At
UN,
R2P Re-Argued Amid Ban Ki-moon Silence on Sri Lanka and Sudan
Starvation of
IDPs, Kyrgyz Sidestep
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 9 -- On a day that UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon
spoke about the Kalma Camp in Darfur, but not the Sudanese
government's starvation of its residents, Ban's advisers on
genocide
and Responsibility to Protect (R2P) fielded questions from largely
skeptical member states.
In
the final hour
of debate, Nicaragua and Venezuela trashed the concept of R2P. China
and, to the surprise of some, Georgia stressed that R2P should be
narrowly read.
South
Korea,
typically, used its time to “commend the Secretary General,” its
former minister of foreign affairs and trade. Ghana supported R2P,
reminding other members that the concept of sovereignty might had
defended apartheid.
Non
governmental
organizations were given six minutes at the end. On the sidelines, an
NGO expert told Inner City Press that while the session was to have
focused on “Pillar One,” early assessment and warning, it had
degenerated to a referendum on R2P itself, with even supporters going
off topic.
The
last President
of the General Assembly, Nicaragua's D'Escoto Brockman, was a major
R2P skeptic who appointed India's then outgoing Permanent
Representative to undermine the concept. Now there's talk of a joint
office, of confidence building with member states.
But
where were
Ban's advisers Francis Deng and Edward Luck when tens of thousand
civilians were slaughtered in Sri Lanka? Cautious comments were made,
the media was avoided. In the end, little to nothing was done. Now
while there's a panel, it will only offered advice on “modalities.”
Neither Ban nor his advisers have opposed Sri Lanka's decision to
deny visas to the panel.
Sri
Lanka's seat
in this General Assembly session was empty. Not only is there not
yet a Responsibility to Protect -- there is not even a Responsibility
to Participate.
UN's Ban portrayed by Sri Lanka, objections not shown
When
ethnic Uzbeks
in southern Kyrgyzstan were targeted, where was the UN? Despite
government involvement, that very government, headed by a former UN
staff member, is the UN's main interlocutor.
The
panel was all
male; Inner City Press is told that the (female) Permanent
Representative of Kazakhstan was added as the chair as belated gender
balance. She ended the session urging the delegates, some of them
summer interns, to “enjoy the evening.” It was nice weather...
* * *
At
UN,
Sri
Lanka Panel's 4 Months Has Not Begun, Ban Gives In to Protest?
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August
3 -- After Sri Lanka's May 2009 “bloodbath on the
beach” which killed thousands of civilians, it took UN Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon more than a year to name a three person Panel of
Experts to merely offer advice on accountability.
On
August 2, two
months after the assault on the Gaza flotilla which killed eight
civilians on the ship, Ban launches a four person Panel of Inquiry,
stating that its work formally started August 10, with a first report
in mid September, before the UN's annual General Debate.
Inner
City
Press
on August 2 asked
Ban's
spokesman Martin Nesirky about the contrast
between the two panels, the speed with which Ban formed them, and
the
strangely narrow scope of his Sri Lanka panel:
Inner
City
Press:
I didn’t know we were going to get into comparative
panels. But following up on the Bhutto discussion, some have
wondered about comparing panels, comparing this to the Sir Lanka
panel, which is three people instead of four.
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Why
did I think you were going to go there?
Inner
City
Press:
Yeah, yeah. The question is, I guess, it hasn’t
started yet, due to staffing, I’m told. And so I wonder how can
you explain the difference of the speed — I mean, the speed should
be, in all cases, I would assume — what would you say that to those
who say it took a year to name one in Sri Lanka and it still hasn’t
begun due to some staffing issues, whereas this one you’ve said
when it’ll start, when it’ll report…
Spokesperson:
You’re
saying there are staffing issues; I have not. And, that’s
the first… [talkover]. The first thing is, as you know, they [the
Sri Lanka panel] have already met, and they are looking at exactly
how they will work. They have a Chief of Staff, we’ve already
named him, as you know. That person is already working with the
three experts. So, that’s the first thing. The second thing is,
in all of these cases, where you’re setting up an inquiry, a panel
of experts, or whatever else you want to call it, this involves
careful groundwork and diplomacy. And, this can take, in some cases,
a long time; in some cases, it can take less time. You can’t
compare one to another. This is how diplomacy works.
So
if a country
complains loudly enough, leading up to blocking UN staff inside their
building, then Ban Ki-moon's UN will move slowly and cautiously on
war crimes, apparently. What is the message to countries like Sudan
and Myanmar?
Colombo, June 7, 2010: blocking UN staff
leads to delay, start of 4 mo clock not shown
Sudan appears
to have already learned the lesson: they
have announced that UN staff in
Darfur must now give prior notice
before traveling the road, and will have their bags searched in the
airport.
As
to the still
unclear Sri Lanka panel timing, Inner City Press
asked:
Inner
City
Press:
has the four-month clock started? When did it start?
Spokesperson:
As
we’ve said, you have the experts and you have the support team. The
support team is working in the background. The experts will be
meeting again in the coming weeks, and that is part of the process,
part of their work as they’ve been mandated to do so by the
Secretary-General.
Inner
City
Press:
When does the four-month clock start?
Spokesperson:
I’ll
let you know. So, I’m happy to take any other questions on
this, but is this on the panel?
Ban
was very
proud of his Gaza panel, going so far as to interview himself -- or
have UN Radio do it - in a mock “stakeout” in his North Lawn
building office. Then he flew off to Japan.
