By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 22 --
With the UN in
New York
refusing for
19 hours now
to answer
questions
about its
performance in
South Sudan,
in 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, which
hours later as
of this
publication
the UN had not
put on its
website, here.
So too does
the UN Mission
in South Sudan
UNMISS
tweeting it is
moving "non
essential"
staff out of
the country,
to Uganda, 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
nineteen 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 for
more than
nineteen hours
now.
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
has a "policy"
of not
answering
Press
questions. Video here, UK
coverage
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.
, 
