On
Burundi
Crackdown, ICP
Asks UN Which
Has
"If-Asked,"
Here
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April
27
-- Amid
the April 26
crackdown
after
Pierre
Nkurunziza was
"nominated to
run" for a
third terms as
President in
seeming
violation of
the Arusha
Peace Accord,
the UN of Ban
Ki-moon said
nothing.
So
on April 27
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq,
and got in
response an
"if-asked." Transcript:
Inner
City
Press:
On Burundi,
over the
weekend, the
ruling party
nominated the
current
president for
a third… to
run for a
third
term.
And there have
been
crackdowns by
the police,
the closure of
a radio
station, Radio
Public
Africaine, and
others… I'm
wondering
other
countries have
spoken.
What is the
UN's response
to what's
happened?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq:
Yeah, we're
following the
situation in
Burundi very
closely and
we're deeply
concerned over
the violence
over the
weekend,
including of a
number of
deaths
following the
announcement
that the
president
would seek a
third term and
we urge a
swift
investigation
into the
violence.
Said Djinnit,
the Special
Envoy for the
Great Lakes is
in Bujumbura
to convey the
UN’s concerns
and work with
all parties on
defusing
tensions.
Perhaps as Ban
does more and
more, he will
"outsource"
the rest of
the UN's
reaction to
Geneva, while
he for example
cavorts with
those who,
like in
Burundi, go
after
independent
journalists.
In Burundi,
the RPA was
raided and
told to stop
live-streaming
the crackdown.
Where
is the UN
Security
Council, and
its
"pen-holder"
on Burundi, on
this?
Ban's office
has yet to
confirm
getting a
letter from
civil society
in Burundi,
below, just as
it hasn't
confirmed a
letter from parties in
Yemen
Inner City
Press asked
about on April
24. Perhaps
both are "lost
in the mail"
on the 38th
floor.
, 
