By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 16 --
As civilians
in Tripoli are
fired on with
anti-aircraft
guns, killing
more than 40
yesterday, and
more again
today, where
is the UN
Security
Council?
Now,
belatedly, US
Secretary of
State John
Kerry has
issued a
statement of
concern. But
the United
Kingdom, which
claimed and
has the pen on
Libya in the
UN Security
Council, has
apparently
done nothing.
This stands in
contrast to
the
near-immediate
reaction of
the Security
Council to the
murder
of two French
journalists in
Mali. Over a
weekend, a
press
statement was
circulated,
approved and
issued.
A
larger number,
four years
ago: 40,000
civilians were
killed in Sri
Lanka in 2009
and the
Security
Council said
and did
nothing. Now UK
prime minister
Cameron says
he'll do
something.
Will he?
The pattern
seems to be --
nothing, if a
situation is
not on the
agenda of the
Security
Council, as Sri
Lanka wasn't.
But Libya IS
on the agenda.
Still --
action only if
the
perpetrator is
a party which
someone powerful
on the Council
is looking to
denouncing.
Shelling by
M23 in the
Congo
triggered a
meeting and
statement.
Killed of two
French
journalists in
northern Mali?
Even faster
action.
Slaughter
civilians
ofoby militias
in Tripoli?
Nothing, so
far.
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, in
Latvia and
Estonia, has
STILL had
nothing to
say. Why is
this?
Those
who supported
the NATO
campaign on
Libya and
declared its
aftermath a
victory now
don't want to
acknowledge,
much less try
to address,
what has
happened
since.
Friday
at the UN,
disgust was
expressed to
Inner City
Press about
the silence
and why no UN
Security
Council meet
had been
scheduled or
statement
issued, as for
example on
Mali. Also why
it was left to
civilians to
try to take on
the militias.
Others judged
a Libyan
leadership,
diaspora-heavy
and long of
tooth, as
being out of
touch.
The
bombing of
Libya set
"Responsibility
to Protect"
substantially
back. Now with
civilians
being killed
in the
aftermath,
where are the
proponents of
R2P? Even if
the UN now
belated
speaks, the
delay and its
reasons are
telling.
Where
even is the
UN's envoy
Tarek Mitri?
Back in June
2013, Libyan
activists told
Inner City
Press about a
May 20, 2013
meeting with
Mitri at which
he called the
Convention for
the
Elimination of
Discrimination
Against Women
(CEDAW)
"nothing."
They
said the new
agency UN
Women promised
to give them
information
how to reach
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
didn't, and
did not attend
a May 30
follow up
meeting. Now
the 35% quota
for women is
about to be
eliminated.
And where is
the UN?
On
June 19 at UN
Headquarters
in New York,
Inner City
Press put
these
questions to
Mitri, and
then to Ban's
deputy
spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey.
Mitri
said it was up
to the women
to do more,
including a
"sit in" he
said he
encouraged
them to hold.
He admitted
saying
"wala’ishi" or
"nothing" as
to CEDAW,
explaining
that he meant
that a
Parliament
could not be
sued. Video here and embedded below.
"I
have spoken to
the media on
three
occasions on
this, the UN
did everything
it said it
would," Mitri
insisted.
"They are
nascent,
sometimes they
are able to
act more
decisively. It
is easier for
the UN to
support
Libyans rather
than act on
behalf of
them."
And
now? Watch
this site.
, 
