UN
Resignation of Petrie Caused by Inaction on Staff Genocidaire, UN No
Comments
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 20 -- The UN moved Charles Petrie from Somalia to
Burundi in April of this year, and now on
November 1 he is leaving
the employ of the UN.
On October 19, Inner City Press
asked the UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq why
Petrie is leaving. He is not being thrown out of the country, Haq
said. “Clearly, he has been talking about this, and so, you could
get the answer just as easily from Mr. Petrie. I wouldn’t have any
way of adding to his own comments.”
But
a September 30
resignation letter from Petrie to Ban Ki-moon, obtained elsewhere in
New York by Inner City Press, shows that Petrie is choosing to leave
the whole UN system, due to the UN's inaction on genocidaire Callixte
Mbarushimana, and that while he will now work part time on Somalia,
it will not be through the UN, but on behalf of European donors.
For
a UN official
to leave the UN system due to its failure to act on a genocidaire who
worked for the UN is news -- which may be why Ban Ki-moon's
Spokesperson's Office has refused to say anything. Back
on October
11, Inner City Press asked
Inner
City
Press: does the UN have any comment on the arrest in Paris of
Callixte Mbarushimana?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: I know who you mean, and this is an ICC
[International Criminal Court] arrest. We’ve seen the same press
release or statement that you have on this person…
Inner
City
Press: He worked for the UN; I am wondering what the response…
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
We of course know where he worked before, and you also know
the full history to that. What I can simply say is that we are aware
in the same way that you are — from the media and from their press
release — that the International Criminal Court has announced that
this man was arrested earlier today in Paris by the French
authorities following a sealed ICC arrest warrant. That’s what I
can tell you.
But
the UN could
have said more.
UN's Ban with Petrie, inaction on genocidaire and
resignation not shown
The public
record shows that Petrie was the UN's
Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Rwanda at the time of the 1994
genocide. In his September 30 letter of resignation to Ban, Petrie
urged
“the
UN to come to terms with the case of Callixte Mbarushimana, a former
staff member of UNDP (1992 - 1995 Rwanda, 1996 - 1998 Angola) and
later UNMIK (2000-2001), accusing of having participated in the
murder of thirty-three people at the time of Rwanda's genocide, among
[them] UN colleagues. To a large part as a result of the UN's
inability, or unwillingness, to initiate an investigation of the
accusations that were know to it by 1996, Callixte Mbarushimana won a
legal action against the UN in 2004 which resulted in the
organization paying his thirteen months salary as compensation for
the 'violation of his rights.'”
The
UN could have
addressed this, but didn't. Perhaps the “review” that Petrie's
letter to Ban says he will embark on will help address this. Watch
this site.
* * *
After
Burundi
1-Party
Election, Murder of Opposition, UN Declares Victory
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October
19 -- When the UN says it will help with an
election, which then includes only one party and the opposition
killed, can it be called a success? Apparently it can.
The
UN's envoy to
Burundi Charles Petrie is now leaving “months early.” But when
Inner City Press asked if he is being thrown out, and has
accomplished his objectives as one published report has it, UN acting
Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq insisted that Petrie “is not being
persona non grata’d. He is departing of his own volition, as he
himself has said.”
Petrie
was
previously
PNG-ed from Myanmar, and he has apparently changed his
M.O. in response to that ejection. Now, when the
opposition drops out
and is killed, Petrie blames the opposition. One cynic said that he
is going to Somalia because that country's UN supported -- and UN
selected -- Transitional Federal Government is the only government so
weak it couldn't PNG anyone.
Ban Ki-moon & Petrie in Burundi, democracy not shown
From
the
UN's
October 19 transcript:
Inner
City
Press:
Can I ask about Burundi? [inaudible] said that Mr.
Charles Petrie is leaving several months early from the country and
it’s also, this is intertwined with reports of the execution of 22
ex-rebel FNL [National Liberation Front] individuals. He is quoted,
Mr Petrie is quoted, as saying that the opposition, by boycotting the
elections, failed the country, but that he has accomplished — this
is in a separate article — that he is leaving the country ahead of
time because he has accomplished his objectives. What exactly is
going on? What is the UN… one, can you confirm this, these reports
of execution of ex-rebels? And two, what are his objectives and why
is he leaving early? Is he being “persona non grata’d”, as
some say?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq: No, he is not being persona non
grata’d. He is departing of his own volition, as he himself has
said. I wouldn’t have any further comment to add to what he
himself is saying.
Inner
City
Press:
What were his objectives, though, if in fact no election
was held and people are being killed?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: Clearly, he has been talking about this,
and so, you could get the answer just as easily from Mr. Petrie. I
wouldn’t have any way of adding to his own comments. But regarding
the question of reported executions, we’ll certainly look into
this. I’ll see whether there is anything further we can say about
these reports. We certainly have seen some worrying reports and
we’ll need to look into that. I’ll see whether there is anything
further to say on that.
