S/PV.6209 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them document S/2009/560, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by France. I wish to draw the attention of the members of the Council to document S/2009/521, which contains the text of a letter dated 7 October 2009 from the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1572 (2004) concerning Côte d’Ivoire addressed to the President of the Security Council and transmitting the report of the Group of Experts on Côte d’Ivoire. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now. There being no objection, it is so decided. A vote was taken by show of hands. In favour: Austria, Burkina Faso, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Japan, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mexico, Russian Federation, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Viet Nam

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1893 (2009). I now give the floor to the representative of Côte d’Ivoire.

My delegation would like to take the opportunity provided by this meeting of the Security Council devoted to sanctions to explain the position of the Government of Côte d’Ivoire. It should be recalled that it was the African Union, in 2004, that raised the issue of sanctions against Côte d’Ivoire. For some time now, the Economic Community of African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union have called for the lifting of those sanctions. Against that backdrop, on 24 April 2009 my delegation asked the Security Council to review the individual sanctions against certain Ivorian political stakeholders. Moreover, we did so on the basis of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement (see S/2007/144, annex), which, in its paragraph 6.4, calls for the immediate lifting of individual sanctions. It should also be recalled that the Ouagadougou Agreement was endorsed by ECOWAS and the African Union, of which the Security Council took note. The Ivorian peace process cannot proceed without the support of the international community. The need to back that hopeful process requires that the individual measures taken against certain Ivorian political stakeholders be reviewed, given the current environment of peace and reconciliation and the resolute commitment of those individuals in the search for peace and reconciliation. The question asked today by all Ivorians is whether United Nations sanctions exist for the purpose of repression. Is the goal to punish individuals, or by means of sanctions to restore peace in Côte d’Ivoire? Now that the former belligerents are actively contributing to the return of lasting peace and have reconciled with one another, is there any other goal that the United Nations might want to achieve by maintaining these sanctions? In our view, sanctions should be applied in accordance with the United Nations Charter and relevant provisions of international law and following impartial and specific criteria. Sanctions should have clearly defined objectives and in any case should never be imposed for purposes of repression or retaliation. The purpose of sanctions is to ensure that a country, a party, an individual or an entity changes its behaviour. The purpose of sanctions is not to chastise or to punish in any way whatsoever. Moreover, sanctions should be accompanied by specific deadlines and timetables. They should be subject to periodic review and be lifted as soon as they have achieved their goals. The situation has substantially changed since November 2004, when resolution 1572 (2004) was passed, and there is no reason why individual sanctions should be maintained. I would therefore like to express my delegation’s disappointment at the outcome of the vote on today’s resolution, which certainly does not correspond to what the Government of Côte d’Ivoire had hoped for. My delegation had expected to obtain today a clear commitment by the Security Council to lift sanctions after the presidential elections. The fact that identical resolutions have followed one another since 2004, while the situation has steadily improved in Côte d’Ivoire, shows the anachronistic nature of today’s decision to maintain the sanctions regime for yet another year. The resolution adopted today is not, in fact, designed to assist Ivorians in their process of reconciliation, which has made great progress since the signing of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement and which is but a few weeks away from finalization following the presidential elections. By way of conclusion, I would like to point out that given the obstacles that my Government notes at the level of the Security Council, Côte d’Ivoire will now undertake steps at the level of the Economic Community of West African States to implement the provisions of the Ouagadougou Agreement, namely the immediate lifting of sanctions against individuals and the lifting of the arms embargo three months after the presidential elections. Similar steps will also be undertaken at the level of the African Union.

There are no further speakers on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council will remain seized of the matter. The meeting rose at 12.05 p.m.