UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2019) Russia recommends establishing an international mechanism under United Nations auspices, independent from other organizations, to fight maritime piracy and other crimes at sea, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said during the UN Security-Council open meeting on transnational maritime crime.
"There is a need to establish something under the UN's aegis that is independent of the Contact Group on piracy off the coast of Somalia and also other regional formats to fight maritime piracy and crime," Nebenzia said on Tuesday. "Namely, what we need is a universal interstate coordinating mechanism that has broad functions and a broad geographic agreement."
Nebenzia said establishing such structure would facilitate resolving new challenges and threats from transnational organized crime at sea.
The Russian ambassador emphasized that Russia is steadfast in its desire to continue to make a contribution to international cooperation on crime in this area in order to overcome pressing threats posed by transnational organized crime.
"Today, in a number of regions we are dealing with threats of sea piracy and robbery at sea," Nebenzia said. "The Russian Federation is particularly concerned by recent acts of the robbery at sea concerning commercial vessels and where Russian citizens have been taken hostage when they have been among the crew of the ships."
According to UN Office on Drugs and Crime Executive Director Yury Fedotov, international maritime criminal activity increasingly grows and poses a threat to safety as criminal groups exploit the realist that nearly all of the world's oceans are not subjected to any state's criminal jurisdiction.
