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Protection
of Civilians
in UNSC Cites
Cluster Bombs
in Yemen,
Little on
Burundi
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 19 --
When
“Protection of
Civilians” was
debated all
day in the UN
Security
Council under
its Uruguayan
presidency for
the month on
January 19,
one expected
to hear not
only about
Syria but also
Yemen and
Burundi, and
even abuses by
UN
Peacekeepers
themselves.
At the UNTV
stakeout,
Inner City
Press managed
to ask
Uruguay's Vice
Minister for
Foreign
Affairs Jose
Luiz Cancela
about both
Burundi and Yemen, and Deputy Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson about
peacekeepers
accused of
rape,
particularly
in the Central
African
Republic. DSG video here.
Inner City
Press also
asked Cancela
about Ladsous'
position that
he couldn't or
wouldn't stop
a genocide in
Burundi. Video
here.
Cancela,
previously his
country's
Permanent
Representative
at the UN,
replied
diplomatically
that the
consent of
host countries
is required --
one might say,
then “Never
Again” means
little -- but
then focused
on the
upcoming
Council trip
to Burundi.
But
what will the
Security
Council
accomplish in
Burundi? The
Council's
“penholder” on
the country,
France, is not
even sending
its Permanent
Representative;
scribe-like
media was
selected,
excluding
others like
the Press,
with no
transparency.
Meanwhile on
Yemen, little
is said amid
the
airstrikes;
the UN's envoy
is not
accountable. The
Netherlands'
speaker called
for
accountability
by the
leadership of
UN
peacekeeping
missions - but
what about the
head of the
Department,
Herve Ladsous,
who publicly
linked the
rapes to
“R&R”? Video here.
In the
Council
chamber, João
Vale de
Almeida of the
EU lamented
that no
compliance
with
International
Humanitarian
Law resolution
was passed at
the Red Cross
and Red
Crescent
meeting in
December.
Croatia to its
credit
mentioned
cluster bombs
not only in
Syria but also
Yemen.
The
session ended
with some
rights of
reply:
Azerbaijan and
Armenia going
one round on
Nagorno
Karabakh,
Israel and
Ukraine
speaking, and
then an abrupt
end.
* * *
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reports
are
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News and on Lexis-Nexis.
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Press at UN
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