Amid
Sudan
Threats, UN Ban Silent on Darfur with Sarkozy & US Steinberg
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 31 -- The UN under Ban Ki-moon seems to many to have
turned
away from Darfur. As peacekeepers under Ban's envoy Ibrahim
Gambari stand idly by as the Sudanese government drags IDPs out of
camps ostensibly protected by the UN, the UN has little to say.
In
Addis Ababa
over the weekend, Ban held a number of meetings with Presidents of
African countries and France, and US Deputy Secretary of State James
Steinberg, with nary a mention of Darfur in the UN's read-outs.
On
January 28,
Inner City Press asked
Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky questions about
Darfur, the belated response to which was a canned statement with
no
specifics about IDP camp raids and the UN's inaction. Inner City
Press asked:
Inner
City
Press: on Sudan, in Darfur there is an NGO [non-governmental
organization], CRS [Catholic Relief Service], says that it was
escorted by UNAMID [United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur]
from El Geneina to Khartoum based on complaints made by the
Government against the NGO and I wonder what… can you… what can
you say about that? When would UNAMID escort an NGO out of Darfur? And
also what does UNAMID say to these reports that the Sudanese army
said that they would burn down IDP [internally displaced persons]
camps if UNAMID “interferes in their activities”?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well, as I think we already told you a little earlier, we
would expect to have something further to say on the second part of
your question a little bit later. And on the first part on Catholic
Relief Service, I will check.
Earlier
on January
28, Nesirky's office had said that an answer about the IDP camp
threats would be forthcoming. But not only was there no answer at the
day's UN briefing -- even afterwards, the statement the UN issued did
not directly address the threats. The CRS question has yet to be
answered, three days later.
On
January 30,
among with a questions about the UN in Egypt, Inner City Press asked
Nesirky and his Deputy Farhan Haq:
“What
did UNAMID do when the Sudanese authorities searched ZamZam IDP camp
and took IDPs away? Please respond asap to quoted by IDP leader Omda
Ahmed Atem, coordinator of camps in North Darfur, accusing UNAMID “of
standing by idly” and that the government’s strategy of “peace
from within” as a cover for operations designed to dismantle the
camps and perpetuate the genocide.”
Ban's
spokesmen
did not answer or even acknowledge the question, while their office
sent out a slew of anodyne read-outs of meetings, at which Ban did
not raise Darfur. To US Deputy Secretary of State Steinberg Ban
raised, according to the UN read-out:
“On
Sudan, the Secretary-General expressed his strong hope that the
positive trend generated by the peaceful conduct of the referendum
would lead to renewed focus on resolving post referendum issues and
helping Southern Sudan establish strong democratic institutions.”
But
even on this,
and the related issues of Abyei, the UN is unresponsive. On January
29, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Nesirky and Haq:
“What
is the UN's / UNMIS's response to and action on that 'Kuol Deng Kuol,
a Dinka Ngok paramount chief from Abyei, an oil-producing region
straddling northern and southern Sudan, accused Friday the Misseryia
tribe of violating Kadugli agreement'?”
Two
days later,
Ban's spokesperson's office has not answered or even acknowledged the
question. The answer
provided on January 28 to another Southern Sudan
question was as follows:
Inner
City
Press: There is also, there is a Colonel Gai who has been at
odds with the SPLM [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement], has some
days ago asked for UNMIS [United Nations Mission in Sudan] to get
involved in either mediating or somehow trying to bring about a
peaceful resolution. What does UNMIS think of that and are they
going to actually get involved in that?
Spokesperson:
Let me check. I know that’s one of the points that you have
already asked and we have sought some information on that. [He later
said that UNMIS has been working with the parties and will continue
to do so to ensure that all differences are resolved in a peaceful
manner.]
But
if UNMIS was
already “working with all the parties” why would Colonel Gai go
public with a request for UN involvement in mediation? And, most
troublingly, UNMIS' “involvement with all the parties” includes
having provided air transportation and support to Ahmed Haroun,
indicted for war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal
Court.
UN's Ban pushed by Sarkozy - but not on
Darfur or Haroun, Ouattara not shown
While
some claim
that France is seeking a UN explanation of this, the UN's read out of
Ban's meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy does not mention the
issue. Watch this site.
Footnote:
while
in Gabon the opposition figure Mba Obame sought the support of
Ban's UN and Ban's spokesmen have been asked day after day by Inner
City Press for an update on the UN's response, Ban in Addis Ababa met
with Gabon leader Ali Bongo, with nary a mention of democracy issues.
That seemingly is the update.
* * *
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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