With
Crowley Out For Speaking, US Mission Silent on Darfur & UN
Corruption
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 13, updated -- The
ouster from the State
Department of spokesman PJ Crowley for calling the Defense
Department's treatment of accused Wikileaker Bradley Manning
“counterproductive and stupid” was not unexpected.
But viewed from the UN, it looks particularly stupid and
counterproductive.
Crowley's
too
infrequent visits to the US Mission to the UN's new briefing room
were bursts of news and on-the-record quotes that differed from the
usual silence from USUN.
In
September 2010 during the UN General
Debate, Crowley led a press conference including Samantha Power, and
took questions from a range of media. During the session, Inner City
Press got an on the record response about Sudan, and later from
Crowley an answer on Myanmar he couldn't give the first time around.
By
contrast, the US
Mission to the UN rarely holds press briefings or even informal
stakeouts in front of the Security Council. While the
previous US Mission spokesman routinely briefed journalists before
Council
meetings, the US is now noticeably absent from such session. A non
permanent member, India, holds month dinner press
briefings by its Ambassador, unlike US Perm Rep Susan Rice.
It
is not just
about face time. Ten days ago, Inner City Press e-mailed the three
top USUN spokespeople a simple request for
the US position on the UN
in Sudan providing free flights to Ahmed Haroun, indicted by the
International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur.
After
four days of
silence from the US Mission -- during which time the UK Mission to
the UN, for example, submitted a response -- Inner City Press
reminded lead USUN spokesman Mark Kornblau of the questions,
now including one about violence in Sudan's contested Abyei region.
I just
got back, he quipped, I'm
going to pretend I didn't get your e-mail.
Still
having no
response, Inner City Press asked an associate spokesperson who is now
leaving the Mission. She said that an answer would be forthcoming.
But still, none has been.
Hillary Clinton at UN, Crowley over right shoulder,
USUN answers not shown
Perhaps
the blame
runs higher, in that Susan Rice despite her public statements about
Darfur has had little to say on the topic of late. Rice is loath to
criticize any action by the UN, including the UN Mission in Sudan
flying an indicted war
criminal around.
Under Rice, USUN has
had little to nothing to say about improving UN management, remaining
silent for example on the UN's recently exposed mishandling
a contract with PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Perhaps
the
silence comes from the Secretary herself, Hillary Clinton, who
POLITICO
said never left Crowley crack her inner circle of Philippe
Reines and counsel Cheryl Mills.
Here's hoping
that Crowley's
replacement Mike Hammer brings better performance, or at least
more civility, to
the US Mission to the UN. Second and third changes are usually the
American way. But from here, it looks like
the wrong person had to leave, and for the wrong reasons.
* * *
Amid
Torched
Villages
in Abyei, UN Flew in Torcher Haroun,
Questions Unanswered
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March
7 -- Amid the torching of villages in Abyei by
Sudanese nomads, the UN flew into
Abyei Ahmen Haroun, indicted by the
International Criminal Court for organizing nomads to commit war
crimes in Darfur, it confirmed to Inner City Press on March 4.
In
follow up,
Inner City Press over the weekend asked Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky to
“provide
all previously requested specifics of ICC indictee Ahmed Haroun's now
second flight with the UN, and did DPKO tell the Security Council?
Was it a special or scheduled flight? How much did it cost? Did the
UN ask why Sudan's air force couldn't make the flight? Did OLA
consider and approve this? When will Patricia O'Brien hold a press
conference and take questions?”
On
March 7, with
Nesirky not having answered any of the questions, he used his noon
briefing opening to deliver praise to the government of Omar al
Bashir, also indicted by the ICC for genocide, for now agreeing to
try to avoid violence. Inner City Press asked:
Inner
City
Press:
on Sudan, I mean, I heard your message lauding this
agreement between the SPLM and the NPC. Has the UN seen, and can it…
seen this report, and can it confirm that three villages were burned
down in Abyei, 300 buildings destroyed, and what’s the relation
between that… is this the violence that the agreement that you are
applauding will be stopping or… and what was, did Ahmed Haroun,
this indicted ICC [International Criminal Court] individual, what was
his role? Did he sign this for the NPC, and do you think that
villages will no longer be burned down in this way?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
First
of all, it is precisely that kind of violence and
damage with human, as well as material, cost that this agreement
would be designed to stop, and to try to stop. Governor [Ahmed]
Haroun of South Kordofan, as you know, is responsible for the
Misseriya’s respect for the rule of law and finding a solution to
their migration, and so that is why his role was crucial in that
respect.
Inner
City
Press:
What do you say to those who say that, since he is
actively charged by the ICC with organizing nomadic tribes to burn
down villages that may be relying on him, transporting him may be not
a good idea?
Menkerios (r) with Mbeki & Hillary Clinton,
Haroun not shown
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I
think the point here is that, as I just said, his role in
ensuring that Misseriya respect the rule of law and also in helping
to find a solution to their migration is really crucial. And,
indeed, the talks between the Ngok Dinka/SPLM and the Misseriya/NCP
really can’t take place without his participation.
So
it is
impossible to deal with murderous nomads without the UN flying in a
Sudanese government official indicted by the ICC for organizing
nomads to murder in Darfur. Is the resulting and continuing murder
any surprise?
