As
MONUSCO
Captures
Fighters,
Coverage by
ICC UNclear to
France?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
10 -- Does the
International
Criminal Court
have
jurisdiction
over the
entire UN
Mission in the
Congo,
MONUSCO, or
only the new
Intervention
Brigade?
On
July 9 Inner
City Press reported
exclusively
from a meeting
involving the
UN's outgoing
Legal Council
Patricia
O'Brien,
asking her
about the
Congo as well
as Haiti.
O'Brien
called
the MONUSCO /
Brigade
distinction
delicate,
saying that
the
International
Committee of
the Red Cross
has one view
and others,
another. But,
she said,
already
revamped rules
of engagement
and rules for
the treatment
of captured
combatants are
being
prepared.
On
July 10, Inner
City Press
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
for the UN
position on
whether all of
MONUSCO is
covered by the
ICC, and in
that context
about MONUSCO
having wounded
and captured
four
combatants
outside Goma
earlier in the
day. Video
here, from
Minute 9:54.
Would
the UN hand
the prisoners
over to the
Congolese
government?
How do the
rules of the
Geneva
Convention
apply?
On the
ICC, Nesirky
noted that
Inner City
Press' story
had quoted
Patricia
O'Brien, and
“she is the
Legal
Counsel.”
Nesirky
gave
a read out of
the skirmish:
an
“unidentified”
group attacked
the M23, which
counter
attacked. The
fleeing still
unidentified
group shot at
MONUSCO, which
fired warning
shots and then
was forced to
engage,
wounding and
capturing
four.
On the
question of
the Geneva
Conventions,
Nesirky said
the prisoners
are still
receiving
medical
treatment, the
Geneva
Conventions
will be looked
at afterward.
The
question
extends beyond
the Congo. The
situation in
Mali has also
been referred
to the ICC --
and so,
MINUSMA. So
too the
situation in
Darfur, which
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous was
recently
bragging about
a more
aggressive
approach by
UNAMID,
including the
killing of an
assailant and
retention of
the body.
On
July 9, Inner
City Press
asked UK
Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant about
the
Intervention
Brigade being
covered by the
ICC. Lyall
Grant replied,
“@innercitypress
Yes. As
situation in
DRC referred
to ICC, any
actions taken
by anyone in
DRC could be
reviewed.
IB not unique
in that.”
On
July 10, Inner
City Press put
the question
to Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud
of France. He
said on “your
legal
questions,”
he'd have to
asked French
“legal experts
and come back
to you” with a
response.
Video here,
from Minute
8:58.
The
law seems
clear, to the
UN's lawyer
and, among
others, to the
UK. But is it
to France, and
to Herve
Ladsous of UN
Peacekeeping?
A
difficulty
here is that Ladsous simply refuses to answer
Press
questions, see
compilation
video here.
Eleven days
ago, Inner
City Press
asked Ladsous'
four
spokespeople a
simple
question:
whether
MONUSCO has
supported the
Congolese Army
units named
in the Group
of Experts
report the
full text of
which
Inner City
Press exclusively
put online on
June 29.
An answer was
promised, 11
days ago. But
since then,
nothing.
Footnote:
On
July 9 at the
UN, France's
Minister for
Human Rights
François
Zimeray
promoted
France's bid
for the Human
Rights
Council,
quoting
unnamed others
that France is
“the country
of human
rights,” and
by implication
of the ICC. So
getting
France's
answer to this
question,
including as
regards
MINUSMA in
Chad, will be
important.
Watch this
site.
, 
