United Nations Security Council resolution 1640, adopted unanimously on 23 November 2005, after reaffirming all resolutions on the situation between
Eritrea
Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
and
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, particularly
Resolution 1622 (2005), the Council demanded that Eritrea lift restrictions on the movement of the
United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) was established by the United Nations Security Council in July 2000 to monitor a ceasefire in the border war that began in 1998 between Ethiopia and Eritrea. First military troops Nethe ...
(UNMEE).
The resolution was passed after the Security Council threatened sanctions on both countries if war broke out. Ethiopian troops briefly breached the demilitarised zone and Eritrea dismissed the resolution as a reflection of "the narrow interests of
he world's
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter ca ...
major powers".
Resolution
Observations
In the preamble of the resolution, the Council expressed concern at the
Eritrean government's decision to restrict the movement of UNMEE in Eritrea from 5 October 2005, and additional limitations on its
freedom of movement
Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights'' ...
that implications for UNMEE's ability to carry out its
mandate
Mandate most often refers to:
* League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919
* Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate
Mandate may also r ...
. It was alarmed by such measures and their impact on the maintenance of peace and security between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
The Security Council reaffirmed the role of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) as provided for in the
Algiers Agreement, and stressed that peace could not be achieved without the demarcation of their mutual border. There was also concern at the failure of the
Ethiopian government
The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal republic, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister is the hea ...
to accept the binding decision of the boundary commission, and the high concentration of troops on both sides of the TSZ.
Acts
The Council condemned restrictions placed by Eritrea on its UNMEE mission, and demanded their full reversal. It called on both Ethiopia and Eritrea to exercise restraint and refrain from threats and the use of force, and to return their deployment of forces to 16 December 2004 levels.
The
Secretary-General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...
was requested to report within 40 days on compliance with Security Council demands.
The resolution concluded by urging Ethiopia to accept the decision of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission, and welcoming efforts of UNMEE troop-contributing countries.
See also
*
Badme
Badme (, ) is a town in Gash-Barka region of Eritrea. Control of the town was at the centre of the Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict, which lasted from the beginning of the Eritrean–Ethiopian War, in 1998, to the signing of a joint stateme ...
*
Eritrean–Ethiopian War
The Eritrean–Ethiopian War, also known as the Badme War, was a major armed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea that took place from May 6, 1998 to June 18, 2000.
After 1993 Eritrean independence referendum, Eritrea gained independence from E ...
*
(2005–2006)
References
External links
*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 2005
1640
2005 in Eritrea
2005 in Ethiopia
1640
November 2005