Briefing the Security Council today on the significant progress and tangible results in its core judicial cases, the President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals called for the international community’s continued support of its functions as it shifts from an operational to a residual court that safeguards the legacy of the Tribunals for war crimes committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, as well as the Mechanism itself.
Outgoing Chairs of Security Council subsidiary bodies emphasized to the 15-member organ today the importance of listening to varied perspectives, conducting field visits and remaining free of political considerations, as speakers alternately highlighted the importance of sanctions regimes and suggested ways to ensure they are developed and used effectively.
States must apply effective arms-control measures to prevent the diversion of weapons supplied to Ukraine, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as some Council members defended their decision to continue providing military support to Kyiv while others detailed the danger of doing so.
The Security Council today decided to provide a “humanitarian carve-out” — a standing humanitarian exemption — to the asset freeze measures imposed by United Nations sanctions regimes.
Despite the best efforts of the United Nations Stabilization Mission, the security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is worsening, with pervasive violence and armed groups killing civilians in the eastern region of the country, the Special Representative and Head of the Mission warned the Security Council today.
Noting that recent elections held in Angola, Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe and Equatorial Guinea showed significant progress towards democracy and rule of law, as well as a greater participation of women, briefers told the Security Council today that strengthened international and regional cooperation was needed to build and sustain peace and democratic strides in Central Africa in the face of persistent security challenges.
The sanctions regime on Sudan was established solely to help bring peace to Darfur and not to punish Khartoum, the Head of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) emphasized to the Security Council as she presented her quarterly update today.
While Sudan has been facing a multidimensional political, economic and security crisis since the military takeover of 25 October 2021, the dynamic of recent weeks is cause for optimism, suggesting that it may enter a transitional phase, thanks to a new political framework agreement, the top United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today.
Ongoing attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and the onset of frigid winter temperatures portend danger and worsening hardships for millions of Ukrainians, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, urging all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law.
Syria continues to avoid full cooperation with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to urgently address information missing from its submitted declarations, including providing details on the unauthorized movement of two cylinders related to the 2018 chemical weapon incident in Douma, the top United Nations official for disarmament told the Security Council today.