United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria

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UNSMIS
operation area Syria
German name United Nations observer mission in Syria
English name United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria
Based on UN resolution 2043 (April 21, 2012)
Other UN resolutions 2059 (July 20, 2012)
Type of mission Observer mission
Beginning April 21, 2012
The End 19th August 2012
status completed
management Major General Robert Mood (Norway)
(April 27 - July 20, 2012) Lt.
General Babacar Gaye (Senegal)
(July 21 - August 19, 2012)
Operating strength (max.) 304
Military out Egypt, Armenia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Fiji, Finland, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Yemen, Jordan, Cambodia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Croatia, Morocco, Mauritania , Nepal, New Zealand, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Slovenia, Switzerland, Togo, Chad, Czech Republic, Vietnam
Location of the operational area LocationSyria.svg

The United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria , or UNSMIS for short (German: United Nations Observer Mission in Syria ), was a UN mission in Syria . The acronym UNSMIS is not to be confused with the health insurance company, the United Nations Staff Mutual Insurance Society (UNSMIS) , based in Geneva.

history

In advance

On April 14, 2012 decided the UN Security Council with Resolution 2042 , the deployment of an advance team to monitor the ceasefire in the civil war in Syria (Advance Team to Monitor Ceasefire in Syria) . The 30-strong UN Military Observers (UNMO) were headed by the Moroccan Colonel Ahmed Himmiche. The first people arrived in Syria on April 15. Protected Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles for the UN advance command were unloaded by the Italian Air Force in Beirut , Lebanon , on April 17, 2012 .

Official UN mission

On April 21, 2012, the 15 member states of the United Nations Security Council decided with resolution 2043 to increase the staff from 30 to 300 unarmed military observers and to use helicopters, as there have been multiple reports of violations of the ceasefire and due to the current situation and the size of the country an increase is necessary. The mission of UNSMIS was "to monitor the cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties and to monitor and support the full implementation of the envoy's six-point proposal".

The ceasefire, which has been in force since April 12, 2012, was also based on the six-point proposal by Kofi Annan , Joint Special Envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League , which the Syrian leadership under President Bashar al-Assad approved on March 25, 2012 . This provides for the following points:

  1. the cooperation of all those involved in the political process, moderated by Kofi Annan
  2. a ceasefire observed by the United Nations, with Syrian forces withdrawing from residential areas
  3. the unhindered access of humanitarian organizations to the areas affected by the fighting
  4. the release of political prisoners and access to all prisoners
  5. unrestricted freedom of movement for journalists across the country
  6. Freedom of assembly and demonstration

By April 30, 2012, 30 of the planned 300 observers should initially be stationed in Syria, said UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey on April 27. By May 4, 2012, the number rose to 40 soldiers. By May 13, 2012, 189 military observers and 61 civilian experts were on duty. As of May 29, 2012, the strength of the UNSMIS was 286 military observers, 71 civilians and 14 local civilian workers. On June 30, 2012, the mission had a strength of 278 military observers and 81 international and 40 local civilian personnel. Some military observers-designate could not be part of the mission because their visas were refused.

The mission had been suspended since June 16, 2012 due to escalating violence against the observers. There were no more patrols.

Extension of the mandate

The observer mission was initially limited to 90 days and was extended on July 20, 2012 by resolution 2059 for a further 30 days until August 20, 2012. In the course of the extension, the previous head of UNSMIS, the Norwegian General Robert Mood , who was no longer available for an extension, was replaced by the Senegalese General Babacar Gaye .

Four days after the extension, on July 24th, UNSMIS began withdrawing half of its personnel from Syria due to the deteriorating security situation. There was no plan for these observers to return.

On July 29th, according to Ban Ki Moon, government soldiers shot at an UNSMIS convoy. Mission leader General Babacar Gaye sat in one of the five affected vehicles. He also stated that since its inception, more than twelve observer vehicles have been destroyed by government forces.

End of mission

On August 16, 2012, the United Nations Security Council ordered the end of the UNSMIS observer mission because the conditions for a continuation were not met. The mandate for the UN peacekeeping mission ended at midnight on August 19, 2012. The attempts of the UN to carry out peacekeeping or peacebuilding missions successfully have so far failed. According to Gregor Schöllgen, Syria can be seen as an example that the UN can no longer meet the demands of the 21st century.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UN Security Council : Resolution 2043 (April 21, 2012) (PDF; 40 kB), accessed on June 20, 2012
  2. ↑ http://www.un.org/Depts/german/sr/sr_12/sr2059.pdf
  3. ^ War in Syria: UN ends observer mission. In: Spiegel Online . August 16, 2012, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  4. ↑ http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unsmis/mandate.shtml
  5. ↑ http://un-report.blogspot.de/2012/04/ban-appointed-mood-commander-of-unsmis.html
  6. ↑ http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unsmis/leadership.shtml
  7. ↑ http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unsmis/facts.shtml
  8. ↑ a b UN Security Council : SC / 10609: Authorizing Advance Team to Monitor Ceasefire in Syria (April 14, 2012) , accessed June 20, 2012
  9. ↑ http://un-report.blogspot.de/2012/04/final-draft-resolution-on-syria.html
  10. ↑ http://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/aktuell/2012A27_snf.pdf Science and Politics Foundation: The UN mission in Syria
  11. ↑ UN Report: Mood: UNSMIS suspends activities in Syria (June 16, 2012, English) , accessed on June 20, 2012
  12. ↑ UNSMIS Facts and Figures. In: Official website of UNSMIS. Retrieved on July 24, 2012 : "Current authorization until August 20, 2012"
  13. ↑ http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sc10718.doc.htm
  14. ↑ Ban sends top blue helmet to Syria. In: The Standard . July 22, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2012 .
  15. ↑ Michael Martens and Christoph Ehrhardt: Turkey closes the border with Syria. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. July 25, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012 .
  16. ^ Attack on international observers. In: the daily newspaper . July 31, 2012, accessed July 31, 2012 .
  17. ↑ Gregor Schöllgen: The hour of the Europeans has long struck November 30, 2015 on faz.net

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