S/PV.8287 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 Joanna Wronecka, Permanent Representative of Poland, in her capacity as Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) concerning the Sudan. I now give the floor to Ambassador Wronecka. Ms. Wronecka: In accordance with paragraph 3(a)(iv) of resolution 1591 (2005), I have the honour to brief the Security Council on the work of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005), concerning the Sudan, covering the period from 14 March to 14 June. During this period, the Committee met twice in informal consultations. At the outset, I would like to recall that following the approval of the nominations of the Sudan Panel of Experts by the Committee, the Secretary-General appointed four members of the Panel of Experts on 14 March, while the fifth expert was appointed by the Secretary-General on 9 May, after three members of the Committee had lifted their holds on the nomination on 2 May. On 16 January, the Committee received a letter from the Coordinator of the Panel of Experts recommending that the Committee consider updating the list entries of Musa Hilal Abdalla Alnsiem, Adam Yacub Sharif and Jibril Abdulkarim Ibrahim Mayu. On 30 January, the Panel informed the Committee that the proposed amendments to the entry of Adam Yacub Sharif had inadvertently omitted some identifier information and provided the Committee with revised proposed amendments. Accordingly, on 14 March, the Committee approved the revised proposed amendments to the list entries. A corresponding press release and note verbale to all Member States were issued on the same day. In informal consultations on 12 April, the Committee heard a presentation by the Coordinator of the Panel of Experts on the Panel’s programme of work in accordance with the mandate as extended by resolution 2400 (2018) until 12 March 2019. In this connection, Mr. Bifwoli Wanjala told Committee members that the Panel would continue to monitor Darfuri rebel groups, most of whom were now in Libya and South Sudan, and militia groups in the Sudan. The Panel also intended to identify those who impeded the peace process and therefore met the designation criteria. The ongoing arms collection campaign by the Government of the Sudan and its implications for the arms embargo on Darfur would be another focus area of the Panel during its current mandate. The Panel would also continue to monitor violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, including sexual and gender-based violence and violence against children, as well as the travel ban and the asset freeze. Committee members welcomed the Panel’s work and travel plan. A summary of the meeting was made available in a press release issued on 18 April (SC/13305). Now, let me turn to my visit to the Sudan from 13 to 20 April. The purpose of the visit was to obtain information on the state of implementation of the sanctions measures by opening channels of dialogue to see the precise facts on the ground, towards feeding into the Security Council’s review of the sanctions measures on the Sudan. The representative of Kuwait accompanied me from New York and the representatives of China, France, the Netherlands, the Russian Federation, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States joined me in the Sudan from their respective embassies in Khartoum. I was also accompanied by three members of the Panel of Experts and one staff member from the Secretariat. During our stay in Khartoum and El Fasher, we met with a wide range of Government interlocutors, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur and the foreign diplomatic corps. We also visited two internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, the Abu Shouk Camp near El Fasher and the Hesahesa Camp near Zalingei, where we interacted directly with IDPs. I would also like to note that I received the full support of the Government of the Sudan and United Nations personnel throughout the visit. In my forthcoming letter to the Permanent Representative of the Sudan to the United Nations, I will encourage the Government of the Sudan to continue to build on the existing cooperation with the Committee and the Panel of Experts. On 1 June, the Committee received the first quarterly update of the Panel of Experts, which focused largely on the Panel’s visit to the Sudan from 14 April to 7 May. In the update, the Panel also reported that all members of the Panel received single-entry visas for their upcoming mission to the Sudan from 18 June to 7 July. On 6 June, I submitted my visit report to the Committee, in which I observed that while the situation in Darfur had significantly improved since the imposition of the sanctions regime in 2004, many challenges remained, especially regarding the humanitarian and human rights situation, as well as the political process. Moreover, the root causes of the conflict should be further addressed. After my visit, I believe the Council would be justified in reviewing the sanctions regime. My report also contained four recommendations — three addressed to the Committee and one to the Council. The Committee discussed the report and its recommendations during its informal consultations yesterday. All three recommendations addressed to the Committee were supported by its members with some additional input, and the Chair will proceed accordingly in consultation with the Committee. The recommendation I have addressed to the Council reads as follows: “That the Council pursue its intention, as expressed in paragraph 3 of resolution 2400 (2018), to review the measures on Darfur in light of the evolving situation on the ground. As part of the aforementioned review, the Council could consider setting solution-oriented parameters of the eventual termination of the measures in the long term, which might serve as a vehicle for positive change in the Sudan.” I am sure that the forthcoming reporting of the Panel of Experts will provide Council members with useful information to be taken into account when drafting the next resolution dealing with the Sudan sanctions regime. The Committee will continue to support the Council in its efforts to facilitate an end to the protracted conflict in the Darfur region of the Sudan and by doing so contribute to peace and stability in a very fragile region of the African continent.

I thank Ms. Wronecka for her briefing. There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers.