuman races” was obviously not a German monopoly. [4]

In a subsequent interview with the same source, Falin provided more information:

“U.S. Under-Secretary of State Joseph Clark Grew wrote in his diary in May 1945 that as a result of the war the dictatorship and domination of Germany and Japan passed over to the Soviet Union, which would present as much threat to Americans in the future as the Axis powers. He added that a war against the Soviet Union was as imminent as anything in this world can be. Grew was supposed to be a friend of the late President Roosevelt.” [5]

Recalling the dimensions of the proposed Operation Unthinkable – the combined attack (and invasion) force was to consist of 112-113 divisions including 10-12 Wehrmacht divisions – the Russian historian added that “The file on Operation Unthinkable declassified in 1998 says nothing about the propaganda chimeras about Moscow’s alleged plans of occupying ‘defenseless Europe’ and pushing to the Atlantic coast, as the Chiefs of Staff worked on practical operations directives.” [6]

Falin wrote an article a year later titled “Cold War an offspring of ‘hot war’” in which he says that the British “MI5 head, Sir Stewart Menzies, held a series of secret meetings with his German counterpart, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, in the unoccupied part of France to discuss making Germany a friend and the Soviet Union an enemy.” [7]

Sixty five years after the defeat of Nazi Germany there is more rather than less examination of the accusation that American and British government and military figures conspired with the Nazis before World War II and with German Defense Ministry and Wehrmacht officials in the waning days of the war.

In commenting on the rising tide of WWII revisionism in the West, reaching its nadir – to date – on this July 3rd with the passage of a resolution called Reunification of Divided Europe by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which in effect makes the former Soviet Union (and by implication current Russia) co-responsible for provoking WWII, veteran Russian journalist Valentin Zorin reminded his readers of several events usually swept under the carpet by leading Western circles and their compliant media and scholars:

“The infamously failed Munich conspiracy of the western politicians and the Nazi Fuehrer sought to make the German Army march against the Soviet Union. In those days Moscow was pressing for forming an anti-Hitler coalition and invited a British and French delegation to that end. The talks proved long and fruitless. London and Paris actually sabotaged the talks while urging the Fuehrer to attack the USSR.

“Even after the war had broken out, top-echelon leaders in London and Paris would not give up their attempts to make Hitler’s divisions turn about and attack the Soviet Union. A several-month- long period of strange developments came to be known as a Phoney War. While deliberately inactive at the front, the British and French rulers engaged themselves in secret bargaining with Hitler.

“The secrecy of the bargaining was buried for a good half century later, on the 17th of August 1987, when Hitler’s Deputy in the Nazi Party Rudolph Hess, tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to life in prison, died at Berlin’s Spandau Prison in unexplained circumstances. 10 days before Germany attacked the Soviet Union Hess flew solo to Scotland to start secret talks with the circles close to the British government. It later transpired that the talks focused on ending fighting between the UK and Germany and agreeing on joint action against the Soviet Union….” [8]
It’s important to point out that neither the academician Falin nor the journalist Zorin is invested in invoking the events of 1939-1945 in defense of the former USSR and its leadership at the time or in settling scores regarding conflicts of past decades. Instead they and others, including Russia’s current political leadership, are far more concerned – more alarmed – about matters of the present and the impending future.

With the NATO Alliance, which in recent years has come to refer to itself routinely as Global and 21st Century NATO, encroaching upon contemporary Russia from most all directions and with increasingly brazen historical revisionism growing out of Western post-Cold War triumphalism reaching the point that Nazis and their collaborators are being exonerated while modern Russia is being tainted ex post facto as a villain in the Second World War, the prospect of a “transformation of World War II into World War III” mentioned above is not so far-fetched.

As Valentin Zorin’s article also says, “Some quarters would like to redraw the post-war boundaries in Europe and the Far East, question the validity of the UN Charter and bury the Nuremberg Tribunal rulings in oblivion. It is these modern-day revenge-seekers that channel and obviously fund the large-scale propaganda campaign of falsifying the history of the Second World War.” [9]

It’s been seen above that the leaders of Britain, the United States and Soviet Russia agreed in the summer of 1945 at the Potsdam Conference to the total demilitarization of Germany. All indications were that once that systemic disarming of the nation was completed Germany would never militarize again.

Instead in 1950, while fighting a war in Korea which included troops from most of its new NATO allies and which escalated into armed conflict with China, the United States started the process of forcing the rearming of West Germany and its eventual incorporation into NATO. Members of the US-led military bloc pushed for the creation of a European Defence Community (EDC) with an integrated army, navy and air force, composed of the armed forces of all its member states.

