Somalia
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Several issues related to Somalia sanctions are on the Council’s programme of work this week. Today ( Tuesday, 15 March) Council members will be briefed by India, as the chair of the 751/1907 Sanctions Committee on Eritrea and Somalia. (Resolution...
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Council experts are currently discussing China’s draft presidential statement for the strategic debate on Somalia on 10 March. They had their first meeting on Friday, 4 March and a revised version taking in comments made by members was circulated on...
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Yesterday Russia briefed Council members at the expert level on the draft Somalia piracy resolution it has prepared following Jack Lang’s (the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia) recommendations in his January report. P5 members have...
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In March, at the initiative of China, the Council is expected to hold an open debate on Somalia with the participation of the Secretary-General. The Somali government and the AU have also been invited to speak. A presidential statement seems likely. A key objective for the debate is to demonstrate a more strategic Council approach to the issue of Somalia.
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Council members are talking about Somalia piracy once more following the release yesterday of Jack Lang’s report to the Secretary-General identifying addtional steps that could be taken to achieve results in prosecuting piracy. In the report Lang makes it clear...
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In January, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, is expected to brief the Council in an open meeting. This is likely to be followed by informal consultations. A regular Secretary-General’s report on Somalia is due by 1 January.
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It is expected that the Council will consider in December the renewal of the authorisation of AMISOM, the AU Mission in Somalia. The current authorisation does not expire until 31 January 2011, but it seems possible that the Council will move the renewal forward.
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The Council is expected to renew the antipiracy provisions of resolution 1897 , which expire on 30 November. A Secretary-General’s report on Somali piracy is due by 30 October. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe is likely to brief the Council. (A meeting of the International Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia is scheduled for 10 November in New York under the chairmanship of the Republic of Korea.)
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On 21 October a public meeting of the Council is scheduled on Somalia. Uganda (which holds the presidency this month) has taken the initiative to call for the meeting. The Secretary-General and AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra are expected to speak at the public meeting. A private meeting will follow.
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The Secretary-General’s report on Somalia is due by 1 September. Later in the month the Council is expected to hold a debate on Somalia most likely featuring a briefing by the Secretary-General’s new Special Representative Augustine Mahiga. This would be Mahiga’s first appearance before the Council since his appointment in June.
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In July the chair of the Somalia/Eritrea Sanctions Committee, Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller, is expected to brief the Council (resolution 1844 of 20 November 2008 on targeted sanctions calls for the Committee to report to the Council every 120 days). Heller’s briefing is likely to focus on his trip to the Horn of Africa in April.
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In August the Council will consider the Secretary-General’s recommendations on piracy off the coast of Somalia, which it had requested in resolution 1918. There are quite wide differences among Council members regarding the prosecution and incarceration of pirates captured off the coast of Somalia, and at press time it was unclear how this issue would evolve.
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In May the Council is expected to discuss the Secretary-General’s Somalia report, due at the beginning of the month, and review progress in Somalia in light of the “three-phased approach” endorsed by the Council in May 2009. Special Representative Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah is likely to brief the Council.
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On 6 April in informal consultations Russia introduced a draft resolution on Somali piracy to Council members. A revised draft was circulated on 15 April. It would ask the Secretary-General to prepare a report within three months on possible options (such as special domestic chambers, a regional tribunal or an international tribunal) for
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In March the Council is expected to focus primarily on the Somalia sanctions regime. The Sanctions Monitoring Group is due to report to the Sanctions Committee before its current mandate expires on 20 March. It may also provide information and recommendations regarding the sanctions imposed by the Council on Eritrea in December 2009.
