As
S. Sudan Moves
On Bor &
Bentiu, No UN
Call for
Restraint,
UNanswered 73
Hrs
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 24 --
In South
Sudan, in the
run-up to to
Salva Kiir's
army moving in
on Bor, the UN
did not call
for restraint
as it does
elsewhere, or
take any
questions.
In Juba, Kiir-supporting
UN envoy Hilde
Johnson first
postponed her
press conference
in deference
to Kiir's
information
minister, then
held it and
praised Kiir's
talk of
accountability.
Perhaps she
hadn't read of
Nuer killed in
Juba under
color of state
law.
At least Johnson
belatedly took
some questions
in Juba. In
New York,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
has refused to
hold a simple
noon briefing
on December 23
or 24. The
strategy is
sound bytes
then
softballs: now
Ban is slated
for a
"stakeout" at
3:30 pm, after
the Security
Council vote.
As before,
expect Nesirky
to choose
questions from
those who
feted Ban and
took fashion
pictures with
him, even gave
a gifts to
Ban's Office
of the
Spokesperson.
In lieu of the
needed
December 24
noon briefing,
Inner City
Press has
submitted
questions on
South Sudan ("what
is UN's
knowledge of
government
assault on /
re-taking of
Bor? What is
the level of
casualties?
Did anyone in
the UN system
urge restraint?"),
on the UN and
rule of law,
and on the
Central
African Republic,
dysfunctional
fighting
between
"peacekeepers"
there - we'll
have more on
this.
The chief of
UN
Peacekeeping
Herve Ladsous,
who
understated
the death toll
in South Sudan
then
disappeared
from sight,
has a "policy"
of not answering
Press
questions. Video here, UK
coverage here.
Ladsous' UN
Peacekeeping,
in the midst
of all this on
December 24,
tweeted praise
of itself and
its mission in
Mali, where
Chadian "peacekeepers"
shoot
civilians as
they now have
in Central
African
Republic as
well, there
also throwing
a grenade at
"fellow"
Burundian
peacekeepers.
Amid all this,
while refusing
to answer
written
questions on
South Sudan,
CAR and
corruption for
70 hours, Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon's
Office of the
Spokesperson
has refused to
even hold a
normal noon
briefing
today.
One wonders
how this
comports with
the UN's
post Sri Lanka
failure
"Rights Up
Front" action
plan, covered
here.
Amid this
South Sudan
crisis,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokespeople
have left
unanswered
basic
questions for
more than 70
hours now.
From Juba, the
UN Humanitarian
head of communications
at least
responded; new
questions were
submitted, for
UN status
reports on
"UNMISS
base
in Aweil, and
in Kuacjok,
and response
to quotes from
diplomats
that those
with Dinka
surnames,
regardless of
nationality,
have
difficulty
leaving Bor?
And, still,
what is UNMISS
position on
threats to
re-take Bor by
force. Any
chance of a
call-in line
or some
type of
streaming of
SRSG Johnson's
noon presser
there? "
Hilde
Johnson's news
conference,
UNMISS
specified, would
be in her
residence, not
in the UN
Compound by
the Juba
airport. Then
it was moved
back to the
compound, then
postponed in deference
to the
government.
The Security
Council is set
to vote on the
US-drafted
resolution
shifting
assets on
December 24 at
3 pm, when the
ongoing
UN budget
fight is
set to come to
a head in the
General Assembly.
Here
was Inner
City Press' 3 am
December 24 budget
piece.
Again, Ban
Ki-moon's spokesperson's
office is
STILL not
holding a noon
briefing
-- and has
left questions
unanswered for
70 hours now.
The Free
UN Coalition
for Access
@FUNCA_info
has
protested,
again, here.
On the morning
of December
21, Inner City
Press asked
Ban's top two
spokespeople,
and then the
listed "Weekend
Duty Officer,"
about Ban's
proposed shift
of assets and
the shift's
potential
impacts . More
than two days
later, they
had not
answered.
Ban took four
questions on
December 23
but none on
this.
Ban's lead
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
gave three of
four questions
to board
members of the
United Nations
Correspondents
Association
(a/k/a UN's
Censorship Alliance),
a group which
most recently
gushed
about fashion
photos it took
with Ban last
week. One
of these three
questions was
not about
South Sudan at
all; another
tried to blame
everything on
Khartoum.
But what is
Ban's position
on Salva Kiir,
which whom his
(or Norway's)
envoy Hilde
Johnson is so
close,
threatening to
re-take Bor by
force? Inner
City Press
asked the
question with
Ban still in
the room. The
response was
happy holidays
and maybe
Hilde will
speak later in
the week.