Footnote:
Meanwhile
on
March 7 Inner City Press on deadline asked the three
spokespeople of the US Mission to the UN the following question, so
far without response:
“Does
the US State Department / Administration find the new Satellite
Sentinel Project imagery, confirming the deliberate burning of three
villages in Sudan's contested Abyei region, useful? How is the Obama
administration focusing on Abyei? Do you agree with the conclusions
of the Satellite Sentinel Project that it's systematic targeting of
civilian infrastructure, and as such, evidence of a possible war
crime?”
There
are
other
questions to the US Mission to the UN that have gone unanswered.
Watch this site.
* * *
UN
Admits
2d
Flight
of ICC Darfur Indictee Haroun to Abyei in Sudan, Impunity
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March
4,
updated -- The UN
has for a second time offered a free UN
flight in Sudan to Ahmed Haroun, under indictment by the
International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, the UN
admitted Friday in response to questions from Inner City Press.
On
March 3 the UN
Security Council met about renewed fighting in the disputed Abyei
region. Back in January, Inner City Press got the UN to acknowledge
they had flown ICC indictee Haroun from South Kordofan, where he
serves fellow ICC indictee Omar al Bashir as governor, to Abyei.
The
UN has defended
this controversial flight by saying that Haroun and Haroun alone
could stop violence in Abyei. The UN never explained why the
government of Sudan, which has an air force currently bombing civilians
in Jebel Marra in Darfur, couldn't itself fly Haroun.
The
UN said it was
a scheduled flight, then UN Mission in Sudan chief Haile Menkerios
admitted to
Inner City Press that it was a special flight. Inner City Press is
told such flights cost $40,000, and the UN has confirm no
reimbursement has been sought from the Bashir government.
But
now the
violence has continued, making the UN flight of ICC indictee Haroun
harder to justify even by the UN's own argument.
UN's Ban & spox Nesirky, cost of flying ICC indictee not shown
March
3
in
front
of the Security Council, Inner City Press asked Council president for
March Li Baodong of China if the UN Peacekeeping official who briefed
the Council, Atul Khare, had mentioned if Haroun would again be flown
in a UN helicopter. Li Baodong did not directly answer.
At
the March 4 UN
noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman Martin Nesirky to confirm or deny that that the UN would
once again fly ICC indictee Haroun to Abyei, even now that his work in
connection with the first flight has proved ineffective.
Nesirky
said
he
would
check. Ten minutes later, Nesirky's deputy Farhan Haq announced
by speaker to all UN correspondents that yes, Haroun attended today's
meeting in Abyei, and yes, “he was transported” by the UN.
This
UN
promotes
impunity,
even for one of the few people indicted for war crimes by
the ICC. Meanwhile Ban Ki-moon brags about the Security Council's partial
referral of the situation in Libya to the ICC -- a referral that Ban
Ki-moon did not even call for until after the Council voted to make
the referral.
This
UN
is
promoting
and enshrining lawlessness, with no transparency or
accountability. Watch this site.
Update
of 3:48 pm -- Human Rights Watch, via Richard Dicker, submitted
this
comment:
“This
is the second time in recent weeks the UN has transported Ahmed
Haroun who is charged by the ICC with war crimes in Darfur. We have
real concerns because the U.N. should not be in the business of
transporting Haroun. There needs to be an extremely high threshold of
urgency for such action by UNMIS.”
Responses
have
been
sought
from the Missions to the UN of France, the UK and the US,
with the latter two asked if they knew in advance of the UN's new
flight of ICC indictee Haroun. Given her
statements
this
year about
social media, & after hours of non-response by the US Mission
to the UN,@AmbassadorRice
has been asked directly as well. Watch
this site.
Update
of
4:30
pm
-- Then this, from UK Mission to the UN spokesman Daniel
Shepherd:
“As
spokesperson, I would only reiterate the message that my two
Ambassadors have both said on the record (and published by Inner City
Press) first time around: that we aren’t going to second guess how
UNMIS fulfills its mandate to provide good offices to the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) parties in efforts to resolve
differences through dialogue and negotiations. I’d only add that
this work is particularly important at this sensitive time, to
contain any potential escalation after the recent Abyei violence.”
We could
note
again that violence has persisted despite the UN flying ICC indictee
Ahmed Haroun in the first time, and that it is the role of UN member
states to oversee the UN Secretariat, not to defer in this case to
what some see as its promotion of impunity - but at least the UK
would put its position on the record.
Update
of
4:43
pm
-- this too has come in, perhaps in response:
Date:
Fri,
Mar
4,
201
Subject: Haroun and Abyei
To: Matthew.Lee [at]
innercitypress.com
You
guys
ask
great
questions! Have you noticed perhaps that the United
Nations seems to be unaware of who is causing the violence in Abyei.
And yet "diplomatic sources" report seeing the burial of 33
bodies - all southerners.
The
Arab
nomads
say
the violence started when SPLM police shot at them
(Hitler used a similar ploy to invade Poland) - and today thousands
of civilians fled Abyei fearing another crisis like in June 2008. The
Dinka Ngok villages north of Abyei, such as Maker, have been
burnt to the ground. The end explains the means. There is a
creeping ethnic cleansing going on in the Abyei region despite the
agreements of 2005 and the Court of Arbitration ruling in 2010.
Why
fly
Haroun
to
Abyei - what is his cv? It is, as you correctly point
out, that of arming arab militias to burn villages. I hope to see
more of your questions pinning the UN to the responsibility to
protect.
, 
