In
Cote d'Ivoire,
2 Days After
UN Promises
Probe,
Koenders In
Denial
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
27 -- The UN
on July 25
told the Press
it would
fully
investigate how seven
Ivorian in the
Niambly
refugee camp
were killed
on July 20
while
ostensibly
under UN
protection.
But
two days
later, UN
envoy Bert
Koenders
"dismissed
allegations
that
peacekeepers
failed in
their mandate
to protect
civilians."
Who did he
speak to?
Inner
City Press
first asked
"for UN / DPKO
position on
how that camp
near Duekoue
in Cote
d'Ivoire could
be burned down
and people
killed
while
ostensibly
under ONUCI
protection.
What did ONUCI
do and what
is it doing
now? Is Mr.
Koenders still
in New York?"
In the
interim, Inner
City Press
spoke with
Ivorian
sources who
said they'd
like to close
the camp. Will
the UN
collaborate in
that?
After
the canned
announcement
of an
investigation,
Inner City
Press
on July 25
asked Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesman
Inner
City Press:
there’s quotes
from named
individuals,
not off the
record, on the
record. For
example, camp
president Jean
Taha says
that he was
beaten
directly in
front of the
peacekeepers.
'At the
moment, the
white people
just stopped.
I tried to go
to the whites,
to UNOCI, and
they chased
themselves…
they chase you
away
themselves. I
don’t know
why,' he said,
holding his
hand. The
other guy said
that UNOCI
pushed them
off the truck
to them being
beaten. So
what I want to
know is,
what’s going
to be the
response
by UNOCI and
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
(DPKO) to
these
named
individuals
claiming that
they were
essentially
thrown to the
mob by the
United Nations
peacekeepers?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey: Well,
we’ve seen the
reports,
Matthew, and
we have to
investigate.
UNOCI is
carrying out
an
investigation
of what
happened, and
when we have a
response, we
will
be able to
give it to
you.
Inner
City Press: Is
it fair to
ask, are these
two named
individuals
going
to be spoken
to, since
they’ve given
their names?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
I don’t… I
don’t know how
UNOCI is going
to
carry out its
investigation,
but I imagine
it is going to
speak with
all people who
were witnesses
to whatever
happened
there. They
will
try to get all
the
information
possible and
report to the
Secretary-General
as to what
happened.
So
how is it
possible that
two days later
Ban's envoy
Koenders can
"dismiss
allegations
that
peacekeepers
failed in
their mandate
to protect
civilians"?
Koenders on
July 27 said that
22 U.N.
security
forces "were
inside and
outside the
camp when it
was
attacked,
while no
Ivorian
security
forces were
present. But
he said
the U.N.
forces
'decided not
to fire at a
large group of
people that
were attacking
the camp' in
order to avoid
'a massacre.'"
The
allegations
are not just
that ONUCI did
not fire their
guns, but that
they pushed
people off
trucks and
back into the
crowd to be
beaten. Who
did Koenders
speak to?
Or is this
kind of
spin part of
his job, under
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous who
himself
refuses to
take questions
from Inner
City Press?
And
what's
happened to
the promised
investigation
of UN
peacekeepers
killing one or
more civilians
in the Congo
while firing
missiles at
(or near) the
M23 mutineers?
What happened
to the UNSMIS
report on
Houla? Where
is the UN's
response to
claims that it
introduced
cholera to
Haiti? This is
Ladsous' and
ultimately
Ban's UN.
Watch
this site.
, 
