S/PV.6864 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of South Sudan and the Sudan to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2012/844, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2012/722, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Abyei. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2075 (2012). I now call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements.

We welcome the adoption of resolution 2075 (2012). Pakistan supports the peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues between the Sudan and South Sudan. We commend the decisions taken by the political leadership of both countries, resulting in the signing of several agreements on a number of contentious issues between the two sides. We hope that the two sides will continue to demonstrate this political will towards resolving the remaining outstanding issues. Pakistan has always consistently supported and will continue to support the efforts of the African Union (AU), which is playing a key role in resolving issues pertaining to the African continent. We commend the efforts of the African Union High-level Implementation Panel for the Sudan and South Sudan, under the leadership of President Mbeki. The Security Council should continue to play a constructive and balanced role in addressing the situation between the Sudan and South Sudan, and should stand united behind the African Union with the aim of achieving peace and stability in the region. It is important that the Council remain consistent in its support for the decisions of the African Union with regard to the situation between the Sudan and South Sudan. A selective response to the African Union’s decisions could undermine the peaceful resolution of the outstanding issues between the two countries. In our view, the resolution should also have referred to the AU Peace and Security Council communiqué of 3 August, which remains an essential and integral part of the series of decisions made by the African Union on the situation between the Sudan and South Sudan. Pakistan commends and fully supports the important role being played by the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei in the maintenance of peace and stability in Abyei, in line with its mandate. We will also continue to support all efforts aimed at achieving a lasting and viable peace between the Sudan and South Sudan.

I now give the floor to the representative of the Sudan.

I should like to thank you, Sir, and the members of the Security Council for giving us the opportunity to participate in this meeting to adopt the technical resolution 2075 (2012) extending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). I offer my thanks to all the members of the Council for their understanding and for adopting the resolution in its current wording. On my own behalf, I should like to assure the Council that we in the Government of the Sudan will work with our brothers in the Government of South Sudan to reach a satisfactory resolution of the situation in Abyei. I commend the language of the resolution in that regard, urging both countries to engage in negotiations with a view to reaching a final settlement of the situation in Abyei. I should also like to draw attention to the fact that the imposition of any coercive or unilateral settlement that does not take the sensitivities of the population groups and communities in Abyei into account would not achieve peace, security or stability in the region, which in my view is the most important objective of the Governments of the Sudan and South Sudan. The Governments of the Sudan and South Sudan and the members of the Security Council are all interested in establishing security and peace and in creating an environment conducive to the normalization of ties between the two countries in a manner that would help them implement the nine agreements recently finalized in Addis Ababa.

I give the floor to the representative of South Sudan.

The Republic of South Sudan is grateful to all the members of the Security Council for their continued support for and interest in the well-being of the people of South Sudan, the Sudan and the Abyei Area. The Republic of South Sudan welcomes the signing on 27 September of a cooperation agreement, including eight specific sub-agreements, with the Republic of the Sudan. Those agreements demonstrate my Government’s commitment to peaceful and prosperous relations between our two States for the benefit of our two peoples. Resolving the final status of Abyei is a crucial component of the lasting peace and stability that we all seek in our region. For that reason, the Republic of South Sudan fully accepts the report submitted by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) and the African Union Peace and Security Council, which included a specific recommendation, first presented to the parties on 21 September, on how the issue of Abyei should be resolved. In line with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement and all subsequent agreements, this calls for a referendum to be conducted in the Abyei area in October 2013. We also welcome the African Union Peace and Security Council’s endorsement on 24 October of the AUHIP’s proposal of 21 September. The Peace and Security Council also called on the parties to negotiate for six more weeks on the issue of Abyei in order to explore whether they could reach a final agreement bilaterally. If the parties fail to agree, the African Union Peace and Security Council has stated its intention to declare the AUHIP’s last proposal on Abyei final and binding on the parties. My Government regrets that it was not possible for President Kiir and President Al-Bashir to reach agreement on Abyei at their most recent summit, at the end of September. My Government is of course fully prepared to enter into further negotiations on Abyei within the time frame specified by the African Union Peace and Security Council, and has issued an invitation to President Al-Bashir to visit Juba. We will also continue to welcome any suggestions from our partners in the international community on the way forward. As a further indicator of our good faith, the South Sudanese co-Chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee issued a statement on 10 November that, in the interests of peace, South Sudan will accept the nominees of the Republic of the Sudan for the positions of Deputy Chief Administrator for Abyei and Speaker of the Abyei Area Council. The Republic of South Sudan is grateful to the Security Council for renewing the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), which has proved to be an effective promoter of peace and stability in the Abyei Area. My Government wishes to express once again its profound gratitude to the Federal Republic of Ethiopia for its contribution of forces to UNISFA and for its tireless efforts to promote peace and security in our shared region. We take note of the Security Council’s wish to downsize the force at the appropriate time. Given the regrettable incidents in the Abyei Area this week, which resulted in the unfortunate death of a South Sudanese UNISFA staff member, the presence of the international community in Abyei may remain vital. To that end, the Government of South Sudan is committed to signing the status-of- forces agreement for UNISFA in the coming week. The people of Abyei deserve to return to their homes following their displacement in May 2011, and to live in peace and security. We welcome all initiatives undertaken at the local level in support of the displaced and of reconstruction and reconciliation. It has always been our position that the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities should work together peacefully to address their common challenges. To ensure a truly comprehensive agreement between the Sudan and South Sudan, as called for in resolution 2046 (2012), we hope that the Security Council will accept the recommendations and decisions of the African Union in relation to Abyei and all other outstanding issues between the two parties.

There are no more names inscribed on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.