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On Gun Jumping in Cote d'Ivoire, UN Delays 24 Hours Then Squawks to All

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 31 -- As UN peacekeepers and civilians are killed in Cote d'Ivoire, the UN's mission there and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations respond to questions late and irregularly.

  On July 30, when the UN canceled its regular noon briefing to encourage focus on the three answers Secretary General Ban Ki-moon gave, all on Syria, Inner City Press submitted in writing these questions on Cote d'Ivoire:

"did Mr. Koenders interview any of the on the record witnesses to the killings and beating at the camp near Duekoue before issuing his statement on Friday? Have those people, two of whom I named at a noon briefing last week, been interviewed? What is the status of the UN's investigation, and how does it relate to SRSG Koender's statement on Friday?

"it has been reported that ONUCI did not know that Ivorian authorities identified and detained suspects in the killing of the seven UN Peacekeepers from Niger. What is the state of the UN's knowledge, and what will happen with those charged?"

Twenty four hours later, no answers had been provided; the questions, which had been put online, had not even been acknowledged. So Inner City Press went to the July 31 noon briefing and asked the questions again, resulting in Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman Eduardo Del Buey saying Inner City Press should directly ask UNOCI (or ONUCI), the mission in Cote d'Ivoire.

Previously, when Inner City Press asked Del Buey if Ban Ki-moon agrees with his Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous openly refusing to answer Inner City Press question, Del Buey said this didn't matter, since he or his office would answer the questions. But now, they refer the questions out to Ladsous' mission, which don't answer.

Minutes after the noon briefing ended, Del Buey's colleague Farhan Haq read out over the "squawk" system to all UN correspondents that answers to the Cote d'Ivoire questions asked at the noon briefing were not "available" in the Spokesperson's Office.

This seemed more that a little strange, so Inner City Press asked Haq: "When did you get the answers? Why is this your style of answering questions posed to you by e-mail, yesterday?"

Haq replied, "we provided you with answers as soon as we got them, as we always try to do. If we had received them sooner, we would have sent them then."

Taken at face value, these means that Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson's office received the two Ivory Coast answers in the five minutes between Del Buey's non-answer and Haq's squawk. This would either be a complete fortuity, or it would mean that DPKO didn't want to answer the questions, but once they were asked at the noon briefing, provided them late so that they would be put out for all who didn't ask the questions. We will have more on this. For now, here are the responses, in response to which noon is UNclear:

Subject: Your questions at noon on Cote d'Ivoire
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at]un.org
Date: Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 12:18 PM
To: Matthew.Lee@innercitypress.com

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ON COTE D’IVOIRE

Question 1: On Cote d'Ivoire, it has been reported that ONUCI did not know that Ivorian authorities identified and detained suspects in the killing of the seven UN Peacekeepers from Niger. What is the state of the UN's knowledge, and what will happen with those charged?

The four suspects were arrested in Liberia by Liberian security forces. Both Liberian and Ivorian authorities have informed UNMIL and UNOCI of the arrests. The judicial investigations are ongoing. UNOCI will support the Ivorian judicial authorities as requested and within the scope of its mandate. UNOCI will also monitor the conditions of detention and due process for any of these suspects who may be extradited to Côte d'Ivoire in order to ensure that international standards are respected.

Question 2: Also on Cote d'Ivoire, did Mr. Koenders interview any of the on the record witnesses to the killings and beating at the camp near Duekoue before issuing his statement on Friday? Have those people, two of whom I named at a noon briefing last week, been interviewed? What is the status of the UN's investigation, and how does it relate to SRSG Koender's statement on Friday?

UNOCI established an internal investigation team immediately following the incident. The team travelled to Duékoué last week to conduct its investigation. Further information will be provided once the investigation is completed. In parallel, the Government is conducting a judicial investigation to identify those responsible and take the appropriate judicial measures.

   But still some wonder -- why did Koenders jump the gun in his cover up? And why did DPKO and the UN wait to respond, to all, as they did? Watch this site.