By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 1 --
The day after
a rocket
killed more
than two dozen
people at a
wedding party
in Helmand
province in
Afghanistan,
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
churned out a
statement
condemning the
bombing but
not mentioning
the role of
the Afghan
National Army.
The
UN said Ban
“condemns in
the strongest
terms the
shelling that
hit a wedding
party in
Helmand
province
yesterday and
which
reportedly
killed 25
civilians and
wounded 45
others" and "urges
the Government
to carry out a
full
investigation
of the
incident and
bring the
perpetrators
to justice.”
Previously,
when Afghan
National
forces were
involved in
the the
killing of UN
staff members
Louis Maxwell,
Ban's UN never
followed
through. Ban
said a movie
should be made
about Maxwell;
now follow
through is not
even on the
agenda of the
UN mission
there, only of
the UN
Department of
Safety and
Security.
Chile took
over the
presidency of
the UN Security
Council on January
1. Will this
shelling in
Afghanistan
trigger the
first of what
are sure to be
many Security
Council Press
Statements
during Chile's
month?
Back on
December 18 after
the UN Mission
in
Afghanistan's
new chief Fink
Haysom briefed
the Security
Council, he
came to the
Council's
stakeout and
took questions
from the
Press.
His
predecessor Jan
Kubis had
previously
answered about
the scandal
plagued UN Law
and Order
Trust Fund for
Afghanistan, promising a
“public
accounting;”
further back
when he was
Afghanistan
envoy, Staffan
de Mistura
told Inner
City Press he
would get to
the bottom of
the killing
of UN staff
member Louis
Maxwell
there.
Haysom
on December 18
said that the
Louis Maxwell
case was being
handled by the
UN Department
of Safety and
Security. On
December 19,
when to his
credit he held
a sit-down
press
conference, he
said that the
LOTFA issues
were more for
the UN
Development
Program --
which has been
far from
responsive --
and that it is
largely a
matter of
answering the
questions from
donors. That's
certainly part
of it. But
what about the
“public
accounting”?
Some
of these
issues go
beyond Haysom
as SRSG. It
was up to Ban
Ki-moon to
push the
Karzai
government
about the
killing of
Louis Maxwell,
and he didn't.
UNDP should be
answering the
questions
about LOTFA,
but isn't.
Still, doesn't
this make the
UNAMA
mission's job
more
difficult?
Again
to his credit,
Haysom said
that UNAMA
formally
reached out to
the Taliban,
on human
rights issues,
and meet with
them in Doha.
He emphasized
there can be
no (entirely)
military
solution.
Inner
City Press
tried to ask
UNAMA Human
Rights Office
chief
Georgette
Gagnon if her
office works
with the
International
Criminal
Court's
inquiry into
Afghanistan.
But
it was Haysom
who answered,
saying yes
UNAMA
participates
constructively
but that it is
confidential.
With the
release, even
redacted, of
the summary of
the US torture
report, the
ICC's
Afghanistan
inquiry has
become all the
more
interesting.
We'll have
more on this.
Footnote:
in
terms of
accessibility
during his
visit to UNHQ
in New York,
Haysom should
be credited.
Under
Secretaries
General like Herve Ladsous and even, less
abusively,
Jeffrey
Feltman rarely
speak to the
media. Inner
City Press for
the new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
on December 19
thanked Haysom
-- and posits
that
willingness to
answer
questions from
the media
should be one
of the
criteria by
which UN
officials,
including for
example the
next head of
OCHA, are
chosen.
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