By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 2 --
When a truck
said to carry
aid was
stopped in
Turkey's Hatay
province last
month, an
order to
search it by
the local
prosecutor in
charge of
terrorism was
overridden.
On January 2,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Humanitarian
chief Valerie
Amos for the
UN position on
whether aid
transports can
be searched,
and the impact
on aid of
refusing such
searches. UN
Video here
from Minute
34:17, YouTube
video here
and embedded
below.
Amos'
answer largely
focused on
Syrian
governmental
roadblocks,
including for
a time not
wanting
surgical
supplies
transported in
the the
country. But
what about the
allegation
that the
Turkish truck
had arms and
munitions, and
resisted
search?
Doesn't that
hurt all aid?
Amos
said, "when
aid goes into
a country, it
goes through
normal customs
procedures.
What sometimes
then happens,
we've seen
this a lot in
Syria, there
are a lot of
check points.
In Syria,
government
gives
clearances. So
the convoys
have the
paperwork and
they can go
through the
checkpoints.
At others,
there are
demand to look
to see... Last
year, for
example, the
government of
Syria was
insisting that
surgical
equipment was
not carried on
convoys. We
want our
trucks to go
through
normally, and
then be left
alone."
In the
case in
Turkey, the
truck hadn't
yet reached
Syria.
According to
reports,
"Prosecutor
Özcan Sisman,
who was also
tasked with
probing the
Reyhanli
bombing last
spring that
killed dozens
of people,
instructed
gendarmerie to
make an
official
search of the
truck by
emptying its
cargo. The
gendarmerie,
however, was
prevented from
obeying the
prosecutor as
it received a
written order
from the
governor
instructing
them not to
search the
truck.
"The
truck
was allegedly
planning to
cross into
Syria from the
Öncüpinar
Border Gate of
another
bordering
town, Kilis.
But after the
development,
the truck
returned to
Reyhanli from
where it
embarked for
Syria. The
truck was
hired by a
person who has
links with a
humanitarian
foundation,"
IHH.
It
seems that to
resist a
search in your
own country of
aid for the
country next
door might
hurt all aid.
We'll see.
Watch this
site.
, 
