Security Council Keeps in Place Peace Mission in South Sudan until 30 May 2015 as It Calls for Immediate Implementation of Cessation of Hostilities Accord
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 30 May 2015, authorizing it to use “all necessary means” to carry out its civilian protection, human rights and humanitarian assistance duties, and to support the 2014 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between the new Government and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
Through the unanimous adoption of resolution 2187 (2014) under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Council called for the immediate and full implementation of that January accord, as well as the Agreement to resolve the crisis in South Sudan, signed in May, expressing its intention to consider “all appropriate measures” against those who undermined peace, stability and security, including those preventing implementation of those pacts.
To support implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, the Council decided that UNMISS would consist of a military component of up to 12,500 troops, as well as a police component — including Formed Police Units — of up to 1,323 personnel, while the civilian component would continue to be reduced. In that context, the Council requested the Secretary-General in his regular reports to provide information on force generation, restructuring of the UNMISS force, logistical support and enablers, as well as an update on force operations, deployment and future requirements.
The 15-member body also requested UNMISS to continue to streamline its activities across its three components, keeping the Mission’s requirements and composition under review and making any mandate adjustments at an “appropriate stage” in the implementation of a credible peace agreement. UNMISS would ensure coordination with the Joint Technical Committee, Monitoring and Verification Mechanism and Monitoring and Verification Teams.
Further to the text, UNMISS would protect those civilians under threat of physical violence, irrespective of the source, within its capacity and areas of deployment. It would deter such violence — especially through proactive deployment and patrolling, with due attention to displaced civilians — and identify threats and attacks against civilians. It also would implement a mission-wide early warning strategy, exercise good offices and confidence-building in support of its protection strategy, and foster a secure environment for safe returns.
In a related provision, the Council authorized UNMISS to monitor, investigate, verify and report publicly and regularly on human rights abuses and humanitarian law violations, including those that could constitute war crimes, as well as on abuses against children and women, and to coordinate with the African Union Commission of Inquiry for South Sudan, where appropriate. UNMISS also would help create the conditions for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, notably by establishing security conditions and exercising its good offices.
By other terms, the Council condemned in the strongest terms attacks on and threats made to UNMISS personnel, demanding the Government of South Sudan and all relevant parties to cooperate in the Mission’s deployment, operations, monitoring, verification and reporting functions. It strongly urged the Government of South Sudan to immediately implement its revised action plan to end the recruitment of children in its military order.
After the adoption, Francis Mading Deng (South Sudan) expressed his appreciation to the troop- and police-contributing countries for their “enormous” contribution to the peacekeeping force, despite the unfavourable conditions under which they operated. The conflict could only be resolved by the people of South Sudan, albeit with international assistance. From that premise, his Government had committed itself to the peace process with SPLM since the outbreak of violence in December 2013. Despite repeated ceasefire violations, the Government was “optimistic” that a peace agreement was possible.
While he understood the international frustration with the pace of talks in Addis Ababa, he said a sustainable solution could not be achieved by the imposition of sanctions, which hardly ever achieved their objective and tended to harden positions towards confrontation. On the humanitarian front, the situation in war-affected areas remained grave, with internally displaced persons a great concern amid reports of violence in UMISS camps. He hoped that discussions between the Inspector General of Police and humanitarian partners, aimed at improving security and facilitating the voluntary returns, would soon bear fruit.
He said the Government did not tolerate alleged sexual violence, which grossly violated cultural values, and had taken “serious” steps to also address the issue of child recruitment, working with UNMISS to bring such practices to an end by 2016. The removal of capacity‑building from the UNMISS mandate had negatively impacted the development of a “new and weak” State, especially in the area of law enforcement. With that, he asked the Council to reconsider — and reinstate — that crucial element of the mandate.
The meeting began at 10:07 a.m. and ended at 10:20 a.m.
