Angola mentioned as UN sanctions success case

THE ANGOLA MAP

The information is contained in a UN note that reached Angop  Wednesday in Ottawa (Canada).

According to the source, Jeffrey Feltman was speaking at a meeting with UN Security Council members in November this year on the  effectiveness of military sanctions in the global stability.

The UN diplomat said that “from Afghanistan and Angola to Haiti and the former Yugoslavia, sanctions implemented by the United Nations Security Council have had a positive track record, proving their efficacy and economy in supporting Member States overcome instability.”

As to their evolution, Jeffrey Feltman stressed that the UN sanctions have proved to be an effective complement to other Security Council instruments and actions, adding “We know it is not perfect, but there is also no doubt that it works.”

The usage of sanctions has had a long and storied history within the UN body since its first application in 1966 on Southern Rhodesia, current Zimbabwe, he said.

Since then, 25 sanctions regimes have been implemented for a wide range of purposes – from being used to support conflict resolution efforts to the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, and counter terrorism, the source added.

The UN diplomat stressed that currently 15 sanctions regimes are in place – the highest number in the history of the Organization – at a “comparatively modest” cost of under $30 million a year to manage.

Feltman recalled that the Council had also shown its capacity to “continuously innovate and adjust its sanctions regime” with the “most significant transformation” being the 1994 shift from comprehensive to targeted sanctions, comprising travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargoes.

Among other new UN Security  Council measures  he mentioned  bans on the trade of commodities (diamonds, coal, wildlife products, charcoal), restrictions on items, material, equipment, goods and technology related to nuclear ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass destruction programmes, as well as bans on the export of certain luxury goods.

Jeffrey Feltman stressed that military sanctions are effective mechanisms for the maintenance of global stability.

In the particular case of Angola, according to the source, the UN Security Council sanctions, reinforced with measures adopted after the release of the Fowler Report, brought discipline to the international diamond trade, and led the United Nations into hardening the sanctions imposed on some armed groups, which was crucial for the end of the conflict in the country in April 2012.

http://www.portalangop.co.ao/angola/en_us/noticias/politica/2014/11/1/Angola-mentioned-sanctions-success-case,05ea87b9-875e-4f2f-9918-b78b2f748c05.html