UN
Says
Flying ICC Indictee Haroun Was In Its Budget, Won't Disclose Cost
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 14 -- After the UN begrudgingly confirmed to Inner
City Press that it had provided transportation to Ahmed Haroun,
indicted for war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal
Court, the office of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson
Martin Nesirky insisted that it was “on a space available basis...
at no additional operational costs to the mission.”
Immediately
after
that answer, two weeks ago, Inner City Press began asking Nesirky:
“On
your answer that Ahmed Haroun, indicted by the ICC for war crimes in
Darfur, flew on a pre-existing UN flight, in light of footage from
interview in South Kordofan which Haroun arranged with UN plane on
camera behind him, please state who else was on the flight with him,
how frequent UN flights between Abyei and South Kordofan are and what
size aircrafts are used.”
While
there has
still not been answer answer to this question, on February 11 in
front of the UN Security Council Inner City Press asked the head of
the UN Mission in Sudan Haile Menkerios if Haroun had been flown on a
regular UN flight.
Menkerios
said no,
“there is no direct flight to Abyei. We flew him there in order to
take him... We flew him by helicopter to Abyei because there is no
flight.”
This
contradicted
Ban's spokesman's response that the UN's flight of ICC indictee
Haroun was “on a space available basis... at no additional
operational costs to the mission.”
And so on
February 14 Inner City
Press asked Nesirky to explain the discrepancy, and reiterated the
request to know who else was on the flight, and how much it cost.
Nesirky
began by
asking Inner City Press to “read
from [its] blog” and then denied
there was any contradiction:
Inner
City
Press: I wanted to ask you about this, the flying by UNMIS of
Ahmed Haroun, who is indicted by the ICC. And earlier response from
your office had said that…
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: Matthew, why don’t you read out what your blog
said today?
Inner
City
Press: Yeah, Okay.
Spokesperson:
Why don’t you read out…?
Inner
City
Press: No, what I would like to know, I’d like to know what
your response is.
Spokesperson:
Why don’t you read out what the top of your blog said today? Do
you want to read out the top, what your blog actually says?
Inner
City
Press: I’d like… okay, fine, I mean… I guess that… I
was trying to ask you a question. I thought that was the purpose of
these briefings.
Spokesperson:
No, I mean, just ask the question, but…
Inner
City
Press: Yeah, my question is, how is it consistent with the
response that I got that said that there were these pre-existing
seats and were done at no additional cost to the Mission with Mr.
[Haile] Menkerios’ statement that there was a special helicopter
used because there are no regular flights to Abyei. How are the two
consistent? And what was the cost to Abyei? And…
Spokesperson:
Well, I think there is a very clear answer to this. And that is
that, at the request of the Government and when space is available,
UNMIS provides seats on its flights to Government officials on
official business related to the peace process, and without any
financial implications to the Government and at no additional
operational costs to the Mission. This means that, as part of the
Mission's mandate, the cost of transporting Government officials,
whether it is on a regular or a special flight, is already allocated
in the Mission's budget and so there is no question of it incurring
any additional operational costs.
UN's Ban & spox Nesirky, cost of flying ICC indictee not shown
And
in
this case — and as mentioned indeed by the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Menkerios — a regular
flight was not available and therefore UNMIS transported Governor
Haroun as part of its mandate to provide good offices to the parties,
under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, in their efforts to resolve
their differences through dialogue and negotiations.
And
as
I think you will recall, at the time there were clashes in Abyei
going on at the time, and those clashes threatened to escalate. And
it was Governor Haroun who was instrumental in bringing the Misseriya
leaders to that meeting in Abyei, and this helped to prevent further
clashes.
Inner
City
Press: But you understand why the answer that said on a
space-available basis and at no additional operational cost to the
Mission created the impression that this was a pre-existing flight,
as from, for example, Kinshasa to Goma, on which he put somebody on
an existing flight? I mean, that’s why I have been asking who else
was on the flight and how much did the flight cost. It seems a fair
question when transporting an indicted ICC indicted of war crimes.
Spokesperson:
I think, as we’ve said very clearly, no additional operational
costs are involved. Within the budget there are costs that cover
transport, and there is no additional cost involved in the flight
that was provided.
Inner
City
Press: The idea of like a special UN flight to fly Mr. Haroun
to Abyei being at no additional costs to the Mission. I just, I guess
I wanted…
Spokesperson:
Because there are blocks of time available for flights, and that is
already budgeted into the Mission’s budget, and indeed that is a
standard procedure in any mission which has an aircraft.