Resolution
The full text of resolution 2187 (2014) reads as follows:
“The Security Council,
“Recalling its previous resolutions 1996 (2011), 2046 (2012), 2057 (2012), 2109 (2013), 2132 (2013) and 2155 (2014),
“Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and national unity of the Republic of South Sudan, and recalling the importance of the principles of non-interference, good-neighbourliness and regional cooperation,
“Recalling its resolution 2086 (2013) and reaffirming the basic principles of peacekeeping, including consent of the parties, impartiality, and non-use of force, except in self-defence and defence of the mandate, and recognizing that the mandate of each peacekeeping mission is specific to the need and situation of the country concerned,
“Expressing grave alarm and concern regarding the further deteriorating political, security, and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan resulting from the internal Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) political dispute and subsequent violence caused by the country’s political and military leaders,
“Strongly condemning reported and ongoing human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those involving extrajudicial killings, ethnically targeted violence, rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, recruitment and use of children, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, violence aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population, and attacks on schools, places of worship, hospitals, and United Nations and associated peacekeeping personnel, by all parties, including armed groups and national security forces, as well as the incitement to commit such abuses and violations, further condemning harassment and targeting of civil society, humanitarian personnel and journalists, and emphasizing that those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights must be held accountable and that the Government of South Sudan bears the primary responsibility to protect civilians within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, including from potential crimes against humanity and war crimes,
“Expressing deep concern over the large-scale displacement of persons and deepening humanitarian crisis, stressing the responsibility borne by all parties to the conflict for the suffering of the people of South Sudan, and the necessity of ensuring that the basic needs of the population are met, commending United Nations humanitarian agencies and partners for their efforts to provide urgent and coordinated support to the population, calling upon all parties to the conflict to allow and facilitate, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and United Nations guiding principles of humanitarian assistance, the full, safe and unhindered access of relief personnel, equipment and supplies to all those in need and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance, in particular to internally displaced persons and refugees, condemning all attacks against humanitarian personnel and facilities and recalling that attacks against humanitarian personnel and depriving civilians of objects indispensable to their survival may amount to violations of international humanitarian law,
“Commending the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) initiative, as supported by the United Nations and African Union, in establishing a forum for political and security dialogue, and expecting all parties to participate in this process and respect the decisions reached by successive IGAD Assemblies of Heads of State and Government,
“Welcoming the IGAD-mediated 23 January 2014 Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) and Status of Detainees Agreements, consensus on the Declaration of Principles between the parties, the establishment of the ceasefire Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MVM), the 9 May 2014 “Agreement to resolve the crisis in South Sudan”, and the 9 November 2014 Rededication and Implementation Modalities for the CoH, while strongly condemning repeated and continuing violations of the CoH by all parties which undermine peace efforts,
“Acknowledging with appreciation the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government Communiqués of 10 June 2014, 25 August 2014 and 7 November 2014, highlighting commitments in the areas of inclusive governance, security, economic and financial management, justice, humanitarian action, and constitutional process, and the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council Communiqués of 12 June 2014 and 17 September 2014,
“Expressing its deep appreciation for the actions taken by United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) peacekeepers and troop- and police-contributing countries to protect civilians, including foreign nationals, under threat of physical violence and to stabilize the security situation within and beyond UNMISS sites, expressing appreciation for UNMISS’s efforts to support internally displaced persons seeking protection on its sites, while underlining the necessity to find sustainable solutions for the internally displaced population, including in alternative safe and secure locations, and in keeping with the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, and further expressing appreciation for those Member States who have deployed of troops and police after the adoption of resolution 2155 (2014),
“Taking note with interest of the 21 February 2014 UNMISS Interim Human Rights report, and 8 May 2014 “Conflict in South Sudan: A Human Rights Report”,
“Expressing grave concern that according to the 8 May 2014 “Conflict in South Sudan: A Human Rights Report”, there are reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial killings, rape and other acts of sexual violence, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary arrests and detention have been committed by both government and opposition forces,
“Stressing the increasingly urgent and imperative need to end impunity in South Sudan, and to bring to justice perpetrators of such crimes,
“Welcoming the work of the African Union Commission of Inquiry in independent and public human rights monitoring, investigation and reporting, and its 27 June 2014 “Interim Report of AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan”, and anticipating with interest its findings and recommendations,
