United Nations

Security Council Resolution A United Nations Security Council resolution is a United Nations resolution adopted by the fifteen members of the Security Council (UNSC); the United Nations (UN) body charged with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peac ...

1649, adopted unanimously on 21 December 2005, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, including resolutions

1533 __NOTOC__ Year 1533 ( MDXXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 25 – King Henry VIII of England formally but secretly marries ...

(2004),

1565 __NOTOC__ Year 1565 ( MDLXV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 3 – In the Tsardom of Russia, Ivan the Terrible originates the opr ...

(2004),

1592 Events January–June * January 30 – Pope Clement VIII (born Ippolito Aldobrandini) succeeds Pope Innocent IX, who died one month earlier, as the 231st pope. He immediately recalls the Sixtine Vulgate. * February 7 – G ...

(2005),

1596 Events January–June * January 6– 20 – An English attempt led by Francis Drake to cross the Isthmus of Panama ends in defeat. * January 28 – Francis Drake dies of dysentery off Portobelo. * February 14 – Archbishop John Whitg ...

(2005) and 1616 (2005),

1621 Events January–March * January 12 – Şehzade Mehmed, the 15-year old half-brother of Ottoman Sultan Osman II, is put to death by hanging on Osman's orders. Before dying, Mehmed prays aloud that Osman's reign as Sultan be rui ...

(2005) and

1628 Events January–March * January 19 – (26 Jumada al-Awwal 1037 A.H.) The reign of Salef-ud-din Muhammad Shahryar as the Mughal Emperor, Shahryar Mirza, comes to an end a little more than two months after the November 7 dea ...

(2005), the council extended and expanded sanctions against the country until 31 July 2006, and demanded that foreign fighters disarm or face sanctions.

Resolution

Observations

In the preamble of the resolution, the council began by reiterating its concern at the presence of and hostilities involving armed groups in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It underlined the importance of

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

for the long-term stability, peace and national reconciliation of the country. Violations of human rights and

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...

by the armed militia were criticised by the council, calling for the individuals to be brought to justice and welcoming action taken against them by the

United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name , is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was estab ...

(MONUC). The resolution called upon all armed groups in the Great Lakes region of Africa–including the

Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (french: Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda, FDLR) is an armed rebel group active in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As an ethnic Hutu group opposed to the ethnic Tuts ...

(FDLR), Palipehutu and

Lord's Resistance Army The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Co ...

–to immediately lay down their

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

and participate in

demobilisation Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

programmes. The text recognised the connections between the illegal exploitation and trade of

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...

s, and

arms trafficking Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small a ...

as one of the factors fuelling conflicts in the

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in the ...

region. It urged the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

, Rwanda and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

to better work together to disarm the illegal armed groups.

Acts

Acting under

Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military an ...

, the council regretted that the armed groups in eastern Congo were still armed and demanded that they disarm immediately. It decided that measures in Resolution 1596 (2005) relating to the arms embargo and financial and travel sanctions would apply to political and military leaders of foreign armed groups operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and leaders receiving support from outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The measures would by reviewed by 31 July 2006. The resolution went on to urge the transitional Congolese government to protect civilians and humanitarian personnel, and reaffirmed that MONUC had a legal basis to disarm the militia and protect civilians using "all necessary means". The

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

was invited to submit a report concerning the

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as n ...

repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

and resettlement of ex-combatants by 15 March 2006. The text continued to urge the transitional government to undertake reforms of the security sector, for international donors to continue to provide assistance, and for neighbouring countries to assist in the implementation of sanctions against the Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly those relating to the transfer of weapons and foreign fighters across borders.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 2005 1649 2005 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1649 1649 1649 1649 December 2005 events

Resolution

Observations

Acts

See also

References

External links