Haq
said
it is easy
to hear from Charles Petrie. We'll be waiting. Watch this site.
* * *
UN's
Ban
Takes
Note
of Grenade-Scarred One Party Election in Burundi,
Mutineer Taking Power in Guinea-Bissau
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June
30
-- When an election on which the UN has spent years
ends up with a single candidate and the opponent in hiding, and
polling's marked with the deadly tossing
of
grenades, what does
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon do? He “takes note” of the one
party election, in this case in Burundi. But what does this mean?
On
June 28, after
Ban praised the referendum in Kyrgyzstan that was marked by ethnic
cleansing then declined to take questions on his praise, Inner City
Press asked his spokesman Martin Nesirky if Ban would also praise
Burundi. We'll have something tomorrow, Nesirky said.
And
indeed he did.
In the opening
of
the
June 29 noon briefing, Nesirky provided updates
on two outstanding questions:
Yesterday
I
was
asked
about Burundi. The Secretary-General takes
note of the presidential election that took place on 28 June.
In regard to the rest of the electoral cycle, the Secretary-General
calls on all Burundians, and their political parties, to continue
settling their disputes through peaceful means and an inclusive
dialogue, and he urges them to persist in consolidating national
cohesion and their hard-won peace.
I
was
also
asked
yesterday about the appointment of a new Chief of
Staff in Guinea-Bissau. The United Nations takes note
of the appointment of Major-General Antonio N’djai as the new Chief
of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Guinea-Bissau. The Special
Representative of the Secretary-General in Guinea-Bissau, Joseph
Mutaboba, is consulting national and international stakeholders on
the way forward, particularly with respect to security-sector reform,
addressing impunity, restoring respect for the rule of law and
strengthening democratic governance. Our goal is to secure the
cooperation of all concerned, including the military leadership, in
the continued pursuit of our peacebuilding mission, which includes as
a central feature the introduction of vital reforms in the security
sector.
It
goes without
saying that a one party election is far less than ideal. In
Guinea-Bissau, the UN had expressed concern that the mutineer might
be rewarded with a government post. But then when it happened, the UN
merely “took note.” And so Inner City Press asked
Nesirky:
Inner
City
Press:
I
just wanted to follow up on these two announcements
that you made on Burundi and Guinea-Bissau. In the Burundi election,
there was only one candidate, and since then grenades have been
thrown at the Electoral Commission, killing two people. You’re
saying Ban Ki-moon takes note of it. What does that mean?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I
said
he took note of the presidential election.
Inner
City
Press:
Is
that some kind — “taking note” means he doesn’t
view a one candidate’s election positively, or he views the
throwing of grenades as unhelpful? What is he taking note of?
UN's Ban takes note of one party election in
Burundi, grenade attacks not shown
Spokesperson:
Of
the
presidential election that took place on 28 June. And what
it also says — I can repeat it for you — is that he calls on all
Burundians and their political parties to continue settling their
disputes through peaceful means and inclusive dialogue; peaceful
means and inclusive dialogue. And that’s a message that he took
directly to the people, including the President, when he visited
Bujumbura earlier this month.
Inner
City
Press:
I
was just wondering, maybe if you could get [inaudible]
like at the Security Council, like taking note. Is he troubled by
it? Is he concerned by it? Is he just aware of it? I just want, if
you could give…
Spokesperson:
Well,
for
now it says what it says, Matthew. It says what it says.
There may be more coming from the Mission subsequently, but that’s
what we’re saying at the moment. And importantly, he stressed on
the spot, when he was there in Bujumbura, and he’s saying it again
now, through me, as he is on his way to the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, that this is a process after a conflict, and there needs
to be some persistence here to work to consolidate national cohesion.
No one is saying that they’re there yet. But they need to push
ahead with that. And in doing so, they need to be as inclusive as
possible. Okay, and you want to add something on Guinea-Bissau, did
you say?
Inner
City
Press:
No,
I think it’s just you used exactly the same phrase,
and it seems like, I think the question you were asked yesterday is
whether the UN, which had expressed concern about this individual
getting the post, is concerned now that the person has gotten the
post. And I guess, I put the two together, maybe “taking note”
means there is concern. I just wasn’t sure.
Spokesperson:
Well,
it’s
not for me to try to parse or interpret the wording. I
think, probably, I’d have to leave that to you.
So
how
should we
interpret
Ban's mere "taking note" of this UN's inability to positively impact
even Burundi and Guinea Bissau? Watch this site.
