United Nations Security Council Resolution 940

United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

Security Council Resolution
United Nations Security Council Resolution
A United Nations Security Council resolution is a UN resolution adopted by the fifteen members of the Security Council; the UN body charged with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security"....

940, adopted on July 31, 1994, after recalling resolutions 841

United Nations Security Council Resolution 841

United Nations Security Council Resolution 841, adopted unanimously on June 16, 1993, after recognising the need for an urgent settlement to the situation in Haiti and the efforts of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali and the Secretary General of the Organization of...

(1993), 861

United Nations Security Council Resolution 861

United Nations Security Council Resolution 861, adopted unanimously on August 27, 1993, after recalling Resolution 841 and welcoming an agreement between the President of Haiti and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Haiti, the Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations...

(1993), 862

United Nations Security Council Resolution 862

United Nations Security Council Resolution 862, adopted unanimously on August 31, 1993, after recalling resolutions 841 , 861 and an agreement between the President of Haiti and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Haiti, the Council reaffirmed the international community's commitment to...

(1993), 867

United Nations Security Council Resolution 867

United Nations Security Council Resolution 867, adopted unanimously on September 23, 1993, after recalling resolutions 841 , 861 and 862 on the situation in Haiti, the Council reiterated its position of protecting international peace and stability and established the United Nations Mission in...

(1993), 873

United Nations Security Council Resolution 873

United Nations Security Council Resolution 873, adopted unanimously on October 13, 1993, after recalling resolutions 841 , 861 , 862 and 867 , the Council noted the continued obstruction of the arrival of the United Nations Mission in Haiti and the failure of the Armed Forces of Haiti to carry...

(1993), 875

United Nations Security Council Resolution 875

United Nations Security Council Resolution 875, adopted unanimously on October 16, 1993, after recalling resolutions 841 , 861 , 862 , 867 and 873 , the Council, aware of the continued failure of parties in Haiti implement the Governors Island Agreement, widened international sanctions and imposed...

(1993), 905

United Nations Security Council Resolution 905

United Nations Security Council Resolution 905, adopted unanimously on March 23, 1994, after recalling resolutions 841 , 861 , 862 , 867 , 873 and 875 , on the situation in Haiti, the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Haiti until June 30, 1994.The Council was disturbed...

(1994), 917

United Nations Security Council Resolution 917

United Nations Security Council Resolution 917, adopted unanimously on May 6, 1994, after recalling resolutions 841 , 861 , 862 , 867 , 873 and 875 and 905 on the situation in Haiti, the Council imposed further international sanctions on the country after the military authorities refused to...

(1994) and 933

United Nations Security Council Resolution 933

United Nations Security Council Resolution 933, adopted unanimously on June 30, 1994, after recalling resolutions 841 , 861 , 862 , 867 , 873 and 875 , 905 and 917 , the Council noted the deteriorating situation in Haiti and extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Haiti until July...

(1994), the Council affirmed the goal of the international community to restore democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

in Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

and authorised a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

-led multinational force under unified command and control to restore the legitimately elected President

President of Haiti

The President of the Republic of Haiti is the head of state of Haiti. Executive power in Haiti is divided between the president and the government headed by the Prime Minister of Haiti...

Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies...

and authorities of the Government of Haiti

Government of Haiti

The Government of Haiti consists of a semi-presidential republic, pluriform multiparty system whereby the President of Haiti is head of state directly elected by popular vote. The Prime Minister acts as head of government, and is appointed by the President from the majority party in the National...

, and extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Haiti

United Nations Mission in Haiti

For the current UN mission to Haiti, see the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.The United Nations Mission in Haiti — a peacekeeping operation carried out by the United Nations between September 1993 and June 1996. The Mission was reestablished in April 2004, after a rebellion took...

(UNMIH) for an additional six months.

Resolution

The Council began by condemning the illegal military regime

Military junta

A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish language junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...

in Haiti after it had ignored agreements and refused to co-operate with the United Nations and Organization of American States

Organization of American States

The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...

(OAS). Concern was expressed at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country, violations of civil liberties

Civil liberties

Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...

and expulsion of staff from the International Civilian Mission.

The resolution recognised the extraordinary situation in Haiti, which required an exceptional response. It was determined that the regime in Haiti had failed to comply with Security Council resolutions and with the Governors Island peace agreement. The Council then authorised, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter

Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter

Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military and nonmilitary action to "restore international peace...

