The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UN Security Council

  • Boko Haram: UN Security Council delegation arrives Chad, visits MNJTF

    The United Nations Security Council’s delegation on Boko Haram arrived N’Djamena on Friday night to meet the Chadian leadership and visit the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) headquarters on Saturday.

    The delegation said it was visiting Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, the four countries affected by the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists, to get a first-hand experience of the victims.

    “The United Kingdom Presidency of the Security Council will meet with the Government of Chad and visit the Multinational Joint Task Force.

    “In the afternoon the Council will transfer to Niamey, where they will meet the Government of Niger,” Matt Moody, Spokesperson and Head of Communications, UK Mission to the UN, said.

    The delegation, led by Amb.Matthew Rycroft, UK Permanent Representative to the UN and the Security Council’s President for the month of March, had earlier visited Cameroon.

    Rycroft had, while in Cameroon, explained the purpose of the Council’s visit to the Lake Chad Basin, before the delegation left for Chad.

    “First of all, we came here in order to shine a spotlight on the situation in the Lake Chad Basin.

    “We came to hear the individual stories of people involved, whether they are refugees or displaced people or other victims of Boko Haram.

    “We stand with the government and the people of Cameroon, and the wider region, in tackling the scourge of terrorism.

    “We encourage them to look broadly and deeply at the root causes of the set of crises going on here, whether humanitarian, to do with development, to do with education, agriculture and so on,” Rycroft said in a statement.

    NAN

  • UN backs Adama Barrow

    UN backs Adama Barrow

    The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday to back Gambia’s new President, Adama Barrow and called for a peaceful transition of power.

    The resolution called on former president Yahya Jammeh “to carry out a peaceful and orderly transition process,’’ and to transfer power to Barrow in accordance with the Gambian constitution.

    The UN resolution called for support of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “in its commitment to ensuring the respect of the will of the people as expressed in the results of the December 1, 2016, elections.’’

    Barrow is the 3rd President of The Gambia.

    He was sworn in as President of The Gambia at a ceremony in the Gambian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, today, having won the presidential election of December 1, 2016.

  • UN Security Council adopts Syria ceasefire plan

    UN Security Council adopts Syria ceasefire plan

    The UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution welcoming and supporting the efforts by Russia and Turkey to end violence in Syria and jumpstart a political process for the war-torn Middle East country.

    “The draft resolution has been unanimously adopted as resolution 2336,” President of the Security Council for December, Roman Marchesi (Spain) said, according to a document obtained by the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the UN.

    Also in the resolution, the Council “takes note of” the documents issued by Russia and Turkey about the agreements the two countries have brokered, including a nationwide ceasefire and a plan to convene political talks in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, between the Syrian Government and opposition groups, in January.

    The Council “looks forward to” that meeting in Astana, viewing it as “an important part of the Syrian-led political process” and “an important step ahead of the resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on Feb. 8, 2017”.

    Western members of the SecurityCouncil had sought changes to the draft resolution circulated by Russia and Turkey during consultations on Saturday morning to clarify the role of the UN and the meaning of the agreement brokered by Moscow and Ankara.

    The final text dropped an endorsement of the Syria cease-fire agreement brokered by Moscow and Ankara, and it changed the draft to call the Astana meeting “an important step ahead of the resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on Feb. 8, 2017”.

    On Friday, Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow hoped the Security Council would take up a vote and unanimously adopt a draft resolution on Syria, which was based on talks and documents issued in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin had also announced on Thursday that the Syrian government and armed opposition groups had reached an agreement on a nationwide ceasefire in Syria and on readiness to start peace talks.

    Putin called on the Syrian government, armed opposition and all countries with influence on the situation in the Arab republic to support the reached agreements and to take part in the anticipated talks in Astana.

    A nationwide ceasefire between the Syrian government and opposition factions came into force at midnight on Friday.

    Russia and Turkey serve as guarantors of the ceasefire deal, which paves the way for negotiations between the warring parties.

