Security Council

The Security Council today condemned in the strongest terms the 25 May nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and tightened sanctions against it by blocking funding for nuclear, missile and proliferation activities through targeted sanctions on additional goods, persons and entities, widening the ban on arms imports-exports, and calling on Member States to inspect and destroy all banned cargo to and from that country, if they have reasonable grounds to suspect a violation.

John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed the Security Council today on his recent trip to the Sudan, acknowledging the recent efforts of the Government to work more closely with humanitarian workers in north and south Sudan, but saying the situation in the south was of major concern, and a full return of humanitarian capability was still needed in Darfur.

The following Security Council press statement on Guinea-Bissau was read out today by Council President Baki İlkin ( Turkey):

The following Security Council press statement on Burundi was read out today by Council President Baki İlkin (Turkey):

With Burundi entering a new phase in its efforts to emerge from a long civil war, support to socio-economic rebuilding and the 2010 elections could now be the focus of international efforts in the tiny Great Lakes country, the head of the Burundi arm of the Peacebuilding Commission told the Security Council today.

The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1521 (2003) concerning Liberia on 5 June 2009 decided to remove the name of the following individual from the list of individuals subject to the travel restrictions imposed by paragraph 4 (a) of resolution 1521 (2003) (the travel ban list):

In the Security Council this morning, the head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) called for international support for the United Nations unified post-conflict strategy in the country, while he praised its political leadership for an agreement that he said kept recent political violence from spiralling out of control.

The Sudan had a responsibility under the United Nations Charter to arrest President Omer al-Bashir and other Sudanese citizens charged with crimes in the violence-wracked Darfur region, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, told the Security Council today.

On 3 June 2009, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the amendments specified with strikethrough and underline in the entries below to its Consolidated List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1822 (2008) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

Speakers in the Security Council today called on the International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda to continue to expedite the completion of all cases still on their dockets, while stressing the need for optimal mechanisms to take care of all residual tasks as their completion deadlines loomed.