Amid
Somalia
Gang Rape
Charges, UN
Silent on
Policy,
Post-MSF Plan
B
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 16, updated
-- With the
UN-supported
African Union
force in
Somalia
accused, along
with the
national army,
of gang rape,
does the
UN's stated
Human Rights
Due Diligence
Policy apply
to the support
it
gives through
UNSOA?
Inner
City Press
asked this
policy
question at
the August 15
UN noon
briefing --
but 23 hours
later, there
is no answer
from the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations,
led by Herve
Ladsous. Under
his watch, the
Policy has
been made a
mockery of in
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo.
After
the Congolese
Army's 391st
Battalion was
implicated in
mass rape,
Ladsous tried
to cover it up
(video
compilation
here) then
decided to
continue
support.
Now that the same
391st
Battalion is
implicated in
the
desecration of
corpses,
support
continues, and
Ladsous is
nowhere
to be found.
And there are
no answers on
policy.
From the UN's
August
16 transcript:
Inner
City
Press: I
wanted to ask
you about
Somalia. There
are these
allegations
that the
AMISOM
[African Union
Mission in
Somalia]
peacekeeping
force there,
as well as the
national
forces,
perpetuated
a gang rape,
and it’s
something that
the AMISOM
itself has
said
that it would
investigate.
But, what I
wanted to know
is that, since
the UN
provides
support to
AMISOM though
UNSOA [United
Nations
Support Office
for AMISOM]
and provides
money and
otherwise,
does
this human
rights due
diligence
policy apply?
And what are
the next
steps if, in
fact, either
AMISOM or
units of the
national
forces of
Somalia, which
they, in turn,
support, are
guilty of the
gang rape as
alleged?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey: Well,
we’re going to
have to see
what the
AMISOM
investigation
comes up with.
Obviously,
it’s up to
them to
investigate
and it’s very
encouraging
that they are
going
to
investigate.
Inner
City
Press: No, but
I guess what I
want to know
is, even
before they
reach their
finding, it
seems like the
UN should be
able to say
does
this human
rights due
diligence
policy, which
Patricia
O’Brien
spoke about,
which is a Ban
Ki-moon
policy, does
it apply to
the
support the UN
gives to
AMISOM in
Somalia?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey:
Well, we’ll
have to find
out about
that,
Matthew. I
don’t have
that
information
with me.
Twenty
three hours
later,
nothing. Inner
City Press
asked another
question
about Somalia:
Inner
City
Press: with
the MSF
[Médecins Sans
Frontières]
statement that
you had
yesterday,
since then it
said that
Al-Shabaab
either looted
or took over,
it’s a little
unclear, one
of the
hospitals that
MSF
is leaving in
a place called
Marare, and I
wanted to
know, does the
UN team there
have any
information on
that? What’s
going to
happen? It
turns out that
MSF was
running
hospitals in
eight cities
with doctors
and nurses
that were
Somali
nationals. Is
there any
plan to try to
get another
NGO
[non-governmental
organization]
to run
the hospitals?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, as I
said
yesterday, Mr.
[Philippe]
Lazzarini,
the
Humanitarian
Coordinator,
is looking to
see how the
humanitarian
agencies can,
in fact,
replace what
Médecins Sans
Frontières was
doing.
And
what's the
update from
Philippe
Lazzarini, or
from the UN's
top envoy
in Somalia,
Nicholas Kay?
Watch this
site.
Update
: