Status Update
Yemen
On 2 June, Council members issued a press statement expressing disappointment that the 28 May Geneva talks were postponed (SC/11915). The statement urged Yemeni stakeholders to engage in talks without preconditions and in good faith, and endorsed the Secretary-General’s call for humanitarian pauses. The next day, Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed (via video teleconference) and Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien briefed Council members on Yemen under “any other business” in consultations. On 18 June, Council members issued a press statement condemning the 17 June terrorist attacks in Sana’a (SC/11935). On 24 June, Ould Cheikh Ahmed and OCHA Operations Director John Ging briefed Council members in consultations following the conclusion of the Geneva talks. The next day, Council members issued a press statement taking note of the ‘principles’ for advancing UN-brokered consultations, and again endorsing the Secretary-General’s call for humanitarian pauses (SC/11944).
Iran
The final report under resolution 2159 from the Panel of Experts assisting the 1737 Iran Sanctions Committee was issued as a public document on 2 June (S/2015/401). On 9 June, the Security Council adopted resolution 2224, extending the mandate of the Panel for another 13 months until 9 July 2016. On 23 June the chair of the Committee, Ambassador Román Oyarzun (Spain), presented his quarterly report to the Council on the work of the Committee (S/PV.7469). While reiterating the Committee’s support for the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the P5+1, Oyarzun emphasised that the sanctions measures imposed by the Council remained in full effect, reminded states of their obligations to implement them and said the Committee remained fully committed to the implementation of all relevant resolutions. On 11 June, the latest report from the IAEA on Iran was circulated as a Council document (S/2015/425).
International Criminal Tribunals
On 3 June, the Council held its semi-annual debate on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in which the respective presidents and prosecutors of these bodies briefed, as well as the president and prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (S/PV.7455). The meeting focused on the completion strategy reports submitted by both Tribunals (S/2015/340 and S/2015/342) and the report from the Residual Mechanism (S/2015/341), the handover of activities to the Residual Mechanism, the need to find a satisfactory solution to the relocation of persons released or acquitted by the ICTR and the need to ensure individuals indicted by the ICTR, but not yet arrested, are apprehended.
South Sudan
On 3 June, Council members issued a press statement expressing concern with the decision of the government of South Sudan on 29 May to expel Toby Lanzer, the UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General/Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator for UNMISS (SC/11916). In the statement, Council members “condemned in the strongest terms the repeated violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.”
Ukraine
On 5 June, the Council was briefed on the situation in Ukraine by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and the Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Alexander Hug (S/PV.7457). Lithuania requested the meeting following the significant increase in violence in the Donetsk region in the town of Marinka. Feltman updated the Council on the Secretary-General’s visits to Ukraine and Russia as well as the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. Hug briefed the Council on violations and the current state of the implementation of the Minsk package of measures adopted on 12 February.
Côte d’Ivoire
On 9 June, the Council held a briefing (S/PV.7459), followed by consultations, to consider the UNOCI report (S/2015/320). During the briefing, Special Representative and head of UNOCI, Aïchatou Mindaoudou, expressed the importance of “the creation of a peaceful and enabling environment in the lead-up to, during and after the presidential elections” scheduled for October. On 25 June, the Council adopted resolution 2226 extending the mandate of UNOCI for an additional year.
Sudan (Darfur)
On 10 June, the Council held a briefing (S/PV.7460), followed by consultations, on the situation in Darfur and the UNAMID report (S/2015/378). During the briefing, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet told the Council that there had been “limited progress in the peace process” and described the “devastating impact that the security situation…had on innocent civilians”. On 29 June, the Council adopted resolution 2228 renewing the mandate of UNAMID for an additional year. A closed Arria-formula meeting was held on 19 June on the human rights situation in Darfur, which was intended to mark the 10th anniversary of the Commission of Inquiry report on Darfur, submitted to the Council on 31 January 2005 (S/2005/60). Former Commission member Hina Jilani; Abdelrahman Gasim of the Darfur Bar Association; and Hawa Abdalla, an IDP camp leader and activist on women’s issues, briefed. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda provided the semi-annual briefing on the Court’s work with respect to Darfur on 29 June.
UNOCA/LRA
On 11 June, the Council was briefed by Special Representative Abdoulaye Bathily on the UNOCA report (S/2015/339) and the implementation of the regional strategy to combat the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) (S/PV.7461). The Council adopted a presidential statement expressing its concern at the grave security situation in parts of Central Africa, in particular the ongoing crisis in the Central African Republic and its regional impact, the continuing threat of the LRA and the terrorist activities of Boko Haram (S/PRST/2015/12).
