Thursday, July 25, 2013
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday condemned the flow of weapons
and ammunition to and through Somalia and Eritrea in violation of arms
embargoes against both countries. A resolution adopted unanimously by the council called the arms flow "a serious threat to peace and stability in the region."
The
council reaffirmed the arms embargoes on Somalia and Eritrea but gave a
green light for Somalia to import some military equipment and provide
assistance or training for its security forces until March 6, 2014.
It
barred the security forces from bringing in heavy equipment including
surface-to-air missiles, anti-tank and night vision weapons, and large
mortars, guns, howitzers and cannons without prior approval from the
council committee monitoring sanctions against Somalia.
The
council expressed deep concern at reports of continuing violations of a
ban on exporting charcoal from Somalia and underscored its willingness
to take action against those who violate it.
The militant
Islamist group al-Shabab, which controls most of central and southern
Somalia, has used proceeds from exporting charcoal to finance its
operations. The group of experts monitoring the implementation of
sanctions said that in 2011 al-Shabab received over $25 million from
charcoal exports.
"If the current rate of production continues, charcoal exports in
2012-2013 will consume some 10.5 million trees and the area of
deforestation will cover 1,750 square kilometers, which is larger than
the city of Houston, Texas, in the United States," the panel said in a
report to the council last week.
The council extended the mandate
of the panel of experts, who monitor sanctions against both Somalia and
Eritrea, until Nov. 25, 2014.
"The situation in Somalia,
Eritrea's influence in Somalia, as well as the dispute between Djibouti
and Eritrea, continue to constitute a threat to international peace and
security in the region," the council said.
The Eritrean
government has strongly denied any links to al-Shabab or playing a
negative role in Somalia and has called for U.N. sanctions to be lifted.
Somalia
had not had a functioning central government since 1991, when warlords
overthrew a longtime dictator and turned on each other, plunging the
impoverished East African nation into chaos. But since African Union
forces ousted al-Shabab fighters from the war-battered capital,
Mogadishu, in August 2011, a relative peace has returned, creating a new
sense of hope and opportunity.
Last year, a new interim
constitution was approved, a new parliament was seated, a new president
was elected and a new government and Cabinet started work, replacing a
weak and largely ineffective transitional government.
The
Security Council recognized "significant progress in Somalia over the
past year" but expressed serious concern at reports of misappropriation
of the country's public resources and underlined the importance of
transparent and effective management of public finances. It encouraged
the new government to set out "a clear political process toward
implementing a federal structure in line with the provisional
constitution."
The council expressed concern at human rights
violations in Somalia including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary
detention and pervasive sexual violence and underscored "the need to end
impunity, uphold human rights and to hold accountable those who commit
such crimes."