Security Council examines role of natural resources in fueling conflicts

28 June 2007, International Herald Tribune
URL: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/26/news/UN-GEN-UN-Resource-Conflicts.php

United Nations:  The Security Council examined the role played by diamonds, poppies, oil and timber in fueling conflicts and destabilizing nations - a debate that angered some countries who said the U.N.'s most powerful body was trying to undermine their sovereignty.

Good management and governance of natural resources are essential to worldwide peace and stability, council president Karel de Gucht, Belgium's foreign minister, said Monday.

That is why the council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, has a responsibility to address the issue, he said.

But Qatar, Brazil and China argued that the council was overstepping its mandate, infringing on the sovereignty of nations over their natural resources, and on the powers of other U.N. bodies where the issue should be discussed.

Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe, who returned recently from Somalia, highlighted the connection between that country's food and water insecurity and its clan rivalries and poor governance. He also mentioned the environmental underpinnings of the four-year conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region and the drug economy of Afghanistan.

A report released Monday by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime found that Afghanistan produced dramatically more opium in 2006 than the year before, and warned that the country's insurgency-plagued Helmand province was becoming the world's biggest drug supplier.

"In too many cases, the illegal exploitation of natural resources has triggered, exacerbated and prolonged armed conflict," Pascoe said. "With good governance and effective measures to ensure accountability and transparency, natural resources can be a great boon to a country and contribute to peace and development."

Oil-rich Qatar firmly rejected giving the council authority over the issue.

"Endowing the Security Council with any influence on those resources is in contravention with the international law, and makes the sovereignty of states over their natural resources limited and governed by the global strategy," said Jamal Nasser al-Bader, Qatar's deputy U.N. ambassador.

China and Brazil expressed similar views, saying the issue would be more appropriately handled by other U.N. bodies like the General Assembly or the Economic and Social Council.

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya emphasized the need to respect the "full and permanent sovereignty of countries over their natural resources," but expressed support for council embargoes on natural resources as an important tool to try to prevent and stop conflicts.

Almost every speaker hailed the success of the Kimberley Process, a voluntary 71-nation group started in 2002 to control conflict diamonds - also known as "blood diamonds" - which fueled civil wars in west Africa for years.

In a statement issued after the debate, the council recognized the role that natural resources play in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, while acknowledging the sovereignty of states to control their own natural resources.

The statement also underlined the importance of U.N. missions and peacekeeping operations in countries in conflict, saying they should assist governments, if asked, in preventing the illegal exploitation of natural resources by conflict parties.