Following
Inner
City
Press' report
that
Mahinda Rajapaksa is listed as Sri Lanka's
speaker in September's general debate, unprompted letters copied to
Inner City Press have invited Ban's panel's three members to be sure
to interview Rajapaksa at that time. We'll see.
Footnote:
over the
weekend, we noted that the Sri Lankan Mission to the UN's
embattled and outgoing Deputy Permanent Representative might be
providing some views early this week. He had formally
invited Inner City Press to “lunch at the Sri Lankan restaurant”
on August 2.
But
that morning,
the Mission wrote to Inner City Press saying the DPR was “indisposed”
and unable to attend, that it might be rescheduled. As it happens,
the PR is throwing a farewell to his deputy on August 3, at a non-Sri
Lankan restaurant on Third Avenue by the UN and Mission. To this,
Inner City Press has yet to be included among the invitees.
Interesting list that must be. Watch this site.
* * *
At
UN,
Sri
Lanka Panel Stalled on Staffing, Rajapaksa's RSVP for September,
Rice and Kyrgyz Constrasts
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August
1 -- The UN's panel of
experts on Sri Lanka war
crimes and accountability has still not officially begun its work.
Why not?
Inner
City Press is told that the hang up is the staffing
for the panel. It has been confirmed that the initial plan was for
the chief of staff to be Jessica Neuwirth, close ally and friend of
UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay.
But
after reports
alleging, at best, nepotism it was decided to switch to Richard
Barrett, a staffer without similar connections. The fig leaf now is
that Neuwirth's time on a UN system contract had expired -- true,
that was the reason to find her a new job -- and that she is now a
“consultant.” With the UN or its Human Rights Commission? That's
a separate inquiry.
On
the panel
itself, its four month time line does not begin until it is fully
staffed. So are the three experts not yet working, then? If so, did
they start getting paid by the UN when they
met at the UN back in
July or not? The hotel rooms -- “at UN rates” -- were certainly
paid by the UN. So it is hard to argue they are not yet working for
the UN.
On
the UN's
schedule for its upcoming General Debate in September, Mahinda
Rajapaksa is listed as attending. If he does, this would be a perfect
time for the panel to interview him. His embattled minister of
external affairs G.L. Peiris has already said the panel will not get
visa to visit Sri Lanka. So let Mahinda cooperate with the panel
while he is in New York. If, that is, he comes to New York.
Outgoing
Japanese
Ambassador
Yuki Takasu, when asked on July 27 by Inner City Press to
describe innovations during his time in charge of the Security
Council's working methods, listed the Council's informal basement
meetings on Sri Lanka, in the final stages of the conflict.
Given the
level of civilian killing, it is still not clear what those meetings
accomplished. But now even Japan, through foreign minister Okada, has
urged Sri Lanka to cooperate with the UN panel. Will it?
Later
on
July 27
at Takasu's farewell reception at his residence, Sri Lanka's
Permanent Representative worked the crowd, including his U.S.
counterpart Susan Rice. Ambassador
Rice has claimed, contrary to her
State Department colleague on Sudan Scott Gration, that
accountability for war crimes is at the top of the Administration's
agenda. Sri Lanka is a test.
Mahinda and Wimal Weerawansa, UN in September not shown
The
approach not
only of Ambassador Rice and Ban Ki-moon but others to this mere Sri
Lanka panel stands in contrast to the unequivocal way the UN says it
will participate in any independent international investigation into
the causes of the recent violence in Southern Kyrgyzstan. From last
week's UN
transcripts, first of July 26:
Inner
City
Press:
On Kyrgyzstan, the OSCE [Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe] Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative,
Kimo Kiljunen, he said there’s going to be an investigation
conducted by his organ… by a commission, international commission,
of the violence in southern Kyrgyzstan. And he also said that the
United Nations would be involved in the commission. So, I wanted to
know, is that the case? What will be the United Nations role in an
international investigation of the causes of violence in southern
Kyrgyzstan?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky:
Let me find out. Just a general point, the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly is not the same thing as the OSCE itself, as
I’m sure you understand. So we would need to see precisely what
the composition, the intended composition, would be. But the other
more general point is that we’ve said already that there should
be an independent investigation into the events that took place in
Osh and Jalalabad and in the south of Kyrgyzstan. So let me get
back to you on that, okay?
Having
heard
nothing
back, Inner City Press asked
again
on July 30:
Inner
City
Press:
you’d said you would find out, and I wanted to ask
whether you have. One is, what is the UN’s role in any possible
investigation into the causes of violence in southern Kyrgyzstan?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky:
As I mentioned to you, that is a work in progress
amongst different international organizations. It is being actively
looked at, and I know that my colleagues in the Department of
Political Affairs are keeping a close eye and talking to their
colleagues, as is Mr. Jenca, the Special Representative for Central
Asia, Miroslav Jenca. No firm words yet. But, as I’ve said to you
before, this is an area where we have been very closely watching. And
not just watching, but involved in bringing people together,
monitoring and reporting what’s been happening...
And
on Sri Lanka?
The
Sri Lankan
Mission to the UN's outgoing Deputy Permanent Representative, who
came in with a flurry of accusatory letters and leaves accused
himself of sexual harassment of a Mission staffer, may be providing
some views early this week. We hope they are on the record. Watch
this site.
, 
