Renewing the Mission in Cyprus - S/RES/1986 (2011)

S/RES/1986 is one of the type of resolutions that became commonplace in the United Nations Security Council, which congratulates their previous efforts while extending the mandate of the mission being discussed. In the case they are dealing with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) which had its mandate first established in S/RES/186 (1964) and after the period the region still feels the need to maintain the mission on the ground. The mandate was set to expired on July 15th, 2011 and with this resolution it was extended until December 15th, 2011, while calling for continuous review and reporting by the mission and the Secretary-General on it to the Council.



Preamble

The preamble asserts that they welcome the reports from the mission on the ground and the assertion of their good offices mission in Cyprus, while noting that the Government of Cyprus has agreed that the the permanence of the mission on the island after the expiration of its current mandate. The resolution also stresses that the status quo is unsustainable, while acknowledging the slow paced progress and the progress made at the same time. There is also an acknowledgement that the solution to the conflict lies with the Cypriots themselves and the primary role of the United Nations is to assisting the parties in the negotiations. In this role, the resolution stress the appeal that the Secretary-General’s insertion as a possible catalyst of progress for the leaders of the warring parties in Cyprus.

There is also a stress on measures of confidence building that should take place among the different parties, in military and civilian terms, to these pursue they call on continued flow of people in order to foster what they call positive public rhetoric. There is a bold statement which reads that “undermining the United Nations credibility undermines the peace process itself,”. An interesting assertion mainly when we take into consideration that the UN itself has role of assistance and that the main burdens world fall upon the locals. There are also notes that the Green Line that separates the warring parties remains stable, calls to avoid actions that would increase the tension and noting that both sides are withholding access to information on minefields in the buffer zone.

It also calls for active engagement of civil society in the efforts to bring the warring sides together aiming at building trust and hoping for progress in the work of the Committee for Missing Persons to build reconciliation. Afterwards they stress  “the need for the Council to pursue rigorous, strategic approach to peacekeeping deployments”, which opens up welcoming the intention of the Secretary-General to keep all operations including this one in Cyprus under close review and suggesting adjustments for them. They also call for efforts by the United Nations on the elements of HIV/AIDS in peacekeeping operations discussed in S/RES/1983. This is a sense is the bulk of the desires of S/RES/1983, which mainly calls for the insertion of sexual transmitted diseases in to the peacekeeping operations’ concerns. The preamble still welcomes the efforts of the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor and expresses gratitude to the Governments of Cyprus and Greece for voluntary contributions to their funding, while calling other countries to do the same.

Operative Clauses

The operative clauses start welcoming the progress that has been made so far, taking note of the latest report issued by the Secretary-General on the issue, while recalling S/RES/1953 (2010) and reaffirming S/RES/1251 (1999) and subsequent resolutions. It also calls upon to two leaders to move towards creating a different status quo by intensifying the negotiations, improving public atmosphere related to negotiations and increasing the participation of civil society, which they mentioned during the preamble.  It also calls on the parties to be more accommodating to the requirements of the Committee for Missing Persons, while urging for implementation of confidence-building measures both in military and social terms.

Operative clauses number eight and nine deal primarily with the notion of building a military stalemate with specific warring lines. The engagement called upon the both sides relate to the fact that they ought to respect the mission’s mandate and assistance in demarcation of buffer zones. Both clauses recall older agreements settled in 1989 and in 2000 as they relate to the military status quo. When it comes to the buffer zone, the concern expressed throughout the resolution is with the access to minefields so that they can be demined and also calls for these efforts to be expended outside the buffer zone.

The last instances of the operative clauses deal with a call for report from the Secretary-General on the implementation of S/RES/1986 by December 1st, 2011 to enable to Council to discuss the possibilities of renewing the mandate once again. The twelfth clause deals with peacekeeper’s discipline when deployed on the ground, mainly when it relates to sexual exploitation and abuse in order to ensure full compliance with the code of conduct of the United Nations. And in the final clause they decide to remain seized of the matter.

Wrapping up

All in all, S/RES/1986 is one very common resolution that has become very current in the works of the UNSC. There are scheduled missions reviewing meetings in the Security Council agenda frequently and this resolution is one example of those renewals of mission. There is little encouragement on specific work or correction of course from the workings that have been developed since 1964 at the UNFICYP. The resolution by itself is not out of the ordinary and does little to address any of the issues that itself raises, such as the conduct of peacekeeper or the minefields.