Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09USUNNEWYORK739
2009-07-31 23:13:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
USUN New York
Cable title:  

SECURITY COUNCIL RENEWS UNOCI MANDATE

Tags:  PGOV PREL UNSC XY IV 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1708
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUCNDT #0739/01 2122313
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 312313Z JUL 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7015
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAB/AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN PRIORITY 1590
RUEHRY/AMEMBASSY CONAKRY PRIORITY 1437
RUEHFN/AMEMBASSY FREETOWN PRIORITY 1561
RUEHMV/AMEMBASSY MONROVIA PRIORITY 1519
RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU PRIORITY 0002
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1334
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 USUN NEW YORK 000739 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL UNSC XY IV
SUBJECT: SECURITY COUNCIL RENEWS UNOCI MANDATE

REF: SECSTATE 79165

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 USUN NEW YORK 000739

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL UNSC XY IV
SUBJECT: SECURITY COUNCIL RENEWS UNOCI MANDATE

REF: SECSTATE 79165


1. (SBU) Summary: The Security Council on July 30 unanimously
adopted Resolution 1880, extending the mandate of the UN
Operation in Cote d,Ivoire (UNOCI) until January 31, 2010.
Negotiations on the French-drafted resolution were
non-contentious. The resolution expresses support for the
ongoing electoral process in Cote d,Ivoire and conveys the
unwillingness of the international community to tolerate
delays in elections scheduled for November 29, 2009. The
text of Resolution 1880 follows in paragraph 5. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On July 30, the Security Council unanimously adopted
UNSCR 1880 extending UNOCI,s mandate until January 31, 2010.
France drafted the resolution and was the only member to
speak following its adoption. Negotiations over the text of
the resolution were non-contentious. The resolution
expresses strong support for the ongoing electoral process in
Cote d,Ivoire and conveys the unwillingness of the
international community to tolerate further delays in
presidential and legislative elections scheduled for November
29, 2009. The resolution asserts that the Council is
prepared to take measures, pursuant to paragraph 13 of
resolution 1842 (2008),against individuals who threaten the
national electoral or reconciliation processes. The
resolution also calls upon all parties to ensure the
protection of civilians.


3. (SBU) French Perm Rep Ripert noted the 'unity of views' in
support of the resolution and the extension of the UNOCI
mandate. Ripert emphasized the importance of holding free,
fair and open elections, criticized past electoral delays,
and reiterated the Council,s unwillingness to tolerate
further postponement. Ripert noted that past delays, often
caused by insufficient political will, have led to serious
instability in the country. Ripert stated that the Council
will closely monitor the anticipated publication of the
provisional and final voters list in the coming months.


4. (SBU) Ripert praised the Ouagadougou process as well as
reconciliation efforts led by President Blaise Compaore of
Burkina Faso. Ripert also hailed the registration of 6.5
million Ivoirians as cause for optimism. Finally, Ripert
requested that the Secretary-General inform the Council on
progress related to the provisional voters list in September.



5. (SBU) Begin text of UNSCR 1880:

United Nations S/RES/1880 (2009) Security Council Distr.:
General 30 July 2009

Resolution 1880 (2009) Adopted by the Security Council at its
6174th meeting, on 30 July 2009

The Security Council,

Recalling its previous resolutions, in particular resolutions
1528 (2004),1721 (2006),1739 (2007),1765 (2007),1795
(2008),1826 (2008),1842 (2008) and 1865 (2009),and the
statements of its President relating to the situation in Cote
d,Ivoire, and resolution 1836 (2008) on the situation in
Liberia,

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty,
independence, territorial integrity and unity of Cote
d,Ivoire, and recalling the importance of the principles of
good-neighbourliness, non-interference and regional
cooperation,

Recalling that it endorsed the Agreement signed by President
Laurent Gbagbo and Mr. Guillaume Soro in Ouagadougou on 4
March 2007 ("the Ouagadougou Political Agreement",
S/2007/144),and that it welcomed the four subsequent
Supplementary Agreements,

Recalling in particular that in its resolution 1721 (2006) it
notably endorsed the decision of the African Union Peace and
Security Council on the mandate of the Head of State, and
recalling further that in the statement of its President
dated 28 March 2007 (S/PRST/2007/8) it endorsed the
Ouagadougou Political Agreement, including its Chapter V on
the institutional executive framework, and that this
Agreement provided for a period of ten months for the holding
of the presidential elections,


