On
Haiti, Spox
Told ICP No UN
Involvement,
Before Video
of UN Shooting
Protesters
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 13 --
UN
Peacekeepers
in Haiti have
fired pistols
and tear gas
into crowds of
people
protesting the
failure to
hold
elections. Video here; a
second video
is here.
Now who will
be help
accountable?
Back on
December
2, Inner
City Press asked UN
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
MINUSTAH and
protests:
Inner City
Press: I
wanted to ask
you about
Haiti, since
there's the
Mission
there.
There have
been protests
about the
failure to
hold elections
and they've
been put down
by
police.
I wanted to
know, first,
whether
there's been
any MINUSTAH
[United
Nations
Stabilization
Mission in
Haiti]
involvement;
and also what
the Mission's
thinking is as
the 12 January
deadline
imposes when
the Government
will be
dissolved and
Mr. [Michel]
Martelly will
rule by
decree.
Is that the
fact?
And what’s the
UN doing?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
I don't
believe
there's been…
I don't
believe
there's been
any
involvement of
MINUSTAH in
the
demonstrations.
Obviously,
it's important
that people
have the right
to demonstrate
peacefully and
it's up to the
authorities to
ensure that
right is
respected.
The political
situation in
Haiti
obviously
remains a
concern.
It is one that
we're
following
closely.
So what
happened
December 2
("no
involvement of
MINUSTAH") and
December 12 -
MINUSTAH
shooting into
the crowd?
Inner City
Press has
asked Dujarric
about the UN's
rules of
engagement, so
far without
answer.
With questions
unanswered, UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous had
the gall on
the afternoon
of December 13
to rebroadcast
MINUSTAH
self-congratulations
that ignored
its filmed
shooting at
protesters and
threatening
media. Inner
City Press
initially
asked the UN
Spokesman:
"What were the
rules of
engagement?
Who gave the
order to use
pistol(s) and,
separately,
tear gas? What
is the UN's
understanding
of injuries
caused? What
was the role,
and is the
comment, of
the Under
Secretary
General for
Peacekeeping
Operations
Herve
Ladsous?"
Inner
City Press twice,
in two media,
asked for an
explanation or
comment from
the UN
Spokesman, and
Saturday
afternoon
received this:
"The United
Nations
Stabilization
Mission in
Haiti,
(MINUSTAH),
has been
informed of an
alleged
excessive use
of force,
while
responding to
violent
demonstrators
targeting law
enforcement
personnel
supporting the
Haitian
National
Police (HNP)
and causing
injuries and
destruction of
property,
during the
demonstration
in
Port-au-Prince
today. The
Mission takes
this
allegation
very seriously
and
immediately
opened an
investigation
to establish
the facts."
Artfully, or
inartfully,
the MINUSTAH
statement does
not state that
it is the UN's
own alleged
(filmed)
excessive use
of force - so
is the UN
investigating
itself? We've
asked the UN
Spokesperson
and weekend
duty officer
this:
Because
the MINUSTAH
statement
leaves it
unclear, can
you confirm
that it is the
UN's own
“alleged
excessive use
of force” that
the UN is now
investigating?
What
is the time
frame for the
investigation?
Who
is doing the
investigation?
MINUSTAH's
human rights
unit?
Can
to state now
that the
results of the
investigation
will be made
public?
Since
the MINUSTAH
statement
expresses
conclusions
about the
demonstrators
(“violent,”
“and causing
injuries and
destruction of
property”)
please provide
similar
preliminary
findings as to
UN
Peacekeepers'
action shown
on this video:http://youtu.be/38owUZrNHzA
Hours later,
no answer,
even as the
second video
emerged.
Others in the
UN system have
been asked;
we'll have
more on that.
Inner City
Press has also
sought comment
from
prospective UN-related
awardee Andrea
Bocelli,
slated to
accept without
reference to
the UN
bringing
cholera or now
shooting into
crowds there
an award from
the UN's
Censorship
Alliance next
week -- and
continues to
await
response.
