Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The nature of the conflict in Darfur remained unchanged since the renewal of the Hybrid Operation’s mandate, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council today.

In an effort to implement the arms embargo imposed on Libya, the Security Council today authorized Member States, acting nationally or through regional organizations, to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya believed to be in violation of the embargo.

Although Guinea-Bissau’s two-week political stand-off in early June was over, thanks to the international community’s intervention, post-electoral gains would suffer a setback if the political crisis there dragged on, the senior United Nations official in the West African country told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today decided to extend until 15 December the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), under the leadership of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and in full accordance with the principles of national ownership.

All facets of United Nations peacekeeping missions had a vital role to play in keeping civilians safe, speakers in the Security Council said today, as high-ranking officials, including a Head of State and several ministers, participated in a wide-ranging open debate on the protection of civilians in the context of peacekeeping operations.

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court today criticized the Security Council’s continuing failure to help bring to justice those indicted for atrocity crimes in Darfur, Sudan, more than a decade ago.

The threat posed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) and its associates to international peace and security remained high despite military setbacks in Iraq and Syria, financial pressures and international efforts to defeat them, the senior United Nations political official told the Security Council this afternoon.

Recent developments in several high-profile cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia were strong indications that its work was on track for completion by the end of 2017, although full cooperation with the court’s decisions and orders would be critical to ensuring grave crimes did not go unpunished, the Security Council heard today.

The sense of hope and optimism felt in Libya following the signing of that country’s political deal last December was giving way to a growing sense of impatience and concern, the Security Council heard today during a briefing on the latest developments in the North African country.

In a conflictual world characterized by scattered power, global peace and security would only stand a chance only if nations and regions united against common threats transcending their borders, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy told the Security Council today, amid calls for greater cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations.