Overview
Mexico will hold the presidency of the Security Council in June. It will be an exceptionally busy month with several mandates due for renewal, an election of an ICJ judge, a Council trip to Afghanistan and a retreat in Istanbul. In addition, two major issues—further sanctions against Iran and Council consideration of the issue between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea arising from the naval incident in the Yellow Sea—seem likely to occupy a good deal of Council time.
Two open debates were planned at press time. In the middle of June, the Council is expected to hold an open debate on children and armed conflict, to be presided over by Mexico’s Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa. Late in the month a debate on justice and the rule of law is likely.
There is also a debate expected on the international criminal tribunals, ICTY and ICTR. A debate on Afghanistan and a briefing on the Council visit are also possible but may be delayed until July.
The Council is planning to hold a meeting on Sudan with briefings by Joint Chief Mediator Djibril Bassolé and the former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, who headed the AU Panel on Darfur. The heads of the two operations in Sudan, Haile Menkerios and Ibrahim Gambari, will also participate.
Several more briefings are expected:
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on Sudan by the ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, to be followed by a private meeting;
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on the situation in Cyprus, in consultations, by the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer;
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on the Middle East;
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on the work of the Iran Sanctions Committee (1737 Committee) by its chair, Ambassador Yukio Takasu of Japan;
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in consultations, on the work of the Sudan Sanctions Committee (1591 Committee) by its chair, Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting of Austria;
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on the peacekeeping operation in Côte d’Ivoire, in consultations;
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on the Kuwaiti missing persons issue in Iraq, by the High-level Coordinator Gennady Tarasov, also in consultations; and
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on the mission in the Central African Republic by the head of BINUCA, Sahle-Work Zewde.
Consultations are expected on several other matters:
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on the UN operation in the Golan Heights;
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on the mission in the Central African Republic; and
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on the Middle East.
Formal meetings of the Council will be held to adopt a number of resolutions:
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setting a date for the election to fill another vacancy at ICJ;
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to extend the mandate of UNFICYP (Cyprus);
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to extend the terms of ICTY judges;
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to extend the terms of ICTR judges;
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to extend the mandate of UNDOF (Golan Heights); and
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to extend the mandate of UNOCI (Côte d’Ivoire).
The Council is also likely to extend the mandate of the DPRK sanctions Panel of Experts through a resolution.The Liberia Sanctions Committee (the 1521 Committee) is expected to meet and consider the midterm report of its Panel of Experts.
