Security Council discusses UNITA sanctions

The role of diamonds in fuelling conflict, penalties for sanctions violators, and a possible permanent monitoring mechanism for UN sanctions were among the issues raised on Thursday when the UN Security Council debated the report of the Monitoring Mechanism on Angola, a UN press release said.

Speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee established by the Council to monitor sanctions violations by the UNITA rebel movement, Richard Ryan Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN said that "the United Nations sanctions regime against UNITA was working". However, he added that the UN "presently lacks the necessary permanent capacity for following up on the findings of the report of the Panel of Experts and the report of the Monitoring Mechanism".

Maintaining effectiveness

"In the case of UNITA, it will clearly be necessary for the Council
to maintain the effectiveness of the sanctions regime until the established objective of the resolutions concerned are achieved," Ryan told the Council. "Determination and financial resources will be required to implement the Mechanism's essential recommendations. However, the challenges, which they pose, and their cost, do not diminish their absolute necessity. An effective monitored sanctions regime, will over time, remove any international supports for politically motivated violence in Angola."

In his statement to the Council, Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Bernardo de Miranda said that despite some violations, sanctions had proved to be a "fundamental tool in persuading UNITA to abandon the path of war and embrace the peace accords". Speaking to journalists afterwards, Miranda said that the Security Council had to seriously consider introducing sanctions against countries that broke the arms and diamond embargoes against UNITA. "There are countries that have been systematically mentioned as sanctions-busters. The Council should not hesitate to discipline its own members," Miranda was quoted as saying.

The Monitoring Mechanism was established in April 2000 to
Investigate sanctions violations imposed by the Security Council against UNITA for its failure to cooperate with the Angolan peace process. The Mechanism was a follow-up to a Panel of Experts which was established by the Council in May 1999 to investigate sanctions violations. The Mechanism issued a report on 21 December last year and on 23 January the Security Council extended its mandate for a further three months, requesting that it submit a written addendum to its report by 19 April.

The report revealed how sanctions against UNITA, put in place by
Three Security Council resolutions, had been violated and made extensive recommendations on how the system could be further strengthened. They included the suggestion that the Security Council consider applying sanctions against any government found to be intentionally violating the embargo. On UNITA's illegal diamond trade, the Mechanism called for member states to implement certificates-of-origins schemes.

Opposition to new sanctions

The December report referred to the complicity of the authorities in the West African countries of Burkina Faso and Togo in allowing
UNITA representatives to do deals in their respective countries. The two countries have denied collaborating with UNITA and its leader Jonas Savimbi, and said they had imposed new measures to keep out UNITA.

In his address to the Security Council on Thursday, Burkina Faso's
Ambassador to the UN, Michel Kafando said that "instead of continuing to accuse certain member states it should cooperate with regional groups and organise better monitoring of arms and diamond sales".

In his address the French Ambassador, Jean-David Levitte, cautioned against further or secondary sanctions. Levitte said that to stop sanctions violations, countries, regional organisations and other actors had to be assisted rather than punished. "Secondary sanctions were a false response to a real problem. To be credible and effective, the use of sanctions must be limited," he said.

Canada calls for tougher regime

Paul Heinbecker, the Canadian Ambassador, said in his statement that his government had become convinced that enforcement monitoring was necessary if targeted sanctions were to work. He said that if the Council was "not willing" to enforce its sanctions, "there was no point in pretending to impose such measures or retaining them". He added that although Canada welcomed the extension of the Monitoring Mechanism mandate for three months, the existing "ad hoc monitoring arrangements were not sustainable over the medium or long term". Heinbecker said that it was "essential" that sanctions were preserved and enhanced as an "effective, precise and credible diplomatic tool".

Pierre Schori, the Swedish Ambassador to the UN, who also spoke on behalf of the European Union said that there was "clearly a need to give urgent consideration to the establishment of a global certification scheme on diamonds and the harmonisation of trade practices such as statistics and custom codes". He added that the proposal that the Council should consider applying sanctions against any government that was an "intentional and systematic" violator "merited further discussion".