S/PV.7274 Security Council

As this is the first meeting of the Security Council for the month of October, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to Her Excellency Ms. Samantha Power, Permanent Representative of the United States of America, for her service as President of the Council for the month of September. I am sure I speak for all the members of the Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Power and her team for the great diplomatic skill with which they conducted the Council’s business last month. Adoption of the agenda

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of Mali to participate in this meeting. On behalf of the Council, I welcome His Excellency Mr. Abdoulaye Diop, Minister for Foreign Affairs, African Integration and International Cooperation of the Republic of Mali, who is joining today’s meeting via video-teleconference from Bamako. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, to participate in this meeting. On behalf of the Council, I welcome Mr. Ladsous, who is also joining today’s meeting via video- teleconference from Bamako. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2014/692, which contains the report of the Secretary- General on the situation in Mali. I now give the floor to Mr. Ladsous.

I thank you, Madam President, for this opportunity to brief the Security Council from Bamako, where I arrived the day before yesterday for the sad occasion of a funeral service in memory of nine Blue Helmets from the Niger who were murdered in a cowardly way in an ambush. This was of course an opportunity for me to express the solidarity of the entire United Nations, including all at Headquarters and the Secretary-General, with all our colleagues who have shown their dedication to their mission in making the ultimate sacrifice. I should add that yesterday evening there was a mortar attack on our base in Kidal, which killed one Senegalese peacekeeper and injured another. All of this comes at a time when the Security Council is hoping to get a reading on Mali and on the progress that has been made in the political process and with the security situation. To begin with the political process, I think it is clear that we are entering an important and delicate phase, since in 10 days the inter-Malian consultations and dialogue will resume, facilitated by Algeria, whose active and effective role has been commendable. We do have to acknowledge that progress has been slow, with the parties continuing to insist on their positions of principle. Clearly, therefore, on the part of both the Government and the armed groups, genuine and credible efforts will have to be made to find a compromise based on trust, reciprocal goodwill and creativity. I should say that the President, whom I met with yesterday afternoon in Bamako, assured me that his number-one priority was to support the political process. Interestingly, he added that unlike the crises that Mali has been through in the past, for the first time this one had benefited from a significant commitment on the part of the international community. The principles, I think, are well known — that is, a united, republican and secular Mali. Those are the principles the Security Council has endorsed, and I am sure that all the Council members recall the important high-level meeting with President Keita that took place only 10 days ago in New York, and which was an opportunity for all the members of the international community who were present to reaffirm their attachment to those principles. I believe we should express the hope that those matters of principle will be taken into consideration. Again, I would like to invoke the President, if the Minister for Foreign Affairs permits. He said no to federalism and yes to regionalization, and I think it is important that we understand what is behind that notion of regionalization. It means establishing effective and impartial governance, the effective rule of law, access to basic services, the provision of economic opportunities, and, also very important, the recognition of social and cultural identity throughout Mali’s territory. There is a whole process of ownership that must continue, and I hope it will go forward in a sensible way, with