As
Whistleblowers
Accuse
Ladsous' DPKO
of Caving to
Khartoum, UN
Spin
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 17, updated
Jan 18
-- Amid a
serious
upsurge in
killing and
displacement
in Darfur,
Inner City
Press ten days
ago asked the
UN
what had
become of its
Protection of
Civilians
Strategy,
which UNAMID
mission
whistleblowers
told Inner
City Press had
been "vetoed"
by the
Sudanese
government
since
September
2012.
These
UN staff, who
feel UNAMID is
both
disorganized
and far too
close to
the
authorities in
Khartoum, told
Inner City
Press they
felt debased
being part of
an
organization
that lets a
government
whose
president
and defense
minister have
been indicted
for genocide
and war crimes
veto a
Protection of
Civilians
strategy.
At
a minimum, the
UN should be
transparent
about where
the Strategy
is,
and what
rights it is
granting to
the al Bashir
government to
block
it.
So
back on January
7, 2013
Inner City
Press asked:
Inner
City Press:
there was
something
called the
protection of
civilians
strategy that
UNAMID had
come up with
uh, internally
and supposedly
run by the
Government. It
supposedly
hasn’t now
been released
and
some people
are saying
that the
Government has
blocked it. Is
there
in fact a
UNAMID
protection of
civilians
strategy? Has
as some
believe the
Government
blocked its
release and is
it appropriate
for
the UN, do
they have to
check with the
Government to
protect
civilians
under Chapter
7?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: On
the last part
on this
particular
strategy that
you mention,
I’ll check
with my
colleagues.
In
the ten days
since, Inner
City Press has
asked a number
of additional
questions
about Darfur,
some answered,
some not. But
nothing at all
came back
about the
Protection of
Civilians
strategy.
This is
consistent
with DPKO
chief Herve
Ladsous
refusing to
answer any
Press
questions
about 126
rapes in
Minova by the
Congolese
Army, which
his
MONUSCO
mission
supports.
See November 27, 2012 (video), on December 7 & on December
18 (video).
And
so on January
17, ten days
after first
asking about
the Protection
of
Civilians
strategy,
Inner City
Press asked
about it
again,
specifying
the September
2012 turn-over
to the
government,
and the
whistleblowers'
allegation
that the UN
let the
government
veto it.
Spokesman
Nesirky
said he would
check with
DPKO. And less
than an hour
later, a
non-responsive
answer
arrived:
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Thu, Jan
17, 2013
at 1:06 PM
Subject: Your
question on
Darfur
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
your
question on
the protection
of civilians
in Darfur, the
UN-African
Union Mission
in Darfur
(UNAMID)
continues to
engage
Government
authorities in
order to
successfully
implement its
protection of
civilians
mandate
throughout
Darfur, in
particular
through
working with
Government
authorities to
overcome
obstacles to
its freedom of
movement. This
engagement has
been
particularly
important in
light of
recent
hostilities
across parts
of Darfur and
the resulting
access
restrictions
imposed by the
Government of
Sudan
on UNAMID
movement to
areas affected
by conflict.
This
does not
respond to the
UN's own
whistleblowers'
specific
complaints
about a
document, the
"Protection of
Civilians
Strategy,"
being shown to
the government
in September
2012 and not
being held
from since.
If UNAMID says
protection is
so important,
what happened
to it? As the
whistleblowers
ask, why is
Ladsous' DPKO
covering up?
Watch this
site.
Update
of January 18:
still not
directly
answering
where the
Protection of
Civilians
Strategy is,
the UN has
sent this:
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Fri, Jan
18, 2013 at
1:38 PM
Subject: Re:
Your question
on Darfur
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Further to
your questions
on UNAMID's
protection of
civilians
strategy,
UNAMID has
advised that
it has begun
to implement
elements of
the strategy
and expects to
fully adopt it
once internal
consultations
have
concluded.
, 
