S/PV.7175 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. At this meeting, the Security Council will hear a briefing by Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaitė, Permanent Representative of Lithuania, in her capacity as Chair of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014). I now give the floor to Ambassador Murmokaitė.

I have the honour to report to the Security Council pursuant to paragraph 19 (e) of resolution 2140 (2014) on the work of the Committee since its establishment on 26 February to date. With the agreement of Council members, the report comes later than the 60-day time frame stipulated in resolution 2140 (2014) in order to allow the Committee to inform the Council on the more recent and substantive activities undertaken by the Committee. Council members will recall that, by resolution 2140 (2014), expressing support for a peaceful, inclusive, orderly and Yemeni-led political transition process that would meet the legitimate demands and aspirations of the Yemeni people for peaceful change and meaningful political, economic and social reform, as set out in the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and Implementation Mechanism and the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, the Security Council, inter alia, imposed measures on individuals or entities designated by the Committee as engaging in or providing support for acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Yemen. These measures consist of the freezing of assets owned or controlled by individuals or entities designated by the Committee, or by individuals or entities acting on their behalf or at their direction, or by entities owned or controlled by them, and a travel ban on individuals designated by the Committee. On 25 March, I was elected Chair of the Committee, with the representative of Jordan serving as Vice-Chair. I would like to thank Council members for the trust and confidence they have placed in me and my delegation as leaders of this important subsidiary body of the Security Council. As I said at the first meeting of the Committee, I intend to cooperate very closely and on an ongoing basis with all of its members. The first order of business for any new committee is the adoption of guidelines for conducting its work. Ours were adopted on 4 April, after which they were announced to all Member States through a note verbale and a press release. On the same day, the Committee received a letter from the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs proposing the names of four individuals to serve on the Panel of Experts established by resolution 2140 (2014). As Council members will recall, one of the Panel’s tasks is assisting the Committee in carrying out its mandate, including by providing, at any time, information relevant to the potential designation of individuals and entities as subject to the travel ban and/or the assets freeze. The Panel is also tasked with gathering, examining and analysing information from States, relevant United Nations bodies, regional organizations and other interested parties regarding implementation of the measures set out in resolution 2140 (2014), particularly incidents where the political transition in Yemen is undermined. The Committee had no objection to the slate proposed by the Under-Secretary-General, and the experts were appointed to the Panel by the Secretary- General on 16 April. Since that time, however, one has withdrawn from the Panel, citing pre-existing academic and professional commitments that would prevent him from participating fully in the operational work plan envisaged for the Panel. The Secretariat is working to identify a replacement as soon as possible, while the other three Panel members are in New York and have begun their work. In a letter dated 4 April addressed to this and other committees, the Chair of the Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) concerning Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities proposed that a recommendation of its Monitoring Team, pertaining to biometric data on listed individuals, be implemented as standard practice for all committees that have concluded an agreement with INTERPOL for the dissemination of Security Council-INTERPOL Special Notices. In my reply, I informed the Chair of the 1267/1989 Committee of my Committee’s intention, in the coming days, to consider adopting the procedures on the issuing of Special Notices and to revert to it thereafter. The first Committee meeting was held on 30 April, specifically to initiate a dialogue among the Committee, Yemen and member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and to discuss implementation of the measures imposed by resolution 2140 (2014). A representative of the GCC also participated. The convening of this meeting, in accordance with sub-paragraph (f) of paragraph 19 of the resolution, shows how important the Committee considers interaction and consultation with Yemen and its regional partners to be. During the meeting, the Permanent Representative of Yemen thanked the GCC member countries for their support for the transition and underlined the importance of taking economic and humanitarian factors into account when addressing his country’s challenges. All participants who spoke agreed that the dialogue was useful and should continue. It is my intention to maintain an inclusive and participatory approach in steering the Committee. On 5 May, the Committee met in informal consultations with the three members of the Panel of Experts. The experts shared their initial thoughts on how they intended to proceed with the fulfilment of their mandate and the challenges they foresaw. Committee members welcomed the start of the Panel’s work and looked forward to receiving its continued, impartial and independent analysis of the situation on the ground. I was pleased to learn that while the Pnael was in New York, it would be meeting with a wide range of actors and stakeholders, including representatives of Yemen and the member countries of the GCC. Committee members also looked forward to a visit by the Panel to Yemen in the near future and noted that such travel will be critical for gethering first-hand information. An update from the Panel is due to the Security Council no later than 25 June. In accordance with resolution 2140 (2014), this update will be discussed in the Committee before being submitted to the Council. Moreover, the Panel may at any time present relevant information to the Committee. In accordance with sub-paragraph (e) of paragraph 19 of resolution 2140 (2014), and as deemed necessary, I will thereafter report to the Council on this and other Committee discussions and activities.

I thank Ambassador Murmokaitė for her briefing. I now invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion on the subject.