Haiti
Suffering
Linked to Bill Clinton Delay, UNDP Helen Clark Power
Grab, Ouellette Out
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 13 -- Six months after the earthquake
in Haiti, there's
still rubble in the streets and little has been fixed. Inner City
Press on July 12 asked Nigel Fisher, the UN's acting humanitarian
coordinator in Haiti, what he made of criticism of UN envoy Bill
Clinton, along with the government, moving too slow.
Between
March and
June, Fisher answered, they worked on the terms of reference. Is this
why the UN appointed Bill Clinton as a tzar? To sit still?
Another
aspect to
the delay, well informed sources tell Inner City Press, has been the
play by the UN Development Program's Helen Clark to try to win
control of the trust fund from the World Bank, in order to gain the
fee income associated with it. For shame.
Inner
City Press
asked Fisher to confirm that UN Mission chief of staff Bernard
Ouellette had been removed from the job by the Canadian military. I
can't comment on that, Fisher said.
UN
associate
spokesman Farhan Haq was moderating the video link up from Port au
Prince. Inner City Press asked him about Ouellette. We haven't been
told the reason, Haq said.
It's
sexual
misconduct. Inner City Press asked, did it violate not only Canadian
but also UN rules? As Haq formulated an answer, Fisher cut in. He
did not break any UN rules, Fisher said. What happened to he couldn't
comment on it?
Rubble in Haiti, Bill Clinton's terms of
reference and Helen Clark's power grab not shown
Especially
when Canada
says the improper
relationship was not with another Canadian?
Also
on July 12,
the UN's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta
Wahlstrom talked about the Haiti earthquake, and Mexico City's
efforts after its quake in the 80s. Inner City Press asked Wahlstrom
about Mexico City's efforts on pollution, and UN's perceived
partiality in the water wars in Central Asia.
Only
one U.S. city
has joined the UN's safe cities campaign: North Little Rock.
Wahlstrom said it is a city of 80,000, and ascribing joining to the
mayor. No Bill Clinton connection?
* * *
On
Haiti,
Why Did UN Conceal Jail Slaughter, Shoot Into University?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 26 -- Since the January earthquake in Haiti, the UN has
said publicly that it is partnering with the Haitian National Police,
and that it is unaware of evidence of HNP abuses of human rights
including summary executions.
These
statements
were
made by the head of the UN mission Edmund Mulet, and by deputy Tony
"Rape Elates Me" Banbury, in press conferences and
video links with the Press at UN Headquarters.
Now
comes evidence
of a slaughter of prisoners by the Haitian National Police in
January, in a semi collapsed jail while UN peacekeepers stood
outside. The question is, when did the UN know it, and why did the UN
not
come clean, but rather wait for the press to disclose it?
UN's Ban and Banbury, 4 months non disclosure of
prison murders not shown
At
the UN's
May
26
noon briefing, Inner City Press asked:
Inner
City
Press: In Haiti there was this incident where UN peacekeepers
reportedly fired teargas and rubber bullets and then chased students
into the campus of the university. What, I guess, what are the UN’s
policies both on the use of these two non-lethal crowd control
measures, and what training is given in terms of not violating local
customs of not having armed military — armed, in this case,
peacekeepers — going onto college campuses?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well, first of all, the UN Mission in Haiti has issued an
apology concerning this incident. The troops went inside the
university to arrest a student who threw rocks at UN troops. But as
you know, and as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative has
said, UN troops should not enter university grounds. When it comes
to the question of use of teargas and rubber bullets and so on, I
would need to ask DPKO for more information on the rules for the use
of those kinds of…
Inner
City
Press: [inaudible] and then on this, and I know that yesterday
you made this announcement that the UN is going to conduct a joint
investigation with the Government of the prison alleged killings. But
what I couldn’t figure out is when did the UN know? It seems
to many that this only became public because the New York Times ran
an exposé of it. When did the UN become aware of it, that there
was
an issue of how, that some of the prisoners may have been killed by
the Haitian National Police while peacekeepers were immediately
outside the jail? And why didn’t the UN go public at that time?
Spokesperson:
Well,
certainly — a number of things. First of all, the Mission
was aware immediately [that] this incident took place. That’s the
first point. The second is that they immediately, the Human Rights
Section in that town, in Les Cayes, immediately began looking into
this. What you have to also remember is precisely when it took
place, 19 January, was very close to when the earthquake took place,
and therefore MINUSTAH — the Mission — and the rest of the UN
presence as well as, of course, the entire population of Haiti were
still digging themselves out of the rubble, metaphorically and
literally. Therefore I think you could probably understand that that
was the immediate first focus. This is taken extremely seriously,
and there already has been an investigation within MINUSTAH into what
happened in that prison. And there are already preliminary findings.
And it’s precisely because there were repeated requests for an
investigation by the Haitian National Police — and precisely
because that investigation has not yet been forthcoming — that
MINUSTAH went ahead with its own investigation and, secondly, has
also now, through Mr. [Edmond] Mulet, agreed with President
[René]
Préval that there should be an independent commission to look
into
what happened.
Inner
City
Press [inaudible] because there have been a series of press
conferences and video hook-ups with Mr. Mulet where questions of
killings by the Haitian National Police have come up. And I think in
one of them he said he wasn’t aware of any; then they have
described the Haitian National Police as a good partner of MINUSTAH.
Were any steps, again, [inaudible] I guess go back over and look at
those things, it wasn’t, I mean when you say MINUSTAH was aware,
was Mr. Mulet aware of this all the way back to January 19?
Spokesperson:
My
understanding is that the Acting Head of the Mission at that
point, Mr. Mulet, was aware from early on — I don’t know
precisely which day. But as I say, there were many other things that
needed to be contended with at that point. And he takes it extremely
seriously. And I think that it has been pursued consistently and
seriously behind the scenes to try to ensure that the Haitian
National Police conduct an investigation. And that did not happen,
or not to the extent that was necessary, and that’s why both
MINUSTAH launched its own investigation with its own resources, and
has now additionally agreed with President Préval that there
should
be an independent commission. And the details of that are still
being worked out.
INNER
CITY
PRESS: And just one last one on this. Were any steps taken to
not have MINUSTAH work with a particular unit or units of the Haitian
National Police that the UN had reason to believe were engaged in
this killing of prisoners?
Spokesperson:
I’d
have to find that out, I’d have to find that out, but it’s
standard practice in other operational areas to take precisely those
kinds of measures.
We'll be waiting. Watch this space.
* * *
, 
"