Liberia
Expected Council Action
In June the Sanctions Committee on Liberia is expected to discuss a report from the Panel of Experts on the sanctions regime (i.e. arms embargo, travel bans and assets freeze). The current sanctions expire on 17 December and the mandate of the Panel of Experts expires on 20 December. The mandate of the peacekeeping operation, UNMIL, expires on 30 September.
Key Issues
The key issue for the Sanctions Committee in June is effective implementation of the current sanctions.
The panel’s assessment in its last report was mixed. While it found no evidence of violations of the arms embargo, it noted that the capacity of the Liberian government to control weapons and to provide security remained low. Regarding diamonds, although the Liberian government was in compliance with some requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, it was not in compliance with regard to the maintenance and sharing of data, and the political will to implement the diamond certification scheme had diminished “at least within the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy.” There were numerous breaches of basic processes and criteria relating to the awarding of forestry contracts and violations of conditions of waivers granted by the Sanctions Committee on the travel ban. The effectiveness of the freezing of assets of designated individuals and entities continued to be low.
Underlying Problems
Incomplete restoration of effective state authority throughout the country has hampered effective implementation of the sanctions. The inadequate level of preparedness of the Liberian security forces to assume full security responsibilities has also been a source of concern. The socioeconomic situation remains dire, with high levels of poverty and unemployment. That and the lack of basic infrastructure continue to pose latent threats to stability in the country. Tensions in the process leading to elections in Liberia next year also have the potential to threaten stability.
The fragile security situation, continued instability, unpredictability in the subregion and drug trafficking pose additional challenges.
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Selected Security Council Resolutions |
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Selected Secretary-General’s Reports |
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Other |
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Special Representative of the Secretary-General |
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Ellen Margrethe Løj (Denmark) |
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UNMIL Force Commander |
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Lieutenant-General Sikander Afzal (Pakistan) |
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UNMIL: Size, Composition and Cost |
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UNMIL: Duration |
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September 2003 to present; mandate expires 30 September 2010 |
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Chairman of the Liberia Sanctions Committee |
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Ivan Barbalić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) |
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Panel of Experts on Liberia |
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