After Bor is
assaulted?
Ban said, you
can get
answers
through my
spokesperson.
Well, no. That
has not been
the case.
Nesirky's
office did not
answer a
single Press
question on
South Sudan
submitted on
December 21
and 22, even
after they
were re-sent
to his
office's
supposed "Weekend
Duty Officer"
Eri Kaneko.
What is the
duty? Where
are the
answers?
In
the room for
Ban's
four-question
presser was
Kieran Dwyer,
the
spokesperson
for Herve
Ladsous - he
has been
allowed by his
ostensible
boss Ban to
have a
"policy"
against answer
Press questions.
Dwyer and UN
Peacekeeping
have yet to
explain why on
the afternoon
of December 19
Indian
ambassador Mukerji
could tell
Inner City
Press about
the killing of
two
peacekeepers
in Akobo while
UN
Peacekeeping
at that time
did not know
about it. An
analysis of
UNMISS
communications
is in
preparation.
Meanwhile
Hilde Johnson's
deputy envoy
Toby Lanzer
has issued a
press
statement,
addressing
neither issue.
It listed two
contacts,
Tapiwa Gomo
and Amanda
Wyler, to whom
Inner City
Press
immediately
sent
questions,
three hours
ago:
What
is
the situation
in, including
humanitarian
access to, the
Yide /
Yida refugee
camp?
Please
state
UNMISS' /
OCHA's
knowledge of
the situation
in Yuai. Have
all
UN
peacekeepers
been
withdrawn?
What about the
civilians?
What
is
UNMISS' /
OCHA's resonse
to Salva
Kiir's
reported
ultimatum on
Bentiu,
including
advising UN
and NGO staff
to leave? Will
OCHA leave
(as it did
from
Kilinochchi in
Sri Lanka in
2008)?
What
is
the situation
in Bor? Has
the UN
evacuated any
South
Sudanese, or
other
foreigners?
These
questions are
directed to
you as the
contact on Mr.
Lanzer's
December
23 statement,
and cc-ed to
Mr. Lanzer as
Humanitarian
Coordinator.
Three
and a half
hours later,
no response at
all. As to the
first
question,
there's word
of killing
including of
an NGO worker
in the Yida
camp.
The UN has now
announced that
Hilde Johnson
will hold a
press conference
at noon in
Juba on
December 24 -
no word if it'll
be webcast;
the UN has
said that
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon will
speak to the media
at the UN in
New York at
12:20 pm on
December 23.
Ban's office
is in
the clouds (photo
here); the
UN Security
Council despite
all this is dormant
(photo here).
Will Ban
answer
questions,
including on
his UN
Mission's reaction
to Kiir's
ultimatum? His
head of UN
Peacekeeping,
Herve Ladsous,
does not. Video here, UK
coverage here.
And Ban's
Office of the
Spokesperson
has not, since
the morning of
December 21.
IN Sri Lanka
in 2008, the
government
told the UN to
get out of
Kilinochchi,
and the UN
did. Years
later it has
issued a post
Sri Lanka
failure
"Rights Up
Front" action
plan. So does
it push back
against Kiir's
threat to
militarily
re-take
Bentiu? Or is
such push back
limited to
government's
the Western
Permanent
Three members
of the
Security
Council don't
like?
Speaking of
the Western
P3, when two
French
journalists
were killed in
Mali, there
was an
immediately
Security
Council press
statement.
Now, the French
NGO
Solidarites
International
says one of
its staff in
South Sudan
was killed, probably"assassinated."
But with France
holding the
Council
presidency,
still, there
is not even a
UNSC meeting
or briefing
yet scheduled.
Is this based
on the identity
of those
killed? Or of
the killers,
or their
location?
Rather than
explain or
answer
questions
about the UN's
pull out --
and shift of
assets away
from a
promised
crackdown on
the Hutu
militia FDLR
in the Eastern
Congo -- the
UN offers mere
sound bytes
and
fundraising
appeals.
But how many
have been
killed so far
in Bor?
With Bor in
South Sudan
under the control
of Peter Gadet,
the UN in New
York not
answered
questions for
more than a
day. There
is a history:
back
on March 15,
2012 Inner
City Press
asked UN envoy
Hilde Johnson
about Gadet
being given a
role in "disarmament"
around Bor. Video
here, from
Minute 9:35.
Johnson, a
vocal
supporter of
plans by South
Sudan's Salva
Kir government,
told Inner
City Press
that it didn't
much matter
WHO did the
disarmament. Video
here, from
Minute 12:55
(to "us in the
UN" who did
the disarmament,
including
Gadet, was
"less than
relevant.")
