The development about the new constitution in Somalia has recently flooded headlines of every news agency. And it seems to be widely hailed both domestically and abroad. The UN, the United States, the African Union, the international human rights organizations, the international humanitarian groups, politicians, foreign affairs experts / professors and local communities have all expressed views and thoughts on the new constitution from their own perspectives. And what I am thinking about is shall this new constitution bring a ‘calm sea’ back to the Gulf of Aden and northeast Indian Ocean.
As the new constitution introduces a bill of rights, with everyone declared to be equal, regardless of clan or religion, it can help to generate more legal work opportunities ashore and to lead a flow of previous jobless pirates back to land.
The constitution also mandate Somalia to be governed by a federal system which I trust could better strengthen the ties of the central government in Mogadishu with other states or territories currently under control of dissident clans, Al-Shabaab, local militia and especially the piracy inhabited Somaliland and Punctland since 1991.So a national wide court system can hopefully be established and to try the pirates in due course. Somalia will send a strong signal to pirate networks that it is no more their fantasy land of crime.
Also with a constitutional ruled Somalia, the International counter-piracy naval operation can be more smoothly conducted and more timely supplied. The international navy command can send task force deeper into Somali coast waters if under possible future authorization by the Somali central government.
And according to a leaked UN report on the situation of Somalia (Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea pursuant to Security Council resolution 2002 (2011)), A growing number of the piracy key figures are also members of the Somali diasporas with dual nationalities "whose foreign language skills, passports and bank accounts are all valuable assets". "One of the most notorious and influential leaders of the Hobyo-Harardhere Piracy Network" named Mohamed Abdi Hassan also known as "Afweyne" has been provided a diplomatic passport by Somalia Transmitting Government's President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as a shield against prosecutions. However those misconduct of government officials will seen a sharp decline after the federal constitutional government is empowered.