Russia vetoes extension of mandate for UN's North Korea sanctions panel of experts

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - A resolution aimed at extending the mandate of a committee responsible for monitoring and reporting on sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear program in the UN Security Council (UNSC), was vetoed Thursday by Russia.

The draft resolution, spearheaded by the US, called for the extension of the North Korea Sanctions Committee Panel of Experts mandate for another year.

While the resolution garnered significant support in the Council, with 13 of its 15 member states voting in favor, Russia, as a permanent Council member, voted against it, effectively knocking down the resolution. Meanwhile, China abstained.

"Today's vote was nothing more than the attempt by one Council member to silence the independent objective investigations into DPRK (North Korea) Security Council violations," said US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood.

He stressed the importance of questioning the reason behind the voting.

"The answer is quite clear. The panel began reporting in the last year on Russia's blatant violations of the UN Security Council resolutions, in addition to the DPRK is persistent sanctions evasion efforts within Russia's jurisdiction," he said.

Prior to the vote, Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia argued that the committee had drifted from reality and failed to serve its purpose.

Nebenzia said the Council should review the sanctions regime against North Korea, asserting that the Panel of Experts was being weaponized.

Claiming that the committee disseminated biased information by adopting a Western stance, Nebenzia noted that the Panel of Experts had not made any contributions and emphasized that the Council should listen to Russia's proposals.

Following the vote, Russia's deputy envoy to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said, "NATO members today have essentially dropped their masks and clearly demonstrated why they really want to extend the mandate of the 1718 committee panel of experts to use it to channel unfounded insinuations against Russia.

"A country, which in the last five months has four times used the veto to give Israel the opportunity to mercilessly kill and starve Palestinian civilians in this chamber declares that Security Council decisions or non-binding, does not have the right to give lessons to others," he said.

North Korea has been under a sweeping UN arms embargo since 2006. The sanctions have since been repeatedly tightened to include the import and export of nearly all types of weapons.

The UN North Korea Sanctions Committee was established in 2006 to monitor the implementation of the sanctions in question. The Panel of Experts linked to the Committee was tasked with preparing reports on developments.

The mandate of the Panel of Experts was extended annually.