Chapter III. General review of the legal activities of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

• Pages: 139-363

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Chapter III

geneRAL ReVIeW oF the LegAL ACtIVItIes oF the UnIteD nAtIons AnD ReLAteD InteRgoVeRnmentAL oRgAnIzAtIons

A. general review of the legal activities of the United nations

1. membership of the United nations

As of 31 December 2012, the number of Member States of the United Nations remained at 193

On 23 September 2011, acting in accordance with rule 135 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly and rule 59 of the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council, the Secretary-General circulated an application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations, contained in a letter received on 23 September 2011 from its President, Mahmoud Abbas¹By resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012, the General Assembly took note of the report of the Security Council Committee on the Admission of New Members of 11 November 2011²in which the Chair of the Committee stated, inter alia, that the Committee was unable to make a unanimous recommendation to the Security Council concerning the application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations In the same resolution, the General Assembly decided to accord to Palestine non-member observer State status in the United Nations, without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the United Nations as the representative of the Palestinian people, in accordance with the relevant resolutions and practice The General Assembly further requested the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to implement resolution 67/19 and to report to the General Assembly within three months of its adoption on progress made in this regard

¹Application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations: Note by the Secretary-General of 23 September 2011 (A/66/371—S/2011/592)

²Report of the Committee on the Admission of New Members concerning the application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations (S/2011/705)

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2. Peace and security

(a) Peacekeeping missions and operations³(i) Peacekeeping missions and operations established in 2012

Syrian Arab Republic

In accordance with General Assembly resolution 66/253 of 16 February 2012, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, was appointed Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States in relation to the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic⁴On 21 March 2012, the President of the Security Council welcomed the appointment of Mr Annan as Joint Special Envoy and expressed the Council’s support for an initial six-point proposal outlined by the Joint Special Envoy and submitted to the Syrian authorities⁵In resolution 2042 (2012) of 14 April 2012, the Council reaf-firmed its support for the six-point proposal, annexed to the resolution, and called for the urgent, comprehensive and immediate implementation of all its elements

On 21 April 2012, the Security Council adopted resolution 2043 (2012) in which it decided to establish for an initial period of 90 days the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS),⁶under the command of a Chief Military Observer, comprising an initial deployment of up to 300 unarmed military observers as well as an appropriate civilian component as required to fulfil its mandate It further decided that the mandate of UNSMIS should be to monitor a cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties and to monitor and support the full implementation of the six-point proposal of the Joint Special Envoy

In resolution 2059 (2012) of 20 July 2012, the Council decided to renew the mandate of UNSMIS for a final period of 30 days, taking into consideration the recommendations of the Secretary-General to reconfigure the mission and the operational implications of the increasingly dangerous security situation in Syria⁷The Council further expressed its willingness to renew the mandate of UNSMIS thereafter only in the event that the Secretary-General reported and the Security Council confirmed the cessation of the use of heavy weapons and a reduction in the level of violence by all sides sufficient to allow UNSMIS to implement its mandate

In a letter dated 10 August 2012 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council,⁸the Secretary-General informed the Council that the cessation of the use of heavy weapons and a reduction in violence by all sides sufficient to allow UNSMIS to implement its mandate, as set out in resolution 2059 (2012), had not been achieved and, therefore, UNSMIS mandate came to an end at midnight on 19 August 2012 The Secretary-³The missions and operations are listed in chronological order as per their date of establishment

⁴SG/SM/14124

⁵Statement by the President of the Security Council of 21 March 2012 (S/PRST/2012/6)

⁶For more information about UNSMIS, see http://www un org/en/peacekeeping/missions/ unsmis/ and report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2043 (2012) (S/2012/523)

⁷See report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2043 (2012) (S/2012/523)

⁸S/2012/618

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General further informed the Council that he intended to work in the immediate future towards establishing an effective and flexible United Nations presence in Syria that would support the Organization’s efforts with the parties to end hostilities and, where possible and agreed, to support the Syrians in taking the steps they identify towards a negotiated and inclusive political settlement The Council reiterated its support for the mission of good offices of the Secretary-General and for the work of the Joint Special Representative through a letter dated 17 August 2012 from the President of the Security Council addressed to the Secretary-General⁹In light of Mr Annan’s decision to step down as Joint Special Envoy at the end of August 2012, Mr Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for Syria on 17 August 2012¹⁰(ii) Changes in the mandate and/or extensions of time limits of ongoing peacekeeping operations or missions in 2012

a. Cyprus

The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was established by Security Council resolution 186 (1964) of 4 March 1964¹¹The Security Council decided by resolution 2058 (2012) of 19 July 2012 to extend the mandate of UNFICYP for a further period ending 31 January 2013

b. Syrian Arab Republic and Israel

The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was established by Security Council resolution 350 (1974) of 31 March 1974¹²The Security Council renewed the mandate of UNDOF by resolutions 2052 (2012) of 27 June 2012 and 2084 (2012) of
19 December 2012, until 31 December 2012 and 30 June 2013, respectively The Security Council further expressed grave concern at all violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement,¹³including the presence of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces and unauthorized military equipment inside the Area of Separation, and stressed the obligation of both parties to scrupulously and fully respect the terms of the Agreement

⁹S/2012/654

¹⁰SG/SM/14471

¹¹For more information about UNFICYP, see http://www unficyp org and http://www un org/ en/peacekeeping/missions/unficyp/ See also the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations operation in Cyprus covering developments from 21 November 2011 to 20 June 2012 (S/2012/507)

¹²For more information about UNDOF, see http://www un org/en/peacekeeping/missions/undof and the reports of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force for the period from 1 January to 30 June 2012 and for the period from 1 July to 31 December 2012 (S/2012/403 and S/2012/897, respectively)

¹³S/11302/Add 1

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c. Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was established by Security Council resolutions 425 (1978) and 428 (1978) of 19 March 1978¹⁴Following a request by the Lebanese Foreign Minister, presented in a letter dated 21 July 2012 addressed to the Secretary-General, the Secretary-General recommended the Security Council to consider the renewal of UNIFIL for a further period of one year¹⁵The Security Council renewed the mandate of UNIFIL by resolution 2064 (2012) of 30 August 2012 until 31 August 2013

d. Western Sahara

The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was established by Security Council resolution 690 (1991) of 29 April 1991¹⁶By resolution 2044 (2012) of 24 April 2012, the Security Council decided to extend the mandate of MINURSO until 30 April 2013

e. Liberia¹⁷The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was established by Security Council resolution 1509 (2003) of 19 September 2003¹⁸The Security Council decided by resolution 2066 (2012) of 17 September 2012, while acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, to extend the mandate of UNMIL until 30 September 2013

In the same resolution, also acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the Unit-ed Nations, the Security Council decided, inter alia, that the primary tasks of UNMIL were to continue to support the Government of Liberia in order to solidify peace and stability in the country and to protect civilians, and that UNMIL should also support the Government’s efforts, as appropriate, to achieve a successful transition of complete security responsibility to the Liberia National Police (LNP)

¹⁴For more information about UNIFIL, see http://unifil unmissions org and http://www un org/ en/peacekeeping/missions/unifil/ See also the reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) (S/2012/124, S/2012/502 and S/2012/837)

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