UN
Pushed
"Only So Far"
Against
US-Supported
Immunity for
Saleh, Gets
"Obama Care"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 25 --
After passage
of a law
granting him
amnesty
for ordering
the killing of
protesters in
Yemen, Ali
Saleh left
Sana'a Sunday
to come to the
United States.
Wednesday
in front
of the
Security
Council, Inner
City Press
asked US
Ambassador
Susan
Rice if there
is any limits
on Saleh's
stay. Rice
replied, "as
long as his
medical"
treatment.
In US
President
Obama's State
of the Union
speech on
January 24, he
spoke of
Yemen, that "a
wave of change
has washed...
from Sana’a to
Tripoli.
A year ago,
Qadhafi was
one of the
world’s
longest-serving
dictators – a
murderer with
American blood
on his
hands.
Today, he is
gone."
And Saleh's in
a luxury
hospital in
the US.
Given
questions
about the
Obama
administration
sheltering a
dictator (as
was done for
example with
the Shah of
Iran), one wag
opined that
who ever is
paying, Saleh
is
now getting
"ObamaCare."
UN
envoy Jamal
Benomar came
out and
described a
humanitarian
situation in
which half
a million
children could
die or face
lifelong
injury unless
something
is done.
This
was mentioned
in the
subsequent
Security
Council press
statement, but
not the
amnesty law.
Inner City
Press asked
Council
president Baso
Sangqu of
South Africa,
who said it
was discussed,
but is not in
the
UNSC Press
Statement.
Inner
City Press
asked Benomar
for his view
of the amnesty
law, and for
his view of
the US -- the
"host country"
-- allowing
Saleh in for
medical
treatment, and
if Saleh would
go back to
Yemen
afterwards and
in what role.
Benomar
answered
about the law
in depth,
saying that he
told his
Yemeni
interlocutors
that even as
amended, the
law does not
comply with
international
standards. He
noted,
however, that
a second law
on
transitional
justice is
due. But could
that second
law modify or
strip Saleh's
immunity? It
does not seem
so.
In
fact, the US
Ambassador in
Sana'a is
known to have
badmouthed a
youth march
devoted to
accountability
for Saleh, and
to have
praised the
immunity
law, or at
least the Gulf
Cooperation
Council's
immunity
agreement.
After
his answer on
the law,
Benomar said
"next
question," and
took one in
Arabic. Then
he was asked
again, what
about the
agreement --
with
the US --
allowing Saleh
to come to the
US for medical
treatment?
Benomar
answered
in detail,
about the
Yemeni
agreement of
November, the
transfer of
power, the
elections
slated for
February 21.
Another
reported
followed up,
what about
answering
about Saleh's
medical
treatment in
the US? I
think I
answered the
question about
the agreement,
Benomar
said.
Benomar
has had
to balance the
usually
conflicting
views of the
UK, France and
US,
and Russian
and China, in
his good
offices role
in Yemen:
perhaps
such balancing
means not
answering
certain
questions.
Inner City
Press asked
one more time,
what about
Saleh's entry
for medical
treatment into
the US, which
ostensibly
stands for
accountability
for
the killing of
protesters?
(c) UN Photo
Ban Ki-moon
& Ali
Saleh,
previously,
amnesty &
"Obama-Care"
not shown
You
must ask
"those
concerned,"
Benomar said.
As noted
above, Inner
City
Press did ask
US Ambassador
Rice, how ever
briefly. Obama
Care may be
a funny joke,
but what the
answer on
impunity and
double
standards?
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
When
Ban Ki-moon
spoke with
Saleh in
November,
afterward he
spoke to
select media
outside the
Security
Council. Inner
City Press
asked
what he'd said
about
immunity. Ban
said it wasn't
really
discussed.
Did this help
the UN's
stated efforts
about the law?
As one close
observer put
it, the UN
pushed "only
so far," given
the US
position as
well as Ban
Ki-moon's
normal soft
diplomacy.
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