United Nations Security Council Resolution 2499 – The situation in the Central African Republic

Resolution 2499 (2019)

The Security Council,

Recalling all of its previous resolutions, statements of its President, and press statements on the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR),

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the CAR, and recalling the importance of the principles of non-interference, good-neighbourliness and regional cooperation,

Reaffirming the basic principles of peacekeeping, such as consent of the parties, impartiality, and non-use of force, except in self-defence and defence of the mandate, recognising that the mandate of each peacekeeping mission is specific to the need and situation of the country concerned, underlining that the mandates that it authorises are consistent with the basic principles, reiterating that the Security Council expects full delivery of the mandates it authorises, and recalling in this regard its resolution 2436 (2018),

Recalling that the CAR authorities have the primary responsibility to protect all populations in the CAR in particular from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and recalling in this regard the importance of restoring state authority in all parts of the country,

Emphasizing that any sustainable solution to the crisis in the CAR should be CAR-owned, including the political process, and should prioritize reconciliation of the Central African people, through an inclusive process that involves men and women of all social, economic, political, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including, those displaced by the crisis,

Welcoming the signing of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in the CAR by the CAR authorities and 14 armed groups in Bangui on 6 February 2019 (“the Peace Agreement”), after the peace talks that took place in Khartoum, Sudan, from 24 January to 5 February 2019, within the framework of the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation in the CAR and under the auspices of the African Union (AU),

Condemning in the strongest terms violations of the Peace Agreement and violence perpetrated by armed groups and other militias, throughout the country, including in Paoua in May 2019 and in the Vakaga prefecture in September and October 2019, incitement to ethnic and religious hatred and violence, violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses, including those committed against children and those involving sexual and gender-based violence in conflict, as well as violence directed at civilians from specific communities, resulting in deaths, injuries and displacements,

Stressing the urgent and imperative need to end impunity in the CAR and to bring to justice perpetrators of violations of international humanitarian law and of abuses and violations of human rights,

Underlining the continued need to support national efforts towards the extension of State authority and the reform of the security sector (SSR) in the CAR,

Welcoming the work carried out by MINUSCA and the European Union Training Mission in the CAR (EUTM-RCA), as well as the support of CAR’s other international and regional partners, including France, the Russian Federation, the United States and the People’s Republic of China, to train and enhance the capacities of the CAR defence and security forces, and encouraging coherence, transparency and effective coordination of international support to the CAR,

Condemning cross-border criminal activities, such as arms trafficking, illicit trade, illegal exploitation, and smuggling of natural resources, including gold, diamonds, wildlife poaching and trafficking, the use of mercenaries, as well as the illicit transfer, destabilising accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons, that threaten the peace and stability of the CAR and stressing the need for CAR authorities to finalise and implement, in cooperation with relevant partners, a strategy to tackle the illegal exploitation and smuggling of natural resources,

Taking note of the upcoming presidential, legislative and local elections in 2020 and 2021 and underlining the primary responsibility of the CAR authorities to organise inclusive, free, fair, transparent, credible, and peaceful electoral processes in accordance with constitutional timelines, including the full, effective and meaningful participation of women, reaffirming the importance of the participation of the youth, and encouraging the CAR authorities, with the support of relevant partners, to promote the participation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in accordance with the Constitution of the CAR,

Recalling its resolutions on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, on Children and Armed Conflict, and on Women Peace and Security and calling upon all the parties in the CAR to engage with the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict and the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict,

Expressing serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation in the CAR and the consequences of the security situation on humanitarian access, condemning in the strongest terms continued attacks against humanitarian workers, and emphasising the current humanitarian needs of more than half of the population of the country as well as the alarming situation of IDPs and refugees in neighbouring countries,

Recognising the adverse effects of climate change, ecological changes and natural disasters, among other factors, on the stability of the Central African region, including through drought, desertification, land degradation, food insecurity, and energy access, and stressing the need for adequate risk assessment by the United Nations relating to these factors and for long-term strategies by governments of the Central African region and the United Nations to support stabilisation and build resilience,

Condemning in the strongest terms all attacks, provocations and incitement to violence against MINUSCA and other international forces by armed groups or other perpetrators, paying tribute to the personnel of MINUSCA who sacrificed their lives in the service of peace, underlining that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes, reminding all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law and urging the CAR authorities to take all possible measures to ensure the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators,

Recalling resolution 2378 (2017) and its request of the Secretary-General to ensure that data related to the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations, including peacekeeping performance data, is used to improve analytics and the evaluation of mission operations, based on clear and well identified benchmarks, further recalling resolution 2436 (2018) and its request of the Secretary-General to ensure that decisions to recognize and incentivize outstanding performance and decisions regarding deployment, remediation, training, withholding of financial reimbursement,and repatriation of uniformed or dismissal of civilian personnel, are predicated on objective performance data, and emphasizing the need to regularly evaluate MINUSCA’s performance such that the mission retains the skills and flexibility needed to effectively carry out its mandate,

Taking note of the Report of the Secretary-General of 15 October 2019 (S/2019/822),

Determining that the situation in the CAR continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region,

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

Adopted by the Security Council at its 8666th meeting, on 15 November 2019.