In
Sudan,
UN's Tchalian
"Met Daily"
With Harun,
Now UNAMID
Chief of
Staff: War
Criminals Not
Banned
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 11 --
The UN's
intimacy with
war criminals
is
exemplified in
Sudan by UN
official Karen
Tchalian, now
the chief of
staff of the
Mission in
Darfur,
UNAMID.
While
Tchalian
worked for
UNMIS in
Southern
Kordofan,
complaints
were made to
the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
that he was
meeting
frequently
-- "daily" --
with Ahmed
Harun,
indicted by
the
International
Criminal Court
for
war crimes in
Darfur, Inner
City Press has
learned.
Tchalian's
dubious
positions,
beyond Haroun,
also appear in
cables
obtained and
published by
Wikileaks:
"The
UNMIS
head of the
Section IV
office in
Kadugli, Mr.
Karen
Tchalian,
said he was
'cautiously
optimistic'
that
demobilization
of SPLM units
and
reintegration
of
SPLM-controlled
areas in the
Nuba Mountains
was
making
reasonably
good progress
after a long
delay. He
expressed
concern at the
availability
of
inflammatory
misinformation
on various
internet sites
about tens of
thousands of
armed men
massed in the
area, and
criticized a
recent Small
Arms Survey
report on the
situation
there."
Rather
than be
admonished,
Tchalian was
promoted to a
higher UN
position, in
the
region for
which Harun
was indicted:
Darfur.
The
UN claims to
only deal with
ICC indictees
"as
necessary."
But Tchalian's
new boss in
Darfur,
Ibrahim
Gambari, took
photos with
ICC indictee
Omar al Bashir
at a wedding
reception for
the daughter
of Chad's
Idriss Deby
and Musa
Hilal, founder
of the
janjaweed
militia.
After
Inner City
Press asked
about it for
more than a
week, the UN
announced that
Gambari had
been told to
avoid this in
the future.
But Gambari
has said
that he will
do it again,
and Ban
Ki-moon has
not responded.
Meanwhile
Ban
Ki-moon has
another
alleged war
criminal as a
Senior Adviser
on
Peacekeeping
Operations:
Sri Lankan
General
Shavendra
Silva, whose
58th Division
is depicted in
Ban's own
Panel of
Experts report
as
engaged in war
crimes. As
with Tchalian,
will Ban's UN
offer Silva an
ever higher
advisory post
next time?
Harun is
in the news,
as much as the
UN tries to
play it down.
Inner City
Press on
April 2 asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman:
Inner
City
Press: footage
has come out
over the
weekend of
Ahmed Haroun,
the Governor
of Southern
Kordofan,
shown in very
clear video
fashion
telling troops
in Southern
Kordofan to
take no
prisoners and
to clean them
out, and a
general stands
next to him
and says,
“let’s eat
them raw”. And
many are
saying that
this is proof
of a war crime
and obviously
into some
[inaudible]
back to the UN actually
flying Ahmed
Haroun to
Abyei and back.
Does the UN,
given its
continuing
interest in
this area,
Southern
Kordofan, and
its role in
the past with
Ahmed Haroun,
have any view
of this tape
and what
should happen
now?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: Well,
listen, as you
know, we don’t
have direct
full access to
Southern
Kordofan in
the fashion
that we would
obviously
like. So, it
is very
difficult for
us to have a
full picture
of what is
happening on
the ground. We
are obviously
extremely
concerned
about the
reports that
are coming out
of there. I
think it is a
bit of a
stretch to be
linking what
may or may not
be happening
now with
previous
engagements of
the kind that
you mentioned
— transporting
this gentleman
by helicopter.
But, I
understand
what you are
saying. I
don’t have
anything
further on
that
particular
point, except
simply to
stress that we
are concerned
about the
reports that
are emerging
from there.
But, we don’t
have the
direct access
that we would
need to be
able to really
understand
fully what is
going on.
So, the
UN sought not
to respond to
what Harun was
filmed saying,
and even to
avoid
commenting on
what is going
on in South
Kordofan by
citing its
lack of
access.
Beyond
the UN's
Tchalian's
meeting with
Harun, the UN has
offered free
helicopter
flights to
Harun after he
was indicted
by the
International
Criminal Court.
On April 4,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Nesirky about
it again. This
time, Nesirky
said "there's
a couple of
points here.
There appears
to be some
controversy
around the
video
itself.... as
a general
principle any
incitement
that could
potentially
lead to war
crimes we
would not
welcome...
There are
already
outstanding
accusation
against Mr.
Harun, that's
within the
bailiwick of
the prosecutor
of the ICC,
it's for them
to deal with
that."
Of Silva and
Ban's Senior
Advisory Group
on
Peacekeeping,
coverage of
which Ban's
minders
are now trying
to hinder,
Ban
told Inner
City Press, it
was a decision
of member
states,
and nothing
since. From
photos with
Bashir to no
comment on
Silva and now
Harun: this is
Ban's UN.
, 
