Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

Amid Mysterious Invalid Ballots, France and UK Squeak By Spain on Human Rights Council

UNITED NATIONS, May 21 -- The UK beat out Spain by a single vote for a seat on the Human Rights Council, with two nations' votes being declared invalid. Not only will the UN not disclose which two countries had their ballots invalidated -- despite repeated requests, the UN will not even state on what basis the two possibly dispositive votes were deemed invalid. Instead, the UN's response is that "voting was done through secret ballot, therefore, there is no voting sheet on how individual countries have voted nor is there specific information on why ballots may have been invalid." The grounds for disregarding a cast vote can and should be made public, even if the identity of the disqualified voter remains secret.

            Following the vote, UK Permanent Representative John Sawers extended his hand with a smile to Spain's Ambassador, who bristled, shook and walked away. A single vote...

            Sri Lanka, meanwhile, was one of the two spurned Asian candidates, along with Timor Leste. While repeated questioning of Ambassadors in the run-up to the vote did not result in any evidence of U.S. efforts against Sri Lanka, despite U.S.-based Human Rights Watch asking for precisely this, Pakistan's more extensive diplomatic outreach appeared to pay-off. Pakistan garnered 114 votes, to Sri Lanka's 101.

Artemis peacekeepers in DRC: whitewashed or still under investigation?

            France, which bested Spain by a grand total of four votes, 123-119, sent its Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert to the stakeout microphone, accompanied by human rights minister Francois Zimeray. (Yama Rade left New York on Tuesday night, after informally briefing in the UN's Delegates' Lounge some Mission-selected journalists, one of whom complained that it was too loud to use any quotes.  In fairness, the select journalists this time weren't all French, as was the case during President Sarkozy's last visit to the UN. Since then even procurement questions have arisen about France's Mission Economique to the UN, click here for that). Zimeray said France favors not a clash but an alliance of civilizations.

  Meanwhile, a response has been received to the questions that Inner City Press would have asked Rame Yade had her Tuesday morning stakeout included any Q&A. Presumably she and her colleagues have viewed the expose broadcast on Swedish television (SVT) on April 2, that French "soldiers mistreated a Congolese captive in the French-Swedish military camp Chem-Chem' in the DRC. The man was allegedly paraded around the camp with a rope around his throat while being interrogated and was subjected, among other things, to a simulated drowning. According to Swedish witnesses, 'his cries could be heard throughout the whole camp.' A French officer also apparently pretended to shoot the prisoner by putting his gun to his head but without firing a bullet. The prisoner was then loaded into a jeep at around midnight and driven to some unknown destination.  In this light, Inner City Press had prepared to ask Yama Rade, but not being allowed, asked the French Mission

--is France actively investigating the charges (of torture), including in light of developments in and statements by Sweden? If not, why not? If so, why did it take so long, and will results be made public?

--If France is denying the allegations of torture or mis-treatment, is it
saying that the Swedes are lying?

--And, is Ms. Yade and office involved in this review / issue?

            The French Mission to the UN's spokesperson has responded, "yes, an enquiry has of course been launched. It's called the rule of law you know. The spokesperson of the French foreign ministry as well as the spokesperson of the Defense ministry have communicated extensively about it. The statements can easily be found on the website of the Foreign ministry www.diplomatie.gouv.fr."

            But Laurent Teisseire, spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense, has already been quoted that there is "no evidence to corroborate the allegations made by the Swedish soldiers." Even more recently, European Report of April 30, 2008, reports that the " French army's internal affairs division" already finished investigating -- or whitewashing, some say -- the charges, offering this explanation of incidents at the Franco-Swedish Artemis camp in Bunia, on 13 July 2003 -- "The young man, who had entered the camp by climbing over the first barrier of barbed wire, was held at the camp. During this time, he was promptly hooded while moving around the camp so as not to allow him to make an accurate reconnaissance allowing him to inform militias operating in the region. His hands were tied but he was not ill-treated at any time. After being interrogated, the young man, who apparently had no sinister intentions toward the European force, was released a few kilometers from the camp."

       Hooded and dumped -- threatened with drowning? One day there will be answers.

* * *

These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com

Search innercitypress.com  Search WWW (censored?)

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

            Copyright 2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com -