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On
Deby's Chad Evictions, France Offers then Amends Defense,
Claims No Deal on Zoe's Ark
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
April 10 -- France's
relations with Chad and Idriss Deby were on display Wednesday at the
UN, both
in what how its Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert answered on-the-record questions
from Inner City Press about mass evictions in N'Djamena and the pardon and release of the Zoe's Ark
staff members following their conviction for abducting 103 children,
and in how
its mission (mis) transcribed Ripert's remarks. The exchange began with
Inner
City Press asking about reports of
evictions after Deby was "almost
overthrown in
February." Amb. Ripert immediately took issue with this phrasing,
saying,
"You mean in February when rebels tried to cease power by force against
Deby, the elected President of Chad?" Of course, Deby himself took
power
the same way that the rebels tries.
But
on the evictions, Ripert said, "whatever happens in the operations done
in
N'Djamena, he should do that in respecting the rule of law and the
legislation
of Chad. if you known N'Djamena, you how it is a very small city and it
is
difficult to accommodate everyone so the question is not is he allowed
to do
that, the question is how is it done concretely for the people living
these
difficult times in Chad." Video here,
from Minute 5:44.
The
"it" in Ripert's phrase, from the question, signifies evictions. Why isn't it a question of whether he can
do it? How is this different from Robert Mugabe's Operation
Murambatsvina / Take Out the Trash
in Zimbabwe, which France criticized?
The
French mission's transcription of Ripert's remarks different from what's
actually shown in the video, putting these words in
Ripert's
mouth: " whatever happens in the operations done
in N'Djamena, he should do that in respecting the rule of law and the
legislation of Chad. The question is not how did he allow to do that:
the
question is how it is done concretely
for the people who are living." Click here for the French mission's full transcription
as sent to media.
The omission of Ripert's statement about N'djamena
being so small that
not everyone can be accommodated (thereby seeming to justify evictions)
and the switch
from what he said -- "it is not a question of if he is can do that"
-- to "the question is not how did he allow to do that" both operate,
after the fact, to make Ripert's defense of Deby's evictions less
apparent. Inner City Press has made similar findings in UN
in-house transcripts, for example about the
UN in Somlia, but until now has taken the French mission's
transcripts at face value.
Amb. Ripert and Burkina-Faso Perm Rep, can
the transcript be believed?
Inner City Press also asked about Deby's pardon and
France's release of
the Zoe's Ark staff convicted of kidnapping, and whether as
has been reported
that was any quid pro quo, for France to help defend Deby from the
rebels in
exchange for Deby pardoning the French citizens. Ripert denied not only
a deal,
but even any negotiations, even according
to the transcript: " there
was absolutely no negotiation, no exchange and there is no commitment
of the
French Government to pay any kind of money that those people hold from
the
families of those victims."
This
was later clarified to mean, France might
collect the money for Chad, but it would be coming from the social
workers --
perhaps, it was suggested, from the advance and royalties Eric Breteau
is said
to be receiving for a book about the case. Breteau has alleged that the
French
government knew what he and his colleagues, including the good doctor
Philippe Van Winkelberg, were doing. We'll
see.
* * *
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
UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017 USA
Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other,
earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
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2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
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