Bashir
to Nigeria,
UN's Ladsous
Met Him, Takes
Ban to
Bastille with
Chad
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
12 -- Nigeria
is set to host
Sudanese
president Omar
al
Bashir for a
conference on
HIV / AIDS,
and groups
including the
Coalition for
the
International
Criminal Court
are saying
Bashir
should be
arrested on
the ICC
warrant for
war crimes and
genocide.
Earlier
this
month the head
of UN
Peacekeeping
Herve Ladsous
met
with Bashir
in Khartoum.
At the UN in
New York on July
5, Inner
City Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
associate
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about the
meeting
Inner
City Press:
with Bashir,
who is
indicted by
the ICC
[International
Criminal
Court] for war
crimes and
genocide. Can
you say why
this was
considered a
necessary
meeting and
whether any of
his other
interlocutors
were also
indicted by
the ICC, such
as the Defense
Minister,
Ahmed Haroun,
or Ali Kushayb
or any of the
other ICC
indictees, did
he meet them
as well?
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: Regarding
the meeting
with President
Omer
al-Bashir, in
the matter of
UN
representatives
meeting
persons
indicted by
international
criminal
jurisdictions,
the overriding
test
is whether
contact with
such a person
is strictly
necessary for
carrying out
UN-mandated
activities. As
the head of
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations
(DPKO), Mr.
Ladsous has
the
responsibility
of ensuring
that UNAMID is
able to carry
out its
mandate, and
it is
for this
reason that
the meeting
with President
Bashir was
necessary.
This
“strictly
necessary”
policy was
repeated later
in the week by
Ban's
outgoing
lawyer
Patricia
O'Brien in a
meeting
exclusively
reported
by Inner City
Press, in
which
O'Brien
claimed that
Ban is so
concerned
about this
that he calls
her to ask
advice.
What happened
on Ladsous'
meeting with
Bashir?
It
is not clear
if the CICC --
we've
asked --
commented
about UN
official
Ladsous
meeting with
Bashir, or if
Human Rights
Watch did.
HRW's Ken
Roth refused
to disclose
even the
topics of his
meeting
with Ban at
the UN; his
spokesman said
secrecy is
kept in order
to
maintain
access.
Ban
left the UN on
Friday
afternoon to
rush to France
to attend,
with
Ladsous, the
Bastille Day
military
parade,
featuring
soldiers of
former French
colonies
Burkina Faso,
Cote d'Ivoire
and Chad,
which
itself has
four times
hosted Bashir
since his
indictment.
Chad
is on
the UN's list
of child
soldier
recruiters,
but Ladsous
has agreed to
pay them as
part of the UN
mission in
Mali, MINUSMA.
A question
Inner
City Press
asked the UN
this week
about that has
gone
unanswered.
What
had Ladsous
done to the
UN? And more
generally,
what messages
is the
UN sending?
Watch this
site.
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