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UN Dodges Its Own Bullets in Congo, Its Aid in
Somalia, Haiti and Budget Cuts, Who's FYROM?
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
October 27 -- As the UN opened fire
on demonstrators in the Congo, and was accused of propping up an
occupation in
Somalia, on Monday at the UN, Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson dodged
questions concerning these and other issues. Some criticisms were not
even raised, such as that the UN mediator
on the name issue for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is
reputed to
take orders from the Bush and not Ban Administration. The refusal to
state what
the UN does in Somalia may however have been the most extreme evasion.
From the transcript:
Inner
City Press: On the
news today of the peace accord in Somalia between the ARS and the
Government,
there’s a quote from Al Shabab, [inaudible] blaming
the UN system for financing
the formation of regal administrations propping up what they say is a
puppet
government. Does the UN, has the UN system been funding
regional
government in Somalia and how does it respond to the critique about
these
insurgences that’s propping up this puppet government?
Spokesperson: We don’t have anything to say about the criticism
that was
made by those youth groups that participate in the opposition. We
don’t
have any comments to make about this. In terms of what the
mandate is, it
is very easy to find out. Just go to the mandate. You will
get it.
Inner City Press: The mandate is what? Is a, is a… there’s
an envoy
but what in terms of funding. I don’t know what the mandate is,
in terms
of the UN funding.
Spokesperson: You can find out. I’m sure you can find out.
Inner City Press: Where?
Spokesperson: Mr. Ould-Abdallah just doesn’t go on his own.
There
is a mission. You can get information. We can lead you to
someone
for the information.
But ten
hours later, no information was provided. So what is the mandate of the
Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General?
UN peacekeeper in Congo with sax, verbal answers not
shown
Likewise with Inner City Press'
question about the shootings in the Congo:
Inner City
Press: There’s a
Bloomberg report saying that the UN peacekeepers opened fire in
self-defense on
a crowd and that two people are dead.
Spokesperson: That’s a media report that I cannot, that we have
to wait
to confirm from the Mission. I have written to them. We
have called
them and we are waiting for an answer.
Inner City Press: Just one thing. [inaudible] the
demonstrators [inaudible]
were throwing rocks. Is it consistent with the mandate of MONUC
to shoot
fire with live ammunition into a crowd, if that took place?
Spokesperson: That’s a hypothetical question. We’ll check
the
mandate for you.
Nothing
was provided
about the mandate, or about the shooting, 11 full hours later.
Following
the
above-quoted UN noon briefing, Inner City Press attended a protest in
front of
the US Mission to the UN. It concerned the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, and included charges of genocide, cultural and otherwise.
The crowd
chanted, "Shame on you, FYROM!"
A
woman passing by
asked Inner City Press, "Who's Fyrom?" After
receiving the explanation of the acronym,
she said, "They ought to make that clear. No one out here
understands."
Several
participants
told Inner City Press that behind the demonstration was the exposure
last week
of the US State Department's communications with FYROM and even UN
"name
issue" envoy Matthew Nimetz. "The UN shouldn't take its instructions
from the US," one of them said. But on this and some other issues, it
apparently does.
Footnote:
UN humanitarian coordinator John Holmes spoke
Monday of Haiti, from which he'd just returned. Inner City Press asked
about UN
reports of displaced people being put up in tents, which even the
UN says is
ridiculous in light of possible future hurricanes.
Holmes said that some private groups have
been using tents, including the Rotary Club, with an "encampment" of
tents. Inner City Press asked about
reports of people being threatened with eviction from schools. Holmes
said its
true, some private schools want to re-open because they need the fees.
Inner
City Press
asked how OCHA will deal with Ban Ki-moon's directive that budgets be
slashed
by two percent. Holmes said that while OCHA "is subject to the
requirement
to cut by two percent," since only six percent of OCHA's money is from
the
regular UN budget, the effect on OCHA is less. But what about DESA?
What about UN
Security?
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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