UN
Praises
Exit of Darfur IDPs, Silent on Censorship, Refuses Sudan Questions
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 21 -- The UN's cover
up of abuses in Darfur hit a
new low on Friday when Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman
Martin Nesirky openly refused to take a question about Darfur,
telling Inner City Press “I will take questions from you when you
behave in an appropriate manner.”
Apparently,
asking
about the UN's double standards is no longer “appropriate”
under Ban Ki-moon and his spokesman Nesirky.
In
Sudan, through
Ban's humanitarian coordinator Georg Charpentier the UN absolves the
government of responsibility for murders by nomadic tribes, despite
International Criminal Court indictments of President Omar al-Bashir
and Ahmed Haroun for organizing such tribes to drive people from
their land. Some point out that in Cote d'Ivoire, the UN blames
“tribal” deaths on the “defiant leader” Laurent Gbagbo.
On
January 21
Nesirky read out a statement by Charpentier praising the
“resettlement of IDPs from Kalma Camp.” The Sudanese government
has been trying to move people out of Kalma Camp and shut it down for
months, even imposing a blockade that the UN at first did not
publicize or even mention.
Having
questioned
top UN Peacekeeper Alain Le Roy on January 20 about the mission he
oversees, UNAMID, and been told that there are now 43,000 new IDPs
from fighting in Darfur, Inner City Press on January 21 asked Nesirky
to compare these 43,000 to the undisclosed number of people moving
out from Kalma Camp, voluntarily or not.
Nesirky
declined
to provide any of the numbers underlying the Charpentier statement he
had read out, merely saying that it was “worth drawing attention
to.” Video here, from Minute 16:45.
Earlier
in
the January 21 briefing, Inner City Press had asked why the UN has said
nothing about Sudan's Omar al Bashir's government blocking the
printing of an SPLM newspaper directed at Southern Sudan, Ajras
al-Huriya, after they published articles about the secession
referendum. Inner City Press also asked about the UN following its
own rules. Video here,
from Minute 16.
In
response,
after first indicating he would take Inner City Press' question about
Ban Ki-moon's Charpentier's claims that the thousands of violent
deaths in Darfur in the last 12 months are not the fault of the
government of Omar al-Bashir, Nesirky abruptly ended the briefing,
telling Inner City Press “I will take questions from you when you
behave in an appropriate manner.”
What
could be
inappropriate -- to ask about the UN's failure to abide by a UN rule?
To ask about the UN's ludicrous praise of and providing of
transportation to indicted war criminal Ahmed Haroun?
UN's Le Roy (says 43,000 new IDPs), Nesirky
reads PR re Kalma IDPs, refuses questions
On
January 18,
Inner City Press asked:
Inner
City
Press: what does the UN say about that, and also the lawyer for
these Darfur activists, including the editor of Al-Safaha newspaper,
said that they were tortured? They’ve just recently been released.
Their lawyer said that they were tortured, and I just wonder what
is… Given the Darfur connection, what does Mr. Gambari or the UN
system, along with praising the referendum in the South, what do they
say about these two things?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
On the first, we’re aware of the reports, and I think
we’ll be able to say something a little later. On the second, I’ll
need to check with my colleagues. I don’t have any details on
that.
The
next day, just
before the noon briefing, Nesirky's office sent this: “On your
Darfur rights question from yesterday: "UNAMID is aware of the
story which appeared in the press. The item is being monitored by the
Mission's Human Rights Section." In the two days since,
nothing. Monitoring?
On
January 20,
Inner City Press asked
Inner
City
Press: in Darfur, I wanted to know whether, now, several days
after it happened, UNAMID has any confirmation or I guess denial of
shootings of students in El Fasher right near the UN’s base,
reported by Radio Dabanga and others. Has it been able to confirm
that? Or did it not take place?
Spokesperson:
What I can tell you is that, as the mission understands it, three
students were hurt in this shooting incident at a high school in El
Fasher, as you mentioned, on 18 January. The mission tells us that
those three students have been evacuated by the local authorities to
Khartoum for medical treatment and one of them is listed in critical
condition.
Question:
Who were they shot by, and why?
Spokesperson:
That I can’t tell you, I don’t know, I would need to find out. But this
is information that I have from the mission.
The
Charpentier
question that Nesirky refused to take on Friday concerned precisely
this UN blurriness about who is responsible for allowing the deaths
of civilians. Again, in Cote d'Ivoire, the UN blames “tribal”
deaths on the “defiant leader” Laurent Gbagbo. In Sudan, through
Charpentier it absolves the government of responsibility for murders
by nomadic tribes, despite ICC indictments of the President and Ahmed
Haroun for organizing such tribes to drive people from their land.
Inner
City Press
wanted and wants an explanation of this blatant double standard. But
Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky simple refused to take the
question. What should happen next? Watch this site.
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