As
Sudan
Asks Why Haroun Shouldn't Meet UN Council,
Journalists Detained
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 19 -- With the UN Security
Council en route to Africa,
their possible encounter in Sudan with Ahmed Haroun, indicted by
the
International Criminal Court for war cimres in Darfur, remains a wild
card.
On
May 18 French
Ambassador Gerard Araud told Inner City Press, when asked about
Haroun, that “we will not meet with him.”
But
a Sudanese
diplomat on May 19 asked Inner City Press, “Why not? He was just
legitimately elected.” The diplomat pointed at the statement by UN
Mission in Sudan chief Haile Menkerios welcoming the election on
South Kordofan.
At
the UN's noon
briefing on May 19 Inner City Press asked
UN spokesman Martin
Nesirky:
Inner
City
Press: on this trip, there are conflicting reports in Sudan
about whether the trip includes a stop in Kadugli and Abyei, and
whether they will meet with Ahmed Haroun, who is indicted by the ICC
[International Criminal Court]. So I wanted to know, you’d said
there is more information, I’d try to pass through and see it, but
it has… what is the status of, even just the logistics, is the
Council in fact going to Abyei via Kadugli and is… will Mr. Haroun
be present?
Spokesperson:
I think that’s a good idea; pass by and we can give you more
details. But to my knowledge, there is no meeting planned with Mr.
Haroun, to my knowledge.
Planning
is one
thing, and the presence at the airport of the Governor of South
Kordofan, declared winner of an election praised by the UN, is
another.
UN air craft near Abyei, UNSC and Haroun not shown
The
UN belated
provided Inner City Press with this response about journalists
detained for covering the election:
From:
UN
Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, May 19, 2011
at 4:21 PM
Subject: Your question on journalists in Sudan
To:
Matthew.Lee [at] InnerCityPress.com
Regarding
your
question about the arrests of two journalists in Sudan (Mohamed
El Fateh Himma and Rushan Aoushi) on 14 May 2011 in Jebel Awlia
(Khartoum State): The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has followed up on
that matter with its sources on the ground.
The
Mission
learned that the two journalists were reportedly returning
from Southern Kordofan State when they were stopped on the road by
Sudanese Armed Forces Military Intelligence at around 08:00 on 14
May. The journalists were then transferred to the custody of the
National Security Service (NSS), which reportedly interrogated them.
The two journalists were released by the National Security Service
without charge after approximately ten hours.
And
that was the
entire response. The UN apparently has no comment on this. Watch this
site.
* * *
As
UN
Welcomes Election Haroun Claims, Council Trip Stalls on
Haroun Meeting
By
Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 17, updated -- After Ahmed Haroun, indicted by the International
Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, declared victory in the
recent election in South Kordofan, the UN Mission in Sudan put out a
statement “welcoming” the election.
Now
in the
Security Council, sources tell Inner City Press, there is controversy
over what to do if Haroun is at the airport when the Council
arrives
on its trip later this month.
At
least one
Council member is pointing at UNMIS' statement as a basis for meeting
with Haroun. Others, including an African member, say it would be
very “difficult.”
There
was a lunch
with the Permanent Five members of the Council, South Africa and
Nigeria. Gabon was supposed to come but didn't, sources say. US
Ambassador Susan
Rice invited US envoy Princeton Lyman. While one of the non-Western P-5
say
that his country and the US are “on the same page about North -
South” issues, the Haroun issue remains a problem.
UNMIS and the UN Secretariat have added to this problem by, at least
twice, flying Haroun to Abyei.
In
New York on May
16, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky about the
allegations by the SPLM in South Sudan that Haroun rigged the
election. Nesirky pointed again at the statement, emphasizing that
the UN “urges all parties to remain calm, and encourages those with
complaints regarding the electoral process to address them through
legal means or dialogue.”
On
May 17 Inner
City Press asked Nesirky, in the context of “legal means,” if the
UN had any comment about Khartoum's National Congress Party
government retaining two journalists for their coverage of the
elections in South Kordofan.
Nesirky
merely
said the UN is aware of the reports, and that the Mission, UNMIS, is
checking into it.
But
UNMIS has
repeated said it was checking into killings, mostly of Dinka, in
Abyei and environs, most times without following up. In fact, UNMIS
has at least twice offered free flights to Ahmed Haroun, despite his
history of organizing attacks.
Inner
City Press
also asked Nesirky about a report in Sudanese state media that UNMIS
is already moving out of North Sudan, shifting equipment from
Kadugli, Port Sudan, El-Obeid and Khartoum down to Juba in the South.
Nesirky
responded
that any extension of UNMIS' mission is up to the Security Council. But
shouldn't the Secretariat be able to confirm or deny movements by
the peacekeeping missions it administers?
Update of 7:20 pm --
when UNSC President for May Araud emerged from the Council past 7 pm
Tuesday, Inner City Press asked him about Haroun. After a pause, he
said sever words: "We are not going to meet him." Watch this site.