Counter-Terrorism
On 16 June, the Council received the semi-annual joint briefing by the chairs of its three counter-terrorism-related committees (S/PV.7463). The briefers were Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen (New Zealand), chair of the 1267/1989 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee; Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaitė (Lithuania), chair of the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee; and Ambassador Román Oyarzun (Spain), chair of the 1540 Committee on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In a press statement on the comprehensive review of the implementation of resolution 1540 following the briefing, Council members welcomed the 1540 Committee’s process for the comprehensive review (SC/11929). They noted that the review process started on 28 April when the modalities were formally approved by the Committee and must be completed before 30 November 2016 as decided by resolution 1977. On 18 June, the Council received a letter from the informal group of like-minded states on targeted sanctions (Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Liechtenstein, the Nertherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland) expressing concern about the risk of a vacancy in the Office of the Ombudsperson of the 1267 Committee if a successor to Kimberly Prost was not appointed in a timely manner. The group also noted that its request to speak at the 16 June briefing had been refused and therefore submitted the statement it had wanted to deliver as an attachment to the letter (S/2015/459).
Libya
On 17 June, Council members issued a press statement emphasising the urgency for the Libyan parties to agree on a Government of National Accord (SC/11931). Council members strongly encouraged all participants of the political dialogue to positively consider the proposals contained in the fourth draft and commit to the swift conclusion of an agreement.
Peacekeeping
On 17 June, the Council was briefed by Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and the heads of military components of peacekeeping operations Lieutenant General Yohannes Gebremeskel Tesfamariam (UNMISS), Major General Michael Lollesgaard (MINUSMA) and Major General Michael Finn (UNTSO). They presented, respectively, on the protection of civilians, the challenges associated to operating in an asymmetric environment and national caveats and their impact in performance (S/PV.7464).
Children and Armed Conflict
On 18 June, the Security Council held an open debate focused on the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict (S/2015/409) and the issue of abduction of children (S/PV.7466). It adopted resolution 2225 which added abductions as an additional violation to trigger inclusion of a party in the annexes of the Secretary-General’s annual report. Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato’ Sri Anifah Aman presided with briefings by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui and Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF Yoka Brandt, as well as Director of Facilitation for Peace and Development Eunice Apio. The concept note suggested the debate focus on how the international community’s response can be strengthened to address abduction of children in armed conflict (S/2015/402).
Mali
On 18 June, Council members issued a press statement reiterating their support to the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali and looking forward to its signing by the Coordination armed groups (SC/11934). On 23 June, the Council was briefed by Special Representative Mongi Hamdi on the Secretary-General’s MINUSMA report (S/2015/426) and the 20 June signing of the peace agreement by the Coordination, thereby completing the signing process (S/PV.7468). The Foreign Minister of Mali, Abdoulaye Diop, also participated in the meeting. On 29 June, the Council adopted resolution 2227 renewing MINUSMA.
Afghanistan
The Council held its quarterly debate on UNAMA on 22 June with Special Representative Nicholas Haysom briefing (S/PV.7467) on the situation in Afghanistan and the UNAMA report (S/2015/422). Haysom said that political progress had been achieved with the appointment of all cabinet members, but expressed concern with the challenging security situation, describing the infiltration of foreign terrorist fighters into the country. A press statement was issued by Council members on 22 June condemning the terrorist attack by the Taliban on the parliament in Kabul (SC/11937).
Peacebuilding
On 25 June, the Council was briefed by Olof Skoog (Sweden) and Antonio de Aguiar Patriota (Brazil), the current and former chairs of the PBC on the eighth annual Peacebuilding report (S/2015/174). After the briefing, Council members held an informal interactive dialogue with all six chairs of the PBC country-configurations and representatives of the PBC agenda countries. Also participating were Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Oscar Fernandez-Tarranco and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Members of the Advisory Group of Experts on the 2015 Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture and the High-Level Panel on Peace Operations also participated, as did representatives from DPA, DPKO and UNDP.
Terrorism
On 26 June, Council members issued a press statement condemning terrorist attacks against a chemical products factory in France; a bomb attack in a Shi’a mosque in Kuwait; and gunmen attacking a tourist hotel in Tunisia (SC/11947).
UNDOF (Golan Heights)
On 29 June, the Council adopted resolution 2229 renewing UNDOF for six months after considering the Secretary-General’s latest report on the observer mission during 23 June consultations (S/2015/405). Separately, Major General Michael Finn briefed the Council on peacekeeping on 17 June on how national caveats impact UNTSO’s ability provide UNDOF with military observers able to deploy to the Syrian side of the area of separation (S/PV.7464).
Egypt
On 29 June, Security Council members issued a press statement condemning the assassination of the Egyptian Public Prosecutor Hisham Barakat.
Climate Change
On 30 June, Malaysia and Spain organised an Arria-formula meeting on the role of climate change as a threat multiplier for global security. The panel featured Deputy Secretary-General Jan Elliasson and the President of Kiribati Anote Tong.