“Strongly condemning the use of radio to broadcast hate speech and transmit messages instigating sexual violence against a particular ethnic group, which has the potential to play a significant role in promoting mass violence and exacerbating conflict, calling on the Government to take the appropriate measures in order to deter such activity, and further urging all parties to desist from these actions and instead contribute to promoting peace and reconciliation among the communities,
“Emphasizing that persistent barriers to full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) will only be dismantled through dedicated commitment to women’s empowerment, participation, and human rights, and through concerted leadership, consistent information and action, and support, to build women’s engagement in all levels of decision-making,
“Expressing deep concern at persistent restrictions placed upon the movement and operations of UNMISS, strongly condemning the attacks by Government and opposition forces and other groups on United Nations and IGAD personnel and facilities, including the December 2012 downing of a United Nations helicopter by the SPLA, the April 2013 attack on a United Nations convoy, the December 2013 attack on the UNMISS camp in Akobo, the August 2014 shooting down of a UN helicopter by unidentified armed groups, the August 2014 arrest and detention of an IGAD monitoring and verification team, the detentions and kidnappings of UN and associated personnel, and the 2014 attacks on the UNMISS camps in Bor and Bentiu, and calling upon the Government of South Sudan to complete its investigations of these attacks in a swift and thorough manner and to hold those responsible to account,
“Reiterating its request that UNMISS take additional measures, as appropriate, to ensure the security of its air operations in South Sudan, and report thereon to the Council,
“Stressing the importance of effective engagement and liaison with local communities, both within and outside the protection of civilians sites, in order to fulfil UNMISS’ protection of civilians mandate,
“Expressing grave concern regarding the threats made to oil installations, petroleum companies and their employees, and urging all parties to ensure the security of economic infrastructure,
“Recalling its resolution 2117 (2013) and expressing grave concern at the threat to peace and security in South Sudan arising from the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons,
“Noting with serious concern reports of the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions, made by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Jonglei State in February 2014, and urging all parties to refrain from similar such use in the future,
“Welcoming IGAD’s deployment of the MVM, calling for the redeployment and/or progressive withdrawal of armed groups and allied forces invited by either side, consistent with the 23 January 2014 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, and warning of the serious consequences that could result from any regionalization of the conflict,
“Welcoming the Secretary-General’s appointment of Ellen Margrethe Løj as his Special Representative and Head of UNMISS and Major General Yohannes Gebremeskel Tesfamariam as the UNMISS Force Commander,
“Reaffirming its resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), 1674 (2006), 1738 (2006) and 1894 (2009) on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, and 1502 (2003) on the protection of humanitarian and United Nations personnel; resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), 1998 (2011), 2068 (2012), and 2143 (2014) on children and armed conflict; and resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013) on women, peace, and security; resolution 2150 (2014) on the Prevention and Fight against Genocide; resolution 2151 (2014) on security sector reform; and resolution 2171 (2014) on conflict prevention,
“Taking note of the 30 September 2014 Secretary-General’s Report (S/2014/708) and 17 November 2014 Secretary-General’s Report (S/2014/821) and the recommendations contained therein,
“Determining that the situation in South Sudan 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. Reiterates its endorsement of the CoH Agreement accepted and signed by the Government of South Sudan and the SPLM/A (in Opposition) on 23 January 2014, further reiterates its endorsement of the Agreement to Resolve the Crisis in South Sudan signed on 9 May 2014 by Government of South Sudan and the SPLM/A (in Opposition); endorses the 9 November 2014 Rededication and Implementation Modalities for the CoH; calls for immediate and full implementation of the agreements by both parties, and expresses its intention to consider all appropriate measures, in consultation with relevant partners, including the IGAD and African Union, against those who take action that undermines the peace, stability, and security of South Sudan, including those who prevent the implementation of these agreements;
“2. Urges all parties to engage in an open and fully inclusive national dialogue seeking to establish lasting peace, reconciliation and good governance, including through the full and effective participation of youth, women, diverse communities, faith groups, civil society, and the formerly detained SPLM leaders, encourages the efforts of IGAD and the United Nations to reach a peace agreement between the parties, and further urges them to ensure that child protection provisions are integrated into all peace negotiations and peace agreements;
“3. Decides to extend the mandate of UNMISS until 30 May 2015;
“4. Decides that the mandate of UNMISS shall be as follows, and authorizes UNMISS to use all necessary means to perform the following tasks:
(a) Protection of civilians:
(i) To protect civilians under threat of physical violence, irrespective of the source of such violence, within its capacity and areas of deployment, with specific protection for women and children, including through the continued use of the Mission’s Child Protection and Women Protection Advisers;
(ii) To deter violence against civilians, including foreign nationals, especially through proactive deployment, active patrolling with particular attention to displaced civilians, including those in protection sites and refugee camps, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders, and identification of threats and attacks against the civilian population, including through regular interaction with the civilian population and closely with humanitarian, human rights and development organizations, in areas at high risk of conflict including, as appropriate, schools, places of worship, hospitals, and the oil installations, in particular when the Government of the Republic of South Sudan is unable or failing to provide such security;
