United Nations Security Council Resolution 2552 –The situation in the Central African Republic

Resolution 2552 (2020)

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 Political 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, within the framework of the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation in the CAR and under the auspices of the African Union (AU) and emphasizing that its implementation is the only viable path for peace and stability in the CAR,

Welcoming progress in the implementation of the Peace Agreement, including legislation on decentralisation, the status of political parties and the opposition, and a pension regime for former elected presidents, decrees setting in motion the establishment of the Commission on Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation, and the completion of training for the first special mixed security units (USMS),

Condemning in the strongest terms violations of the Peace Agreement and violence perpetrated by armed groups and other militias, throughout the country, including their use of landmines, violence aiming at obstructing the electoral process, 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 violations and abuses 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, the African Union Observer Mission in the CAR (MOUACA), the European Union Training Mission in the CAR (EUTM-RCA) and the European Union Advisory Mission in the CAR (EUAM-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, calling upon the Government of CAR to work with neighbouring countries to secure its borders and other entry points to prevent the cross-border flows of armed combatants, arms and conflict minerals 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 in their organization, noting their efforts to conduct the electoral process in accordance with the Constitution and welcoming in that regard the commitments made by President Touadéra during the high level meeting on the CAR he co-chaired with the AU and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on 1 October 2020, noting the opinion of the Constitutional Court that any change in constitutional timelines should result from a broad national consultation and consensus, stressing that only inclusive, free, fair, transparent, credible, peaceful and timely elections, undisturbed by disinformation and other forms of manipulation of information, can bring lasting stability to the CAR, including through the full, equal 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 allthe 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 increased attacks against humanitarian workers, and emphasising the current humanitarian needs of more than half of the population of the country, including civilians under threat from violence, as well as the alarming situation of IDPs and refugees, and welcoming the collaboration between MINUSCA, UN agencies, the African Union, the World Bank, technical and financial partners of the CAR and NGOs to support development and humanitarian efforts in the CAR and their adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities,

Recalling the UN guiding principles of humanitarian emergency assistance,

Recalling resolution 2532 (2020) demanding a general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations on the Council’s agenda, as well as calling upon all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days, in order to enable the safe, timely, unhindered and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance in accordance with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence,

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 hatred and 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 work with MINUSCA to enhance the safety and security of MINUSCA’s personnel, including in line with resolution 2518 (2020), and 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 9 October 2020 (S/2020/994),

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 8776th meeting, on 12 November 2020.