On DRC Killings of Sharp, Catalan & Fixers,
ICP Asks UN
Lacroix, Who
Says Shares Info
With DRC
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
July 11 – After the UN
belatedly focused into the
murder of UN experts Michael
Sharp and Zaida Catalan,
unprotected by the UN in the
DR Congo, on July 10 Inner
City Press asked UN Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric what it is,
exactly, that the UN is
investigating. UN Transcript here and
below. Then on July 11 Inner
City Press asked the Under
Secretary General for
Peacekeeping Operations
Jean-Pierre Lacroix what is
being done. Periscope video here.
Lacroix answered that he
raised the issue "at the
highest levels" in the DRC, as
of concern to the UN and to
the countries of origin of the
experts. (In fact, Sweden's
Olof Skoog has called for a
more rigorous investigation
that those current underway.)
Lacroix noted the current DRC
cases and said the UN has
shared detailed information
with the authorities there.
We'll have more on this. Back
on July 10, Inner City Press
asked UN Spokesman Dujarrric:
on DRC. There's been a
letter by ten US senators,
pretty much bipartisan about
the killings of Michael Sharp
and Zaida Catalan. And I
wanted to ask you about this
sentence in it. They
said that they've heard of the
UN Board of Inquiry [BOI], but
they understand, quote, it
will not seek to identify
perpetrators or what happened
to Mr. Sharp's and Ms.
Catalan's Congolese
interpreter and drivers.
So, they're asking for a more
serious investigation.
One, I wanted to know, what's
the status of that Board of
Inquiry given the interest and
what happened. And is it
true that the Board of
Inquiry, as these senators are
saying, will not look at all
at what happened into the
UN-contracted interpreter and
driver?
Spokesman: No. The
BOI is under way. We… last I'd
heard, we expect it for the
end of this month. As
we've said, we would effort to
make some of its findings
public. The BOI was
appointed to establish the
facts and, if possible,
identify the perpetrators
around the killings.
We'll submit a report with
recommendations as to the next
step. We're also looking
at further options that may be
available to us.
Obviously, first and foremost,
the responsibility lies on the
Congolese authorities.
We cannot substitute ourselves
for a national criminal
investigation unless, of
course, there is a Security
Council mandate. I think
I would urge you to wait and
see what the findings are, and
then we can take it, next
step. My understanding
also is that the letter was
addressed, from what I saw in
the press reports, to
Ambassador [Nikki] Haley, not
to the Secretary-General.
Inner City Press: What I
wanted to know is, one, I
remember at the time, there
was some dispute about whether
the… in fact, the interpreter
of the two experts had also
been found dead. Is
that… is your understanding
that he has?
Spokesman: My… I don't
have an understanding into
that. I think we have to
wait for the BOI and see what
facts they would have been
able to clear up.
On June 5 US
Ambassador Nikki Haley said
"they and their families
deserve justice. We owe it to
their legacy to end the human
rights abuses being carried
out by armed groups and the
DRC government against the
Congolese people. We hope
other nations will join us"-
she called for a Human Rights
Council and a UN Secretary
General investigation. On June
16, Haley added: "reports of
the Congolese government’s
campaign of murder and rape of
women and children should
shock us into action. These
allegations must be
investigated and those
responsible held accountable.
It is past time for the Human
Rights Council to take
decisive action and launch an
independent investigation into
the human rights violations
and abuses in the DRC. This is
the core mission of the HRC.
If they can’t act in a
situation this horrifying, why
bother having one." On June 6,
Inner City Press asked the
SG's holdover spokesman
Stephane Dujarric, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press: Nikki Haley
has called on the
Secretary-General, António
Guterres, to initiate a
special investigation into the
murders of Michael Sharp and
Zaida Catalan. I saw you
were quoted, something about…
I want to understand your
position, something about
using maximum authority.
Doesn't he have the authority
to investigate the murder of
UN staff members?
Spokesman: Well, I
think, you know, first of all,
we, obviously… you know, the
call from Ambassador Haley and
we've seen calls from the…
from Sweden, as well. We
take the requests very
seriously. I think they
echo our own concern.
The Secretary-General has
consistently said that he and
the Secretariat would do
everything they could to make
sure justice was done in this
case while recognizing first
and foremost that the
responsibility for a criminal
investigation rests with the
Government of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo
(DRC). We cannot
substitute ourselves… the
Secretary-General, the
Secretariat, cannot substitute
himself… ourselves for the
criminal justice system of a
sovereign State. We're
cooperating… actively
cooperating with national
authorities conducting
criminal investigations, but
we're also ready to implement
any Security Council decision
on this matter. As you
know, there is a Board of
Inquiry (BOI) that was
appointed. They are
fully at work. We expect
their conclusions of that work
to be done by the end of
July. They're there to
establish the facts and, if
possible, identify the
perpetrators. And they'll
submit a report with
recommendations to the
Secretary-General. We're
also looking at further
options that may be available
to us. But that review,
the work of the BOI, should
provide a good basis for
putting together a set of
possible next steps for the
Secretary-General Member
States to consider in the
murder of… to find out what
happened… not only find out
what happened to the murder…
to our two murdered
colleagues, but also to ensure
that justice is done and those
who killed them are brought to
justice.
Inner City Press: Since often
these Board of Inquiries are
not… not made public, can you…
is the intention, at a
minimum, to at least make it
public…
Spokesman: We will… as
we've done in certain cases,
we will share with you what we
can and make public what we
can of the Board of Inquiry,
in a way that doesn't
jeopardize any future
investigations that may take
place.
We'll stay on this. Earlier on
June 6, Inner City Press asked
UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft:
Inner City Press: Does
the UK think that the
Secretary-General should do
his own inquiry to the death
of the two experts in the DRC?
Nikki Haley has called for
that, as well as for the Human
Rights Council to do it. Which
do you think should happen, or
either?
Amb Rycroft: Well, we want to
just get to the truth. We want
those who are responsible for
the devastating murder of the
two UN officials to be held to
account. So whichever way will
get to the truth, we support.
Meanwhile, as Inner City Press
has reported, the UN
Department of Safety and
Security's alleged burying of
reports should not itself be
covered up. After Inner City
Press exclusively
reported that UN Department of
Safety and Security's top
officer Peter Drennan -- to
whom the Board of Inquiry
report on Sharp and Catalan
would be filed on July 31 --
ordered that a security report
on UNESCO chief Irina Bokova
be “buried” last year due to
the personal political
implications for Drennan if
Bokova instead of Antonio
Guterres became UN Secretary
General, the UN's response was
to attack the leak. (On May 23
they insisted a Garowe,
Somalia Board of Inquiry
report was shared with
interested parties). Also on
May 23, when Inner City Press
asked about criticism of the
UN in the DRC, the response
was to defend everything. From
the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: I'm sure
you've seen the editorial in
The New York Times saying,
“astoundingly irresponsible
approach by the United Nations
to an obviously dangerous and
unusually important
task”. They also
question what's been
accomplished for the billions
spent in the… in the DRC.
***
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