The UN Security Council meets on June 8, 2022, at the United Nations headquarters, on threats to international peace and security. MARY ALTAFFER AP UN Security Council on Thursday renewed the sanctions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The council renewed its travel ban, travel ban, and asset freezes until July 1, 2023 by adopting resolution 2641 by a vote of 10 in favor to none against with five abstaining votes.
In an explanation of the vote, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, pointed out that the Security Council's sanctions on the DRC are designed to curb the violent activities of armed groups.
18 years after its initial implementation, armed groups in the eastern DRC remain rampant, while the security capacity of the DRC has been constrained. The DRC government has repeatedly requested the council to lift the arms embargo on the country, he noted.
The security situation in the eastern DRC has deteriorated recently, with many civilian casualties and displacements caused by the resurgence of the March 23 Movement M 23 rebels.
According to a briefing by Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the DRC, the DRC security forces, affected by the arms embargo and other factors, do not have enough security capacity in the face of the threat posed by armed groups such as M23, as well as MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission in the country.
It is a worrisome situation and needs to be addressed, said Zhang.
During the consultation on the draft resolution, Chinese and African members of the council support the lifting of the notification requirement applied to the DRC government, he said.
France, as the penholder, tried to reach consensus, but we were unable to reach consensus due to the opposition of some members. He said China regrets that the resolution will continue to subject the great majority of the weapons and equipment needed by the DRC security forces to mandatory notification.
It will make the process more complicated and affect international partners' security cooperation with the DRC, which has made it hard for the DRC to find a solution to the situation in the eastern DRC, according to Zhang.
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The envoy said that China had to abstain from the vote due to the reasons mentioned.
He said that the DRC government should improve its management of weapons and ammunition in order to gain greater confidence from council members about the notification requirement in relation to the DRC government.