    Russia and Turkey are on opposing sides of the Syrian conflict, with Moscow along with Iran providing crucial military support to Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Turkey has long served as a rear base and source of supplies for the rebels.

    Divisions in the Security Council between veto-wielding members of the Security Council – Russia and China on one side and the Western powers: the U.S. Britain and France who support the moderate opposition and demand that Assad steps down, on the other side — had blocked action to end the war.

    Russia and Turkey first sent the cease-fire agreement and the draft resolution to Security Council members on Thursday night.

    After closed discussions at the Council on  Friday morning, Churkin, Russia’s Permanent Representative, circulated a revised draft, urging Council members to support it and called for the vote on Saturday.

    The Security Council needs to participate “in this important process,” Churkin had said.

    The cease-fire agreement, if it holds, would mark a potential breakthrough in a conflict that began in 2011 with an uprising against decades of rule by Assad’s family and has left over 250,000 dead and more than 13.5 million people in need of urgent assistance, and triggered a refugee crisis across Europe.

  • Italy, Netherlands offer to split contested UN Security Council seat

    Italy and the Netherlands propose to split a two-year term on the UN Security Council Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders says

    The proposal was after the two countries tied with the same number of votes in a contested race to attain a UN non-permanent seat

    Koenders said that Italy would serve a one-year term in 2017 and the Netherlands would sit on the council in 2018.

    Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni says the proposal is symbolic because it’s a “message of unity between two European countries.”

    The Western European regional group will discuss the proposal on Wednesday.

    The decision comes after neither of the countries could attain the two-thirds majority vote needed with both receiving 95 votes in the fifth round of voting.

  • U.S sanctions Congolese officials

    U.S sanctions Congolese officials

    United States government has imposed sanctions on a senior police official in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday for his role in what it described as the violent suppression of opposition to President Joseph Kabila’s government.

    Kabila is ineligible to stand in Congo’s next election in November after serving two elected terms.

    Opponents accused him of plotting to hold on to power by delaying the poll or changing the constitution to remove the term limit, as several African leaders have done.

    The Treasury Department said Kabila’s government has engaged in a pattern of repression, including the arrest of members of the opposition and violent suppression of political protests to avoid scheduling national elections.

    The department put Celestin Kanyama, police commissioner in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, on its list of “specially designated nationals” whose assets are blocked and are generally blocked from dealing with Americans.

    In a related development, UN Security Council has urged Congo to hold election by end of the year.

    It accused Kanyama of responsibility for dozens of deaths and other actions that have created a “climate of fear” over the past three years.

    These including raids during “Operation Likofi,” commanded by Kanyama, in which uniformed police wearing black masks dragged suspects out of their homes at night at gunpoint, with no arrest warrants.

    At least 50 young men and boys were reportedly killed and more than 30 others reportedly vanished.

    In January 2015, when Kanyama was police commissioner, more than 40 people were killed during demonstrations in the capital city, including at least 20 fatally shot by security forces.

    “The department’s action today sends a clear message that the United States condemns the regime’s violence and repressive actions, especially those of Céléstin Kanyama, which threaten the future of democracy for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said John Smith, acting director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement.

    Kanyama was not immediately reachable for comment. Congo’s government has rejected accusations that police carried out summary executions during Operation Likofi or used excessive force during the 2015 protests.

    Congo condemned the department’s announcement, saying it would infringe upon its sovereignty and undermine bilateral relations. “It will also embolden those who seek to divide our nation and impede our democratic processes,” Barnabé Kikaya Bin Karubi, a diplomatic advisor to Kabila, said in a statement.

    Reports say this month that members of Congress and other U.S. officials had been pushing for sanctions against members of Kabila’s inner circle, but had run into opposition from European powers wary of moving too quickly.

  • UN condemns Al-Shabaab attack on Mogadishu hotel

    The UN Security Council has condemned the June 1 terrorist attack, which Al-Shabaab militants carried out on the Ambassador Hotel, Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital city.

    In a UN statement issued on Friday, the Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constituted one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

    It stated that those responsible for these killings should be held accountable.

