UNITED
NATIONS, July
17 -- In an
International
Justice Day
event held at
the
UN on
Wednesday,
there was much
talk of
Sudan's
president Omar
al
Bashir,
indicted for
genocide by
the
International
Criminal
Court,
visiting but
quickly
leaving
Nigeria.
Despite
the
event being
held inside
the UN, during
the two panel
discussions
there was no
mention of
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous having
met with
Bashir earlier
this month.
Why did
Ladsous meet
him? What
was
accomplished?
Would Ladsous
do
it again?
There
was no
question and
answer period
for the first
panel, which
included
the Permanent
Representatives
of
Liechtenstein
and Costa
Rica, as
well as UN
anti-genocide
official Mr.
Adama Dieng,
US Ambassador
Stephen J.
Rapp, former
US official
Richard S.
Williamson
(now
Co-Chair of
R2P working
group) and
Karen Mosoti,
Head of the
Liaison
Office of the
ICC to the UN.
The
panel went so
long that no
questions were
allowed. One
wonders each
of their
positions on
the UN's
Ladsous
meeting with
Bashir.
But
after the next
and last
panel, Inner
City Press
asked the
first
question,
including: was
Ladsous'
meeting with
Bashir
“strictly
necessary?”
From
the podium,
John Washburn
said that
since there
was “no one
from UN
on this
panel,” he
would answer
as a former UN
official. He
said
there should
be a review of
the issue of
non-essential
contacts.
He
said the UN
should be
clearer about
rules for
conduct of non
essential
contacts,
should define
the
circumstances
in which a
contact can be
deemed to be
essential, and
should “be
transparent.”
An
additional
problem with
Ladsous, as
we've shown,
is that he
refuses
to answer
questions. Click here for video compilation.
And some
non-governmental
organizations
such as Human
Rights Watch
so prize
their access
to the UN that
they will not
criticize it,
only member
states.
Tom
Andrews, a
former Maine
Congressman
now heading
United to End
Genocide spoke
passionately
that countries
which invite
Bashir should
be penalized.
But he did not
answer the
question of
the UN's
Ladsous
meeting with
Bashir.
Then
a
“half-French”
speaker from
Human Rights
Watch
questioned
that
government's
invitation to
“ministers
from Africa
who meet...
with
dictators,”
musing that
these invited
African states
should be
subject to
economic
sanctions. But
nothing on
Ladsous, the
fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head UN
Peacekeeping.
After
the panel, and
discussion
with a variety
of groups from
Sudan, Inner
City Press was
approached by
NGO
representatives
who would not
speak
publicly about
Ladsous. They
said they had
asked the UN
not to let
Ladsous meet
with Bashir,
“but it
happened
anyway, with
these
consequences,”
as one of them
put it.
Maybe
if the groups
spoke more
publicly, and
if Ladsous
were at least
required to
take if not
answer
questions,
things might
improve.
Inner
City Press
also asked
about Sri
Lanka, and the
lack of
accountability.
Scott Edwards,
the director
of Amnesty
International's
Crisis
Prevention and
Response Unit
replied, “when
I think of
atrocity,
nothing sticks
out more than
the obvious
war
crimes in Sri
Lanka, lack of
will for
investigation,”
including by
the
international
community.
Does
that include
the UN? We'll
continue
to cover that.
Watch this
site.
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