Somali Pirates, not Terrorists nor Coast Guard

     Somali pirates are pirates, but they are not terrorists. The Somali pirates cannot be considered protectors of their waters until a sovereign Somali central government gives them permission to patrol their waters.

     Piracy is defined as one who steals and ransoms other ships on the seas without the expressed permission of a sovereign state. The Somali are pirates because they satisfy this definition, but they are not terrorists because they do not attack ships with the intent to cause terror. Somalia is considered a “failed state” having had little government existence and relative anarchy with local warlords governing since 1991. Beyond failing to maintain control, the nearly non-existent central government has failed to maintain a central economy and support its citizens. Forced to survive in an anarchic environment, Somali families have turned to piracy to increase their chances of survival. Clans living on the coast of the Gulf of Aden began attacking cargo ships to ransom passengers and loot goods. The revenue from these activities allowed pirates to provide enough food and resources for their clans and families survival. Somalian pirates do not seek to cause terror on the high sea, and any violence is a means to the end goal of ensuring their survival. For individuals in Somalia, piracy and possibility of violence are a means to ensure their survival in a country that is better described as an anarchic territory with borders. The Somali’s are pirates out of necessity and cannot be classified as terrorists because their do not intend to injure and terrorize.  

     The Somalis claim they are not pirates rather they are serving as the coastguard and protecting the fisheries and other aquatic resources of the Somali coastal waters when they attack ships in their territory. However, until a sovereign Somali government gives these individuals the right to attack ships in Somali waters, they maintain the title of pirates and their “coastguard” claim continues to be an illegitimate rationalization for their attacks. Besides not having permission of the government, it is more likely that the Somalis realized how lucrative boarding and looting cargo ships and have increased their attacks and expanded their area of operation far beyond the boundaries of Somali waters. . Similar to RUF and the struggle over diamond mines, the Somali pirates have expanded from basic survival to seeking to control the market to improve their security and profit. International law states that a nation’s water territory extends 200 nautical miles off the coast. As attacks became more prevalent they have occurred in areas upwards of 1000 nautical miles off the Somali coast. Even if the Somalis had been given permission to protect their coastal waters, attacks occuring almost three times the distance of their aquatic boundaries from the coast severely hurt their “defenders” claim. The Somalis cannot expect to be respected as a legitimate arm of the military if they are committing attacks on innocent ships outside of their nations territory. If the Somalis pirates want to be considered just unofficial defenders of their coast, they need to stop attacking ships far beyond their territory. Pirates will need the express permission of a sovereign Somali central government if they want to trade in their title of pirates for the legitimate title of coast guard.

     The Somali are pirates because they satisfy this definition, but they are not terrorists because they do not attack ships with the intent to cause terror. Somalis should have the right to protect their waters. The anarchic environment leads to Somalis attacking ships in their territory in order to survive, not with the intent to terrorize. These activities are dubbed as piracy because no government can give the groups permission to defend their territory. The lack of sovereign government hurts these groups by delegitimizing their claims of serving as the “coast guard” because they have no official authorization to attack foreign ships in their waters. If the Somali pirates wanted evolve into the coast guard, they need to stop attacking outside ships outside of their territory and the central government of Somalia needs to be resurrected to legitimize the pirates’ claims.