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Global Ethics Corner: Prosecuting Pirates: Enforcing the Rule of Law at Sea

From: Carnegie Council
Series: Global Ethics Corner
Length: 02:03

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With Somali piracy surging over the last four years, the UN is calling for travel and financial sanctions on senior pirate leaders. Is this an effective way to punish the ringleaders or could it make piracy more violent? Should the focus, instead, be on the underlying problems in Somalia? Read the full description.

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Global Ethics Corner is a weekly 2 minute segment devoted to newsworthy ethical issues. It presents both sides of an issue, asking viewers to weigh the information and make up their own minds.

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Piece Description

Global Ethics Corner is a weekly 2 minute segment devoted to newsworthy ethical issues. It presents both sides of an issue, asking viewers to weigh the information and make up their own minds.

Transcript

Somali piracy has surged over the last four years. In 2011 alone, pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden cost the global economy more than 7 billion dollars. The international community has responded by sending naval ships to the region. Dozens of national navies now coordinate to protect shipping routes. The UN also has gotten involved—passing Security Council resolutions and issuing reports on piracy.

The results? Disappointing. There are fewer successful Somali pirate attacks, but pirate ransoms have skyrocketed. They now charge five times what they did a few years ago to release a hijacked vessel. And while low-level pirates are often captured, pirate leaders act with impunity. Somali pirate kingpins appear to be diversifying their revenue streams by turning to land-based kidnappings and selling services as so-called "counter-piracy experts."

That's why the UN is calling for targete...
Read the full transcript

Additional Credits

Deborah Carroll – Executive Producer
Marlene Spoerri – Contributing Writer
Julia Kennedy - Content Editor
Robert Smithline - Editor
Terence Hurley - Editor
Gusta Johnson - Production Assistant

Related Website

www.carnegiecouncil.org