Amid
Bombing
&
Retaliation in
Darfur, UN Has
No Answers for
3 Day &
Counting
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 26 --
What is UN
Peacekeeping,
and its
Mission in
Darfur in
particular,
doing? Are
they unable,
or simply
unwilling, to
provide basic
information,
including
about the
protection of
civilians they
are supposed
to be engaged
in?
After
UN
Peacekeeping
left
unanswered a
question about
their inaction
in Abyei
as Sudan
soldiers moved
in for the
kill, on
December 23
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky about
their still
ongoing $1
billion
mission in
Darfur:
Inner
City
Press: there
are reports by
the, I guess,
newly-formed
Revolutionary
United Front
that the
Sudanese army
is bombing in
North
Darfur and
also they are
fighting in
South Darfur,
and I have
seen
that… I see
these daily
[African
Union-United
Nations Hybrid
Operation in
Darfur] press
releases, but
they don’t
seem to
acknowledge
this fighting.
Is it not
taking place,
or are they
not
going out to
verify it, or
they are just
not putting it
in the
statements?
Spokesperson
Nesirky: Which
fighting are
you referring
to
particularly?
Inner
City
Press: Bombing
in North
Darfur
described by
the spokesmen
of the
Revolutionary
United Front,
and also an
announcement
by LJM that
they
themselves are
fighting with
the Government
in South
Darfur.
Spokesperson:
Right, okay, I
will check
with our
colleagues.
This
presumably
meant the UN's
colleagues in
Darfur -- that
is, staff
there under
envoy Ibrahim
Gambari. In
Sudan,
Saturday and
Sunday are not
the
weekend, there
is not too
much
Christmas.
Still, three
days after
the question
was asked,
there had been
no answer at
all.
So
on December
26,
Inner City
Press re-posed
the question
to two UNAMID
spokespeople
based in
Sudan, along
with a
question about
a UN staff
member who we
will for now
leave unnamed:
"beyond
Friday's
still
unanswered
questions
about bombing
and fighting
in
Darfur, on
deadline, this
is a request
for UNAMID /
UN
confirmation
or denial that
UNAMID staff
member [ ] has
been told by
UNAMID not
to return to
Sudan, from
which she is
on leave,
because the
Government of
Sudan has said
she should
leave the
country in 72
hours.
Separately
please confirm
or deny that
[the staff
member] has
complained of
harassment by
senior UNAMID
management,
and respond to
charge that
this and the
aforementioned
barring from
Sudan are
connected."
Since
the
retaliation
charge
involved
Ibrahim
Gambari, Inner
City Press
also
sent the
question to
Mr. Gambari.
The
response,
including to
the three day
old question
about bombing
in an area
where the UN
maintains a $1
billion
peacekeeping
mission with a
protection of
civilians
mandate under
Chapter 7 of
the UN
Charter,
has been from
the spokesman
for DPKO chief
Herve Ladsous:
"your
inquiry
related to
UNAMID has
been sent to
me. I am
looking into
it,
but you will
understand
that it will
take some time
over this
period
to get
information. I
will not have
an update for
you today, but
will
make contact
with you
tomorrow."
How
can it be that
on a simple
question about
bombing in an
area where the
UN and DPKO
are spending
$1 billion
dollars, no
answer has
been possible
in four
days?
(c) UN Photo
Gambari
claps &
Ladsous (in
suit) shakes,
retaliation
not shown
Does DPKO not
monitor or
receive
questions
asked but not
answer
at the UN noon
briefing, such
as the now old
question about
DPKO
intentional
inaction in
Abyei?
To
some it has
come to appear
that the
spokesman for
Ladsous is
only that: a
spokesman for
a single
reclusive
bureaucrat --
Ladsous has
been
dodging
stakeouts and
press
conferences
since holding
a single one
in
the months
since he came
in as the
fourth
Frenchman in a
row to have
the job,
complete with
baggage from
Rwanda, Haiti
and Ben Ali's
Tunisia, all
left
unaddressed
-- and not for
the people of
DPKO, who do
much of the
UN's
work in the
field.
On
the question
of
retaliation,
after the
shameful
development of
the case,
what's
one more day?
Watch this
site.
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