UN Security Council Passes Resolution on Central African Republic Arms Embargo (January 27, 2017) [1]
On January 27, 2017, the United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, issued a resolution [3] requiring all member states to continue to take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply of arms and related material into the Central African Republic (CAR) until January 31, 2018. The resolution exempts arms intended for some groups, including, the African Union-Regional Task Force, European Union Missions, and French Forces deployed in the CAR. The resolution also authorizes member states to seize, register, and dispose of any prohibited arms they discover. According to the press release [4], the Council listed “sexual violence as a separate asset-freeze listing criterion” for the first time, deciding “that the resolution’s asset-freezing provisions should be applied to individuals and entities that the Sanctions Committee designated as being involved in planning, directing or committing acts of sexual and gender-based violence.”