Security Council

5650^th Meeting (PM)

SECURITY COUNCIL TERMINATES PROVISION REQUIRING NOTIFICATION OF ARMS EXPORTS

TO RWANDA, UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1749 (2007)

Welcoming the positive developments in Rwanda and throughout the Great Lakes region, the Security Council today terminated a provision requiring States to notify a Council-mandated Committee of all arms exports to the African nation, a measure imposed 12 years ago in the wake of the tragic Rwandan genocide.

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1749 (2007), deciding to immediately terminate measures set out originally in paragraph 11 of resolution 1011 (1995), which required States to notify of “all exports from their territories of arms or related materiel to Rwanda to the Committee established by resolution 918 (1994)”, and that “the Government of Rwanda shall mark and register and notify to the Committee all imports made by it of arms and related materiel”.

By the resolution, the Council welcomed the positive developments in Rwanda and the Great Lakes region, particularly the signing this past December in Nairobi, Kenya of a region-wide Pact on Security, Stability and Development at the Second Summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.

Encouraging the signatories to ratify that Pact as soon as possible and to provide for its expeditious implementation, the Security Council reiterated its call upon the States of the region to deepen further their cooperation with a view to consolidating peace, and stressed the need for those States to ensure that arms and related materiel delivered to them are not diverted to or used by illegal armed groups.

The Council took note of the latest report of the so-called 918 Committee, established to oversee the arms embargo imposed amid the unfolding 1994 genocide committed by the then Rwandan Government.  In that report (document S/2006/1049), the Committee’s Chair recalled that, in 1996, the panel had said it no longer needed to be notified of arms exports, but that, in the 10 years since then, it “has been unable to reach agreement on the future status of the notification requirement, due to differing views among its members”.  He asked the Council to address the matter.

Today’s action also follows an appeal earlier this month by the Rwandan Government to abolish the notification requirement.  In a 7 May letter to the Council (document S/2007/121), Rwandan Ambassador Joseph Nsengimana recalled that the arms embargo imposed in resolution 918 (1994) had been directed at the Government that had committed the genocide and that that Government was deposed in July 1994.  Since then, Rwanda had successfully emerged from conflict and was on a steady and sound path towards economic and social development.

“I would encourage the Security Council to acknowledge this progress and not to maintain the notification requirement, which now seems extraneous,” he said in the letter, adding that his Government saw “no continuing justification for this provision” that, among other things, impeded Rwanda’s ability to equip peacekeepers.  He said that the Government also believed there were “politically motivated attempts to revive the arms-export notification requirement”.

After the adoption of the text, the representative of Indonesia, which currently holds the chairmanship of the 918 Committee, welcomed the measure, which was a follow-up to the Committee’s recommendation to terminate the notification requirement. The adoption of the text also reflected the Council’s acknowledgement of the progress in Rwanda and the wider Great Lakes region, he added.

The meeting began at 5:18 p.m. and ended at 5:23 p.m.

Resolution

The full text of resolution 1749 (2007) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Recalling its resolutions 918 (1994) of 17 May 1994, 1005 (1995) of 17 July 1995, 1011 (1995) of 16 August 1995, 1013 (1995) of 7 September 1995, 1053 (1996) of 23 April 1996 and 1161 (1998) of 9 April 1998,

“Having considered the report of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 918 (1994) concerning Rwanda of 28 December 2006 (S/2006/1049) and the oral report of the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 918 (1994) concerning Rwanda of 13 March 2007,

“Taking note of the letter dated 2 March 2007 from the Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/2007/121) requesting the termination of the measures imposed by paragraph 11 of resolution 1011 (1995),

“Recalling the termination on 1 September 1996 of the restrictions imposed by paragraph 13 of resolution 918 (1994) in accordance with paragraph 8 of resolution 1011 (1995) and reaffirming the measures imposed by paragraphs 9 and 10 of resolution 1011 (1995),

“Stressing the importance of the cooperation of all States, in particular those in the region, with the Security Council committees established pursuant to resolutions 918 (1994) and 1533 (2004), and with the group of experts established by resolution 1533 (2004), while carrying out its mandate as renewed by resolution 1698 (2006),

“Stressing further the need for States in the region to ensure that arms and related matériel delivered to them are not diverted to or used by illegal armed groups,

“Welcoming the positive developments in Rwanda and the Great Lakes region, particularly the signing of the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region at the Second Summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region in Nairobi, Kenya, on 15 December 2006, and encouraging the signatories to ratify this pact as soon as possible and to provide for its expeditious implementation,

“Reiterating its call upon the States of the region to deepen further their cooperation with a view to consolidating peace in the region,

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

“1.   Decides to terminate with immediate effect the measures imposed by paragraph 11 of resolution 1011 (1995);

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

* *** *

For information media • not an official record