Security Council

6691^st Meeting (AM)

Security Council Authorizes One-Year Mandate Extension for United Nations

 

Office in Burundi, Adopting Resolution 2027 (2011)

Welcoming Burundi’s progress towards peace, stability and development, yet noting continuing human rights violations with grave concern, the Security Council decided today to extend the mandate of the United Nations mission in that country for another year.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2027 (2011), the Council also decided to extend until 15 February 2013 the mandate of the United Nations Office in Burundi (BNUB), to continue its support for the Government of Burundi in the areas of socio-economic development, reintegrating conflict-affected populations and deepening the country’s regional integration.

The Council stressed the need for a thorough, credible, impartial and transparent investigation of serious crimes, and called upon the authorities to put an end to extrajudicial killings and other such criminal acts, while ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights.  By further terms, it underscored the importance of security-sector reform, and urged all international partners to continue supporting the Government’s efforts to enhance the capacity of the national security services.

Calling upon the Government to take all necessary steps to prevent further human rights violations and to ensure swift justice, the Council also encouraged it to pursue peace consolidation and reconstruction efforts in a regional perspective, especially through projects fostering peace, reconciliation and exchange within the East African Community, the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.  The Council encouraged the Government to redouble efforts to pursue structural reforms aimed at improving political, economic and administrative governance and tackling corruption, with a view to setting up strong drivers for sustained and equitable social and economic growth.

Before today’s action, Burundi’s representative reminded the Council that a decade of armed conflict in his country had left behind poverty, arms proliferation, crime, land conflicts and an absence of moral standards or political ethics — a veritable “breeding ground for reaping the profits of chaos”.  Faced with those vast challenges, the Government had “rolled up its sleeves”, dealing first with army and police reform, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.  Burundi had also adopted a good governance strategy, created a national land commission, and established an ombudsman office, as well as a national human rights commission.

In addition, the Government had reached out to opposition parties to promote dialogue, he said, noting that it continued to combat impunity for crimes including extrajudicial killings, he said, referring to the Secretary-General’s latest report on Burundi.  (See Press Release SC/10473 for background information.)  “Today peace and security reign throughout the entire country,” he said, stressing that the Government’s accomplishments in those areas had only been possible due to assistance from the Council and the international community.

The meeting began at 10:05 a.m. and ended at 10:16 a.m.

Resolution

The full text of resolution 2027 (2011) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Recalling its resolutions and the statements of its President on Burundi,

“Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of Burundi,

“Welcoming the progress that Burundi has made towards peace, stability and development and emphasizing the need for the United Nations system and the international community, including the international financial institutions and Burundi’s development partners, to maintain their support for peace consolidation and long-term development in Burundi,

“Taking note of the smooth transition from the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB) to the United Nations Office in Burundi (BNUB) and commending the continued contribution of the United Nations to the country’s peace, security and development,

“Encouraging the efforts of the Government of Burundi to create a space for all political parties and to continue improving dialogue between all relevant actors, including civil society,

“Supporting the renewed commitment of Burundi to “zero tolerance” for corruption,

“Welcoming the continued engagement of the Peacebuilding Commission in Burundi and the recent visit of the Chair of the Commission’s Burundi configuration, taking note of the April 2011 Outcome Document of the Fifth Review of the Implementation of the Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding in Burundi and of the briefing of the Chair of the Burundi configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission on 7 December 2011, and acknowledging the contribution that the Peacebuilding Fund has made to peacebuilding in Burundi,

“Supporting the commitment of Burundi to regional integration, notably in the Economic Community of Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL), the East African Community (EAC), and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR),

“Recognizing the importance of transitional justice in promoting lasting reconciliation among all the people of Burundi, and noting with appreciation the completion of the work of the Technical Committee and the commitment of the Government of Burundi to establishing transitional justice mechanisms, consistent with the results of the 2009 national consultations, Security Council resolution 1606 (2005) as well as the Arusha agreements 2000,

“Welcoming the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman and the National Independent Human Rights Commission,

“Noting with grave concern continued human rights violations, in particular extrajudicial politically motivated killings and torture, and restrictions on civil liberties, including harassment, intimidation and restrictions on the freedom of expression, association and assembly of opposition political parties, media and civil society organizations,