a certain degree of caution, but without wasting any time. It is important that an agreement be reached that makes it possible for me to transition to dealing with the security issues, and that enables us to examine the issue of consensus and the restoration of Malian institutions in the whole of the North, which was one of the conditions dictating the Security Council’s choices — in other words, re-establishing Mali’s full sovereignty over its territory. (spoke in English) With regard to security issues, it is true that the situation right now is worrying. I should make two points, the first of which is that the number of victims among the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) is probably the highest we have seen in peacekeeping operations recently. To date, no less than 31 peacekeepers have been killed in the course of their duty in just over 15 months. Sixty-six peacekeepers have been injured, some of them severely. I must say that the rate of attacks has increased substantially in the past three months. Yesterday, there were attacks on the Senegalese Blue Helmets; five days ago, the nine soldiers from the Niger; and, let us not forget, before that, a large number of Blue Helmets from Chad and also from Burkina Faso. That is of course a factor for concern. I think that what we are seeing is a situation in which there is a combination of factors. The first factor is the reduction in the presence of the French troops of Operation Serval in northern Mali. The second factor has been the quasi-disappearance of the Malian security forces, especially the armed forces, from many places in the north. All that has created a situation where, in effect, MINUSMA is the main international foreign presence on the ground. That makes us a target for all those spoilers — extremists, jihadists and traffickers — who would like to have the ground exclusively to themselves so as to be able to continue their nefarious activities. In effect — and that is my second point — we are in a situation where we are no longer in a peacekeeping environment. That behoves us to take a number of measures in order to face such asymmetric threats. If you allow me, Madam President, during the consultations that will follow I will go into more detail on all that we have endeavoured to do and are doing to address the situation. Suffice it to say at this point that we are working very actively on a number of measures designed to harden the protection of our bases and camps, as well as our equipment and people. We are very active in the area of mine action and explosives, because we face the whole range of threats, including guided rockets fired randomly, mortar shells, as was the case yesterday in Kidal, suicide attacks, ambushes, et cetera. We also face a number of mines and improvised explosive devices that, as we go on, are becoming more and more sophisticated. There are a number of tasks that we have been undertaking and will continue to do to address those risks. We are also addressing the issue of the rotation of troops in the north. To sum up, we are doing everything that we can to help our colleagues while the Mission support teams are doing all they can to hasten the construction of the bases and camps despite the tremendous logistical threats that they face. To conclude, we are also trying to get the message through that we need the support of all the people in northern Mali. We need the support of the armed groups, who should be able to make us more aware of what is happening on the ground. We need the support of the countries in the vicinity that know some people and some of those groups. They can also relay the call for support to MINUSMA because, at the end of the day, we cannot face the threat alone. We need the commitment and the support of all the parties to the Malian peace process. We need the support of the compliant armed groups in the areas that they control. The armed groups should in fact stand by their declaration in Algiers condemning terrorist acts and committing to taking measures to prevent and counter such acts. Let me finish by saying that everyone must use every influence and every possible role to enforce the message that MINUSMA is not and cannot be a target.

