UN's
Ban Met
Burundi
Minister Who
Excused
Killings, Now
Gets Letter
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April
15
-- When
you go to the
UN's 38th
floor these
days, you
might meet a
government
official who
justified the
killing of
unarmed
civilians,
having a photo
op with
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon.
So
it was on
April 14, when
Burundi's
Minister of
the Interior
Edouard
Nduwimana held
a meeting with
Ban, his chief
of staff and
Department of
Political
Affairs
officials.
Inner City
Press went to
the photo op
and
tweeted out a
photo.
Moments
later Inner
City Press was
made aware
that Nduwimana
in March 2013
visited the
Businde hill
where police
had just
killed nine
people, mostly
women and
child. On
video - YouTube here, from Minute
1:41 -
Nduwimana told
the mourners
and survivors,
Now you have
the martyrs
you wanted.
On April 15,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman Stephane
Dujarric why
no read-out of
the meeting
had been
given.
Dujarric said
he had
expected one
and would try.
Finally past 5
pm, more than
24 hours after
the meeting,
this:
"The
Secretary-General
met on 14
April 2015
with the
Minister of
Interior of
Burundi, H.E.
Mr. Edouard
Nduwimana. The
Secretary-General
noted that
Burundi owes
its progress
to the spirit
of Arusha and
the
determination
of Burundians
to build a
peaceful,
democratic and
prosperous
nation. They
discussed
recent
developments
ahead of the
general
elections to
be held
between May
and August
this year.
"The
Secretary-General
expressed his
concern about
the rising
political
tensions in
the country
and encouraged
Burundians to
resolve their
political
differences
through
dialogue and
without
resorting to
violence. He
called on the
Government to
ensure that
the security
services
manage
potential
security
incidents with
the utmost
professionalism.
He also
encouraged the
Government to
ensure that
all political
actors are
able to
participate
fully and
freely in the
electoral
process. 'This
would
contribute to
credible
elections and
reduce further
tensions,' the
Secretary-General
said."
Meanwhile,
Dujarric would
not confirm to
Inner City
Press that Ban
has received
this letter,
in French,
from civil
society in
Burundi:
Les
organisations
membres de la
Campagne "
Halte au 3ème
Mandat du
Président
NKURUNZIZA"
ont écrit une
lettre au
Secrétaire
Général des
Nations Unies
et au
Président du
Conseil de
Sécurité pour
leur demander
avec une
grande
insistance de
voter une
résolution sur
le Burundi
pour :
-
Instruire à
l'Armée
burundaise de
désarmer la
milice
IMBONERAKURE
du Parti
au Pouvoir
CNDD-FDD
-
Instruire
l'identification
et
l'arrestation
des chefs de
la milice
-
Instruire à
l'Armée
burundaise de
désarmer toute
autre personne
ou groupe
en possession
illégale
d'arme à feu
De
voter une
résolution
décidant
l'intervention
militaire des
Nations Unies
pour empêcher
la commission
des crimes
contre
l'humanité, du
nettoyage
politique
voire du
génocide
QUE
PERSONNE NE
DISE QU'IL N'A
PAS SU !
We'll
have more on
this.
Eighty minutes
before Ban's
meeting with
Nduwimana, he
met with
Amnesty
International.
Unlike some
other rights
groups who
crave access,
Amnesty
authorized
Inner City
Press, when it
asked, to
report that
the topics
covered were
"the Human
Rights Up
Front
Initiative,
regarding
which several
country
situations
were
discussed, and
the Post-2015
agenda." It is
appreciated.
While Inner
City Press was
asked if
having a
"criminal" in
the UN is
rare, the
reality is
that, for
example, Sri
Lanka's
Shavendra
Silva, named
in Ban's own
report on war
crimes in that
country, was
allowed to
become a UN
Senior Adviser
on
Peacekeeping
Operations,
run by Herve
Ladsous.
Later
on April 14, a
mere 95
minutes later
to be exact,
Ban was to
raise a
champagne or
Prosecco toast
to the UN
Censorship
Alliance,
which hosts
Shavendra
Silva's and
Palitha
Kohona's
screening of
their
government's
war crimes
denial film,
"Lies Agreed
To."
The then
and now
president of
UNCA had been
Kohona's
landlord in
the past.
When Inner
City Press in
writing called
this a
conflict of
interest,
first the move
was to try to
get Inner City
Press thown
out of UNCA --
it quit and
co-founded the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
FUNCA -- then
out of the UN
as a whole.
This is
today's UN,
and its
Censorship
Alliance.
, 