Standing next
to Johnson was
the
spokesperson
for UN
Peaceekping
chief Herve
Ladsous, Kieran Dwyer, who would later on
video defend
Ladsous' refusal
to answer
Press
questions
about his UN
Peacekeeping
partnering
with Congolese
Army units
implicated in
mass rapes (or
here, for
disarmament in
South Sudan,
with Peter
Gadet.)
Now that US
aircraft have
been fired at
from Bor, and
President Barack
Obama has told
Congress he
"may take
further
action," did
and does it
really not
matter? Where
is the
accountability?
Where are the
answers?
Rather than
answer, the UN
issues press
releases from
its envoy
Hilde Johnson.
Its
communications
officer for
South Sudan
Clare Santry
has left the
country and
appeared for a
soft
two minute
piece on BBC,
her former employer,
appealing for
money from
donors and
insisting, as
Johnson did,
that the UN is
not abandoning
anyone in
South Sudan.
Really? Then
why did the UN
move to pull
even its armed
peacekeepers
out of Yuai?
What is the
situation in
Bentiu, with
troubling
reports of
killings and
seemingly a
looming battle?
On the morning
of December 22,
Inner City
Press submitted
additional
questions to
Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon's
Office of the
Spokesperson,
to the chief
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
and the
"weekend duty
officer" Eri
Kaneko to whom
actiong deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq's
email auto-responder
directed
questions:
On
the
South Sudan
crisis, while
still awaiting
any response
to the
questions
submitted
yesterday,
must for now
ask a few
more:
What
percentage
of UNMISS
personnel is
it who are
being moved
from Bor to
Juba? From
Juba to
Entebbe? How
is this
different, for
example, from
the pull out
of UN staff
from
Kilinochchi in
late 2008?
Given
that
the SG said
"we are now
actively
trying to
transfer our
assets from
other
peacekeeping
missions, like
MONUSCO [the
United
Nations
Organization
Stabilization
Mission in the
Democratic
Republic
of the Congo]
and some other
areas" --
which
assets
is he / the UN
trying to
transfer out
of the DRC?
How does
this relate to
the UN's
pledge to now
move to
neutralize the
FDLR?
From what
other missions
is the UN
trying to move
assets?
Who
in
the UN has
spoken to - or
even reached
out to - Riek
Machar in the
past days? Has
the UN
visited, or
asked to
visit, the
arrested
former
ministers?
No answer in
four hours, on
top of the
then 24 hours
of non-response
before. The
Spokesperson's
office on
December 22
has only put
out a
statement by
envoy Hilde F.
Johnson: “To
anyone who
wants to
threaten us,
attack us or
put obstacles
in our way,
our message
remains loud
and clear: we
will not be
intimidated.”
This in the
same statement
announcing the
pull-out of
all
"non-critical"
UN staff from
Juba to
Uganda, while
the UN and
Johnson's
deputy Toby
Lanzer have
not answer
what
percentage of
UN staff are
being pulled
out.
How is this
consistent
with the UN's
recent post
Sri Lanka
failure
"Rights Up
Front" action
plan? In Sri
Lanka in 2008,
the UN pulled
all
humanitarian
("non-critical"?)
staff out of
Kilinochchi --
then concealed
its own death
counts in
2009.
As Inner City
Press asked on
December 19 in
the UN Press
Briefing Room,
is Hilde
Johnson too
close a supporter
of Salva Kiir
to mediate?
This was not
answered. Nor
whether in the
days since she
has spoken
with, or even
reached out
to, Riek
Machar.
As noted from
Manila
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon said
he would move
"assets" from
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo to
South Sudan.
Given that the
UN has made
much of its
new focus on
"neutralizing"
the Hutu FDLR
militia in the
DRC, Ban's
statement
cries out for
explanation
from the UN.
Inner City
Press was asked,
from the
Kivus, where
Ban said this.
It was in his
Q&A in
Manila, only
belated added
to the UN
website, here.
But
neither the
UN, its Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations
under
Herve Ladsous
with his own
history in the
Great Lakes
region or
envoy Martin
Kobler has
answered this
question:
which assets
would be
removed from
the DRC?
So too does
the UN Mission
in South Sudan
UNMISS
tweeting it is
moving "non
essential"
staff out of
the country,
to Uganda,
STILL cry out
for
explanation.
What
percentage of
UNMISS would
that be? And
how is this
consistent
with the UN's
ballyhooed
post Sri Lanka
failure
"Rights Up
Front Action
Plan"?
Rights seen
from behind?
What
about the UN
decision to
try to pull
all of
peacekeepers
out of Yuai?
