In
DRC,
Oil Search in
Virgunga Halted,
Not by UN, Minova
Stonewall
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 12 -- A
month ago amid
threats in the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo to
those opposing
oil
exploration in
Virunga
National Park,
Inner City
Press asked
UN spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
these
questions:
Inner
City
Press: On DRC,
there are
these reports
that the World
Wildlife
Fund and
others have
received
threats for
opposing the
developments
of oil
exploration of
Virunga
National Park.
The UN, given
its
presence
there, does it
have any
knowledge o a
strong-arming
of
opponents of
oil
development
there and
what’s its
knowledge of
this?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
No, if I have
an update, I
will let you
know.
Inner
City
Press: And
Minova, I
wanted to know
now that
sometime has
gone
by since there
were two
convictions
for 130 rapes,
I wanted to
ask
you directly,
what is the
process within
the UN to
access under
the
human rights
due diligence
policy whether
to suspend
assistance to
the 41st?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
I’ll check on
that.
A
month later,
Dujarric has
still not
answered the
latter, about
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
stated Human
Rights Due
Diligence
Policy after
impunity for
the Minova
rapes. On May
29, sitting
next
to Dujarric,
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous refused
to answer
the question,
saying “You
know I do not
respond to you
Mister.” Video
here.
Since
then the UN's
envoy to DRC Martin
Kobler has
claimed that
the policy
is clear. But
what is the
policy and
how is it
being applied?
On
Virgunga there
is this news,
no thanks to
the UN: Soco
International
after
complaints has
said it will
not go forward
with the
exploration.
We'll see if
that's true --
but the UN in
the Congo and
UN
Peacekeeping's
Ladsous and enablers,
have much to
explain. Watch
this site.