President,
Norway voted in favour of this resolution because we believe it is crucial to preserve the sanctions regime for the Central African Republic. However, we were not in favour of easing the arms embargo at this point in time.
We carefully listened to the request by the CAR authorities and to the support for this request by countries of the region, but we believe that it would be untimely to lift the arms embargo.
As set out by the Secretary-General in his letter of 16 June, the CAR authorities have made insufficient progress on the benchmarks established by this Council to assess the relevance of the arms embargo.
Besides, as recognized in this resolution, the CAR Sanctions Committee has so far approved all exemption requests submitted by the CAR authorities under the framework of the arms embargo.
We remain deeply concerned about the multiple recent reports about ongoing Human Rights violations and abuses, and violations of International Humanitarian Law by all parties in CAR – armed groups, but also FACA and their instructors.
The latest grave incident close to Bossangoa, on 21 July, is just one illustration of that.
We also reiterate our strong condemnation of the ongoing SOFA violations against MINUSCA. We call on all parties to protect civilians and to ensure humanitarian access. And we urge the CAR authorities to investigate all incidents and hold accountable those who are responsible.
Only an inclusive political dialogue between all parties, with the continued support of the region and the international community, can solve the current crisis.
To conclude, President, allow me to warmly thank you and your team, as penholder, for all your efforts resulting in today’s adoption.
I thank you.