Security Council meeting 4347

The President

At the outset of this meeting I should like, on behalf of the Security Council, to express sorrow at the death of His Excellency Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury, Speaker of the National Assembly of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. As one of the most experienced and distinguished professional diplomats of the developing world, Mr. Choudhury served as President of the General Assembly at its forty-first session, in 1986, and made special efforts to promote the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. On this sad occasion, I should like to convey to the Government and the people of Bangladesh, and to the bereaved family, the Council’s profound condolences.

I now invite the members of the Security Council to rise and observe a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of His Excellency Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury.

The President

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations.

Members of the Council have before them the third report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on the situation in the Central African Republic and on the activities of the United Nations Peace-building Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA), document S/2001/660.

Following consultations among members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council:

“The Security Council has examined the report of the Secretary-General of 2 July 2001 on the situation in the Central African Republic and on the activities of the United Nations Peace-building Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA) (S/2001/660).

“The Security Council expresses its appreciation to the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, General Amadou Toumani Touré, for the mission he conducted in Bangui from 9 June to 1 July 2001. It notes with satisfaction that the mission has contributed to easing tensions in the Central African Republic.

“The Security Council welcomes the appointment of the new Representative of the Secretary-General in the Central African Republic. It looks forward to his assuming the active leadership of BONUCA at an early date.

“The Security Council reiterates its condemnation of the recent attempted coup in the Central African Republic. It recognizes the importance of the Central African Republic to subregional stability. It expresses its deep concern at the precarious situation in the country and the persisting acts of violence, in particular against certain ethnic groups. The Council notes that such a climate is not conducive to encouraging the continuation of the return home of the thousands of Central Africans that were displaced or took refuge in neighbouring countries as a result of the events at the end of May. It calls upon the Government of the Central African Republic to take urgent steps to bring an end to all acts of violence.

“The Security Council strongly condemns the killing of the security coordinator for the United Nations system in the Central African Republic. It takes note of the condemnation of this act by the Central African authorities and of their intention to carry out an investigation and urges them to bring those responsible to justice.

“The Security Council calls for respect for human rights, national reconciliation and political dialogue in the spirit of the 1998 National Reconciliation Pact (S/1998/219, appendix).

“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to submit to it by 30 September 2001 recommendations on how the United Nations might further contribute to the recovery of the Central African Republic, paying particular attention to the following questions:

“(a) Strengthening BONUCA, in particular in areas such as human rights monitoring, assistance to the judicial system and capacity-building, and enhancing the effectiveness of its early-warning capacity;

“(b) Exploring with the Government of the Central African Republic, in cooperation with the relevant institutions, the provision of expertise in the area of public administration and finances, in particular by making available experts in such matters;

“(c) The continued and improved restructuring of the Central African armed forces and the implementation of an effective arms-collection programme.

“The Security Council expresses its willingness to study, in cooperation with the relevant institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the recommendations of the Secretary-General.

“The Security Council stresses that an enhanced international effort will be necessary to help in the recovery of the Central African Republic. It urges all States that made pledges at the special donor meeting in New York in May 2000 to fulfil them. It calls on the Bretton Woods institutions to take into account the specific nature of the situation in order to conclude programmes with the Central African authorities at an early date. The Council stresses the crucial importance of poverty eradication, debt payment and payment of arrears of salary for civil servants, which requires in the long term heightened efforts on the part of the Government of the Central African Republic in the management of public finances and administration.

“The Security Council again recalls that responsibility for national reconciliation, stability and the reconstruction of the country lies primarily with the political leaders and the people of the Central African Republic. It emphasizes in this regard that the full effectiveness of the assistance of the international community depends on the implementation in parallel of appropriate structural reforms.”

This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2001/18.

The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.