For information only - not an official document
UNIS/CP/945
22 October 2016
VIENNA, 22 October (UN Information Service) - The following is a statement from a designated UNODC spokesperson on the release of 26 crew members of the FV Naham 3, who have spent the last 54 months held captive by Somali pirates. The crew members are expected to arrive in Nairobi tomorrow (23 October).
"Just as UNODC led the criminal justice response to Somali piracy, supporting regional states to arrest and prosecute suspected pirates in line with international standards, so too UNODC has ensured that the victims of this crime: the hostages, are never forgotten. We have supported the recovery of more than 150 former hostages so they could return to their families."
Background:
The FV Naham 3 was a fishing vessel flying under the flag of Oman with 29 crew members from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan Province of China and Vietnam. On 26 March 2012, some 65 nautical miles off the coast of the Seychelles, it was hijacked by Somali pirates. Since then crew members have mostly spent their captivity in Somalia.
The hostages were released thanks to the work of the Hostage Support Partners, which includes UNODC, as well as the local Somali community, the Galmudug and Puntland state authorities who cooperated, among others.
UNODC's Counter-Piracy Programme is part of a much wider Maritime Crime Programme and is based in Nairobi, Kenya. The programme is involved in every aspect of the international efforts against the pirates, including deterrence, arrest, prosecution, imprisonment and reintegration back into society, as well as support for piracy's victims.
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For further information please contact:
UNODC Regional Office
Eastern Africa
Telephone: +254-20 762-1890
Mobile: (+254-716) 43-0445
or
David Dadge
Spokesperson, UNODC
Telephone: (+43 1) 26060-5629
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-5629
Email: david.dadge[at]unvienna.org