(iii) To implement a mission-wide early warning strategy, including a coordinated approach to information gathering, monitoring, verification, early warning and dissemination, and response mechanisms, including response mechanisms to prepare for further potential attacks on United Nations personnel and facilities;
(iv) To maintain public safety and security within and of UNMISS protection of civilians sites;
(v) To exercise good offices, confidence-building, and facilitation in support of the mission’s protection strategy, especially in regard to women and children, including to facilitate intercommunal reconciliation in areas of high risk of conflict as an essential part of long-term State-building activity;
(vi) To foster a secure environment for the eventual safe and voluntary return of internally-displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees including, where compatible and in strict compliance with the United Nations Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDPP), through monitoring of, ensuring the maintenance of international human rights standards by, and specific operational coordination with the police services in relevant and protection-focused tasks, in order to strengthen protection of civilians;
(b) Monitoring and investigating human rights:
(i) To monitor, investigate, verify, and report publicly and regularly on abuses and violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including those that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity;
(ii) To monitor, investigate, verify and report specifically and publicly on violations and abuses committed against children and women, including all forms of sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict by accelerating the implementation of monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on conflict-related sexual violence and by strengthening the monitoring and reporting mechanism for grave violations against children;
(iii) To coordinate with, and offer technical support to, where appropriate, the African Union’s Commission of Inquiry for South Sudan;
(c) Creating the conditions for delivery of humanitarian assistance:
(i) To contribute to the creation of the conditions for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, including by helping to establish the necessary security conditions and by exercising its good offices, confidence‑building and facilitation, so as to allow, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and United Nations guiding principles of humanitarian assistance, the full, safe and unhindered access of relief personnel to all those in need in South Sudan and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance, in particular to internally displaced persons and refugees;
(ii) To ensure the security and freedom of movement of United Nations and associated personnel where appropriate, and to ensure the security of installations and equipment necessary for implementation of mandated tasks;
(d) Supporting the Implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement:
(i) To ensure proper coordination with the Joint Technical Committee (JTC), MVM, and Monitoring and Verification Teams (MVTs), as appropriate;
(ii) To provide mobile and dedicated fixed site security to IGAD’s MVM, as established in line with the decisions of the 31 January 2014 and 13 March 2014 meetings of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government; and
(iii) To provide support to the work of the MVM as described within the CoH;
“5. Emphasizes that protection of civilians, as described in paragraph 4 (a), must be given priority in decisions about the use of available capacity and resources within the Mission;
“6. Requests the Secretary-General, through his Special Representative, to continue to direct the operations of an integrated UNMISS, coordinate all activities of the United Nations system in the Republic of South Sudan, and support a coherent international approach to achieving peace in the Republic of South Sudan;
“7. Endorses the recommendation made by the Secretary-General in his 17 November 2014 Report to maintain the overall force levels of UNMISS to support its mandate as defined in paragraph 4 of this resolution;
“8. Decides that UNMISS will consist of a military component of up to 12,500 troops of all ranks and of a police component, including appropriate Formed Police Units, of up to 1,323 personnel; and that the civilian component will continue to be reduced according to tasks outlined in paragraph 4; requests that the Secretary-General provide detailed information on force generation, restructuring of the UNMISS force, logistical support and enablers, including as part of his regular reports; and requests the Secretary-General to review needs on the ground, and provide an updated assessment of the force’s operations, deployment and future requirements in his regular reports to the Council;
“9. Requests UNMISS to continue to focus and streamline its activities, across its military, police and civilian components in order to achieve progress on the tasks outlined in paragraph 4, and recognizes that certain Mission tasks will therefore be ceased;
“10. Expresses its intention to keep the requirements of and composition of UNMISS components under active review, and to review this mandate and make any necessary adjustments, at an appropriate stage in the implementation of a credible peace agreement between the parties;
“11. Authorizes the Secretary-General to take the necessary steps, in accordance with paragraph 8, to expedite force and asset generation;
“12. Requests UNMISS to increase its presence and active patrolling in areas of high-risk of conflict, high concentrations of IDPs, including as guided by its early warning strategy, in both Government and opposition-held areas, and key routes for population movement, and to conduct regular reviews of its geographic deployment to ensure that its forces are best placed to protect civilians, and requests the Secretary-General to provide updates on these reviews as part of his regular reports;