A European Defence Community treaty was signed in May of 1952 but defeated by Gaullists and Communists alike in France. With that nation in opposition, the EDC was dead but the US and Britain found other subterfuges to remilitarize the Federal Republic.

With the creation of the Western European Union in 1954 West Germany was permitted – for which read encouraged – to rearm and was given control over its own armed forces, the Bundeswehr.

The following year the Federal Republic of Germany was inducted into NATO. The Soviet Union and its allies responded by establishing the Warsaw Pact later in 1955.

Two of the fundamental purposes in launching the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance in 1949 were to base nuclear weapons, which the US had a monopoly on at the time of the bloc’s founding, in Europe and to rearm Germany as a military bulwark on the continent and for use abroad.

Anyone still in thrall to the notion that NATO was planned as a defensive alliance against a Soviet military threat in Europe would do well to recall that:

The Warsaw Pact was formed six years after and in response to NATO, especially to NATO’s advance into Germany.

The Warsaw pact, already long moribund, officially dissolved itself in 1991. Eighteen years later NATO still exists without any pretense of a Soviet or any other credible threat.

In the past decade alone it has expanded from 16 to 28 member states, all of the twelve new ones in Eastern Europe and four of those bordering Russian territory.

During the same ten year period it waged its first air war, against Yugoslavia, outside the bloc’s own defined area of responsibility and its first ground war, in Afghanistan, a continent removed from Europe, half a world away from North America and nowhere near the North Atlantic Ocean.

That NATO officially expanded into the former Warsaw Pact by admitting the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland at its sixtieth anniversary summit in 1999 while in the midst of its first war, the 78-day bombing onslaught against Yugoslavia – ten years after the end of the Cold War – is an irrefutable retroactive indictment of its true nature and purpose since inception.

The bloc continues to maintain nuclear warheads in Europe, including on air bases in Germany, with long-range bombers and missiles able to deliver them. NATO recently renewed the commitment to its nuclear doctrine, which continues to include the first use of nuclear weapons.

The world’s largest and only surviving military bloc, one which now takes in a third of the planet’s nations through full membership or various partnerships, was born out of the last days of World War II in Europe. It’s fundamental purpose was to unite the military potential of the countries of the continent’s west, north and south into a cohesive and expanding phalanx for use at home and abroad. Victors and vanquished of the most mass-scale and murderous conflict in history – Britain, the US and France and Germany and Italy – were gathered together under a joint military command.

If the transition from WW II to a far deadlier, because nuclear, WW III was averted, an argument nevertheless exists that the Second World War never ended but shifted focus. As an illustrative biographical case study of the seamless adaptation, the New York Times ran a reverential obituary three years ago from which the following is an excerpt:

“Gen. Johann-Adolf Count von Kielmansegg, a German Panzer division officer during World War II who became commander in chief of NATO forces in Central Europe during the height of the cold war, died on May 26 in Bonn. He was 99….By the start of World War II, he was commander of a Panzer, or armored, division. In 1940, he took part in the German invasion of France, sweeping around the Maginot line’s obsolete fortifications in eastern France and rushing to the English Channel. After fighting on the Russian front, he joined the General Staff in Berlin. Restored to tank duty, he fought the American Army in western Germany….” [10]

It would be intriguing to learn what Count von Kielmansegg thought at the end of his nearly century-long life about the return of his homeland to the ranks of nations sending troops to and waging war against others both near and far.

It would prove equally edifying to hear whether he thought that his career as a military commander ever truly changed course or rather pursued a logical if not inevitable path from the Wehrmacht to NATO.

Lastly, it doesn’t seem unjustified to believe that the Count might at the end of his days have been proud of a Germany that had become the third largest exporter of weapons in the world, one which had arms agreements with 126 nations – over two-thirds of all countries – and that had troops deployed to war and post-conflict occupation zones in at least eleven countries at the same time and would soon, at this year’s NATO summit, use its army at home again.

Part I

New NATO: Germany Returns To World Military Stage
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/stopnato/ message/40658
http://www.globalre search.ca/ index.php? context=va& aid=14332
http://dandelionsal ad.wordpress. com/2009/ 07/12/new- nato-germany- returns-to- world-military- stage-part- 1-by-rick- rozoff

1) Russian Information Agency Novosti, June 30, 2005

2) Russian Information Agency Novosti, March 28, 2005

3) Ibid

4) Ibid

5) Russian Information Agency Novosti, June 30, 2005

6) Ibid

7) Russian Information Agency Novosti, March 3, 2006

8) Voice of Russia, July 3, 2009

9) Voice of Russia, July 3, 2009

10) New York Times, June 4, 2006

Stop NATO
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/stopnato

There is no limit to what a person can do or how far one can go to help – if one doesn’t mind who gets the credit !

