US
Concerned at
Saudi
Executions,
al-Nimr, UN
Silent, ICP
Asks
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 2 -- Now
that Saudi
Arabia has
kicked off
2016 by
announcing the
execution of
47 people
including
Shi'a clerk
Nimr al-Nimr
and a formal
end to the
supposed Yemen
ceasefire the
UN and its
envoy spoke
about, the UN
and envoy Ould
Cheikh Ahmed so far have
nothing to say.
Inner
City Press has
asked the top
four UN
spokespeople:
"Does
Ban Ki-moon
(or DPA) have
any comment on
Saudi Arabia's
execution of
47, including
Nimr al-Nimr?
Separately,
does Ban
Ki-moon (or
his Special
Envoy on
Yemen) have
any comment on
the Saudi
announcement
of the end of
the
'ceasefire'?
This
supplement the
still pending
Press
questions on
Yemen from
December 28."
On
December 28,
Inner City
Press asked
the UN, "On Yemen,
what is Ban
Ki-moon's or
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed's
response to
Saleh saying
GPC will only
negotiate
directly with
Saudi Arabia,
and seeming
rejection of
the
UN-faciliated
talks?" UN
Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric replied,
"if we have an
update to
share with
you, we will"
-- and since
then, nothing.
The US State
Department
issued a
statement,
below; this
was before the
development of
protests at
the Saudi
embassy in
Tehran --
which Inner
City Press
predicts
will trigger a
UN Security
Council Press
Statement, on
the duty to
protect
diplomatic
premises. But
what about the
Yemen
"ceasefire"?
Here's
what the US
put out, here:
"We
have seen the
Saudi
government's
announcement
that it
executed 47
people.
We have
previously
expressed our
concerns about
the legal
process in
Saudi Arabia
and have
frequently
raised these
concerns at
high levels of
the Saudi
Government. We
reaffirm our
calls on the
Government of
Saudi Arabia
to respect and
protect human
rights, and to
ensure fair
and
transparent
judicial
proceedings in
all cases.
The United
States also
urges the
Government of
Saudi Arabia
to permit
peaceful
expression of
dissent and to
work together
with all
community
leaders to
defuse
tensions in
the wake of
these
executions.?
We are
particularly
concerned that
the execution
of prominent
Shia cleric
and political
activist Nimr
al-Nimr risks
exacerbating
sectarian
tensions at a
time when they
urgently need
to be reduced.
In this
context, we
reiterate the
need for
leaders
throughout the
region to
redouble
efforts aimed
at
de-escalating
regional
tensions."
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, who
has yet to
speak on the
executions nor
the end of the
Yemen
ceasefire,
issued canned
statements
including on
another
dubious
mediation, in
Burundi, while
promoting
himself for a
Nobel Prize
(which would
be dubious)
for COP 21. In
his year-end
press
conference he
refused Press
questions on
the various UN
scandals of
2015:
indictment of
ex-PGA John
Ashe, envoy
Bernardina
Leon taking
the money and
running to the
UAE, covered
up peacekeeper
rapes in the
Central
African
Republic.
And
Ismael Ould
Cheikh Ahmed?
Nothing since
his
self-praise on
December 26.
One wag
wonder, was he
in The Address
hotel in Dubai
which burned
on New Years
Eve? Where IS
the UN's envoy
during all
this?
Inner City
Press on
December 28
asked the UN's
lead spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric: "On
Yemen, what is
Ban Ki-moon's
or Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed's
response to
Saleh saying
GPC will only
negotiate
directly with
Saudi Arabia,
and seeming
rejection of
the
UN-faciliated
talks?"
Dujarric
replied at 2
pm on December
28 to another
question,
partial (on
Burundi) then
added: "On the
other issues,
if we have an
update to
share with
you, we will."
So
on Yemen, as
usual, there
is no UN
response.
In the
talks in
Switzerland,
despite the
happy-talk Note to
Correspondents
issued on
December 20,
UN envoy
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed
was repeatedly
accused of
merely
operating “for
the Saudis,”
while the
Saudi-led
coalition took
more military
action.
Inner
City Press
intended to
put the
question
directly to
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed,
after UN
Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq at
the December
22 noon
briefing said
he would be
speaking at
the Security
Council
stakeout after
briefing the
Security
Council.
But after the
Council
meeting, in
which High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights Zeid al
Hussein said
that of harm
to schools and
hospitals, "a
disproportionate
amount
appeared to be
the result of
airstrikes
carried out by
Coalition
Forces" --
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed
did not as
promised
appear at the
stakeout.
Last
time he was at
UN
Headquarters,
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed
took only
three
questions at
the stakeout,
then went
upstairs to
the clubhouse
of UNCA, now
the UN
Corruption
Association
after selling
seats with Ban
Ki-moon for
$6000 and did
an interview
with the same
pro-Saudi /
GCC media.
So
where did
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed
go this time?
Watch this
site.
Inner City
Press on
December 20
reported that
the
UN-facilitated
talks have
been such a
failure that
there is
already a
clamor to
replace Ismail
Ould Cheikh
Ahmed. Sources
exclusively
tell Inner
City Press
that among the
names being
mulled is
Germany's
Bettina
Muscheidt, the
European
Union's
Ambassador to
Yemen.
UN
insiders point
to Germany
having lost a
UN post when
Kim Won-soo
replaced
Angela Kane as
Under
Secretary
General for
Disarmament
Affairs. Achim
Steiner was
passed over
for the UN
High
Commissioner
for Refugees
post, in favor
of Italy's
Grandi.
Germany
already "got"
Libya with
Martin Kobler
- why not
Yemen too? And
what, they
ask, has
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed
accomplished,
with all his
business trips
to Dubai? Why
will or would
January 14 be
any different?
On
December 21,
Inner City
Press asked
the UN's
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq, video here, transcript
here.
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