USUN NEW Y 00000739 002 OF 005


Expressing again its appreciation to President Blaise
Compaore of Burkina Faso ("the Facilitator") for his
continued efforts to support the peace process in Cote
d,Ivoire, in particular through the Ouagadougou Political
Agreement follow-up mechanisms, commending and encouraging
the continued efforts of the African Union and the Economic
Community of West African States ("ECOWAS") to promote peace
and stability in Cote d,Ivoire, and reiterating its full
support for them,

Stressing again the importance of the international
consultative organ participating in the meetings of the
evaluation and monitoring committee, as an observer,

Stressing the need for the Council to pursue a rigorous,
strategic approach to peacekeeping deployments,

Reiterating its strong condemnation of any attempt to
destabilize the peace process by force, and expressing its
intention to examine without delay the situation after any
such attempt, on the basis of a report by the
Secretary-General,

Having taken note of the report of the Secretary-General
dated 7 July 2009 (S/2009/344),

Recalling its resolution 1674 (2006) on the protection of
civilians in armed conflicts, noting with concern, in spite
of the sustained improvement of the overall human rights
situation, the persistence of reported human rights
violations against civilians in different parts of the
country, including numerous acts of sexual violence,
stressing that the perpetrators must be brought to justice,
and reiterating its firm condemnation of all violations of
human rights and international humanitarian law in Cote
d,Ivoire,

Recalling its resolution 1612 (2005) on children and armed
conflict and the subsequent conclusions of the Security
Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict
pertaining to parties in the armed conflict of Cote d,Ivoire
S/AC.51/2008/5, and expressing its deep concern that children
continue to suffer from various forms of violence,

Recalling also its resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) on
women, peace and security, condemning any sexual violence,
stressing again the importance of women,s equal
participation and full involvement in all efforts for the
maintenance of peace and promotion of peace and security and
the need to increase their role in decision-making with
regard to conflict prevention and resolution, and encouraging
the Secretary-General to mainstream a gender perspective in
the implementation of the mandate of the United Nations
Operation in Cote d,Ivoire ("UNOCI"),

Determining that the situation in Cote d,Ivoire continues to
pose a threat to international peace and security in the
region,

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,


1. Recalls that in the statement of its President dated 29
May 2009 (S/PRST/2009/16) it welcomed the new electoral
timeline endorsed in Ouagadougou by all the main Ivorian
political actors and leading to the first round of the
presidential elections on 29 November 2009, and underlines
that the parties are bound to respect this timeline to
demonstrate their political commitment towards the holding of
free, fair, open and transparent elections;


2. Reiterates its determination to bring its full support to
a credible electoral process for the presidential and
legislative elections in Cote d,Ivoire and expresses its
conviction that any postponement of the presidential
elections of 29 November 2009 in Cote d,Ivoire would be
inconsistent with a credible process and with the Ouagadougou
Political Agreement as endorsed by the Security Council;


3. Welcomes the successful completion of the operations of
registration of voters;


4. Recalls that it had requested in its resolution 1865
(2009) the President of the Independent Electoral Commission
to share publicly the details of the time frame, and takes
note of the dates he provided for the five stages leading to

USUN NEW Y 00000739 003 OF 005


the elections of 29 November 2009;


5. Reiterates that the publication of the electoral list is a
crucial step in the electoral process, looks forward to the
publication of the provisional voters list before the end of
August 2009 and urges the Ivorian actors to meet their
commitments in full and without delay;


6. Expresses its determination to follow closely the
publication of the provisional and of the final electoral
lists, encourages the Facilitator and the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General to inform it without
delay of any difficulty that may put at risk the electoral
time frame, expresses its intention to examine any such
situation without delay and requests the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General to certify the voters
list explicitly;


7. Reiterates that the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General shall certify that all stages of the
electoral process provide all the necessary guarantees for
the holding of open, free, fair and transparent presidential
and legislative elections in accordance with international
standards, and reaffirms its full support to the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General in his certification
role,


8. Stresses that it will base its assessment of the electoral
process on the certification that will be prepared by the
Special Representative consistent with the five-criteria
framework referred to in document S/2008/250 and after
inclusive contacts with all stakeholders in Cote d,Ivoire,
including the civil society;