“13. Further requests that UNMISS continue to ensure full compliance with the United Nations zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to keep the Council fully informed about the Mission’s progress in this regard, and urges troop‑contributing countries to take appropriate preventive action including pre-deployment awareness training, and to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel;
“14. Encourages UNMISS to fully implement the HRDDP and requests the Secretary-General to include progress made in implementing the policy in his reports to the Council;
“15. Condemns in the strongest terms attacks on and threats made to UNMISS personnel and United Nations facilities, as well as those of IGAD,, such as the August 2014 shooting down of a UN helicopter by unidentified armed groups, the August 2014 arrest and detention of an IGAD monitoring and verification team, the detentions and kidnappings of UN and associated personnel, and the 2014 attacks on the UNMISS camps in Bor and Bentiu, stresses that such attacks may constitute violations of the Status of Forces Agreement and/or war crimes, demands that all parties respect the inviolability of United Nations premises and immediately desist and refrain from any violence against those gathered at United Nations facilities, further demands the immediate and safe release of detained and kidnapped UN and associated personnel, and stresses that efforts to undermine the ability of UNMISS to implement its mandate and attacks on United Nations personnel will not be tolerated;
“16. Reiterates its request that UNMISS take additional measures, as appropriate, to ensure the security of its air operations in South Sudan and report thereon to the Council;
“17. Demands that the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and all relevant parties cooperate fully in the deployment, operations, and monitoring, verification, and reporting functions of UNMISS, in particular by guaranteeing the safety, security, and unrestricted freedom of movement of United Nations and associated personnel, throughout the territory of the Republic of South Sudan, and further calls upon the Government of South Sudan to ensure freedom of movement for IDPs, including those leaving and entering protection of civilian sites, and to continue to support UNMISS by the allocation of land for protection of civilian sites;
“18. Demands that all parties allow, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and United Nations guiding principles of humanitarian assistance, the full, safe and unhindered access of relief personnel, equipment and supplies, to all those in need and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance, in particular to internally displaced persons and refugees and stresses that any returns of IDPs or refugees must be undertaken on a voluntary and informed basis in conditions of dignity and safety;
“19. Further demands that all parties immediately cease all forms of violence, human rights violations and abuses, violations of international humanitarian law, including rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, and violations and abuses against children in violation of applicable international law such as those involving their recruitment and use, killing and maiming, abduction and attacks against schools and hospitals, strongly urges the Government to fully and immediately implement its revised action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children, as recommitted to on 24 June 2014, and its military order of 14 August 2013 prohibiting the SPLA to attack, occupy or use for any purposes schools, school buildings or property, takes note of the 29 October 2014 national launch of the campaign “Children, Not Soldiers” by the Government, and further strongly urges the opposition forces to fully and immediately implement their commitment to end grave violations against children signed on 10 May 2014;
“20. Expresses grave concern at the findings of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict of rampant sexual violence and welcomes the 11 October 2014 Joint Communiqué of the Government of South Sudan and the United Nations on Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, urges the Government of South Sudan to implement without delay the commitments made in accordance with resolution 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013), calls upon the SPLM/A (in Opposition) to sign and implement such a communiqué, and further calls for specific and time bound commitments to combat sexual violence in accordance with resolution 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013);
“21. Calls upon the Government of South Sudan to move forward expeditiously and transparently to complete the investigations of allegations of human rights violations and abuses consistent with international standards, to hold to account all those responsible for violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and to ensure that all victims of sexual violence have equal protection under the law and equal access to justice, and to safeguard equal respect for the rights of women and girls in these processes;
“22. Emphasizes the importance of the full and effective participation of women at all levels in the implementation of agreements and in the prevention and resolution of conflict and peacebuilding more broadly, calls upon all parties to take measures to ensure women’s full and effective representation and leadership in all conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts, including through support to women’s civil society organizations and incorporating gender expertise in peace talks, and encourages troop and police contributing countries to take measures to increase the deployment of women in the military, police, and civilian components of the mission, and reaffirms the importance of appropriate gender expertise and training in all missions mandated by the Security Council;
“23. Condemns attacks on oil installations, petroleum companies and their employees, and the continued fighting around these facilities, and urges all parties to ensure the security of economic infrastructure;
“24. Requests that the Secretary-General report to the Security Council on the implementation of the UNMISS mandate in two written reports, no later than 16 February 2015 and 30 April 2015 respectively, which could include the issues of accountability in South Sudan;
“25. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.”