The United Nations Security Council has renewed the mandate of a Panel of Experts for a period of only six weeks, suggesting that the matter will likely be debated again soon among Council members.
A draft resolution on the Panel of Experts and the UN sanctions regime for South Sudan was introduced by the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York.
The resolution passed unanimously, but it extends the sanctions regime and experts’ mandate by only six weeks, which may indicate that Council members disagreed on what to do.
Council members will “review the mandate and take appropriate action regarding the further extension no later than April 15, 2016,” according to the text of the resolution.
UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, speaking at the UN headquarters yesterday, said that the decision to keep in place sanctions “will give added impetus to the political leaders there to reach a political agreement and to cease the fighting
The Panel of Experts recently produced a report recommending that several high-level political leaders be sanctioned, but the UN Sanctions Committee has taken no action yet on their recommendation.