Inner
City
Press: Would the UN fly Omar al-Bashir to Darfur? I mean, I
guess I just want to know where it stops. I guess I just want to
reiterate my question, despite the simplest way to do it, how much
the flight actually cost - because there is, I am sure, a cost to it
– and who else was on the flight? I mean, it seemed like a pretty
fair… because there is controversy around this flight and I just
find that the answer that was given, at least I know, maybe I am…
maybe I am a bad reader, but it’s… when it says when seats are
available and at no additional cost it implies that the flight was a
pre-existing flight on which, at no cost to the Mission, they put Mr.
Haroun on the flight. But it’s not the case.
Spokesperson:
Well, it is as I said to you, when space is available and at the
request of the Government, the Mission provides seats on its flights.
And it doesn’t, there are no financial implications for the
Government, and no additional operational costs to the mission.
Inner
City
Press: [inaudible] when you said like when seats are available,
usually this implies…
Spokesperson:
Let’s move on, we’re moving round in circles, Matthew. Let’s
move on to the next question. I am sure you have another question.
Yes
there are many
more questions. Watch this site.
* * *
UN
MIssion
in Sudan
Flew ICC Indictee Haroun on Special Copter, Contrary to UN Claim,
"There Are No Regular Flights"
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee, Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
February
12 -- Not only did the UN provide
air
transportation to Ahmed Haroun, indicted by the International
Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur -- the UN also lied or
misspoke about it, Inner City Press has found.
After
first
obtaining
confirmation from the UN that it flew Haroun to a meeting
in Abyei of nomadic tribes of the kind he organized in Darfur to burn
villages down, Inner City Press repeatedly asked for the specifics of
the flight, and if the UN had sought or received reimbursement from
the Sudanese government (which, it must be noted, has its own air
force which could have flown Haroun, just as it bombs Darfur and the
border with Southern Sudan).
After
first
refusing
to answer, the UN belated sent this answer:
From:
UN
Spokesperson
- Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, Feb 1, 2011
at 2:17 PM
Subject: Your question on Ahmed Haroun
To: Matthew
Russell Lee [at] InnerCityPress.com
In
accordance
with
its mandate, the Mission provides the necessary
support to those key players in their pursuit to find a peaceful
solution. In this context, at the request of the Government and on a
space available basis, UNMIS provides seats on its flights to
Government officials on official business related to the peace
process, without any financial implications to the Government and at
no additional operational costs to the mission.
But
on February 11
when Inner City Press finally had an opportunity to see and ask
questions of the chief of the UN Mission in Sudan Haile Menkerios, he
answered that there was no regular flights between Southern Kordofan
State and Abyei, and that the UN had flown Haroun by special
helicopter.
Menkerios
told
Inner
City Press, “There is no direct
flight to Abyei. We flew him
there in order to take him... We flew him by helicopter to Abyei
because there is no flight.”
That
is
to say, the
answer provided by the UN in New York was false, apparently
intentionally so, when it said “at no additional operational costs
to the mission” and “on a space available basis.” There was
only “space available” for ICC indictee Haroun because the UN
made a special flight, which cannot have been “at no additional
operational costs to the mission.”
While
some
argue,
as Menkerios did on February 11, that it is a good or necessary trade
off to provide transport and legitimacy to an indicted war criminal
if it might forestall violence threatened (even if by the indictee
himself), it seems clear that a public organization like the UN
should at least be transparent about it.
Menkerios (r) with Mbeki & Hillary Clinton, Haroun not shown
The
context here is
that, apparently in exchange for the government of Omar al Bashir
allowing the Southern Sudan referendum, the UN has stayed quiet as
things have gotten worse for civilians in Darfur, where Haroun is
accused of committing war crimes.
The
UN has yet to
answer if Menkerios checked with top UN lawyer Patricia O'Brien (who
has refused to take questions from the Press) or with Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon himself.
Note:
ever
since the
Office of the Spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon provide the February 1
answer above, Inner City Press has repeatedly posed this follow up
question in writing:
“On
your answer that Ahmed Haroun, indicted by the ICC for war crimes in
Darfur, flew on a pre-existing UN flight, in light of footage from
interview in South Kordofan which Haroun arranged with UN plane on
camera behind him, please state who else was on the flight with him,
how frequent UN flights between Abyei and South Kordofan are and what
size aircrafts are used.”
Other
than
Menkerios
on February 12, there has been not answer from the UN.
Watch this site.
, 
