Monthly Report on the work of the Security Council April 2001

Monthly Report on the Work of the Security Council
April 2001

Overview of Security Council work in April 2001

The Security Council has consulted, debated and/or taken decisions on the following matters in April:

• Iraq – UNIKOM, missing Kuwaiti and third country nationals
• East Timor – open meeting
• Kosovo
• West Africa
• Afghanistan
• Burundi
• DR Congo – panel report on the exploitation of natural resources, MONUC, the humanitarian situation
• Angola – briefing about the situation, the monitoring mechanism
• Ethiopia/Eritrea – open meeting
• Georgia
• Prevlaka
• West Sahara – MINURSO
• Protection of civilians – the Secretary-General’s report, open meeting

Norwegian priorities – current matters

Conflict prevention and peace-building

East Timor: On 5 April, ASG Annabi, DPKO, briefed the Security Council about the situation in East Timor, with emphasis on the preparations for the election in August of a constitutional assembly, the establishment of a new East Timorese military force, the refugee situation in West Timor and the security situation in East Timor. Norway’s statement focussed on supporting the UN’s plan, which, in line with the wishes of the East Timorese population and leadership, aims at independence by the end of 2001. In addition, Norway emphasized that it is important that donor countries should have a long-term perspective for their involvement in East Timor. Norway has decided to maintain development assistance at a high level during the transitional period and Anne Kristin Sydnes, Minister of International Development, visited East Timor in March. Norway continues to call on the Indonesian authorities to comply with their obligations under SC resolution 1319 (2000) on the situation in West Timor.

West Sahara: On 27 April, the Security Council extended the mandate for MINURSO by two months. The Secretary-General’s report of 24 April concluded that substantial progress has been made with regard to contact with the parties, and on these grounds the Secretary-General’s personal envoy wishes to have further consultations. These consultations will involve meetings with the parties about i) the possibilities of transferring authority from Morocco and ii) a solution based on the implementation of the original settlement plan. In the deliberations on the extension of the mandate, Norway supported the Secretary-General’s recommendation for a two months’ extension.

The Balkans: On 9 April USG Guehenno briefed the Security Council about the work of the UN agency dealing with Kosovo (UNMIK). Mr. Guehenno pointed out that he expected that the legal framework would be ready in time for a provincial election to be held in 2001. Norway’s statement emphasized that the efforts to develop the legal guidelines for elections and institutions must be followed up by an improvement in the security situation for national minorities in Kosovo.

On 24 April 2001, the Security Council held closed consultations on the situation in Prevlaka and the follow-up to the Security Council’s extension of UNMOP’s mandate, SC resolution 1335 and the Secretary-General’s report of 11 April 2001. The Council concluded that the parties are expected to resume political negotiations soon, follow up the recommended confidence-building measures in accordance with SC resolution 1335, stop violations of the security regime and ensure full freedom of movement for UNMOP.

Georgia: On 24 April the Security Council held a private meeting on Abkhazia in Georgia. Norway stressed that it expects the special representative Mr. Boden to present the prepared document on Abkhazia’s political status within Georgia in the near future.

Afghanistan: During the consultations in April, Norway referred to the need for increased humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. Norway also emphasized the need for a long-term strategy to supplement the sanctions and urged the Council to focus on how the sanctions, including the unilateral arms embargo against the Taliban, affect the possibility of a political solution to the conflict.

Peacekeeping operations

The Security Council is following the development of the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea closely. The establishment of a temporary security zone on 18 April was an important step in the right direction. During an open meeting of the Council, Norway urged the parties to exchange information about landmines, to find solutions concerning the temporary security zone and to give the UN permission for direct flights between the two capitals. Norway also urged the parties to implement bilateral reconciliation measures.

Africa

The UN mission to West Africa, in which various UN agencies and regional organizations in West Africa took part, presented a report to the Security Council. The mission stressed that the measures taken after conflicts in Africa have not always put sufficient emphasis on the need for programmes for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of armed groups into civil society. Norway therefore requested clear and concrete recommendations about how such DD and R projects could be improved.

Norway participated in developing the guidelines for the conduct of work for the Sanctions Committee for Liberia. A diamond embargo and travel restrictions were imposed on Liberia on 7 May since the country has not complied in a satisfactory manner with the Security Council resolutions.

During the deliberations on Sierra Leone in the Security Council, Norway emphasized the necessity of introducing civilian control and civilian police in the areas UNAMSIL is taking over from the RUF rebel movement. The poor progress of DD and R is giving cause for concern, and it is therefore positive that UNAMSIL is now developing a strategy for revitalizing the programme. Norway also participated in the group of friends for the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

On 18 April, the expert panel on the exploitation of natural resources in the DR Congo presented a report, which indicated that there was extensive exploitation of natural resources by those involved in the conflict. Several members of the Security Council regretted that a number of countries have not cooperated with the panel, and that this is apparent in the report. The Council also requested a clearer distinction to be made in the report between actual facts and more loosely based information. Provisionally the Council has not come to any conclusions about the recommendations in the report. The Council also received the seventh progress report for the deployment of the UN observer force (MONUC) and a briefing about the extremely serious humanitarian situation in the Congo.

On 12 April, the Council was briefed by the UN secretariat on the situation in Burundi, which was described as very worrying. Norway asked what the Council can do to hasten a political solution to the conflict, since a UN operation will not be appropriate in the absence of a peace agreement. The Council also received a briefing from the secretariat about the attempted coup on 18 April.

On 25 April, USG Ibrahim Gambari briefed the Council about the situation in Angola. Norway emphasized that both parties to the prolonged conflict must help identify obligations and unresolved issues in connection with the Lusaka protocol of 1994. Norway will continue to be a key supporter of the UN Human Rights Office in Angola, and its efforts to reconstruct civil society. In April, the monitoring mechanism for sanctions against UNITA was extended to 15 October 2001. Norway supported this extension.

Human rights and humanitarian issues

At the open meeting of the Security Council on 23 April about protection of civilians in armed conflicts, Norway’s view was that the challenge for the Security Council is to follow up the Secretary-General’s report with concrete and effective measures. In this connection, Norway suggested that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) should produce a "road-map" showing how the UN can transform words into deeds. Furthermore, Norway emphasized the importance of effective prosecution of war criminals internationally, and particularly highlighted the role the Security Council should play in the development of the permanent international criminal court that is currently being established. Norway also emphasized that protection of civilians should be part of the mandate of all peacekeeping operations, and that the necessary resources must be allocated for this purpose.

Consideration of Iraq issues

Recently the number of contract applications placed on hold under the oil-for-food programme has shown a positive trend. In April, the number of new applications which were held back was halved compared to the number in March (17 per cent in March and 9 per cent in April). However, these figures must be interpreted with caution. The oil-for-food programme accounts for under half of the total number of applications, and a decrease has only been found for one month. This may be an indication that the efforts of several countries to reform the sanctions regime have already begun to yield practical results.

The Secretary-General’s high-level coordinator for the repatriation of Kuwaiti prisoners of war and third country nationals presented his report to the Security Council on 20 April. The report emphasized that Iraq’s unwillingness to cooperate represents a serious problem for the progress of this work.

On 4 April, the Security Council extended the mandate of UNIKOM (United Nations Iraq Kuwait Observation Mission) to October 2001. The next extension of the mandate will be considered in October.