24 December 2012: In a presidential statement issued on 19 December, the UN Security Council “strongly condemned the ongoing attacks and atrocities carried out by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)” in Central Africa, and called “on the United Nations and AU to jointly investigate the LRA’s logistical networks and possible sources of illicit financing, including alleged involvement in elephant poaching and related illicit smuggling.”

In response, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) welcomed the Security Council’s call for an investigation into the alleged involvement of the LRA in the poaching of African elephants and smuggling of their ivory. John Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General, also remarked that the call made by the Security Council reinforces concerns about the links between illicit wildlife trafficking and regional security in Africa.

The upcoming 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16) to CITES to be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 3-14 March 2013, will address issues related to wildlife crime, among other topics. [UN Security Council’s Presidential Statement] [UN News] [CITES News]