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Brazil’s UN delegation will provide "active support" to fighting Somali piracy

25 January 2011 22:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA.Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the Brazilian permanent representative to the UN, said here Tuesday that her delegation remains cognizant of the challenges of stopping piracy off the coast of Somalia and will work to help the international community in fighting it, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

"Although the challenges are considerable and the means to overcome them, complex, I reiterate my delegation’s active support to fighting impunity in and bringing peace and stability to the waters off the coast of Somalia and, above all, to Somalia itself, " Viotti said.

Viotti’s statements came at a UN Security Council meeting on piracy in Somalia, where the 15-nation Council reviewed a report by Jack Lang, UN special adviser on legal issues related to piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Pirates off the coast of Somalia hijack ships, steal cargo, and kidnap individuals to be held ransom. Viotti pointed out that according to the report, the pirates also support terrorist groups like al Shabaab.

"This kind of cooperation between crime and terrorism -- which today seems based on mere mutual convenience at the local level -- should be fought effectively before it becomes a true alliance that can further destabilize Somalia," she said.

Viotti said that Brazil’s delegation appreciates the focus Lang ’s report places on using development as well as legal measures to help Somalia quell piracy.

"We are pleased that Mr. Lang’s report seeks to translate our common comprehensive approach to fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia into concrete recommendations of the social and economic rehabilitation of Somalia’s coastal area and on illegal fishing and dumping of toxic wastes," she said.

Viotti said that Brazil is also supportive of the report’s recommendations on how to go about prosecuting pirates, and noted the theme within the report of "strengthening the rule of law" in Somalia.