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8298th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Mali
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) for another year today, maintaining its 13,289 troops and 1,920 police personnel while requesting that the Secretary-General expedite the generation of forces and assets.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2423 (2018) under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Council extended the Mission’s mandate until 30 June 2019 and maintained its strategic priority to support implementation of the 2015 Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, notably by the Government and the Plateforme and Coordination armed groups. It requested that MINUSMA reprioritize its resources and efforts to focus on political tasks.
To those ends, the Mission’s priority tasks would include supporting the implementation of political and institutional reforms provided by the Agreement — notably to restore and extend State authority and the rule of law throughout the national territory — and supporting defence and security measures, as well as reconciliation and justice measures.
Other priority tasks are: support for the restoration of State authority in the centre; good offices and reconciliation; protection of civilians and stabilization, including against asymmetric threats; promotion and protection of human rights; and humanitarian assistance. Other tasks involve projects for stabilization; weapons and ammunition management; and cooperation with sanctions committees.
By other terms, the Council requested that the Secretary-General to take steps towards the swift conclusion of a “Pact for Peace” between Mali and the United Nations ahead of presidential elections, which, alongside legislative elections, are slated for 2018. The Pact would seek, among other things, to enhance the coherence of international efforts in Mali, relying on agreed benchmarks for governance, the rule of law and implementation of the Agreement. The Council requested further that the Secretary-General report on progress six months after the presidential inauguration.
François Delattre (France) said the resolution carried a strong political message to the parties in Mali: The Mission must be supported by substantive progress in the peace process. It defined a list of priority measures, drawn from the road map agreed by the parties, and requested that significant changes be made to the mandate if there was no progress. Unless the road map was implemented within the set timeframe, sanctions against “spoilers” would be considered, he said, calling upon all parties to foster the conditions for maintaining an exceptional level of commitment.
He went on to say that MINUSMA’s realistic and clear mandate also tasked it with interacting with Mali’s armed forces, the Group of Five Sahel Joint Force, and “Operation Barkhane”. The Mission must communicate more with local actors, while the Secretary-General should take new measures to strengthen its security. The text called on MINUSMA and Mali to consider the security impact of climate change and other environmental factors, and expressed the Council’s concern over the deteriorating situation of civilian protection in central Mali. Only a balanced approach between security and governance could create the conditions for lasting stability, he emphasized.
Finally, he said the resolution expressed the Council’s serious concern over human rights violations by Mali’s armed forces, and that elections must be conducted in a manner that would guarantee the credibility of the results. Reiterating France’s unwavering support for the irreplaceable role of the International Criminal Court in Mali, he said that the sentencing of Ahmad al Faqi al Mahdi for attacks against cultural and religious heritage in Timbuktu and the upcoming trial of Mohamed al-Hassan for crimes committed in the north both bore witness to its contribution to the fight against impunity.
Mr. Cohen (United States) said that as Mali prepared for presidential elections in the coming weeks, his country’s Government sought to best frame the Mission’s role in the present and the future, stressing: “Peacekeepers are not indefinite, nor should they be.” MINUSMA would not be in Mali forever, he said, adding that it was there to support implementation of the 2015 Algiers Accord but could not do so alone. For years, the parties had stalled that process amid the deteriorating security situation. The resolution made clear that without significant progress, the Council would be forced to look at options for overhauling the Mission. “We must see progress now,” he said, underlining that for those with a strategic investment in the country, “we can accept no further delay”.
He went on to state that the resolution streamlined the Mission’s mandate and stressed the importance of outreach for the protection of civilians. It also pressed MINUSMA to develop better strategic messaging so that people would understand it was there to bring peace and stability. The trend of mass killings and mass graves, including in Ménaka, must be reversed, since human rights abuses only fuelled recruitment to terrorist groups, he said, adding that the Council was united in declaring that respect for human rights and accountability were not optional. Citing preambular paragraph 22 and operational paragraph 61, he said they included the phrase “in matters that are within its jurisdiction”, referring to the International Criminal Court, which the United States understood to mean the Court’s jurisdiction under international law. Noting that Mali was a party to the Rome Statute, he said the United States respected the decision of those nations that had chosen to join that tribunal and expected the same for those that had not.
Tekeda Alemu (Ethiopia) said MINUSMA was carrying out commendable work in support of the peace and reconciliation agreement and welcomed the steps taken to implement that accord while expressing confidence that Mali and the Plateforme and Coordination armed groups would take all necessary steps to deliver on their remaining obligations under the agreement, as outlined in the resolution. He welcomed MINUSMA’s support for Mali’s efforts to combat terrorism and transnational crime, noting that the international community had a heavy responsibility to help the country overcome its security challenges. Mali had been an example of democratic governance in Africa and Ethiopia hoped it would “rise up again”, he said.
Dmitry A. Polyanskiy (Russian Federation), Council President for June, spoke in his national capacity, saying that his country’s support for the resolution was based on the importance of safeguarding Council unity and an understanding that MINUSMA was carrying out crucial tasks. Its approval, however, did not imply that the Russian Federation would sign on to several of the resolution’s provisions. Objecting to the term “intelligence” when applied to peacekeeping mandates, he stressed that terminology must align with that used by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. Furthermore, climate and environmental issues should remain under the purview of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, he said. “Let’s not take bread away from those bodies,” he added, stressing that the Council had neither the mandate nor the expertise to address those issues. He went on to state that his delegation’s arguments had not been taken into account, which reflected yet another instance of abuse by the penholder. To rectify that situation, the Russian Federation, as Council President, had circulated a note on the fair distribution of authority and presented it to the Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions.
At the meeting’s outset, the Council President read out a note from Salamata Dramé Tanoh-Boutchoué, spouse of the late Permanent Representative of Côte d’Ivoire, Bernard Tanoh-Boutchoue, who passed away on 18 April 2018.
The meeting began at 10:08 a.m. and ended at 10:30 a.m.
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