Security Council

The international community’s commitment to enduring engagement with Afghanistan through its transition and transformation — voiced at the Bonn Conference on 5 December — was the subject of a presidential statement and a debate in the Security Council today.

On 16 December 2011, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1970 (2011) concerning Libya decided to remove the names of the following entities from its List of Individuals and Entities subject to the travel ban and/or assets freeze: Central Bank of Libya; Libyan Foreign Bank.

On 30 November 2011, the Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee adopted revised Guidelines for the Conduct of its Work. The Guidelines were revised in compliance with paragraph 43 of Security Council resolution 1989 (2011), which directed the Committee “as a matter of priority, to review its guidelines with respect to the provisions of [that] resolution”.

On 30 November 2011, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) adopted Guidelines for the Conduct of its Work. The Guidelines were adopted in compliance with paragraph 26 of Security Council resolution 1988 (2011), which urged the Committee “to ensure that there are fair and clear procedures for the conduct of its work” and directed it to establish guidelines accordingly.

The following Security Council press statement was issued on 15 December by Council President Vitaly Churkin (Russian Federation):

The individuals sought by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur were still allegedly committing similar acts, but the execution of the arrest warrants against them “will end the crimes in Darfur”, the Court’s Chief Prosecutor told Security Council members today.

The outgoing members of the Security Council — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria — delivered briefings this morning on the work of the subsidiary bodies they had chaired during their two-year tenure.

Welcoming the encouraging progress made so far in the fully fledged negotiations on Cyprus, as well as the prospect of further decisive progress in the coming months towards a comprehensive and durable settlement resulting from those talks, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a further period ending 19 July 2012.

Recognizing the urgent need for Sudan and South Sudan to commence the process of border normalization and that the situation in that area constituted a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council today decided to broaden the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei to include assistance in that process, including supporting the development of effective bilateral management mechanisms, facilitating liaisons and building mutual trust.

The Security Council today, determining that, despite significant progress, the situation in Liberia remained a threat to international peace and security in the region, renewed for 12 months its travel ban on persons deemed to be a threat to the peace in Liberia and arms embargo, modified in previous resolutions to allow the Liberian Government, as well as the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country, to receive certain military materiel.