“Noting with great concern the attacks against civilians as well as security and defence forces in various parts of the country and the reports of paramilitary activities in neighbouring countries and calling upon all those involved to put an end to such acts,

“Calling upon the Government of Burundi to protect the civil liberties and to fight impunity, particularly by ensuring that those responsible for incidences of torture, extrajudicial killings and mistreatment of detainees are brought to justice,

“Recalling its resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009) and 1889 (2009) on women and peace and security, its resolutions 1674 (2006) and 1894 (2009) on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts and its resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009) and 1998 (2011) on children and armed conflict,

“Having considered the first report (S/2011/751) of the Secretary-General on the BNUB,

“1.   Decides to extend until 15 February 2013 the mandate of BNUB, as set out in paragraph 3 (a) to (d) of the resolution 1959 (2010);

“2.   Decides that in addition to paragraph 1 above, BNUB shall also continue to support the Government of Burundi in the following areas:

“(a)  Supporting the efforts of the Government and the international community to focus on the socio-economic development of women and youth and the socio-economic reintegration of conflict-affected populations in particular, and advocating for resource mobilization for Burundi;

“(b)  Providing support to Burundi’s deepening regional integration, as requested;

“3.   Recognizes the primary responsibility of the Government of Burundi for peacebuilding, security and long-term development in the country, and encourages the Government of Burundi to pursue its efforts regarding peace consolidation challenges, in particular democratic governance, the fight against corruption, security sector reform, civilian protection, justice and the promotion and protection of human rights, with a special focus on the rights of women and children as well as marginalized and vulnerable minorities;

“4.   Encourages the Government of Burundi with the support of BNUB and other international partners to redouble its efforts to pursue structural reforms aimed at improving political, economic and administrative governance and tackling corruption, with a view to setting up strong drivers for sustained and equitable social and economic growth;

“5.   Encourages the Government of Burundi to pursue its efforts of peace consolidation and reconstruction in a regional perspective, especially through projects fostering peace, reconciliation and exchanges within the East African Community, the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region;

“6.   Underscores the importance of security sector reform and urges all international partners, together with BNUB, to continue supporting the Government of Burundi’s efforts to professionalize and enhance the capacity of the national security services and the police, in particular in the fields of training on human rights and sexual and gender-based violence, and with the view to consolidating security sector governance;

“7.   Calls upon the Government of Burundi, with the support of BNUB and its national and international partners to finalize the new Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP II), with clear peacebuilding priorities and an implementation plan;

“8.   Encourages the Government of Burundi, the Peacebuilding Commission and its national and international partners to honour their commitments made under the Outcome Document of the Fifth Review of the Implementation of the Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding and to review these commitments when the PRSP II is finalized to determine how the Peacebuilding Commission can best contribute to Burundi’s peacebuilding priorities;

“9.   Calls upon the Government to take all necessary steps to prevent further human rights violations and to take measures to ensure that those responsible for such violations are swiftly brought to justice;

“10.  Stresses the need for a thorough, credible, impartial and transparent investigation of serious crimes, in particular extrajudicial killings, and calls upon the authorities of Burundi to put an end to such criminal acts and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice;

“11.  Calls upon the Government of Burundi to pursue its efforts to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights and together with its international partners to support the newly established National Independent Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman, and further encourages the Government to continue its fight against impunity and to take the necessary measures to ensure its citizens fully enjoy their civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Burundi and in accordance with international human rights law;

“12.  Encourages the Government of Burundi, with the support of international partners and BNUB as appropriate, to establish transitional justice mechanisms, including the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in accordance with the results of the work of the Technical Committee, the 2009 national consultations, Security Council resolution 1606 (2005) as well as the Arusha agreements 2000;

“13.  Takes note of the progress reported by the Secretary-General in the development of benchmarks for the future evolution of BNUB into a United Nations Country Team presence and requests to be updated on these by 31 May 2012;

“14.  Requests the Secretary-General to keep the Council informed on the implementation of the mandate of BNUB and this resolution, with a briefing by the end of July 2012 and a report by 18 January 2013;

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

* *** *

For information media • not an official record