On
Children &
War, Amid CAR
Panel Delay,
Ban to Appear
With
Zerrougui,
Leaving?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
series
UNITED
NATIONS, June
18 -- After UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
decided not to
list Israel or
Hamas in the
annex of his
Children and
Armed Conflict
report -- nor
the French
troops alleged
to have raped
children in
the Central
African
Republic -- on
June 18 Ban
spoke to the
Security
Council and
then, the UN
said, to the
press.
To the
Security
Council, Ban
said he
regretted the
controversy
surrounding
his report --
which he
caused -- and
then prepared
to do a joint
stakeout with
Lelia
Zerrougui,
whose
recommendations
he ignored.
The goal, it
seemed, was to
show there are
no hard
feelings.
Sources tell
Inner City
Press that
Zerrougui is
slated to be
leaving her
post, to one
at the African
Union. Cynics
told Inner
City Press
that's why she
went
semi-public
with her
recommendation,
which Ban
ignored.
Supporters
said she
should stay
and fight.
We'll see.
And what of
the CAR rapes
by the French
troops? They
are mentioned
in the text of
the report,
but not in the
Annex. Ban
said a Panel
would be set
up- but hasn't
yet done it.
Inner
City Press is
exclusively
informed that
concerned
member states
will meet not
with Ban but
his Deputy Jan
Eliasson on
June 19. Some
are concerned
Ban might even
try to put
Eliasson on
the
"independent"
panel, despite
controversy
about an
August 8, 2014
email saying
Eliasson would
be briefed
that afternoon
about the CAR
rapes. (The UN
now says
Eliasson
didn't learn
of them until
April
2015.)
We'll see.
Back on June 8
both Palestine
and Israel
issued
statements,
below. Inner
City Press
beyond
reporting on
each asked
Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric why
the French
Sangaris force
in the Central
African
Republic,
regarding
which the UN
has evidence
of sexual
abuse against
children as
young as nine
years told, is
not on Ban's
list. This
remains
UNclear.
Riyad Mansour,
Permanent
Observer of
the State of
Palestine to
the United
Nations,
issued a
statement that
“we deeply
regret the
Secretary-Generals
decision to
exclude Israel
from the list
of parties who
commit grave
violations
against
children in
armed
conflict. This
decision
strikingly
contradicts
the UN's own
evidence and
the set
criteria on
this matter.
It is without
doubt that
Israel, the
occupying
Power,
flagrantly,
systematically
and grossly
commits human
rights
violations
against
Palestinian
children
constituting
grave
violations
that qualify
it for such a
listing in the
annex to the
Annual Report
on Children
and Armed
Conflict.. The
UN's inaction,
submitting to
the inordinate
pressures
exerted, sends
a most
regrettable
signal that
the same
criteria do
not apply in
all situations
for all
children,
undermining
the
credibility of
the UN system
as a whole and
the CAAC
mechanism in
specific.”
The “pressure
exerted”
included the
United States,
which also got
Ban to cancel
the Yemen
talks that had
been slated
for May 11, click here
for that Inner
City Press
exclusive.
Likewise,
despite a UN
Dispute
Tribunal
ruling that UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous asked
for CAR rape
whistleblower
Anders Kompass
to resign,
nothing has
been done with
regard to
Ladsous, the
four Frenchman
in a row atop
UN
Peacekeeping.
It is not only
on CAAC that
Ban gives in
to inordinate
pressure.
Israel's Ron
Prosor put out
a statement
that “the UN
Secretary
General was
right not to
submit to the
dictates of
the terrorist
organizations
and the Arab
states, in his
decision not
to include
Israel in this
shameful list,
together with
organizations
like ISIS, Al
Qaeda and the
Taliban.
However, the
UN still has a
long way to
go. Instead of
releasing
thousands of
reports and
lists against
Israel, the UN
must
unequivocally
condemn the
terrorist
organizations
that operate
in the Gaza
Strip. I call
on the
Secretary
General to put
an end to the
destruction
these
organizations
cause the
people of
Gaza, when
they obstruct
humanitarian
aid, fire from
civilian
population
centers and
use innocents
as human
shields. Only
after these
organizations
are recognized
as terrorist
organizations
and condemned,
can we promote
real
solutions.”
Ban's
spokesman
Dujarric,
before Inner
City Press
asked him
about the
French
Sangaris force
in CAR, told
reporters to
not worry so
much about the
list. Really?
Others,
reporting on
this, did not
mention the
French forces'
sexual abuse.
We'll have
more on this.
Back
on June 1 In
the run up to
Ban's decision
on whether to
include Israel
in the UN's
list of those
abusing
children in
armed
conflict,
Inner City
Press asked
Pierre
Krähenbühl,
the
Commissioner
General of the
United Nations
Relief and
Works Agency
for Palestine
Refugees in
the Near East,
UNRWA, for his
view.
Krahenbuhl
diplomatically
said he'd have
no comment
until after
the decision
is made.
And
now?
, 