I thank Mr. Ladsous for his briefing. I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Abdoulaye Diop, Minister for Foreign Affairs, African Integration and International Cooperation of the Republic of Mali.

Allow me, first of all, to say how pleased we are to see a friendly country such as Argentina presiding over the Security Council for the month of October. I would also like to extend my sincere congratulations to the United States of America on its memorable presidency last month, during which two major events were organized: the Security Council summit on foreign terrorist fighters (see S/PV.7272) and the meeting on Ebola (see S/PV.7268). It is with great pleasure that Mali welcomes the first report of the Secretary-General on the situation in our country (S/2014/692) pursuant to resolution 2164 (2014). The Government of Mali fully supports the observations of the Secretary-General. I would like in particular to draw attention to paragraph 46 of the report. With your permission, Madam President, I would like to quote the content of the report, which fully reflects our Government’s point of view. The report underscores: “The ongoing talks in Algiers present an opportunity that cannot be missed, if Mali is to find a sustainable solution to the recent crisis. All armed movements in Mali should cease hostilities immediately and prioritize the preparations for the cantonment process, as provided by the preliminary agreement, in order to show their commitment to peace and security and to build confidence during the talks. Moreover, all parties should recognize the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Malian State. I encourage all parties to negotiate in good faith and in a spirit of inclusiveness so as to address all grievances. I also call on all parties to strongly condemn, reject and actively combat acts of terrorism, recognizing that they are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomever committed.” (S/2014/692, para. 46) I would also like to sincerely thank the Secretary- General for those remarkable observations and to say that that is the kind of message that I, myself, need in Algiers in my capacity as lead negotiator for the Government side. That is also what the President of the Republic of Mali, His Excellency Mr. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, said in other words on 24 September from the rostrum of the General Assembly at its sixty- ninth session (see A/69/PV.15) and at the high-level meeting on Mali, which he was fortunate to co-chair with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Allow me now to make four comments with regard to the report under consideration. First, Mali has consistently honoured its commitments and responded to the relevant United Nations resolutions and the Council’s calls for peace and the involvement of the international community by making a formal commitment to inclusive inter-Malian talks on 16 July in Algiers. Furthermore, to give the Algiers process as much credit as possible, the northern communities and civil society organizations have also been involved in the talks and they were heard by all the parties, including the team of mediators. It is clear that, in the course of the negotiations, the Government of Mali categorically rejected and continues to reject any request to establish a federation or a new State in the Malian State, which runs counter to the Malian Constitution and the relevant United Nationsresolutions, and also runs counter to the commitments made in the Algiers process road map. In that regard, the armed movements must be realistic and accept the hand offered to the Government of Mali, which has made offers to address the deep-seated aspirations of the populations of the northern regions, especially in terms of the self- government of communities and the management of local issues within a renewed and shared governance. Secondly, the Security Council should use all of its influence to induce the armed movements that have signed the road map in Algiers to agree to work together to negotiate in good faith in order to facilitate the conclusion of a comprehensive and final peace agreement; strictly respect the ceasefire agreement of 23 May 2014 and the declaration of cessation of hostilities of 24 July 2014; distance themselves from terrorist groups and other drug traffickers who are subject to sanctions; and, lastly, resume the cantonment process of their units as soon as possible, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions and the Ouagadougou preliminary agreement. Thirdly, the resurgence of jihadists and drug traffickers in northern Mali and the upsurge in attacks against the troops of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the Security Council must urgently take the necessary measures to ensure that MINUSMA receives the appropriate resources to fully execute its mandate and protect civilians and peacekeepers, who, unfortunately, pay a heavy price on the ground even as I speak. Fourthly, everyone knows that the head of the terrorist group Ansar Eddine, Iyad ag Ghali, who has long been on the Counter-Terrorism Committee list, is freely travelling around northern Mali. He has solemnly sworn allegiance to the Islamic State organization through a sensational press statement. My country, like all countries in the Sahel, again runs the risk of becoming the destination of hordes of terrorists who have been forced out of other parts of the world. MINUSMA has already suffered heavy losses in terms of human life, and I take advantage of this opportunity to extend to MINUSMA, troop-contributing countries and the families of the victims of terrorism in Mali my deepest condolences on behalf of the President of the Republic of Mali, his Government and the entire Malian people. However, this cannot continue. The international community must send a strong signal to terrorists. That is, unfortunately, the only message they will understand. In that regard, the Council should undertake, as quickly and urgently as possible, with members’ permission, a review of MINUSMA’s mandate and a strengthening of its capabilities and resources to enable it to address the upsurge in violence on the ground in connection with Operation Barkhane. Perhaps the Council should consider establishing a rapid intervention force capable of effectively combating terrorists. In any case, it is crucial to prevent the links with Daesh from solidifying and inflaming the Sahel region. To do so, the Security Council must demand full cooperation from the armed groups in northern Mali in the fight against terrorism, in accordance with the commitments undertaken by them in Algiers six weeks ago. I take this opportunity to warmly thank the Secretary-General, the members of the Security Council and the mediation team of the Algiers process, led by Algeria. We welcome Algeria’s outstanding work done at head of the mediation team. We reiterate to it the full confidence of the Malian Government in its ability to lead us to a comprehensive and definitive peace agreement. We would like to thank all of our partners and the international community for having clearly reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the territorial integrity, sovereignty, unity and secular republican form of the Malian State at the high-level meeting on Mali held in New York on 27 September on the sidelines of the general debate of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly. I cannot conclude without mentioning the faith that I have in the Algiers process, along with my friend Hervé Ladsous, who is with us on this occassion, as well as the excellent cooperation we have with MINUSMA under the direction of our partner in Algiers Albert Koenders, Special Representative of the Secretary- General, who has made a personal commitment to the process. He is a great diplomat to whom I pay tribute for the outstanding work he has done in Mali.

There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. I now invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion on the subject.