As US
Relaxes Sudan
Sanctions, ICP
Asks of Tabit
Rapes, Is
Referred to UN
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 17, more
here --
With UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous still
providing few
to no updates
on its UNAMID
mission's
November 9
covering up of
rapes in
Darfur, just
as Ladsous
stonewalled
about mass
rapes in
Minova in the
DR Congo, here,
events keep
moving on.
On
February 17
the US amended
its sanctions
on Sudan
"pertaining to
certain
software,
hardware, and
services
incident to
personal
communications,"
and held a
background
call with the
media.
Inner City
Press asked,
what about the
mass rapes in
Tabit and
pushing Sudan
to re-gain access
to investigate?
The Administration
official who
responded -
those were the
ground rules
-- said that
the US had
discussed a
range of
issues with
Sudan's
Ibrahim
Ghandour
during this
trip to the
United States.
Inner City
Press asked if
there is a
timeline for
Sudan to grant
access to
Tabit to
investigate
the rapes.
The
Administration
official
replied that
Ghandour had
also held discussions
in New York
with senior UN
officials.
Inner City
Press covered
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
meeting with
Ghandour, at
which Ban
asked, "How is
President
Bashir?" Video
here.
Did the UN
gain any
commitment at
all? We'll be
asking --
again.
On February 11
inside the UN
a report was
issued and a
set-aside first
question was
asked,
purportedly
about the
Tabit rapes,
with no
mention of UN
Peacekeeping's
Herve Ladsous
at all.
While some
claim that
Ladsous' UN
Peacekeeping
is trying to
get back to
Tabit, on
Feburary 10 a
Sudanese
diplomat told
Inner City
Press he had
met with
Ladsous on
February 9 and
"it was nice."
How's that,
for Ladsous'
supposed
commitment to
get to the
bottom of
rapes and
rights abuses?
Instead,
in order to
NOT move
against the
FDLR militia,
Ladsous' UN
Peacekeeping
is now
claiming to
care too much
for human
rights to
support the
Congolese
Army's
supposed
offensive
against the
FDLR -- which,
the UN
belatedly
acknowledged
to Inner City
Press, has not
even begun.
But on the
Tabit rapes,
that the
Sudanese
diplomat
without irony
described his
February 9
meeting with
Ladsous has
"nice" is
telling.
It is easy and
appropriate,
of course, to
blame Sudan,
as it was and
is to blame
the Congolese
Army and
government for
the rapes in
Minova. But
there is a
pattern, and
until UN
Peacekeeping's
senior
leadership's
cover up of
these
incidents -
and even
silence on
dead
peacekeepers
for more than
a week --
nothing will
improve.
So why is
Human Rights
Watch, which
alongside its
detailed work
goes out of
its way not
to criticize
the UN and
especially
Ladsous, for
example on
Central
African
Republic,
as Inner City
Press reported
here,
partnering to
hold a
privatized
event on
Tabit, not in
the UN Press
Briefing Room
but among
friends, as
they say?
Why
have HRW and
its hosts said
nothing about
posts
in UN
Peacekeeping
under Ladsous
being sold for
money,
exclusively
exposed by
Inner City
Press on
February 7,
asked
about February
9, and partially
answered by
the UN on
February 10,
here?
Any country
can sponsor
such a
briefing in
the UN Press
Briefing Room.
But HRW hides
behind and in
the clubhouse
of the UN
Censorship
Alliance, Board
members of
which in the
past have
ordered
changes to
articles about
Ladsous -
and about
Sri Lanka,
more
here.
Human rights?
Hardly.
Look how Human
Rights Watch's
selectively
distributed
invitation
whitewashes UN
Peacekeeping's
and Ladsous'
role:
"Between
October 30 and
November 1,
2014, Sudanese
government
forces entered
Tabit, North
Darfur, and
carried out
massive abuses
against the
town’s
residents,
including a
mass rape of
women and
girls. Sudan
responded by
denying the
abuses and has
refused to
allow
international
peacekeepers
and other
independent
monitors to
investigate
the crimes."
This is
misleading -
Ladsous'
UNAMID was in
Tabit on
November 9,
and put out a
press release
whitewashing
the rapes and
saying the
people there
like the
government's
security
forces. This
was shameful.
More
publicly,
Inner City
Press on
January 26 asked
Security
Council
ambassadors
Mark Lyall
Grant of the
UK and
Raimonda
Murmokaite of
Lithuania,
"what happened
with UNAMID
going back for
real
investigation
of rapes in
Tabit?"
Lyall Grant replied,
"We continue
to press DPKO
to encourage
UNAMID to
revert on the
Tabit
allegations."
Murmokaite
added,
"have been
raising the
issue at
consultations,
will
continue."
And
so Inner City
Press at the
January 26 UN
noon briefing
asked
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, video here:
Inner
City
Press: two of
the Security
Council
ambassadors
this morning
said they
continued to
ask DPKO to
ensure that
the Tabit site
of alleged
mass rapes is
revisited. I
want to know
has any action
been taken on
that? Has
there been any
move by
UNAMID?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
The request to
visit Tabit
stands.
There's
nothing to
report.
Nothing
to report?
Back on
January 8
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, video
here:
Inner
City Press:
what has the
UN system done
in order to
get access
again to
Thabit in
Darfur, where
there were
allegedly 200
rapes, and
then the
Government
didn’t allow
any
inspectors.
What have you
done since we
last spoke on
it?
SG
Ban: As for
the first part
of the
question, as
you know, we
tried to have
a thorough
investigation.
This report
might not have
been
sufficient
because of the
lack of full
cooperation of
the
authorities on
the ground.
That has
really
hampered our
authorities to
go into the
field and get
a thorough
investigation.
It is
important that
we have to
have a
thorough
investigation
and as a
matter of
principle,
there should
be a clear
accountability
process and
justice. I am
firm about
this matter.
And we will,
in the course
of time, have
better
information on
this matter.
While
appreciated,
it is widely
recognized
that the more
time goes by,
the more
difficult a
credible rape
investigation
becomes. So
why did UNAMID
issue a
cover-up
November 9
press release?
, 