Was a UN
helicopter
shot down and
abandoned on
the way? The
UN won't
answer on
this, or the
questions
below. But BBC
has no
analysis of
the UN, only
of "rebel"
former vice
president Riek
Machar.
BBC on December
21 showed
former US
official, now
Texas A&M
professor
Andrew Natsios,
who said the
ICRC and IGAD
ministers were
blocked from
visiting the
ministers
arrested by
Salva Kiir.
Natsios suggested
the ministers
should be
turned over to
the UN for
protection.
What --
protection
like the abandoned
civilians
around Yuai?
One reason the
UN does not
improvement is
that it is not
held
accountable.
Even on Haiti
cholera, people
make excuses,
and those who
don't are
barely heard
from.
Shouldn't the
UN at least be
expected to
answer
questions?
Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon in
from Manila
cited South Sudan
and Riek
Machar. But
his Office of
the
Spokesperson
has gone
twenty hours
without
answering basic
questions
about South
Sudan.
After the UN
Mission in
South Sudan
belated
acknowledged
on its
week-old
Twitter
account that
one of its
helicopters
"came under
small arms
fire" on the
way to try to
remove all
peacekeepers
from Yuai,
Inner City
Press asked a
question.
Did the UN
copter in fact
get shot,
emergency land
and be
abandoned --
that is, get
shot
down?
Saying "came
under small
arms fire," in
that case,
would be an
understatement.
But the UN
spokesperson's
office in New
York has left
Press
questions
about South
Sudan
UNanswered
since the
morning of
December 21.
The US State
Department has
summarized
John Kerry's
call to Salva
Kiir,
informing him
that US envoy
Donald Booth
is on the way.
Will Booth
reach out to
Riek Machar?
Who will tell
the UN, which
is ostensibly
responsive to
its member
states, that
it should
answer
questions?
After news
that three US
military
aircraft were
fired at while
approaching
Bor in South
Sudan, where
some 15,000
people are in
the UN base,
Inner City
Press put
questions to
US Africom and
to the UN's
two top
spokespeople
in New York.
Africom
quickly
answered,
twice. And the
White House
sent a
statement that
President
Barack Obama
was briefed,
including by Susan
Rice, and
"reaffirmed
the importance
of continuing
to work with
the United
Nations to
secure our
citizens in
Bor."
But
from the UN
came only an
auto-response,
that acting
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
will be out of
the office
until December
30, and to put
any questions
to the sole
weekend duty
officer of the
Office of the
Spokesperson
for Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon. Inner
City Press
sent these, on
the morning of
December 21,
more than four
hours before
deadline for
first
publication:
Now
with
3 US aircraft
shot over Bor,
this is a
press request
for an update
from the UN:
What
is
the UN's
knowledge of
military
conflict in
Bor, impact on
civilians?
Is
the
army aligned
with Salva
Kiir seeking
to re-take
Bor? Is it
coordinating
in any way
with UNMISS?
Since
the
beginning of
the unrest in
Juba, has
UNMISS
provided any
support to
which the UN's
Human Rights
Due Diligence
Policy
applies? If
so, to which
units?
Has
any
UN official
spoken with
Riek Machar
during this
period?
To
the
UN's
knowledge, did
Uganda or any
other outside
country take
military
action in Bor
or elsewhere
in South
Sudan?
This
is
a request,
including on
behalf of the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
that the
Office of the
Spokesperson
hold (noon)
briefings
during this
phase of
crisis in
South Sudan,
certainly on
Monday,
December 23.
On
Friday
December 20,
amid the South
Sudan crisis,
Farhan
Haq announced
that the UN
would cancel
its normal
noon
briefings, all
the way
through
December 30.
While
some
information
trickles out
from UNMISS in
Juba, which
only started a
twitter
account last
week, it comes
late.
This is why
the UN's
Office of the
Spokesperson
should be
providing
information,
and / or Herve
Ladsous' UN
Peacekeeping.
Their twitter
account is
blithely
promoting
itself, with a
few re-tweets
from UNMISS.
Where is
Ladsous? He
still of of
December 2013
says he has a
"policy" of
not answering
Press
questions. Video here.
This
is a time for
the UN to
communicate.
But it is not.
As was jotted
during the
Security
Council's
consultations
on December 20
-- despite
commitment and
good work from
many in UNMISS
which Inner
City Press
also covers
and would like
to cover more
-- there is a
credibility
crisis for the
UN. And it is
getting worse.
Watch this
site.
* * *
These
reports
are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for Sept 26, 2011 New Yorker on Inner City
Press at UN
Click
for
BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN
Corruption
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-303,
UN, NY 10017 USA
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest service,
and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2013 Inner City Press,
Inc. To request reprint or other permission,
e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
|