UN
Won't
Say How Many
Peacekeepers
in S. Kordofan
or Explain
Inaction
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 3 --
While the UN
brags about
the number of
Ethiopian
soldiers but
not human
rights
monitors it
has gotten
into Abyei in
Sudan, it
still refuses
to say how
many inactive
peacekeepers
it
still has in
Southern
Kordofan,
where fighting
rages and
famine is
warned of.
Inner
City Press
has three
times asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
to state how
many
peacekeepers
are left in
Southern
Kordofan, what
they are going
and when the
human rights
report
including on
the UN
inaction is to
be released.
Three
times
Nesirky has
said he is
asking the UN
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations,
whose chief
Alain Le Roy
is leaving on
August 10.
While
Inner City
Press has for
a month been
told and
reported that
Jerome
Bonnafont of
France is
being given
the post, and
another
Western
Permanent
Representative
says it's
between three
French
candidates,
Nesirky has
refused to
comment on any
short list,
interviews,
anything.
Ban, Nesirky,
Nambiar &
Orr, action on
UN inaction
not shown
Here
is from the
UN's
August 3, 2011
noon briefing
transcript:
Inner
City
Press: the
UNISFA [United
Nations
Interim
Security Force
in
Abyei] – the
mission in
Abyei — has it
reached any
kind of Status
of Forces
Agreement with
the Sudanese
Government?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I would need
to check on
the precise
technicalities
there. But I
can tell you
that the
deployment has
been
continuing.
Already
there are more
than 1,000
troops in the
area. As you
know, there
was
an extremely
serious
incident
yesterday, and
I would also
anticipate
that we’d have
more to say on
that in the
coming days.
Inner
City
Press: Is it
known now or
can you, after
various
questions, say
how many
peacekeepers
are still in
Southern
Kordofan?
Spokesperson:
Again, I would
need to check
on that. I
know you’ve
asked
repeatedly,
and as have I,
but I don’t
have the
answer for you
at
this point.
That
has become
Nesirky's, and
Ban Ki-moon's
refrain.
Except that
Nesirky
controls
questions to
Ban so
closely, even
calling on UN
Radio over
independent
journalists,
that Ban
doesn't even
have to not
answer,
for example on
what is being
done, and not
done, in and
on Southern
Kordofan. And
soon he will
be off on a
trip to Japan
and South
Korea.
Will Nesirky
go with him?
* * *
Sudan
Slaughter
of
150
Nubans
Frozen in UN
Edit Room,
Rudderless
Peacekeeping
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July
21
--
While
the UN
holds
a
report
that that one
of its
staff members
in Sudan saw
the piled
corpses of 150
people of
Nuban
descent in
South Kordofan,
it insists
that because
the report is
a
“leaked
draft,” it
cannot or will
not take
action on its
yet.
On
July
21, the day
after Inner
City Press put the full report
online, it
asked UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
about this
paragraph:
28.
An
UNMIS
staff
member
who
was detained
by SAF at
their military
facility in
Umbattah
Locality
reported
during his
detention,
that he
saw over an
estimated 150
dead bodies of
persons of
Nuban descent
scattered on
the grounds of
the military
compound. Some
of the bodies
appeared to
have bullet
wounds and he
reported a
large quantity
of
blood on the
ground. He
reported a SAF
soldier told
them that they
had all been
shot dead.
But
Nesirky
cut
Inner City
Press off in
the middle of
the paragraph,
to insist this
is only a
draft. From
the UN's
July
21
transcript:
Inner
City
Press:
I
am
still
looking at
this report
that was put
out by the
human rights
component of
UNMIS [United
Nations
Mission in
Sudan]. One
of the many
things said in
it is that --
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Let’s
just
roll
back
a bit, and I
am sorry to
interrupt
you, but it is
not a report
that has been
put out by
UNMIS, it is
an
as yet
un-finalized
report that
was leaked. So
let’s get the
context
correct.
Inner
City
Press:
Let’s
say
this:
the leaked
report says
that an UNMIS
staff member
witnessed 150
dead bodies of
Nuban descent
in a military
facility in
Sudan. So, my
question is,
even though
it’s a leaked
report, it
seems to be
such a serious
allegation
that it seems
strange that
the UN would
say, we’re
going to wait
two weeks to
finalize it.
What is being
done, since
that 150 dead
bodies was
witnessed by a
UN staff
member? What
actions have
been taken,
even
while the
actual
document
itself is
being
finalized?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I
am
sure
that
the relevant
people, and
you’ve heard
Ivan
Simonovic
speaking on
this topic,
will have been
seeking to
follow up
on it. And as
you heard Mr.
Simonovic say,
there are
efforts to
gain
access, so
that there can
be the kind of
follow-up that
you are
talking about.
And if Mr.
Simonovic has
any further
follow-up on
that, then
obviously I’d
let you know.
Question:
And
just
one
more
on
peacekeeping.
Today at the
stakeout, Mr.
Le
Roy said that
he’s leaving
on 10 August.
So that seems
to be
coming up
pretty
quickly.
Without, I
guess, getting
into the
names,
is there are
going to be a
new
Under-Secretary-General
for
Peacekeeping
Operations on
10 August, or
when is the
process
thought
to come to a
conclusion? Is
there a
shortlist, et
cetera?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I
would
doubt
that
there would be
a new
Under-Secretary-General
in place to
take over the
day after Mr.
Le
Roy leaves
office.
Obviously
there are,
there is an
established
procedure for
having an
officer-in-charge
until a new
Under-Secretary-General
is appointed.
And when we
get to that
stage,
an
announcement
will be made.
At
the
Security
Council
stakeout on
July 21, Le
Roy told Inner
City Press
that the
report would
not be
finalized by
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations
until two
weeks after
Mr. Simonovic
spoke to the
press
last week.
That would be
the day after
Le Roy's
final press
conference,
and just
before he
leaves with no
successor in
place.
Meanwhile,
as
to
the
future
in
Southern
Kordofan,
Inner City
Press asked
Nesirky:
Inner
City
Press:
there
has
been
this quote by
the Foreign
Minister of
Sudan, Ali
Karti, that
there is an
openness on
the part of
Khartoum
to, quote,
“foreign
troops” in
Southern
Kordofan. Has
the UN
been informed
of that? What
does the UN
think of that
statement?
Spokesperson:
We
are
certainly
aware
of the
statement, and
we’re
following up
with the
Sudanese
authorities to
try to
understand in
greater detail
what that
means.
But
who
in the UN
is following
up with what
Sudanese
authorities?
Watch this
site.
, 
in