United Nations Security Council Resolution 1313 – Sierra Leone
Resolution 1313 (2000)
The Security Council,
Recalling all its previous resolutions and the statements of its Presidentconcerning the situation in Sierra Leone,
Condemning in the strongest terms the armed attacks against and detention ofthe personnel of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), andcommending UNAMSIL and the Force Commander for the recent resolute actiontaken in response to the continuing threat towards the mission from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and other armed elements in Sierra Leone,
Having considered the reports of the Secretary-General of 19 May 2000(S/2000/455) and 31 July 2000 (S/2000/751),
- Decides to extend the mandate of UNAMSIL until 8 September 2000;
2. Considers that the widespread and serious violations of the Lomé PeaceAgreement (S/1999/777) by the RUF since early May 2000 constitute a breakdown of the prior generally permissive environment based on the Agreement and predicated on the cooperation of the parties, that until security conditions have been established allowing progress towards the peaceful resolution of the conflict In Sierra Leone there will continue to be a threat to UNAMSIL and the security of thestate of Sierra Leone, and that in order to counter that threat, the structure,capability, resources and mandate of UNAMSIL require appropriate strengthening;
3. Expresses its intention, in this context, taking into account the views of the Government of Sierra Leone, the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) and the troop-contributing countries, to strengthen the mandate of UNAMSIL as established in its resolutions 1270 (1999) of 22 October 1999 and1289 (2000) of 7 February 2000 with the following priority tasks:
(a) To maintain the security of the Lungi and Freetown peninsulas, and theirmajor approach routes;
(b) To deter and, where necessary, decisively counter the threat of RUFattack by responding robustly to any hostile actions or threat of imminent and directuse of force;
(c) To deploy progressively in a coherent operational structure and insufficient numbers and density at key strategic locations and main populationcentres and, in coordination with the Government of Sierra Leone to assist, throughits presence and within the framework of its mandate, the efforts of the Governmentof Sierra Leone to extend state authority, restore law and order and further stabilizethe situation progressively throughout the entire country, and, within its capabilitiesand areas of deployment, to afford protection to civilians under threat of imminentphysical violence;
(d) To patrol actively on strategic lines of communication, specifically mainaccess routes to the capital in order to dominate ground, ensure freedom ofmovement and facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance;
(e) To assist in the promotion of the political process leading, inter alia, to arenewed disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme where possible;
4. Considers that, in order to allow the restructuring of the force andprovide the additional capability required for the achievement of the priority tasksset out in paragraph 3 above, the military component of UNAMSIL should bereinforced through accelerated troop rotations, as appropriate, and with, inter alia,further aviation and maritime assets, a strengthened force reserve, upgradedcommunications and specialist combat and logistic support assets;
5. Recognizes that the RUF offensive against UNAMSIL since May 2000revealed serious inherent weaknesses in the mission’s structure, command andcontrol and resources, as referred to in paragraph 54 of the report of the Secretary-General of 31 July 2000, reflecting findings of the United Nations AssessmentMission which visited Sierra Leone from 31 May to 8 June 2000, welcomes therecommendations made and action already taken to address these deficiencies, andrequests the Secretary-General to take further urgent steps to implement theserecommendations to improve the performance and capacity of the mission;
6. Stresses that the successful achievement of the objectives of the mission,including the priority tasks set out in paragraph 3 above, will depend on theprovision to UNAMSIL of fully equipped, complete units, with the requiredcapabilities, effective command and control structure and capacity, a single chain ofcommand, adequate resources and the commitment to implement the mandate of themission in full as authorized by the Security Council;
7. Requests the Secretary-General, after further consultations with troopcontributing countries, to provide a further report to the Council as soon as possibleon the proposals in paragraphs 2 to 6 above with recommendations for the restructuring and strengthening of UNAMSIL, and expresses its intention to take adecision on those recommendations expeditiously;
8. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
Adopted by the Security Council at its 4184th meeting, on 4 August 2000.
