UN/COTE D'IVOIRE: BRIEFINGS BY SRSG CHOI AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000424 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2017 TAGS: CDI ETTC PGOV PREL UNSC SUBJECT: UN/COTE D'IVOIRE: BRIEFINGS BY SRSG CHOI AND SANCTIONS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN Classified By: MINISTER COUNSELOR JEFFREY DELAURENTIS, FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (C) Summary: SRSG for Cote d'Ivoire Choi briefed the Security Council on April 28 on political developments in Cote d'Ivoire since January, noting that the Ivorian parties and the international community were making a serious commitment to facilitate upcoming elections on November 30, which had a realistic prospect of taking place. However, lack of financing or progress on disarmament and voter certification could still derail the elections. Member states encouraged further progress on disarmament and certification, and discussed Cote d'Ivoire's request to participate in the Peace Building Commission. Belgian PermRep Verbeke, in his capacity as Chairman of the Cote d'Ivoire Sanctions Committee, reported on the Committee's consideration of the latest report of the Panel of Experts. End Summary. BRIEFING BY SRSG CHOI ¶2. (C) Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) for Cote d'Ivoire Y.J. Choi briefed the Security Council on April 28 on the political developments in Cote d'Ivoire since his January 2008 briefing. SRSG Choi's overall assessment was positive: the Ivorian parties and the international community had made a serious commitment to facilitate elections on November 30, and as a result "that date may hold." Choi urged the international community to stay involved, pointing to three elements that could yet undermine the elections: financing, certification of voters, and progress on disarmament. First, without adequate financing, the electoral bodies would not be able to organize the elections, and at present they were awaiting payment. Second, the certification process must be peaceful and inclusive, and the state media must publish the electoral list and the results of the certification. Third, there must be public security during the elections. Militia-held weapons must be controlled, although not removed, before the elections. Choi confessed that questions about how, where, and by whom these weapons would be controlled still needed to be answered by the Ivorian authorities. Choi added that any unrest would likely be civilian, not military. ¶3. (C) French PermRep Maurice Ripert thanked Burkina Faso for President Compaor's efforts as Facilitator, and noted the unanimous support of all Ivorian parties for the November 30 election date. Burkina Faso PermRep Michel Kafando stated that the parties had taken seriously the need for political progress in Cote d'Ivoire and now certain steps were necessary for continued progress, in particular restoring the destroyed voter registers. Kafando asserted that facilitation was more important than ever due to election risks arising from a lack of funding and security. Ripert also pointed to Kenya and Zimbabwe--as did Panamanian Ambassador Suescum and Italian PermRep Marcello Spatafora in later interventions--to demonstrate the importance of the conduct of an election to its outcome. Ripert encouraged further progress on DDR, full implementation of the Ouagadougou agreement, and the publication of the voter registers, which Chinese DPR Liu, UK Political Counselor Quarry, Vietnamese PermRep Minh, Costa Rican PermRep Urbina, and Libyan PermRep Ettalhi echoed. Ripert stated that it was essential to maintain UNOCI's troop levels until after the elections. ¶4. (C) UK Political Counselor Quarry also expressed concern about sexual violence in Cote d'Ivoire particularly directed against children. Belgian PermRep Johan Verbeke suggested that the Council engage in a general review of the UN's role in Cote d'Ivoire once the elections had taken place, which Italy supported. Indonesian PermRep Marty Natalegawa argued that the elections should not be an end in itself, and that the international community must continue to lend support to create a sustainable peace in Cote d'Ivoire ¶5. (C) USUN DPR Ambassador Wolff welcomed that the parties had set a firm date for the nationwide elections and urged them to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to keep preparations on schedule. Ambassador Wolff noted that it is critical that the DDR process continue, and that the identification of voters be completed to allow all Ivorians the opportunity to participate in the elections. PEACE BUILDING COMMISSION AND COTE D'IVOIRE ¶6. (C) French PermRep Ripert also raised the Ivorian request to be placed on the agenda of the Peace Building Commission (PBC) and stated France's intention to propose a draft USUN NEW Y 00000424 002 OF 002 response to Cote d'Ivoire Belgian PermRep Verbeke suggested that the Council await the outcome of the elections before placing Cote d'Ivoire on the PBC's agenda, while the Chinese and Indonesian PermReps expressed interest in having the Council consider the issue before then. In his national capacity (South Africa held the presidency of the Council for April),South African PermRep Dumisani Kumalo objected to the suggestion that the test for Cote d'Ivoire's participation in the PBC was the holding of an election. He said that was not a precondition for PBC participation. Kumalo also expressed surprise at the references to Kenya and Zimbabwe, stating, "some do not think that Africans can take care of their own conflicts," and that it was only after African intervention that progress was made in Cote d'Ivoire He disagreed with the notion that there would be violence surrounding the elections in Cote d'Ivoire SANCTIONS BRIEFING ¶7. (C) Ambassador Verbeke, in his capacity as Chairman of the Cote d'Ivoire Sanctions Committee then reported on the Committee's consideration of the latest report of the Panel of Experts, noting that there were no major arms embargo violations, but that Ivorian forces continued to refuse UNOCI's arms embargo inspections, and that as a result UNOCI would no longer attempt to inspect Republican Guard sites. Verbeke also reported that Ivorian authorities were not implementing the travel ban and assets freeze on those individuals found by the committee to be undermining the peace process. Khalilzad