    The Council stressed the need to take measures that would prevent and suppress the financing of Al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups in Somalia.

    It reiterated its determination to support the peace and reconciliation process in Somalia, stressing that neither this nor any other terrorist attack would weaken that determination.

    A bomb and gun attack by Al-Shabaab militants on the hotel killed at least 16 people and wounded 55.

     

  • Boko Haram, Islamic State ties alarming – UN Council

    Boko Haram, Islamic State ties alarming – UN Council

    The United Nations Security Council has said it is alarmed by ties between Nigeria’s Boko Haram militants and the Islamic State (IS) group.

    In a statement, it said Boko Haram – which pledged allegiance to IS in 2015 – continued to “undermine the peace and stability” in West and Central Africa.

    Meanwhile, a senior United States official said there were reports of Boko Haram fighters joining IS in Libya, the BBC reports.

    Nigeria is to host a summit on Saturday on fighting Boko Haram.

    President Muhammadu Buhari will welcome counterparts from Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger for the gathering in Abuja, along with French President Francois Hollande, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond and U.S Deputy Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

    In the statement, the 15-member UN Security Council expressed “alarm at Boko Haram’s linkages with the Islamic State.”

    It also voiced its support for President Buhari’s “crucial initiative” to hold the security summit in Abuja.

    Meanwhile, Mr. Blinken – who is already in Nigeria – said he was concerned by reports that Boko Haram militants were going to Libya, where IS influence has grown in recent months.

    “We’ve seen that Boko Haram’s ability to communicate has become more effective,” he said.

    “They seem to have benefited from assistance from Daesh [IS].”

  • Nigeria ends fifth tenure on UN Security Council

    Nigeria ends fifth tenure on UN Security Council

    Nigeria has ended its fifth tenure as a non-permanent representative on the United Nations Security Council.

    Nigeria was first elected as a non-permanent representative for a two-year period from 1966 to 1967 and subsequently from 1978 to 1979, 1994 to 1979, 2010 to 2011 and 2013 to 2015.

    Other countries that also ended their tenures in December 2015 were Chile, Jordan, Lithuania and Chad.

    Those to replace these countries are Japan, Egypt, Ukraine, Senegal and Uruguay.

    The Security Council is one of the six principal organs of the UN charged with the maintenance of international peace and security.

    Its powers include establishment of peacekeeping operations, imposition of sanctions and the authorisation of military action through Security Council resolutions.

    With 15 members, comprising five permanent and 10 non-permanent members, the Security Council is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member-states.

    The five permanent members are Russia, UK, France, China and the United States.

    The permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member-states or candidates for secretary-general.

    The body’s presidency rotates monthly among its members.

  • UN urges action against human trafficking, sexual abuse

    UN urges action against human trafficking, sexual abuse

    The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Thursday called on UN member states to do everything in their power to combat human trafficking, especially for sexual purposes.

    UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson in a statement, said that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Boko Haram were prime perpetrators.

    The Council referred specifically to ISIL’s trafficking in Yazidis and its abuse of international humanitarian law and human rights, as well as such violations by the LRA in Central Africa.

    It also referred to the Nigerian based Islamist Boko Haram group for the purpose of sexual slavery, sexual exploitation and forced labour.

    The Council said that the actions of these terror groups in armed conflict might constitute war crimes.

    It urged member states to implement all relevant resolutions to improve implementation of applicable legal obligations to criminalise, prevent, and combat trafficking in persons.

    It also urged member states to ratify the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

  • Hollande calls for UN resolution against Islamic State

    Hollande calls for UN resolution against Islamic State

    French President, Francois Hollande, on Monday called on the UN Security Council to meet and adopt a resolution against the Islamic State.

    The resolution should express the determination of the international community to fight against Islamic terrorism, Hollande said.

    He said that the objective should not be to contain, but to destroy the Islamic State.

    The call became necessary as Islamic State claimed responsibility of November 13 attack of bloody wave of bombings and shootings across Paris that left nearly 130 people dead and about 350 injured.