For
NZ's Month
Atop UNSC, ICP
Asks of
Burundi &
NextSG, W
Sahara, Juba
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 1 --
When the UN
Security
Council's
President for
September Gerard
Jacobus van
Bohemen of
New Zealand
presented his
plans
for the month
on September
1, Inner City
Press asked
him about the
deployment of
UN Police to
Burundi and
why he was ceding
"Next
Secretary
General"
powers to
Russia. Beyond
The Vine video
here.
Ambassador van
Bohemen said
Burundi may
come up this
month -- Inner
City Press has
reported and
gotten confirmed
"notes
verbale" from
the Nkurunziza
government --
and said he
didn't think
there is any
real conflict
of interest,
with Helen
Clark in the
running, but
that it was
easier to cede
the power and
taken any
issue off the
table.
He said there
will be fourth
and fifth
straw poll
exercises on September
9 and 26, and
then finally
one with
colored ballot
indicating the
view for the
veto-wielding
Permanent Five
members in the
first week of
August.
Inner
City Press
asked if
"Peacekeeping
Operations" in
the footnotes
of the Program
of Work
means Western
Sahara and
MINURSO, now
in a standoff
with both
sides armed;
he said "among
other things."
Finally,
Inner City
Press asked if
the Security
Council will
take up Ban
Ki-moon's
assigned
"independent"
report on UN
inaction in
Juba and the
Terrain apartments
during rapes
and the
killing of a
journalist,
John Gatluak.
He said he
expects it
will come up,
but wasn't
sure when. Ban
said a month.
There will be
high level
meetings on
September 21
and 22
(aviation
security
featuring, it
seems, Boris
Johnson) and
maybe a
meeting on a
nuclear test
ban, if a
resolution can
be agreed.
Watch this
site.
On
August 1, Ambassador
Dato’ Ramlan
Ibrahim of
Malaysia
presented his
plans for the
month on
August 1,
Inner City
Press asked
him about the
Council's
role, if any,
in trying to
get consent
from the
Nkurunziza
government in
Burundi for
the up-to 228
UN Police
voted for on
July 29, and
about the
unresolved
“full
functionality”
of the UN
Mission for
the Referendum
in Western
Sahara. Periscope
video here.
Tweeted
Photo here.
Dato’ Ramlan
Ibrahim
replied that
now that the
Burundi
resolution has
been passed,
gain consent
is to the the
UN Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations.
That is run by
Frenchman
Herve Ladsous,
who has
previously
shown
solicitude for
dubious
Burundian
“peacekeepers”
in the Central
African
Republic.
On Western
Sahara,
Dato’ Ramlan
Ibrahim said
the issue had
come up in the
Council's
consultations
or breakfast
meeting about
the Program of
Work, and that
some members
stressed the
need to
monitor. We'll
have more on
this.
The Council's
mulled visit
to South
Sudan, which
Inner City
Press reported
earlier in the
day, might or
might not
happen;
Dato’ Ramlan
Ibrahim said
there is no
back-up venue
for a trip.
Why not go to
Burundi to
“engage”
Pierre
Nkurunziza
about these
228 Police?
On Yemen,
Dato’ Ramlan
Ibrahim said a
Council
statement is
under
consideration.
One can only
hope it is not
is one-sided
as Resolution
2216, which
embolded
exiled Hadi to
be
intransigent,
and the
Saudi-led
coalition to
bomb. That
will come up
on August 2 in
the Children
and Armed
Conflict
debate - but
Ban Ki-moon
has already,
many say, sold
out.
Dato’ Ramlan
Ibrahim also
said, “on
DPRK's
ballistic
missile
launch, there
has not been
any
discussions on
that.” While
he added, “I
would not
preclude
discussions
taking place,”
it seems
noteworthy
that Japan or
the US, given
what they've
said, didn't
bring it up in
consultations
on the month's
program of
work, to at
least get it
into the
footnotes of
the program.
Inner City
Press on
behalf of the
Free UN
Coalition for
Access
asked
Dato’ Ramlan
Ibrahim to
hold question
and answer
stakeouts
after Security
Council
closed-door
consultation,
for example
the August 5
Next SG “straw
poll” session.
We'll see.
Back
on July 1when
Japan's new
Ambassador to
the UN Koro
Bessho held a
press
conference
about the July
program of
work, Inner
City Press
asked him
about the
Council's
working
methods. Video here, Tweeted
photo here.
Specifically,
should
non-Council
members such
as the chairs
of
Peacebuilding
configurations
be allowed
into
consultations?
Can the press
and public
have more
access?
Bessho said
the purpose of
the debate on
working
methods on
July 19 will
be to hear the
views of
non-Council
members. No
outcome
document is
planned.
Inner City
Press also
asked Bessho
about Western
Sahara, on the
schedule for
July 26, and
about Burundi,
not on the
schedule at
all. Bessho
called Western
Sahara, from
which Morocco
expelled more
than 80 UN
staff,
sensitive and
said he did
not want to
prejudge what
will happen.
On
Burundi, he
said he'd like
to see
progress, for
example on the
proposal of a
UN deployment
there, but
acknowledged
it is not on
the schedule.
Neither, we
note, is
Yemen.
Eritrea is
on the
schedule, on
July 20, but
only as a
matter of
sanctions.
Apparently the
letters of
June 14 and
June 23 sent
to French
Ambassador
Delattre when
he was
president were
not acted on.
On the
selection
process for
the Next SG,
Bessho said
there will be
a first “straw
poll” on July
21; he said
the results
will be
confidential.
We'll see. For
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
Inner City
Press asked
for stakeouts
after
consultations,
and more
access and
transparency.
We'll be
reviewing this
closely. Watch
this site.
, 
