S/2020/1173 Security Council

In accordance with the procedure agreed upon by the Members of the Security Council in the light of the extraordinary circumstances caused by the coronavirus disease pandemic, as set out in the letter dated 27 March 2020 from the President of the Security Council addressed to all members of the Council (S/2020/253), I would like to draw your attention to the following: The members of the Council have discussed a draft resolution, submitted by the United States of America, in connection with the agenda item “The situation in Somalia”. That draft resolution, contained in document S/2020/1160 and enclosed herein, has been put into blue. In my capacity as President of the Security Council, I hereby put the above-mentioned draft resolution to a vote. The non-extendable 24-hour voting period for this draft resolution will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 3 December 2020. The non-extendable 24-hour voting period will expire at 10 a.m. on Friday, 4 December 2020. Please submit your vote (in favour, against or abstain) on the draft resolution, as well as your possible explanation of vote, by sending a letter signed by the Permanent Representative or Chargé d’affaires a.i. within the non-extendable 24-hour voting period set out above to the Director of the Security Council Affairs Division of the Secretariat (egian@un.org). It is my intention to circulate a letter listing the outcome of the vote within three hours of the conclusion of the 24-hour voting period. I also intend to convene a video-teleconference of the Security Council to announce the outcome of the vote shortly after the conclusion of the voting period, on the morning of Friday, 4 December 2020.

Today the Security Council renewed the authorization granted to States and regional organizations cooperating with the Somali authorities in the fight against piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia. Germany voted in favour of the resolution. With regard to operative paragraphs 11 and 29, we reiterate our understanding that the resolution includes cooperation not only with the Federal Government of Somalia but with all relevant Somali authorities, including the federal member states. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the European Union Capacity-Building Mission in Somalia have supported various capacity-building initiatives at the federal and state levels. Dialogue and cooperation among the Somali authorities at the federal and state levels are essential to build up effective maritime security capacities and working coast- guard structures capable of securing the sea off the coast of Somalia.

Allow me first of all to express to you, Mr. President, the satisfaction of the delegation of Somalia at seeing your country preside over the Security Council this month. South Africa is a friend of Somalia, and we wish it every success and pledge our full support during the presidency. I would also like to congratulate another friend of Somalia, the delegation of the Saint Vincent and Grenadines, for the able manner in which it guided the work of the Council last month. There has been a massive reduction in the number of piracy-related incidents in the past three years thanks to the Federal Government of Somalia’s efforts, in collaboration with the international community. For the first time in more than a decade, there is no single piracy-related incident off the coast of Somalia. We believe that piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia must be put in the context of the political, security and economic challenges on land facing my country. In that regard, we ask Member States and international organizations for their support for the Somali Government’s policies and priorities so as to address the root causes of piracy, which is the only sustainable way of eradicating piracy- and armed- robbery-related incidents off the coast of Somalia. We welcome the planned closure on 31 December 2021 of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia Trust Fund. Furthermore, the Somali Government is concerned at the outdated mandate and structure as well as the working methods of the Group. We firmly believe that the Contact Group is neither inclusive nor useful at this stage, and we thus withdraw our support for and participation in any of the Group’s future activities indefinitely. We thank the international partners for their contributions to the Trust Fund to support the initiatives of States countering piracy off the coast of Somalia in the past decade and encourage the aligning of future support with the policies of the Federal Government of Somalia to counter piracy in a systematic, sustainable manner, including reinforcing the Somali national coast guard. As members are aware, piracy is only one of the many threats to maritime security off the coast of Somalia, and the persistence of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Somalia’s exclusive economic zone remains a major concern. In that regard, we urge Member States to abide by domestic and international regulations and to take all measures necessary to ensure compliance and prevent illegal unreported unregulated fishing off the coast of Somalia. We remain concerned at the abuse of process in piracy-related prosecutions taking place outside Somalia. In some cases, we have observed that defendants who are illiterate were not offered proper interpretation. Moreover, defendants were required to sign away their right of appeal with the facilitation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. This is unconstitutional in Somalia as well as in the foreign prosecuting State, Seychelles in this case. As we all strive to fight piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia, compliance with international human rights law and the rules that we are also fighting to protect must be strictly maintained. In conclusion, 12 years after the adoption of resolution 1816 (2008), we have witnessed a drastic reduction in the number of piracy incidents, in particular in the last three years. The milestone reached this year of no single piracy incidents and no piracy hostages held in Somalia is a true testament to the Federal Government of Somalia’s ownership of the problem, in addition to our hard work in collaboration S/2020/1173 with our international partners. We will continue with our comprehensive approach, which combines development, security and good governance, and we will spare no effort in our fight against insecurity and injustices in all of its forms.