* * *
UN
Admits
2d
Flight
of
ICC
Darfur
Indictee
Haroun
to
Abyei in Sudan, Impunity
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March
4,
updated -- The UN
has for a second time offered a free UN
flight in Sudan to Ahmed Haroun, under indictment by the
International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, the UN
admitted Friday in response to questions from Inner City Press.
On
March 3 the UN
Security Council met about renewed fighting in the disputed Abyei
region. Back in January, Inner City Press got the UN to acknowledge
they had flown ICC indictee Haroun from South Kordofan, where he
serves fellow ICC indictee Omar al Bashir as governor, to Abyei.
The
UN has defended
this controversial flight by saying that Haroun and Haroun alone
could stop violence in Abyei. The UN never explained why the
government of Sudan, which has an air force currently bombing civilians
in Jebel Marra in Darfur, couldn't itself fly Haroun.
The
UN said it was
a scheduled flight, then UN Mission in Sudan chief Haile Menkerios
admitted to
Inner City Press that it was a special flight. Inner City Press is
told such flights cost $40,000, and the UN has confirm no
reimbursement has been sought from the Bashir government.
But
now the
violence has continued, making the UN flight of ICC indictee Haroun
harder to justify even by the UN's own argument.
March
3
in
front
of
the
Security
Council,
Inner
City
Press asked Council president for
March Li Baodong of China if the UN Peacekeeping official who briefed
the Council, Atul Khare, had mentioned if Haroun would again be flown
in a UN helicopter. Li Baodong did not directly answer.
At
the March 4 UN
noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman Martin Nesirky to confirm or deny that that the UN would
once again fly ICC indictee Haroun to Abyei, even now that his work in
connection with the first flight has proved ineffective.
Nesirky
said
he
would
check.
Ten
minutes
later,
Nesirky's
deputy
Farhan Haq announced
by speaker to all UN correspondents that yes, Haroun attended today's
meeting in Abyei, and yes, “he was transported” by the UN.
This
UN
promotes
impunity,
even
for
one
of
the
few
people indicted for war crimes by
the ICC. Meanwhile Ban Ki-moon brags about the Security Council's partial
referral of the situation in Libya to the ICC -- a referral that Ban
Ki-moon did not even call for until after the Council voted to make
the referral.
This
UN
is
promoting
and
enshrining
lawlessness,
with
no
transparency
or
accountability. Watch this site.
Update
of 3:48 pm -- Human Rights Watch, via Richard Dicker, submitted
this
comment:
“This
is the second time in recent weeks the UN has transported Ahmed
Haroun who is charged by the ICC with war crimes in Darfur. We have
real concerns because the U.N. should not be in the business of
transporting Haroun. There needs to be an extremely high threshold of
urgency for such action by UNMIS.”
Responses
have
been
sought
from
the
Missions
to
the
UN
of France, the UK and the US,
with the latter two asked if they knew in advance of the UN's new
flight of ICC indictee Haroun. Given her
statements
this
year
about
social
media, & after hours of non-response by the US Mission
to the UN,@AmbassadorRice
has been asked directly as well. Watch
this site.
Update
of
4:30
pm
--
Then
this,
from
UK
Mission
to the UN spokesman Daniel
Shepherd:
“As
spokesperson, I would only reiterate the message that my two
Ambassadors have both said on the record (and published by Inner City
Press) first time around: that we aren’t going to second guess how
UNMIS fulfills its mandate to provide good offices to the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) parties in efforts to resolve
differences through dialogue and negotiations. I’d only add that
this work is particularly important at this sensitive time, to
contain any potential escalation after the recent Abyei violence.”
We could
note
again that violence has persisted despite the UN flying ICC indictee
Ahmed Haroun in the first time, and that it is the role of UN member
states to oversee the UN Secretariat, not to defer in this case to
what some see as its promotion of impunity - but at least the UK
would put its position on the record.
Update
of
4:43
pm
--
this
too
has
come
in,
perhaps in response:
Date:
Fri,
Mar
4,
201
Subject: Haroun and Abyei
To: Matthew.Lee [at]
innercitypress.com
You
guys
ask
great
questions!
Have
you
noticed
perhaps
that
the United
Nations seems to be unaware of who is causing the violence in Abyei.
And yet "diplomatic sources" report seeing the burial of 33
bodies - all southerners.
The
Arab
nomads
say
the
violence
started
when
SPLM
police
shot at them
(Hitler used a similar ploy to invade Poland) - and today thousands
of civilians fled Abyei fearing another crisis like in June 2008. The
Dinka Ngok villages north of Abyei, such as Maker, have been
burnt to the ground. The end explains the means. There is a
creeping ethnic cleansing going on in the Abyei region despite the
agreements of 2005 and the Court of Arbitration ruling in 2010.
Why
fly
Haroun
to
Abyei
-
what
is
his
cv?
It is, as you correctly point
out, that of arming arab militias to burn villages. I hope to see
more of your questions pinning the UN to the responsibility to
protect.
, 
