SC Malta

Delegation from the Republic of Malta
Position Paper for the Security Council
The topics of discussion regard the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts, The Situation in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and The Use of Robust Mandates in Peacekeeping. The Republic
of Malta looks forward to discussing these topics at the subsequent conference and pledges to develop
a coordinated, joint strategy on these matters.
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts
During armed conflicts, civilians are often the most affected group despite not actively participating in
hostilities. Thereby combatants threaten the civilian population through mass extermination,
indiscriminate attacks, hostage taking, and deportation. In an earlier report (S/2020/366), the United
Nations (UN) Security Council reported in 2020 over 20000 civilians as dead or injured, despite that
according to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Civilians are entitled with protection during violent
conflicts to. Therefore, the Republic of Malta stresses the importance that parties of armed conflicts
abide with the existing regulations. Further, the Republic of Malta supports the path of the Security
Council to target the focus on protecting vulnerable groups of civilians.
To address the issue of civilian casualties the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949) concerned that civilians are entitled to protection during a
conflict. This protection was stressed by the UN Security Council in numerous resolutions including the
most recent 2474 (2019). Which is both corresponding with Article 1 of the UN Charter to aim for peace
and security. Further, mandates of Humanitarian Intervention Missions of the UN were given to ensure
the protection of civilians in conflict areas such as through the mission UNAMID in Darfur and
MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Considering the long history of attempts for POC
the Security Council recently adopted their strategy to target the protection of civilians on vulnerable
groups. The Third Geneva Convention specified that the definition of a civilian includes any person who
is not involved as a combatant. Civilians that are especially vulnerable to the effects of a war are women,
children, journalists, medical staff and humanitarian personnel. The Republic of Malta supports this
targeted protection and stresses the importance to protect from – and reacting to damages next to
casualties through displacement and separation of families.
The Republic of Malta pledges a joint effort on protecting Civilians from harm during Armed Conflicts.
Thereby they regard as important to stress to parties of armed conflicts that Civilians are not a legitimate
Target under IHL, and casualties should be avoided when executing military missions. Further
Peacekeeping missions should remain to control the security of the population and to protect civilians
in case of escalation, especially vulnerable groups.
The Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a long history of authoritarian Rule and regional wars which
complicates governance and peacebuilding processes. The current situation further complicated
through a humanitarian crisis caused by the outbreak and consequences of Covid-19 and other
diseases. The Member State is therefore in strong need of international support for the population.
Further, conflicts in provinces Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu in eastern Congo escalated which
threatens the local population. In response to that the Republic of Malta is in courtesy with the sanctions
that were decided against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Resolution 1533 (2004) involving
an exacerbated export of arms.
After the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement was signed in 1999 the UN formed a small mission, the UN
Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). This mission was aimed at
monitoring the ceasefire and was furtherly also responsible to protect civilians under threat of physical
Violence. After the escalation of conflict between Ugandan and Rwandan forces in the Congo
resolutions 1304 (2000), 1341 (2001) and 1355 (2001) demanded of the Member States Uganda and
Rwanda to withdraw their forces and to cease their military engagement, observed and controlled by
MONUC. In resolution 1925 (2010) MONUC was expanded to improve the protection of Civilians and
support the government in its stabilization efforts. Next to the military engagement the security council
also passed resolutions including 1533 (2004) with economic sanctions concerning the supply of Arms
in the Congo. Thereby the Security Council decided upon an arms embargo on the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and issued a travel ban on combatants of military groups in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo.
The Republic of Malta expresses their continued concern about the security situation in eastern DRC.
Therefore, it supports the current strategy of addressing the escalated situation with the MONUSCO
peacekeeping mission while targeting the supply of military groups with an arms embargo. It perceives
the measures as a necessity to address the current situation while it acknowledges the need to
gradually remove the mission and hand the capacity of the Congolese government to carry out the
mission task considering the public discontent over MONUSCO presence. Last, the Republic of Malta
pledges to execute the UN mission in cooperation with regional organizations such as the African Union
(AU).
The Use of Robust Mandates in Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping Missions have a long history within the UN. They are guided with the principles of
consent of the parties, impartiality and the limitation of force to self-defence and defence of the mandate.
Thereby Peacekeeping missions aim to facilitate sustainable peace and address conflicts which by their
own nature provide a breeding ground for more conflicts. Therefore, the Republic of Malta pledges the
extended use of robust mandates to address the more and more complicated situations peacekeeping
missions are facing. Nevertheless, as stressed by the diplomat Vanessa Frazier “peacekeeping
mandates need to include a clear vision of how a mission will empower local societies and create
resilient communities and institutions”
In the Context of Humanitarian Intervention the responsibility to protect spread in popularity to describe
the obligation of Member States to prevent and react to the occurrence of catastrophic situations. It was
noted in the 2005 World Summit Outcome, General Assembly resolution 60/1 (2005) that each state
had the responsibility to protect their own population from genocide, and other war crimes or crimes
against humanity and that the UN was responsible to take action in case of these events. The Security
Council declared their correspondence in resolution 1674 (2006). Next to the responsibility to protect,
the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) framework is implemented to facilitate the
effectiveness and sustainability of peacekeeping mandates. Further resolution 72/199 of the UN
General Assembly (2018) was implemented to foster a restructure of the peace and security sector to
enable more effective achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Republic of Malta supports the extended use of robust mandates in peacekeeping. Further, it
stresses the importance of understanding Peacekeeping missions as an ultimate means when national
authorities fail to protect and an escalated situation poses a risk to international security and peace.
Further peacekeeping missions have to be targeted to the conflict situation, with a vision of how the
mission supports the respective region and communities in the region.

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Delegation from the Republic of Malta

Position Paper for the Security Council

Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts

The Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Use of Robust Mandates in Peacekeeping

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