Security Council – Work assessment under Brazil presidency (March 2005) – Letter from Brazil (excerpts)

Letter dated 20 June 2005 from the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

  I have the honour to attach herewith the assessment of the work of the Security Council for the month of March 2005, under the presidency of Brazil (see annex).

  The assessment was prepared under our responsibility following consultations with the other members of the Council.

  I should be grateful if the present letter and its annex could be circulated as a document of the Security Council.

( Signed) Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg

Ambassador

Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations

Annex to the letter dated 20 June 2005 from the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

Assessment of the work of the Security Council during the presidency of Brazil (March 2005)

Introduction

  The Security Council undertook a very active programme of work during the month of March 2005, under the presidency of Brazil. A total of 26 formal meetings and 19 consultations of the whole were held in this period. The result of this intensive work was reflected in the adoption of nine resolutions, including five on the reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan, and also on the situation between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the situation in Somalia, the situation in Afghanistan and the situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Furthermore, the Security Council issued five presidential statements: on the situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the situation in Somalia, the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, the situation in Burundi and the situation in Guinea-Bissau. A wrap-up session on the work of the Security Council was held on 30 March, so as to discuss the African dimension in the work of the Security Council.

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    The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question 

  On 9 March, the Security Council adopted a presidential statement (S/PRST/2005/12), by which it welcomed the conclusions of the London Meeting on Supporting the Palestinian Authority, held on 1 March, and expressed the hope that the occasion would be part of longer-term international support to the Palestinian people and Authority, as well as a contribution towards the implementation of the road map endorsed by Security Council resolution 1515 (2003). The Council welcomed the comprehensive plan presented by President Mahmoud Abbas at the meeting for strengthening the Palestinian Authority’s institutions in the areas of security, good governance and development of the Palestinian economy. It also reiterated its call on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to ensure continued progress towards full implementation of the road map in direct contact with the Quartet.

  On 24 March, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast, delivered his monthly briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East. Mr. Prendergast stressed the concern of the United Nations over Israel’s failure to dismantle settlement outposts and freeze settlement expansion. Referring to the barrier under construction in the West Bank, he said that the approved route still incorporated a significant percentage of Palestinian land and had a negative effect on the livelihoods of many Palestinians. Mr. Prendergast condemned the 25 February suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, which had left five Israelis dead and injured more than 50. He recalled that the Secretary-General had called on the Palestinian Authority to take action against those organizing and perpetrating terror and violence. It was the Quartet’s position, he said, that neither the Israelis nor Palestinians should undertake actions that threatened to prejudge final status talks. He informed that the implementation of the commitments made at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit, on 8 February continued. He said that the Secretary-General’s visit to the region left him with a strong impression of Israeli Prime Minister Sharon’s determination to proceed with the Disengagement Plan, even in the face of serious domestic opposition. The Secretary-General had then reiterated the position of the United Nations and the Quartet that withdrawal was not an end in itself, but an important step in a broader process, and should be consistent with the road map and its goals.

  On 29 March, in informal consultations, Mr. Prendergast introduced the report (S/2005/203) of the Mission of Inquiry into the causes, circumstances and consequences of the 14 February terrorist bombing in Beirut, which was established by the Secretary-General following a request of the Council in its presidential statement of 15 February 2005 (S/PRST/2005/4). Through a letter, which endorsed the recommendations of the Mission of Inquiry, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the Security Council to launch an independent international investigation into the terrorist attack, which killed former Prime Minister Hariri and 19 others.

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