Pirataria marítima: a experiência Somali

Abstract

This work takes as its starting point the historical analysis of the issue of piracy and the situation in Somalia in the political and economical context. The main goal is, through the analysis of the unique situation in which the country from the Horn of Africa is at, evaluate the response given by the international community to the matter. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides, in article 101, the denition of piracy, ruling that the signatory countries make use of the principle of universal jurisdiction to combat these acts. The various resolutions of the Security Council of the United Nations dealing with piracy in the Gulf of Aden, demonstrate the uniqueness of the issue and the lack of a precise and convincing answer to this problem. Given so, the study of the Somali case, with its relative success on the reduction of the amount of piracy attacks, is critical to a better understanding of the facts that lead to the blooming of piracy cases. It could help National governments and the international bodies to create a path to be followed in the case of a new increase on piracy attacks, as it appears to be happening in the west Africa coast and in the southeast Asia region, specially Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.