SECURITY COUNCIL, UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1632 (2005), EXTENDS MANDATE OF CÔTE D’IVOIRE EXPERT GROUP UNTIL 15 DECEMBER

Security Council

5283^rd Meeting (PM)

SECURITY COUNCIL, UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1632 (2005), EXTENDS MANDATE

OF C ÔTE D’IVOIRE EXPERT GROUP UNTIL 15 DECEMBER

Determining that the situation in Côte d’Ivoire continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council today extended until 15 December the mandate of the three-person team it had created to help control arms in that West African country.

Through its unanimous adoption of resolution 1632 (2005), the Council also requested the Group of Experts to submit an updated report on the effectiveness of the arms embargo that the Council imposed through resolution 1572 of November 2004, requiring all countries to prevent the "direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer" to Côte d'Ivoire of arms or any related materiel.

The Group was created through resolution 1584 of February 2005, as part of a set of measures aimed at ensuring an effective embargo and better means of arms surveillance and control in the country following demobilization and disarmament agreements that were part of peace accords. 

The Group’s tasks include gathering and analysing all relevant information in Côte d’Ivoire and other countries in the region on arms caches and flows, and recommending ways of improving the implementation of the embargo.

Fighting between the Government of President Laurent Gbagbo and rebels controlling most of northern Côte d’Ivoire was halted by the January 2003 Linas-Marcoussis accord, which created a Government of National Reconciliation.  A ceasefire between the Government and the Forces Nouvelles took effect on 3 May 2003.  A third pact, reached on 30 July 2004 in the Ghanaian capital and known as the Accra III Agreement, focused on those parts of Linas-Marcoussis that remained in dispute. 

Lack of progress in those areas and continuing ceasefire and human rights violations caused the Council last Friday to endorse a one-year delay of an election deadline, which is now October 2006.

The meeting began at 3:12 p.m. and adjourned at 3:14 p.m.

Resolution

The full text of resolution 1632 (2005) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Recalling its previous resolutions concerning the situation in Côte d’Ivoire, in particular resolutions 1572 (2004) of 15 November 2004, 1584 (2005) of 1 February 2005 and 1609 (2005) of 24 June 2005, and the relevant statements of its President,

“Welcoming the ongoing efforts of the Secretary-General, the African Union and the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) towards re-establishing peace and stability in Côte d’Ivoire,

“Recalling the interim report of the Group of Experts created by the Secretary-General, further to paragraph 7 of resolution 1584 (2005) and anticipating the receipt of its final report,

“Determining that the situation in Côte d’Ivoire continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region,

“Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

“1.   Decides to extend the mandate of the Group of Experts to 15 December 2005, and requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary administrative measures;

“2.   Requests the Group of Experts to submit a brief written update to the Council, through the Committee established by paragraph 14 of resolution 1572 (2004), before 1 December 2005, on the implementation of the measures imposed by paragraph 7 of resolution 1572 (2004) and reaffirmed by paragraph 1 of resolution 1584 (2005), with recommendations in this regard;

“3.   Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.”

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For information media • not an official record