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Twitter Forum Explores Lawlessness at Sea

New York Times Reporter Ian Urbina, Experts Discuss “Outlaw Ocean” Series

Monday, August 24, 2015 /

By: Bethany L. McGann

Publication Type: Analysis

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The unreported murder of four men in plain view, all too common on the high seas, led New York Times reporter Ian Urbina into the merciless world that resulted in his investigative series, "The Outlaw Ocean." In an event hosted by the International Network to Promote the Rule of Law (INPROL) and USIP on Aug. 18, Urbina and a panel of experts convened from three continents for a virtual forum on Twitter to discuss the issues and impact of lawlessness at sea.

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Photo courtesy of NY Time/Basil Childers

Using the hashtag #OutlawOcean, the discussion explored the problems of weak international and domestic legal frameworks governing maritime spaces, impunity and corruption within global supply chains, and rights abuses such as trafficking in persons and slavery. A Twitter interview with Urbina was followed by a conversation with experts from The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, Sea Shepherd, Solidarity Center, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Naval War College, and USIP.

 

 

Questions came in from around the world as #OutlawOcean audiences joined the conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first question in the open forum came from Twitter user @SCheneyPeters:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our experts covered issues ranging from corruption and organized crime to the failure to enforce the many laws that are actually on the books, as well as regulatory loopholes and technical capacity gaps at sea and at port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 13th United Nations Crime Congress in Doha was a first step in consolidating national level political will. Two months later in June 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to develop a new legally binding treaty for conservation of marine life beyond national borders. With national and international bodies charting a course toward protecting the oceans as a global common good, it will take the combined efforts of practitioners across the rule of law, governance, security, and environmental sectors to bring order and accountability to its outlaws.

Take a look at the full conversation on Twitter via #OutlawOcean, and follow @ian_urbina and our experts for more on maritime-related issues. 

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