Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Describing the opposition candidate’s victory in the 28 November Côte d’Ivoire presidential run-off election as “irrefutable”, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the West African country told the Security Council today that it was crucial to safeguard the poll results.

As part of its efforts to call to account those bearing the greatest responsibility for recent atrocities, the Security Council today heard reports by the heads of the international tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia as it considered obstacles to the completion of their work, the consequences for the fortification of international criminal law and the Tribunals’ legal legacy.

Condemning the continuing illicit flow of weapons within and into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Security Council today renewed until 30 November 2011 the arms embargo and related sanctions on that country, and requested the Secretary-General to extend the mandate of the Group of Experts monitoring those measures.

Acting on a letter from the Secretary-General, dated 22 November, concerning the planned run-off elections scheduled to take place in Côte d’Ivoire on 28 November, the Security Council today authorized a temporary redeployment of support from the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) for a period of up to four weeks.

“We are in the midst of a delicate period which will determine whether a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is possible,” the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council today, adding that the continued diplomatic impasse over settlement construction since the moratorium ended on 26 September was worrying.

Condemning and deploring all acts of piracy and armed robbery against vessels in the waters off the coast of Somalia, the Security Council today extended for 12 months its authorizations granted to States and regional organizations cooperating with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia in the fight against such acts.

Expressing its deep concern at the continuing instability in Guinea-Bissau, in particular the lack of civilian oversight and control of the armed forces and the continued detentions without due process of law that followed the events of 1 April, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in that country, UNIOGBIS, until 31 December 2011.

Expressing deep regret that civilians continued to account for the vast majority of casualties in conflict situations, including as a result of deliberate targeting, indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks and sexual and gender-based violence, the Security Council today demanded that all relevant parties immediately end such practices, and reaffirmed its readiness to adopt appropriate measures.

Calling on all Bosnia and Herzegovina’s political leaders to refrain from divisive rhetoric and make further concrete and tangible progress towards European Union integration, the Security Council this afternoon authorized for another year, until 18 November 2011, the European Union Stabilization Force (EUFOR) mandated to ensure continued compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended fighting in the country in 1995.

Emphasizing that the situation in Sudan represented one of the most urgent challenges facing the Security Council, the 15-member body, convening at the ministerial level, underlined today that full and timely implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), including the holding of referenda on the self-determination of Southern Sudan and the status of Abyei, was essential to national as well as regional peace and stability.