The
MINUSTAH
mission has
just published
this:
"MINUSTAH has
been informed
of an alleged
excessive use
of force,
while
responding to
violent
demonstrators
targeting law
enforcement
personnel
supporting the
Haitian
National
Police (HNP)
and causing
injuries and
destruction of
property,
during the
demonstration
in
Port-au-Prince
today. The
Mission takes
this
allegation
very seriously
and
immediately
opened an
investigation
to establish
the facts."
But UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous is
already
accused of
cover-ups.
This MINUSTAH
statement
doesn't even
say against
whom the
allegations
are.
Inner
City Press,
before the
December 12
protests and
footage of the
UN firing into
them, asked
the UN Office
of the
Spokesperson
about the
failure to
hold
elections, and
if the
MINUSTAH
mission was
involved in
cracking down
on
demonstrations.
On the latter,
the answer
given then was
no.
Now, this video, by Le Nouvelliste.
Who will be
held
accountable?
UN
Peacekeeping
is run by
Herve Ladsous,
a former
French
diplomat and
spokesman
during the
ouster of
Aristide. We
will have more
on this.
The day after
the injustice
of the UN's
impunity for
bringing
cholera to
Haiti was the
subject of a
religious
service across
First Avenue
from the UN, photo
here,
Inner City
Press asked
the UN's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric,
video
here:
Inner City
Press:
About
Haiti.
There was —
yesterday
afternoon,
almost at the
same time as
the Ebola
press
conference,
there was a
religious
ceremony held
across the
street of the
Church Centre
by both
Haitians that
live in New
York who have
had family
members killed
by cholera and
also UN staff
who feel that
the UN policy
of not
directly
addressing the
claims for the
families that
were victims
of the cholera
is
unjust.
I wanted to
know if you
were aware of
that, if you
have any
response to
it?
Spokesman:
I personally
was not
aware. I
think you know
that the legal
position of
the UN as to
this case is
not, has not
changed.
That being
said, the UN
continues to
be very
involved
jointly with
the Government
of Haiti to
work on the
cholera issue
in Haiti, to
work on
rebuilding the
sanitation
system, and I
think the
Secretary-General
in his visit
to Haiti in —
over the
summer,
right?
In July, in
mid-July,
excuse me, in
mid-July, I
think, you
know, went to
one of the
impacted
village,
prayed with
the families
and showed his
empathy to the
victims.
Inner City
Press: I
understand
that. I
don't think —
people see the
Secretary-General
trying to
raise funds
for water and
sanitation
going
forward.
I guess the
question
becomes for
families that
lost their
breadwinner
and,
therefore,
have kids who
are unable to
go to school
with school
fees, things
like that, is
there any —
what's the
UN's
thinking?
Is the — the
Government
apparently has
not addressed
that
problem.
So I'm
wondering… I
guess…
Spokesman:
I think
whenever you
have —
whenever you
have victims
of any
disaster, the
issue of
losing the
breadwinner is
an important
one and one
that needs to
be addressed
by national
authorities in
assistance
with the
international
community.
Masood?
Up to
December 12, a
item
in the US
State
Department's
public
schedule read:
"COUNSELOR TOM
SHANNON
Counselor
Shannon is on
travel to
Port-au-Prince,
Haiti through
December 12.
He is
accompanied by
Haiti Special
Coordinator
Thomas Adams."
Shannon
and Adams have
been in Haiti
for days, it
seemed
preparing for
a visit by
Secretary of
State John
Kerry on
December 12.
Protests are
planned, not
least due to
the US arguing
in court in
support of the
UN's immunity,
that is,
impunity, and
refusal to
help its
victims,
families whose
bread-winner
was killed by
the cholera UN
Peacekeeping
brought.
Does the US
read its own
(incomplete)
travel
warnings?
But at
the UN State
Department's
December 12
briefing, the
Department's
spokesperson
said "we
believe
elections are
essential for
Haiti’s
democratic
development
and to advance
progress made
in
reconstruction
and
development.
The United
States and,
certainly,
Counselor
Shannon on his
trip and Haiti
Special
Coordinator
Tom Adams are
certainly
advocating
strongly for
dialogue and
compromise
among the
parties that
will lead to a
Haitian
solution to
permit
elections
without
further delay.