9. Stresses the importance of an inclusive participation of
the Ivorian civil society in the electoral process, and of
ensuring the equal protection of and respect for human rights
of every Ivorian as they relate to the electoral system, and
in particular respect for freedom of opinion and expression,
and removing obstacles and challenges to women,s
participation and full involvement in public life;

10. Urges the Government of Cote d,Ivoire to provide the
operators involved in the electoral process with the
necessary support and encourages the international community
to continue their support to the electoral process, including
by providing, with the agreement of the Ivorian authorities,
electoral observation capacity and related technical
assistance;


11. Recalls that it is fully prepared to impose targeted
measures pursuant to paragraph 16 of resolution 1842 (2008),
including among other things against persons who are
determined to be a threat to the peace and national
reconciliation process in Cote d,Ivoire, and recalls further
that, pursuant to paragraph 6 of the above mentioned
resolution, any threat to the electoral process in Cote
d,Ivoire, in particular any attack or obstruction of the
action of the Independent Electoral Commission in charge of
the organization of the elections or the actions of the
operators mentioned in paragraphs 1.33, and 2.11 of the
Ouagadougou Political Agreement, shall constitute a threat to
the peace and national reconciliation process for the
purposes of paragraph 9 and 11 of resolution 1572 (2004);


12. Urges again the political parties to comply fully with
the Code of Good Conduct for elections which they signed
under the auspices of the Secretary-General, and in
particular urges the Ivorian authorities to allow equitable
access to public media;


13. Takes note again of the ceremony of transfer of authority
held in Bouake on 26 May 2009 as a positive development,
urges the Ivorian parties to make further progress to advance
the reunification and disarmament processes, and encourages
the international donors to continue to provide their support
to them, as appropriate;


14. Calls upon all concerned parties to ensure that the
protection of women and children is addressed in the
implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement as well
as the post-conflict reconstruction and recovery phases,
including continued monitoring and reporting of the situation
of women and children and that all reported abuses are
investigated and those responsible brought to justice;


USUN NEW Y 00000739 004.2 OF 005



15. Calls also upon all Ivorian parties to take appropriate
measures to refrain from, prevent and protect civilians from
all forms of sexual violence, which could include, inter
alia, enforcing appropriate military disciplinary measures,
upholding the principle of command responsibility, and
training troops on the categorical prohibition of all forms
of sexual violence;


16. Recalls the recommendation by its Working Group on
children in armed conflict in Cote d,Ivoire (S/AC.51/2008/5)
that a National Action Plan to address sexual violence be
adopted, welcomes steps taken so far and urges the Government
of Cote d,Ivoire, with the support of UNOCI and other
relevant actors to finalize and implement it, welcomes also
the Programme of Action to Combat Sexual Violence in the
areas within its control signed by the Forces Nouvelles in
January 2009 pursuant to the above-mentioned recommendations
as well as the communique issued by four militia groups
indicating their willingness to combat sexual violence, and
calls upon all relevant parties, with the continued support
of UNOCI to work together to implement their commitments;


17. Urges the signatories of the Ouagadougou Political
Agreement to take the necessary steps to protect vulnerable
civilian populations, including by guaranteeing the voluntary
return, reinstallation, reintegration and security of
displaced persons, including by addressing land tenure
issues, with the support of the United Nations system, and to
fulfill in this regard their commitments in accordance with
the Ouagadougou Political Agreement and their obligations
under international law;


18. Welcomes the progress made in the identification process,
which is key to the long-term stability of Cote d'Ivoire, and
calls upon the Ivorian parties to continue the identification
operations, including after the elections;


19. Decides to renew the mandate of UNOCI, as determined in
resolution 1739 (2007),until 31 January 2010, in particular
to support the organization in Cote d,Ivoire of free, open,
fair and transparent elections, within the electoral time
frame referred to in paragraph 1 above;


20. Requests UNOCI, within its existing resources and
mandate, to support actively the parties in the
implementation of the remaining tasks under the Ouagadougou
Political Agreement and its Supplementary Agreements, in
particular those that are essential to the holding of a free,
fair, open and transparent presidential election of 29
November 2009, and to continue to support the disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration programme and the
disarmament and dismantling of militias, and to provide
technical and logistical support to the Independent Electoral
Commission for the preparation and the holding of the
elections in a secure environment;


21. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to monitor
progress on the achievement of the benchmarks referred to in
annex 1 of his report dated 7 July 2009, encourages him to
continue to refine and update them and to report to the
Security Council, and expresses its intention to review these
benchmarks in full before 15 October 2009, taking into
account in particular the progress of the electoral process;


22. Reiterates its full support to the efforts of the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General in Cote d,Ivoire,
and requests UNOCI to continue to actively sensitize the
Ivorian population to his certification role;


23. Commends the Facilitator for continuing to support the
process to settle the crisis in Cote d,Ivoire, and requests
UNOCI to continue to assist him and his Special
Representative in Abidjan in the conduct of the facilitation,
including by helping the Facilitator, as appropriate and upon
his request, to carry out his arbitration role according to
the provisions of paragraph 8.1 of the Ouagadougou Political
Agreement and paragraphs 8 and 9 of the third Supplementary
Agreement;


24. Reaffirms its intention, as expressed in resolution 1836
(2008),to authorize the Secretary-General to redeploy
troops, as may be needed, between the United Nations Mission
in Liberia (UNMIL) and UNOCI on a temporary basis and in
accordance with the provisions of resolution 1609 (2005),as
recommended by the Secretary-General in paragraph 25 of his

USUN NEW Y 00000739 005.2 OF 005


report dated 7 July 2009 (S/2009/344) and calls on troop
contributing countries to support the efforts of the
Secretary-General in that regard;


25. Underscores the importance of updating the military
concept of operations and rules of engagement before 30
September 2009 and requests the Secretary-General to report
thereon to the Security Council and troop contributing
countries;


26. Requests UNOCI to continue to contribute, pursuant to
paragraph 2 (k) of its resolution 1739 (2007),to the
promotion and protection of human rights in Cote d,Ivoire,
with special attention to violence committed against children
and women, to monitor and help investigate human rights
violations with a view to ending impunity, and to continue to
support the efforts all parties should take pursuant to
paragraph 15 and 16 above, and further requests the
Secretary-General to continue to include in his reports to
the Security Council relevant information on progress in this
area;


27. Requests UNOCI, in this context, to also continue to
contribute, pursuant to paragraph 2 (m) of its resolution
1739 (2007) to assist the Government of Cote d'Ivoire in
restoring a civilian policing presence throughout Cote
d'Ivoire, and to advise the Government of Cote d'Ivoire on
the restructuring of the internal security services and in
re-establishing the authority of the judiciary and the rule
of law throughout Cote d'Ivoire,


28. Stresses the need for UNOCI and humanitarian agencies to
continue to work closely together, in relation to areas of
tensions and of return of displaced persons, to exchange
information on possible outbreaks of violence and other
threats against civilians in order to respond thereto in a
timely and appropriate manner;


29. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take the
necessary measures to ensure full compliance in UNOCI with
the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuses and to keep the Council informed, and
urges troop-contributing countries to take appropriate
preventive action including predeployment awareness training,
and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of
such conduct involving their personnel;


30. Decides to extend until 31 January 2010 the authorization
it provided to the French forces in order to support UNOCI,
within the limits of their deployment and their capabilities;

31. Expresses its intention to review the situation as well
as, as appropriate, the mandate of UNOCI, subject to the
progress of the electoral process and in particular to the
establishment of the voters list, and in any case no later
than 15 October 2009, requests the Secretary-General to
inform it in early September of the publication of the
provisional electoral list and further requests the
Secretary-General to provide to it a mid term report, by 30
September 2009, of the situation on the ground, including a
specific update on the security situation, and of the
preparation of the electoral process;


32. Further requests the Secretary-General to inform the
Security Council in his upcoming reports on the development
of his strategic workplan containing indicative timelines to
measure and track progress on the implementation of the
benchmarks referred to in paragraph 21 above;


33. Expresses its intention to review by 31 January 2010 the
mandate of UNOCI and the authorization provided to the French
forces which support it, the level of troops of UNOCI and the
benchmarks referred to in paragraph 21 above, in light of the
progress achieved in the electoral process and in the
implementation of the key steps of the peace process, and
requests the Secretary-General to provide to it a report to
this end three weeks before this date;


34. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

End text.

RICE