In
S. Sudan As
Civilians
Threatened in
Yuai, UN
Evacuates
Troops, No
Briefings
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 20 --
In South
Sudan amid
UN talk of
protecting
civilians and
rushing to
more dangerous
locations to
do so, UN
Peacekeeping
is preparing
to evacuate
"40 UNMISS
peacekeepers
from a base in
the Jonglei
state town of
Yuai this
afternoon."
Inner
City Press on
December 20
asked Security
Council
president
Gerard
Araud about
this plan,
what would
happen to
civilians
under threat
in
Yuai. Video
here, from
Minute 12:53.
Araud
acknowledged
that UN
Peacekeeping,
led by its
fourth
Frenchman in a
row Herve
Ladsous, is
trying to pull
out of Yuai --
in fact, it
would
already have
done so,
except its
evacuation
helicopters
were fired
at. Strangely,
Araud then
insisted
quoting
Ladsous'
deputy Edmond
Mulet that the
UN is "on" (or
in) the way,
and not the
target.
As
if to minimize
the
contradiction
of claiming to
be protecting
civilians
while
evacuating
armed
personnel from
where the
civilians
are, Araud
said he
understood
there were no
civilians
inside the
UNMISS base in
Yuai.
Since
all of his,
and the UN's,
understandings
come from
communications
with its
bases, Inner
City Press
asked about
the breakdown
in
communications
with the Akobo
base, where
two Indian
peacekeepers
and
at least 20
civilians were
killed. Araud
called this a
"detail"
and refused to
answer, saying
"I'm in
substantial
questions."
Video
here, from
Minute 19:47.
Inner
City Press
went to the
day's UN noon
briefing and
asked acting
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about the plan
to pull out of
Yuai. Haq had
just claimed
that the UN is
moving
peacekeepers
from less
dangerous
to more
dangerous
places. Now he
doubled back
and said it is
a matter
of
concentrating
UN forces
where they can
have an
impact.
But
what about the
civilians in
Yuai?
Inner
City Press
asked Haq
about a quote
by UNMISS
spokesperson
Joe
Contreras that
27 soldier
loyal to Salva
Kiir sought
refuge with
the
UN in Rubkona.
Haq said he
couldn't
confirm that
-- which is
weird,
since the UN's
spokesperson
in South Sudan
has already
said it.
Also
on (mis?)
communications,
Inner City
Press asked
about the 11
hour
delay in the
UN
confirmation
the death of
two Indian
peacekeepers
and
injuring of
another which
India's
Ambassador
Askoke Mukerji
told
Inner City
Press about on
the afternoon
of December
19.
Haq
said the delay
was because
the UN must
notify
families, and
implicitly
chided anyone
who reported
the death of
two (unnamed)
peacekeepers
before the UN
did. He also
chided reports
that three
peacekeepers
had died.
While other
went this
this,
apparently not
having spoken
with Mukerjee
but only
watched a
meeting on
UNTV or
relied on a
tweet, Inner
City Press even in
its headline
said 2 dead,
one injured.
But
this is how
the UN
operates -- it
does anything
it can to
discourage
real questions
by turning
then around,
then doling
out
information
selectively to
journalists
who will
report
positively
(and often
inaccurately).
UN
Peacekeeping,
after Inner
City Press
first
reported the
Akobo deaths
based on a
direct
conversation
with
Mukerje, sent
other media
but not Inner
City Press
information by
e-mail. But UN
Peacekeeping
didn't make
this
information
available to
the public and
other impacted
people. It has
become
dysfunctional.
As
has the wider
UN. Despite
claims this
week about a
new post Sri
Lanka
failure
"Rights Up
Front" plan,
in the midst
of this South
Sudan crisis
spokesperson
Haq on Friday
announced no
more briefings
for the week
-- just spin
on the UN
website. (The
Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
@FUNCA_info,
has
protested).
As was jotted
inside
the Security
Council
consultations
on December
20, there is a
"credibility
crisis in the
UN." Watch
this site.
, 
