On
Darfur, UN
Doesn't Answer
on Looting of
One Village,
Corrects on
Another
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 12 --
While the UN
and its
mission in
Darfur
continue to
stonewall on
the
disappearance
of their
Protection of
Civilians
strategy,
which
whistleblowers
tell Inner
City Press
they allowed
Sudan to veto,
now UNAMID
tries to erase
the taking of
the town of
Rockero by the
opposition.
First
UNAMID sent
out a press
release on
January 9 that
that "Wali
(Governor) of
Central
Darfur, Dr.
Yousif
Tibin...
informed
UNAMID acting
chief that
armed groups
had taken
control of the
towns of Golo
and Rockero in
west Jebel
Marra."
Then
two days after
the release,
and after
another Inner
City Press
question about
UNAMID went
unanswered,
the UN
purported to
correct the
January 9
release,
saying "UNAMID
conveyed
inaccurate
report
regarding the
information
provided by
the Wali of
Central
Darfur, Dr.
Yousif Tibin,
on Rockero
town."
The
new paragraph
dropped the
taking of
Rockero by the
opposition:
"Wali Tibin
informed
UNAMID acting
chief that
armed groups
had taken
control of
Golo town in
west Jebel
Marra. He also
said the State
was, until
then, unable
to properly
communicate
with Rockero
town.
Therefore,
they didn't
have enough
information
about the town
from their
end, he
added."
Meanwhile,
on
January 11
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
Inner
City Press:
there’s
reports that
an entire
village in
central
Darfur,
Nagadoli, has
been destroyed
by
pro-Government
militias. Does
UNAMID
[African
Union-United
Nations Hybrid
Operation in
Darfur] know
about this
alleged
destruction of
an entire
village, and
what does
UNAMID make of
it, where are
things going,
is there any
plan to either
increase
patrols,
increase the
size of the
mission?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
They are all
valid
questions,
Matthew, and
I’ll see what
I can get from
the Mission.
But
more than 24
hours later,
nothing from
the Mission,
nothing but a
correction.
And stil no
answer at all
to the January
7 question by
Inner City
Press about
where the UN's
Protection of
Civilians
strategy has
gone, and if
Herve Ladsous'
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations has
let Sudan veto
it. Watch this
site.
, 
