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UN Council
Faces and Dodges Congolese Push-Back About
Bemba's Indictment by ICC
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Preses in Africa:
News Analysis
KINSHASA,
June 7 -- The UN
Security Council's contradictory stance on the International Criminal
Court was
on display Saturday in Kinshasa,
in the corridors of the huge Palace of the People. Emerging from an
hour-long
meeting with Congolese Senators, France's Ambassador to the
UN
Jean-Maurice Ripert told local reporters that while the issue of the
ICC had been
brought up, the ICC is entirely independent from the Council, and thus
he had
nothing to say on the matter. But back in Sudan,
earlier in this ten-day Council trip from Africa,
Amb. Ripert had bragged about France's position, later clarified to be
the
European Union's as well, that "further measures" might have to be
taken on Sudanese officials who don't cooperate with the Court. So speaking in and of Sudan,
the
Security Council speaks of the Court and condemns those who don't
comply. But
speaking in and of the Congo,
to legislators angry that one of their own was arrested in Belgium
without
notice, the Security Council claims it has nothing to do with the ICC,
and
refuses to answer questions.
Inner
City Press
then asked Costa Rican Ambassador Jorge Urbina, who often speaks about
the rule
of law, how the issue had come up, and if it concerned Bemba. He nodded
in
assent, but repeated the argument that the Security Council is entirely
separate from the Court. Meanwhile, his country at the ministerial
level is
pushing a Presidential Statement at the Council in New York, to back up ICC prosecutor
Luis
Moreno-Ocampo. So what's this about selective separations between the
Council
and Court?
Bemba with previous S-G Annan, ICC indictment
not yet shown
The
Palace of the
People is a huge, Soviet-style building. The Council moved from its
Senate
meeting through a darkened hallway to meet with members of the
Assembly. A
videographer and sound-man argued with security about a stolen tripod.
"This disappear here mysteriously all the time," a knowing local
quipped.
She predicted that the UN will never leave the Congo,
at least not under Kabila.
"They call it Maman Monique," she said, using the Congolese i-for-u
pronunciation.
While
the Council
Ambassadors met with legislators and ministers, in the streets of Kinshasa the
talk was of
the Ministre de Poubelles, the Minister of Garbage, a famous local
artist.
Another artist, a popular painter, has a work called Le Ministre
Inutil, the
Useless Minister. There is a vibrant art scene and street life in Kinshasa, that
Maman Monique
has little to do with. Except MONUC-ers in their personal time. More on
this to
follow.
* * *
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
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