, for Member States to form a multinational force

Operation Uphold Democracy

Operation Uphold Democracy was an intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide...

under a joint command to facilitate the departure of the military leaders from Haiti, and for those elected to return to a secure and stable environment in which the peace agreement could be implemented. An advance team of no more than 60 personnel was established in order to co-ordinate and observe the multinational operations, requesting the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996...

to report back on developments relating to the advance team within 30 days.

Once the multinational force had completed its mission, UNMIH would take over its functions when a stable environment had been secured. After extending UNMIH's mandate for six months, it was decided to increase the size of the mission to 6,000 troops with the aim of completing it by February 1996. The safety of United Nations personnel and those from diplomatic mission

Diplomatic mission

A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...

s and international humanitarian organisations would be guaranteed. Finally, international sanctions

International sanctions

International sanctions are actions taken by countries against others for political reasons, either unilaterally or multilaterally.There are several types of sanctions....

imposed on Haiti would be lifted once Aristide had been returned to power.

Resolution 940 was adopted by 12 votes to none, with two abstention

Abstention

Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with "blank vote", in which a voter casts a ballot willfully made invalid by...

s from Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

and China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, while Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

was not present when voting took place.

Reaction

The vote was the first time the United Nations sanctioned the use of an invading force to "restore democracy." It was also the first time the US has sought and gained UN approval for a military intervention in the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

.

Many Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

n countries were opposed to the resolution. Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

's UN ambassador, Víctor Flores Olea, spoke out against the resolution, saying that "it sets an extremely dangerous precedent in the field of international relations” because the crisis "does not constitute a threat to peace and international security." Cuban Foreign Minister

Foreign relations of Cuba

Cuba's once-ambitious foreign policy has been down sized as a result of economic hardship after the collapse of the Soviet bloc. Without massive Soviet subsidies and its primary trading partner Cuba was comparatively isolated in the 1990s, but has since entered bilateral co-operation with several...

Roberto Robaina

Roberto Robaina González was the Foreign Minister of Cuba from 1993 until 1999.He is a mathematician by profession...

said that the resolution furthers "the repeated attempts by the Security Council to amplify its powers beyond those which were granted it by the Charter

United Nations Charter

The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the international organization called the United Nations. It was signed at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, United States, on 26 June 1945, by 50 of the 51 original member countries...

."

Brazilian President

President of Brazil

The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces...

Itamar Franco

Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco was a Brazilian politician and the President of Brazil from December 29, 1992, to January 1, 1995. During his long political career, Franco was also a Senator, Mayor, Ambassador, Governor and Vice President...

strongly opposed the UN decision, saying "The Security Council's special powers should not be invoked in an indiscriminate manner in the name of a 'search for more rapid means' to respond to attacks on democracy, because it violates the basic principles of peaceful co-existence between nations and normal UN legal procedures." After a visit to Brazil from U.S. Under Secretary of State

Under Secretary of State

The Under Secretary of State, from 1919 to 1972, was the second-ranking official at the United States Department of State , serving as the Secretary's principal deputy, chief assistant, and Acting Secretary in the event of the Secretary's absence...

Peter Tarnoff

Peter Tarnoff served as the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs during the first Clinton term, from 1993 to 1997...

the week before the vote, Brazil's decision to abstain instead of oppose the resolution can clearly be seen to be the result of enormous U/S/ pressure.

Pointing out that the situation in Haiti posed no threat to world peace and security, Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

's UN representative Ramiro Piriz Ballon said his country "will not support any military intervention, unilateral or multilateral."

Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

initially offered to send four marine and infantry companies to join the U.S.-led invasion forces. However, after popular discontent over the decision, President

President of Argentina

The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...

Carlos Menem

Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...

was forced to back down on the offer.

On January 17, 1995, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996...

issued a 17-page report on the result of the intervention: the report noted the ongoing repression in Haiti, the complete lack of justice for victims of the September 1991 coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

, the deteriorating economic situation, and the growing impatience of the Haitian people. It also pointed out however that Haiti was as a consequence a much safer place and that the President now controlled the island with the assistance of U.S. troops.

External links

Text of Resolution at UNHCR.org

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Resolution

Reaction

See also

External links