SC/11183
Security Council
7066th Meeting (AM)
Reiterating its strong condemnation of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and its use of children in armed conflict, the Security Council today demanded that the group immediately cease all hostilities, release all abductees, and disarm and demobilize.
Issuing presidential statement S/PRST/2013/18, the Council urged the United Nations Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), the United Nations political and peacekeeping missions in the region, and other relevant United Nations presences, to enhance their support for the implementation of the United Nations Regional Strategy to address the threat and impact of the activities of the LRA. It called on the international community to support the implementation of the Strategy where possible.
The 15-member body reiterated its strong support for the African Union Regional Cooperation Initiative against the LRA, commending the “significant” progress by the African Union Regional Task Force. It urged all regional Governments to fulfil their commitments under the Initiative and provide basic provisions for their security forces.
Welcoming steps taken to deliver an enhanced, comprehensive and “more regional” approach to the humanitarian situation, the Council underlined the primary responsibility of States in the LRA-affected region to protect civilians. In that context, it welcomed efforts by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Uganda and the Central African Republic, in coordination with the African Union, to end the LRA threat, urging additional efforts from those countries, as well as others in the region.
Further, the Council expressed serious concern that the increased security vacuum in the Central African Republic continued to negatively affect counter-LRA operations. As LRA attacks had reportedly taken place outside the Task Force’s principal area of operations, it emphasized the need for strong coordination among the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA), the Task Force, and the African-led International Support Mission in the Central African Republic (MISCA) in the context of protecting civilian activities and counter-LRA operations.
Regionally, the Council encouraged the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) to reinforce efforts to address the LRA through improved responsiveness to imminent civilian threats, training and capacity-building of the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) and implementation of the disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, reintegration, and resettlement programme to encourage further LRA defections.
In addition, the Council urged MONUSCO and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to enhance their cooperation with the Regional Task Force to coordinate operations, patrols and protection of civilians strategies, and to provide logistical support within their existing mandates and resources. It took note of reports of an LRA base in the disputed enclave of Kafia Kinga, on the border of the Central African Republic, and between South Sudan and Sudan.
The Council urged MONUSCO, BINUCA and UNMISS to continue to work with regional forces, international actors and non-governmental organizations, to promote a common approach to supporting disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, reintegration, and resettlement efforts across the LRA-affected area. It encouraged the Task Force to work with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations to establish safe reporting sites and provide information to assist LRA members who demonstrated a genuine commitment to demobilization and disarmament.
Reaffirming its call for parties to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access to civilians, the Council encouraged donors to increase funding for humanitarian and early recovery projects outlined in the Strategy and expressed concern that humanitarian actors were leaving LRA-affected areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It reiterated its call for the full implementation of the conclusions of the working group on children and armed conflict, encouraging countries that had not yet done so to establish standard operating procedures for the handover of LRA children to civilian and child protection actors. Finally, the Council recalled that the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Joseph Kony, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity had yet to be enforced, calling on States to cooperate with relevant national authorities and the Court.
The meeting began at 10:07 a.m. and ended at 10:10 a.m.