Toward that
end, we
welcome the
December 9th
recommendations
offered by the
consultative
commission
established by
President
Martelly as a
basis for
dialogue. We
understand
he’ll speak
today
regarding the
recommendations.
So our
position as
the United
States is that
we broadly
support
dialogue and
compromise
leading to a
solution in
Haiti that
will permit
elections
without
further delay,
and we think
that’s
incredibly
important to
advance
progress made
there."
There
was no visit
by Kerry. But,
on Twitter, a
photo of the
UN's MINUSTAH
using a gun to
shoot, for
which Inner
City Press has
asked
the UN
Spokesperson
for a
response.
Watch this
site.
MSF
Doctors
Without
Borders said
on November 24
that "the
population has
slowly lost
their immunity
to the
disease.
Compared to
the same
period in
2013, the
number of
cases handled
by MSF has
almost
doubled. The
lack of
sanitary
infrastructure
and of
measures to
clean water
risk
aggravating
the epidemic."
Inner
City Press
asked the UN
to respond to
this, on
November 28,
but the UN has
refused. The
US government
has online,
also dated
November 24,
2014, a Haiti
web page that
(still) says,
under Health,
that
"Incidents of
cholera have
declined
dramatically
since a major
outbreak in
2010." Click
here for that.
While that
page was
not changed or
updated, on
December 4 the
US State
Department put
out a travel
warning for
Haiti which
mentioned what
MSF called the
"lack of
sanitary
infrastructure"
- but NOT that
the UN brought
cholera to
Haiti, much
less that the
US is
supporting the
UN's claim of
immunity or
impunity for
it. Click
here for the
December 4
travel
warning.
The new US
Travel Warning
does, however,
mention
the UN, in
this way: "The
United
Nations’
Stabilization
Mission in
Haiti
(MINUSTAH)
remains in
Haiti to
support the
activities of
the Haitian
National
Police (HNP).
The HNP, with
assistance
from MINUSTAH,
is responsible
for
maintaining
order and
rendering
assistance.
However, given
the
possibility
and
unpredictability
of spontaneous
protests,
their ability
to assist U.S.
citizens
during
disturbances
is very
limited."
It must
be said: some
of these
protests are
ABOUT cholera,
and are
DIRECTED at
the UN, having
having brought
it and for
having done
nothing for
the victims,
whole families
left without
their main
breadwinner.
The US
page on Haiti,
on Safety and
Security,
says "Please
see our information
for victims of
crime,
including
possible
victim
compensation
programs in
the United
States."
What
about
compensation
for the
victims of the
UN in Haiti?
Inner
City Press
continues to
pursue this
question at
the UN. On
November 20
when Jose
Ramos Horta
took questions
about the UN
Peacekeeping
review panel
he now chairs,
he initially
said that the
UN bringing
cholera to
Haiti was
beyond the
panel's
mandate.
When
Inner City
Press was able
to ask him a
question, it
was to
challenge
this. How
could more
than 8,000
people killed,
and the
continuing
impact on the
UN's
credibility,
be beyond the
mandate of
this panel? Video here.
Ramos
Horta replied
that, on
reflection, he
would raise
the issue of
cholera in
Haiti to the
panel's
members, which
now include
Sri Lankan
former UN
official
Radhika
Coomaraswamy
as well.
Inner
City Press
also asked
about the
cover-up
scandals
swirling
around UN
Peacekeeping,
about rapes
and more in
Darfur. Ramos
Horta replied
about abuses
by
peacekeepers
in Timor
Leste, that
there must be
accountability
(he praised
Sergio de
Mello in this
respect.)
UN
Peacekeeping
has become
subject, under
Herve Ladsous,
to mounting
questions
about its
operations,
from crashed
drones,
selective
“neutralization”
of some rebels
groups and not
others, like
the FDLR in
the DR Congo, covering
up attacks in
Darfur and lack of accountability
for
negligently
introducing
cholera to
Haiti, to
name just a
few.
While
Ladsous refuses and even
blocks Press
questions about these topics, recently
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon has
taken to
saying that a
major
“external”
panel will be
set up to
review the
issues. On
Friday,
October 31,
Ban’s
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
announced the
14-member
panel, to be
chaired by
Ramos-Horta.
In a
run-on
sentence, Ban
listed the
panel’s
topics: “the
changing
nature of
conflict,
evolving
mandates, good
offices and
peace-building
challenges,
managerial and
administrative
arrangements,
planning,
partnerships,
human rights
and protection
of civilians,
uniformed
capabilities
for
peacekeeping
operations and
performance.”
Inner
City Press
asked Dujarric
about a word
NOT in the
list: drones.
Earlier on
October 31 in
the UN General
Assembly’s
Fourth
Committee, the
representative
of Ecuador
said that UN
Peacekeeping’s
use of drones
should be
subject to
review by the
General
Assembly’s
C-34
Committee:
that is, by
member states.
(Ladsous
evaded the
C-34, then
deployed more
drones than
he’d mentioned
to the
Security
Council, and
won’t answer
on the reasons
behind the
crashes; DRC
envoy Martin
Kobler told
Inner City
Press it was
due to “wind.”)
Dujarric
cut the
question off,
saying that it
was “too
granular” and
that drones
might fall —
as one did in
DRC — under
“the changing
nature of
conflict.”
But the
question is,
should UN
Peacekeeping
and Ladsous be
subject only
to review by a
panel picked
by Ban
Ki-moon, or by
the member
states?
Dujarric said
Ban’s panel’s
report will go
the the
General
Assembly.
It is
called an
“external”
panel, but
included not
only a number
of long-time
insiders, but
even the
current
Under-Secretary-General
for Field
Support,
Ameerah Haq.
This reporter
asked Dujarric
if this meant
that Haq is
leaving, and
Dujarric said
yes. The Free
UN Coalition
for Access opines:
she is the
wrong one to
be leaving.
Strikingly,
only TWO of
Ban’s Panel’s
14 members are
from Africa,
where the vast
majority of UN
Peacekeepers
are deployed.
These members
are from Ghana
and Tunisia,
not from
countries with
UN Missions
like DRC,
Mali, Cote
d’Ivoire,
Central
African
Republic if
not to say
Liberia, where
Ladsous is
said to be
planning
“emergency
responses”
with a
government
that has
quarantined
whole
neighborhoods
like West
Point in
Monrovia.
Recently
during the
Security
Council
proceeding to
renew the
mandate of the
mission in
Haiti, many
ambassadors
from Latin
America said
Troop
Contributing
Countries
weren’t
sufficiently
consulted;
Argentina said
it would not
participate in
certain
policing or
repression
activities.
Will that be
reviewed?
We’ll have
more on this.
Beyond
Ramos-Horta,
the Panel’s
members
include Jean
Arnault of
France — some
wonder if he’s
there to
protect
Ladsous —
Abhijit Guha
of India,
Ameerah Haq of
Bangladesh,
Andrew Hughes
of Australia,
Wang Xuexian
of China,
Hilde Johnson
of Norway
after a
troubled stint
in South
Sudan,
Henrietta Joy
Abena Nyarko
Mensa-Bonsu of
Ghana,
Floriano
Peixoto Vieira
Neto of
Brazil, Bruce
Jones of
Canada,
Youssef
Mahmoud of
Tunisia, B.
Lynn Pascoe of
the US, whom
Inner City
Press reported
was in the mix
to replace
Alexander
Downer as UN
envoy to
Cyprus but was
said to be
blocked from
getting it,
Alexander
Ilitchev of
Russia and Ian
Martin of the
UK, who
returned to
the UN to mull
mediation
after starting
the ill-fated
UN Mission in
Libya.
Martin’s
previous Board
of Inquiry
report on
bombing in
Gaza in 2009,
Ban Ki-moon
undercut with
a
cover-letter.
We’ll have
more on this,
too.
* * *
These
reports
are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for Sept 26, 2011 New Yorker on Inner City
Press at UN
Click
for
BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN
Corruption
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-303,
UN, NY 10017 USA
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest service,
and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2014 Inner City Press,
Inc. To request reprint or other permission,
e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
|