ECOTERRA Intl. maintains a register for persons missing or abducted in the Somali seas (Foreign seafarers as well as Somalis). Inquiries by family member can be sent by e-mail to office[at]ecoterra-international.org

For families of presently captive seafarers – in order to advise and console their worries – ECOTERRA Intl. can establish contacts with professional seafarers, who had been abducted in Somalia, and their wives as well as of a Captain of a sea-jacked and released ship, who agreed to be addressed “with questions, and we will answer truthfully”.

ECOTERRA – ALERTS and pending issues:

PIRATE ATTACK GULF OF ADEN: Advice on Who to Contact and What to Do http://www.noonsite.com/Members/sue/R2008-09-08-2

NATURAL RESOURCES & ARMED FISH POACHERS: Foreign navies entering the 200nm EEZ of Somalia and foreign helicopters and troops must respect the fact that especially all wildlife is protected by Somali national as well as by international laws and that the protection of the marine resources of Somalia from illegally fishing foreign vessels should be an integral part of the anti-piracy operations. Likewise the navies must adhere to international standards and not pollute the coastal waters with oil, ballast water or waste from their own ships but help Somalia to fight against any dumping of any waste (incl. diluted, toxic or nuclear waste). So far and though the AU as well as the UN has called since long on other nations to respect the 200 nm EEZ, only now the two countries (Spain and France) to which the most notorious vessels and fleets are linked have come up with a declaration that they will respect the 200 nm EEZ of Somalia but so far not any of the navies operating in the area pledged to stand against illegal fishing. So far not a single illegal fishing vessel has been detained by the naval forces, though they had been even informed about several actual cases, where an intervention would have been possible. Illegally operating Tuna fishing vessels (many from South Korea, some from Greece and China) carry now armed personnel and force their way into the Somali fishing grounds – uncontrolled or even protected by the naval forces mandated to guard the Somali waters against any criminal activity, which included arms carried by foreign fishing vessels in Somali waters.

LLWs / NLWs: According to recently leaked information the anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden are also used as a cover-up for the live testing of recently developed arsenals of so called non-lethal as well as sub-lethal weapons systems. (Pls request details) Neither the Navies nor the UN has come up with any code of conduct in this respect, while the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program (JNLWP) is sponsoring several service-led acquisition programs, including the VLAD, Joint Integration Program, and Improved Flash Bang Grenade. Alredy in use in Somalia are so called Non-lethal optical distractors, which are visible laser devices that have reversible optical effects. These types of non-blinding laser devices use highly directional optical energy. Somalia is also a testing ground for the further developments of the Active Denial System (ADS) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD). If new developments using millimeter wave sources that will help minimize the size, weight, and system cost of an effective Active Denial System which provides “ADS-ACTD-like” repel effects, are used has not yet been revealed. Obviously not only the US is developing and using these kind of weapons as the case of MV MARATHON showed, where a Spanish naval vessel was using optical lasers – the stand-off was then broken by the killing of one of the hostage seafarers. Local observers also claim that HEMI devices, producing Human Electro-Muscular Incapacitation (HEMI) Bioeffects, have been used in the Gulf of Aden against Somalis. Exposure to HEMI devices, which can be understood as a stun-gun shot at an individual over a larger distance, causes muscle contractions that temporarily disable an individual. Research efforts are underway to develop a longer-duration of this effect than is currently available. The live tests are apparently done without that science understands yet the effects of HEMI electrical waveforms on a human body.

ECOTERRA Intl., whose work does focus on nature- and human-rights-protection and – as the last international environmental organization still working in Somalia – had alerted ship-owners since 1992, many of whom were fishing illegally in the 200 nm Exclusive Economic Zone, to stay away from Somali waters. The non-governmental organization had requested the international community many times for help to protect the coastal waters of the war-torn state, but now lawlessness has seriously increased and gone out of hand.

ECOTERRA members with marine and maritime expertise, joined by it’s ECOP-marine group, are closely and continuously monitoring and advising on the Somali situation. (for previous information concerning the topics please google keywords ECOTERRA (and) SOMALIA)

The network of the SEAFARERS ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME helped significantly in most sea-jack cases. ECOTERRA Intl. is working in Somalia since 1986 on human-rights and nature protection, while ECOP-marine concentrates on illegal fishing and the protection of the marine ecosystems. Your support counts too.

Please consider to contribute to the work of SAP, ECOP-marine and ECOTERRA Intl. Please donate to the defence fund.

Contact us for details concerning project-sponsorship or donations via e-mail: ecotrust[at]ecoterra.net

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