UNITED
NATIONS, May
27 -- The UN
in many
countries
becomes so
close to the
government
that it cannot
and does not
protect
civilians.
A
recent example
is South
Sudan. Many
are
understandably
excited about
this new
country and
wish it well.
But when UN
human rights
monitors
are thrown
out,
journalists
detained and
civilians
unprotected,
the
UN is supposed
to do more
than its
mission under
Hilde Johnson
has
been doing.
Inner
City Press has
repeatedly
asked these
questions,
about the
failure to
protect
civilians in
Jonglei, about
investigative
reporters and
editors locked
up, the
persona non
grata status
of even UN
rights
probers.
Johnson is
articulate;
the head of UN
Peacekeeping
Herve
Ladsous does
nothing.
Ladsous
does
not have the gravitas
to
question an
official like
Johnson, a
writer and
former UNICEF
official.
More
determinatively,
as the fourth
Frenchman in a
row atop
UN
Peacekeeping
he uses this
trend of
closeness with
governments to
do his former
employer's
bidding in
FrancAfrique,
through Bert
Koenders in
Cote d'Ivoire
and soon Mali,
and in the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo,
where his role
in 1994 as
France's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
defending the
escape of
Rwanda
genocidaires
into Eastern
Congo is
something he
still seeks to
bury to refusing
to
answer Press
questions.
So
who will
critique Hilde
Johnson or at
least raise
the issue? The
Dutch NGO Clingendael
Institute
notes that
a "New
York-based
diplomat of
one
contributing
country
remarked, ‘We
are spending
nearly one
billion
dollars a year
on UNMISS. We
can and should
expect
more.'"
Johnson
can't
effectively
fight back
against
diplomats who
chose to
remain
unnamed.
But the
Clingendael
Institute
itself opines,
in its report,
that "dealings
with the GRSS
are perhaps
too
personalized,
and
that this
could
jeopardize her
impartiality.
Within and
outside of
the mission,
some hold the
perception
that the SRSG
is not being
critical
enough with
government
officials.
With a
leadership
allegedly keen
on steering
clear of
diplomatic
confrontation,
the
mission
appears to
struggle to
meaningfully
fulfill its
role as a
'watchdog.'"
That
hit the nail
on the head.
And so what
did Hilde
Johnson do?
She ran
to Reuters,
always hungry
for
an exclusive
even spoon-fed,
and willing
to play
sycophant to
the UN to get
it, and turned
the tables,
blaming
the
contributors
for the
failures of
the UNMISS
mission and of
herself as
Special
Representative
of the
Secretary
General
(SRSG).
Reuters
from
Juba reports:
"'We cannot
sustain a
presence with
the
logistical
capacity that
we have, with
the problems
we have with
air
transport and
by road. So we
cannot protect
civilians in
big, big,
big numbers,'
Johnson told
Reuters. 'If
you come as an
outsider with
no history,
and you come
waving the
whip, I can
assure you
that the
outcome is not
necessarily
going to be
the most
positive one
for your
cause,' the
Norwegian
envoy said."
This
last is a
direct dig at
the
Clingendael
Institute;
Reuters in
exchange for
being spoken
to by Johnson
lets her have
the last word,
establishing
herself as an
insider and
deploring the
NGO for using
the "whip" of
criticism. Or
just waving
it? Watch this
site.
, 
