On
Burkina,
US Concerned
by Exclusion
of Compaore
Supporters, UN
Silent
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April
14 -- There
was a time
when on
Burkina Faso
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
the UN
Security
Council were
churning out
statements,
congratulating
Michel Kafando
for becoming
interim leader
after Blaise
Compaore left.
Now that the
electoral code
has been
changed to ban
Compaore
supporters, or
those who
supported lifting
term limits so
he could run,
the UN has yet
to speak.
Instead, on
April 14 it
was the US
State Department:
"The
United States
is concerned
by the
National
Transitional
Council’s
April 7
passage of
certain
changes to
Burkina Faso’s
electoral code
that exclude
candidates in
the upcoming
elections who
had voiced
support for a
constitutional
revision to
amend
presidential
term limits in
late
2014.
The changes to
the code would
seem to be
inconsistent
with the
democratic
principles of
freedom of
expression,
freedom of
association,
and free,
fair, and
peaceful
elections.
We urge the
transitional
government,
civil society,
and other
actors who
were
instrumental
in defending
these
democratic
principles to
use a
coordinated,
consensual,
and inclusive
approach in
conducting the
elections."
So now will
the UN
Secretariat /
Department of
Political
Affairs
belatedly
comment on the
Burkina Faso
electoral code
changes, now
that the US
has?
Back
on November 4,
2014, with the
military
claiming
control of
Burkina Faso,
after days of
silence from
the UN
Security
Council, on
November 4 the
Security
Council will
get a briefing
on the topic
from UN envoy
to West Africa
Mohammed ibn
Chambas, Inner
City Press has
learned.
Update
of 5:55 pm -
in front of
the UN
Security
Council just
before 6 pm,
Inner City
Press was told
that the
connection
with Chambas
was just too
bad, and that
Under
Secretary
General Jeff
Feltman will
do the Burkina
Faso briefing.
Update
of 7:05 pm -
while
Australia's
Gary Quinlan
said at his
12:30 pm
briefing that
the Burkina
Faso briefing
is "at my
request," it
was a member
of the French
delegation
which
shepherded the
Department of
Political
Affairs into
the Council,
which some at
the stakeout
noted.
The UN never
criticized Blaise
Compaore's
27 year rule
or his bid to
extend it; in
the DR Congo,
UN
Peacekeeping
unself-consciously
offers
military
support to
Joseph
Kabila.
But how will
the UN
Security
Council react,
if at all, to
military rule
in Burkina
Faso?
The US State
Department
Spokesperson
on the evening
of October 31,
Halloween,
said:
"The
United States
is concerned
about the
unfolding
events in
Burkina
Faso. We
regret the
violence and
the loss of
life in
Burkina Faso
and call on
all parties to
avoid further
violence.
We reiterate
our call for
all parties to
follow the
constitutionally
mandated
process for
the transfer
of power and
holding of
democratic
elections
following the
resignation of
former
President
Blaise
Compaore.
We condemn any
attempts by
the military
or other
parties to
take advantage
of the
situation for
unconstitutional
gain and call
on all parties
to respect the
people’s
support for
the democratic
process."
Minutes
later the US
State
Department
issued a
travel alert
on "the risks
of travel to
or residing in
Burkina Faso
and recommends
U.S. citizens
defer all
non-essential
travel.
This Travel
Alert will
expire on
January 29,
2015. On
October 31,
Burkina Faso’s
President
Compaore
resigned.
The status of
a transitional
government
remains
unclear.
There are
incidents of
looting
throughout the
capital city
of
Ouagadougou,
Bobo-Dioulasso,
and other
parts of the
country."
For days the
UN's Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon has
been vaguely
calling for
calm. On
October 31 at
noon Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric:
Inner
City Press:
the UN seems
to in peace
processes work
pretty closely
with Burkina
Faso. So
I wonder when,
if you can
maybe say,
when the
President
began to talk
about changing
term limits
and going
beyond his
current 27
years of rule,
did anyone in
the UN system
say, maybe
it's a bad
idea, maybe
it's time…
maybe your
Government is
too strong,
maybe it's
time for
somebody
else? Or
was it hands
off?
What was the
view of that?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
I think it's…
first of all,
I doubt that
there were any
consultations
by the
President and
the UN on what
his decisions
were, what the
parliament's
decision was
going to be,
you know, so I
think we're
trying to
imagine
conversations
that were not
had.
Inner
City Press:
What I'm
saying is, the
UN has
actively asked
the Burkina
authorities to
play a role in
a variety of
regional
conflicts; it
seems like
there are kind
of
discussions,
and also by
making that
request,
they're saying
that this
27-year person
is a…
Spokesman:
I think, you
know, Burkina
Faso has a
role to play
in the
regional… in
keeping
regional
peace. I
think every
country in any
region has
that role to
play.
Inner
City
Press:
What's Mr.
Chambas doing
there?
Spokesman:
He was sent by
the
Secretary-General.
He'll be
meeting with
key
stakeholders.
He arrived
this
morning.
Obviously, the
situation is
changing at a
very rapid
clip, and he
will be
talking with
key
stakeholders.
Ah, the UN.
Why
did the US -
and the UN
Secretariat --
support his 27
year rule,
while
criticizing
others?
Twenty
seven years
ago, Thomas
Sankara was
overthrown and
killed in a
coup led by
Blaise
Compaore.
It was
under Sankara
that the
country's name
change from
"Upper Volta"
to Burkina
Faso, land of
the upright.
History
records two
meetings of
Sankara and
France's
Francois
Mitterand. At
the Vittel
conference,
Mitterand
stared
stony-faced
ahead as
Sankara spoke
of seeking
foreign
relations with
countries
beyond France.
And
later, after
South African
apartheid
leader Pieter
Botha had
visited
France,
Sankara
criticized
Mitterand to
his face in
Ouagadougou,
after
Mitterand
drove through
the streets
waving at the
crowd. Soon
the Compaore
coup would
kill Sankara,
and France and
Boigny would
congratulate
Compaore. The
rest is
history.
And
new
colonies, too:
France has
laid claim to
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo,
controlling
the Security
Council's pen
and most
recent trip
there, down
to which media
could go on the "UN" plane.
France
for over
sixteen years
has controlled
UN
Peacekeeping,
now through
Herve Ladsous,
twice spurned,
who refuses to
answer or even
take Press
questions.
What
would Thomas
Sankara say?
On this day,
and going
forward, we
must ask.
Watch this
site.
, 
