By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 16 --
Nearly seven
months after
the Review
Panel on Peace
Operations
began its
work, and
after breaking
scandals about
the cover
up of sexual
abuse in
Central
African
Republic,
Haiti
and
elsewhere, the
Panel on June
16 handed its
report to
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, whose
Office released
a three-page
"Information Note"
about it.
Inner City
Press and the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
tweeted
photos of it,
here.
The Note,
under the
heading
"Addressing
Abuse and
Enhancing
Accountability,"
says that
"immunity must
not mean
impunity.
Immunity was
never intended
and does not
apply to
provide
immunity [sic]
from
prosecution to
UN personnel
alleged to
have committed
sexual
exploitation
and abuse. The
immunity
privileges are
functional
only, i.e.,
related to the
exercise of
his/her professional
duty as a UN
employee, not
for private
acts."
Is this
directed at
the courts
which receive
arguments for
UN impunity,
as for killing
8000 people
and counting
in Haiti by
bringing cholera?
Update:
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq if
Ban agrees
that "immunity
must not mean
impunity." Haq
said Ban is
"still
studying" it.
Haq
also said that
the report
will NOT be released
even before
the press
conference
delayed until
3 pm. Only at
the UN do they
say they are
holding a
"press
conference" on
a report they
are NOT releasing.
We'll have
more on this.
The Information
Note goes on,
"Bar troops
from countries
listed in the
Secretary General's
annual reports
on children
and armed
conflict and
on conflict
related sexual
violence,
until
de-listed."
But the
Secretary
General choose
to disregard
his own
Special Adviser's
advice and not
list Israel or
Hamas, and did
not list the
French
"peacekeepers"
alleged to
have engaged
in child sexual
abuse in the
Central
African
Republic.
There was a
press conference
on the report
long scheduled
for 1:30 pm on
June 16; at the
last minute
the time was
changed. The
meeting at
which the
report was unveiled
was closed.
This UN cannot
reform itself.
On June 12,
Inner City
Press asked UN
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
the mounting
scandals
around Herve
Ladsous' UN
Peacekeeping,
and Dujarric
said that the
Panel would
respond. From
the transcript:
Inner
City Press:
what would you
say in light
of all of this
recent sexual
abuse and past
sexual abuse,
to those that
would say in
this
peacekeeping
mission in
particular and
UN
peacekeeping
more generally
is really
surrounded by
any number of
scandals right
now?
What does Ban
Ki-moon intend
to do about
it?
Spokesman:
I think we
have the peace
operations
review panel
which will
come out next
week.
And they'll
come in and
brief you,
which is going
to be a
holistic look
at our peace
operations or
the special
political
missions,
peacekeeping
missions...
While
respecting
chair Ramos
Horta and some
members of the
Panel, Inner
City Press has
heard from
within it that
it is a turf
fight between
Ladsous' DPKO
and Feltman's
DPA, not an
endeavor for
the needed
clean up of UN
Peacekeeping
in light of
the shooting
of unarmed
proteests, the
cover up of
sexual abuse
in the Central
African
Republic (with
Ladsous
abusing his
power), and
the OIOS
report which
Inner City
Press put
online here.
The press
conference in
June 16. Watch
this site.
Back on
November 20,
2014, the
review of UN
Peace
Operations
chaired by
Jose Ramos
Horta of Timor
Leste kicked
off with a
press
conference
then an
interactive
dialogue with
the Security
Council.
In the
press
conference,
Ramos Horta
was asked of
scandals
facing UN
Peacekeeping,
from cover-ups
in Darfur of
attacks and now 200
rapes in
Thabit, to
a lack of
accountability
for cholera in
Haiti to the use of private
military
contractors
and even “eavesdropping.”
Inner
City Press
asked Ramos
Horta about
UNAMID's
pro-government
press release
of November 9
denying the Thabit
rapes, and
about Haiti
cholera,
which Ramos
Horta vowed to
raise to his
fellow panel
members.
Some
of these
members spoke
with the
Security
Council later
on November
20, and a
smaller subset
with Inner
City Press
after the
meeting. From
that and what
some Council
members said,
it appears
that the
Security
Council's
vision of the
panel's
mandate is far
narrower and
more
bureaucratic,
on such issues
of how
mandates
should be
drafted.
That's
all well and
good for the
pen-holding
countries in
the Security
Council, some
of which
contribute few
to no
peacekeepers
to UN
missions. But
what about the
people
ostensibly
served by
those mission?
Those in
Haiti,
impacted by
cholera? Those
in Darfur,
under-protected,
now
criticizing
UNAMID and the
ultimately the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations run
by Herve
Ladsous?
One
outgoing
Security
Council
member,
Rwanda, said
it had raised
the cases in
which UN
Peacekeeping
does not live
up to its
mandate, like
letting
civilians be
attacked and
killed mere
miles from its
bases. Others
pointed out
that while
many Troop
Contributing
Countries
question the
mandates now
being given,
those drafting
the mandates
come from
countries
without their
own soldiers
in the field.
Permanent
Five
countries are
well
represented on
the panel,
including
former
Ambassadors
who served in
the Security
Council,
former
diplomats who
then served
the UN like B.
Lynn Pascoe,
long time
UN-ers like
Ian Martin
(who, for the
record, is
interested in
Sri Lanka but
not working on
it at the
moment).
Norway's Hilde
Johnson, after
what some view
as a
controversial
time at the
helm of the
mission in
South Sudan,
was present on
November 20
but did not
speak
afterward.
Others did,
like Wang
Xuexian of
China, Ameerah
Haq of
Bangladesh,
still the head
of the
Department of
Field Support
and Alexander
Ilitchev of
Russia.
Radhika
Coomaraswamy,
named an “ex
officio”
member by
Ramos Horta,
did not appear
to be present
for this
dialogue with
the Security
Council, at
least not in
the hallway
afterward.
Ramos
Horta has
vowed to
listen to all
constituencies,
including
those impacted
by UN
Peacekeeping.
This could
result in
needed
reforms, or at
least a report
publicly
calling for
them. Watch
this site.
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