Security Council

Reaffirming its previous commitment to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic as a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council this morning encouraged the incorporation of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the implementation of peacekeeping mandates. Resolution 1983 (2011), building on the first Council action on HIV/AIDS, resolution 1308 (2000), was adopted unanimously in a meeting presided by Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

It was critical for the parties in both North and South Sudan to reach accord on all outstanding issues under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement before the South declared independence on 9 July, the Security Council heard today, as the leaders of its recent mission to Africa briefed members on the visit.

Top officials from the United Nations war crimes Tribunals investigating atrocities committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the Balkan wars of the 1990s today hailed the recent arrests of high-profile fugitives, but warned the Security Council that the work — and legacies — of their courts was imperilled by persistent staffing woes, challenges in enforcing sentences, and the failure to set up a trust fund for the victims.

On 2 June 2011, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1518 (2003) approved the deletion (de-listing) of the two entries specified below from the list of individuals established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1483 (2003). The sanctions measures set out in paragraph 23 of Security Council resolution 1483 (2003) therefore no longer apply to the following individuals:

Demanding an immediate withdrawal of the Sudanese Government and of all military elements from the contested Abyei area, the Security Council today strongly condemned the Sudanese Government’s military seizure of the town and the resulting displacement of tens of thousands of residents, through a statement read out by Nelson Messone of Gabon, the Council’s President for June.

HIV/AIDS and transnational organized crime would be among the major topics for discussion by the Security Council later this month, as the body also remained seized of situations including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Libya and others, according to the Permanent Representative of Gabon, which holds the Council presidency for June.

Protection of civilians, securing a commitment for indirect negotiations and planning for post-conflict peacebuilding were the key priorities of the United Nations in Libya, the Organization’s top political official told the Security Council this morning.

With several vexing issues needing resolution before a peaceful separation could occur in Sudan, senior United Nations officials briefed the Security Council today on the necessity of avoiding “an acrimonious divorce with lasting consequences” as they discussed the fate of the world body’s six-year-old mission in the country, whose mandate was set to expire on 9 July, the day on which the Government of South Sudan was poised officially to declare independence from Khartoum.

On 26 May 2011, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the deletion (de-listing) of the two entries specified below from its Consolidated List. The Committee approved these de-listings following its review of the names, as called for in paragraph 26 of resolution 1904 (2009). The assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1904 (2009) therefore no longer apply to the following individuals:

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Gérard Araud (France):