UN envoy proposes pirate courts in Somali enclaves

A UN envoy has proposed setting up courts to prosecute pirates in the Somali enclaves of Somaliland and Puntland, and in Tanzania.

Jack Lang, UN adviser on piracy, also said more needed to be done to capture the leaders of the piracy gangs.

Several countries have expressed concern over a lack of ability to deal with pirates in cases where they are caught. As a result, many are released.

Meanwhile, pirates have seized a German cargo vessel north of the Seychelles.

The MV Beluga Nomination had been sailing from Malta to South Korea, but is now being steered by pirates towards Somalia.

Incidents of piracy - the majority of which take place off the Somali coast - are growing, and pirates are increasingly operating farther offshore.

He recommended that the specialised courts be created within eight months, and estimated that the project would cost less than $25 million (£16m) over three years.

Two special prisons would also be built in Somaliland and Puntland, each to house 500 people, with another to be built in Puntland at a later date.

Mr Lang also suggested that all countries should make piracy a criminal offence and impose universal jurisdiction for it.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Its authority has been further compromised since 2006 by an ongoing Islamist insurgency.

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