United Nations Security Council Resolution 1720

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United Nations Security Council Resolution 1720 was unanimously passed by the United Nations Security Council in their 5,560th meeting at 11:46 a.m., October 31, 2006. The purpose of the resolution was to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), a multi-national peace-keeping force deployed in Western Sahara to monitor the ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, and implement a referendum on self-determination of the Sahrawi people.

The Council also requested contributions from member states to fund confidence-building measures that would allow for increased contact between family members separated by the conflict - MINURSO has already cost the United Nations $1.5 billion, and is the longest-lasting African mission. Following the adoption, representatives of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States urged the parties to use the next six months to finally break the impasse in the situation in Western Sahara.

United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton urged Morocco to move quickly to fulfill promises to table a comprehensive and credible autonomy proposal and to engage in serious discussions with all Saharawi people, including the Polisario, in a way that could form the basis for a new United Nations-led negotiating process. Furthermore, he called on Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan to examine the mechanisms and timetable for the Mission's dismantlement, should MINURSO “continue to prove ineffective in fulfilling its mandate or the concerned parties prove unable to make substantial progress towards a political solution”. Bolton is a supporter of United Nations reform, and there was speculation that MINURSO's mandate would not be extended in favor of a new mission with a more comprehensive mandate.

Of the fifteen members of the Security Council, 14 approved a draft that included a provision expressing concern about Moroccan human rights abuses in the occupied territory. Only France objected^[1].