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In
Libya
as Civilians
Are Shot with
Anti-Aircraft
Guns, UN Is
Silent
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 16 --
As civilians
in Tripoli are
fired on with
anti-aircraft
guns, killing
more than 40
yesterday,
where is the
UN
Security
Council?
Nowhere,
apparently.
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon,
in Latvia and
Estonia, has
had nothing to
say. Why is
this?
Those
who supported
the NATO
campaign on
Libya and
declared its
aftermath a
victory now
don't want to
acknowledge,
much less try
to address,
what
has happened
since.
Friday
at the UN,
disgust was
expressed to
Inner City
Press about
the
silence and
why no UN
Security
Council meet
had been
scheduled or
statement
issued, as for
example on
Mali. Also why
it was left to
civilians to
try to take on
the militias.
Others judged
a Libyan
leadership,
diaspora-heavy
and long of
tooth, as
being out of
touch.
The
bombing of
Libya set
"Responsibility
to Protect"
substantially
back. Now with
civilians
being killed
in the
aftermath,
where are the
proponents of
R2P? Even if
the UN now
belated
speaks,
the delay and
its reasons
are telling.
Where
even is the
UN's envoy
Tarek Mitri?
Back in June
2013, Libyan
activists told
Inner City
Press about a
May 20, 2013
meeting with
Mitri at which
he called the
Convention for
the
Elimination of
Discrimination
Against Women
(CEDAW)
"nothing."
They
said the new
agency UN
Women promised
to give them
information
how to reach
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
didn't, and
did not attend
a May 30
follow up
meeting. Now
the 35% quota
for women is
about to be
eliminated.
And where is
the UN?
On
June 19 at UN
Headquarters
in New York,
Inner City
Press put
these
questions to
Mitri, and
then to Ban's
deputy
spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey.
Mitri
said it was up
to the women
to do more,
including a
"sit in" he
said he
encouraged
them to hold.
He admitted
saying
"wala’ishi" or
"nothing" as
to CEDAW,
explaining
that he meant
that a
Parliament
could not be
sued. Video here and embedded below.
"I
have spoken to
the media on
three
occasions on
this, the UN
did everything
it said it
would," Mitri
insisted.
"They are
nascent,
sometimes they
are able to
act more
decisively. It
is easier for
the UN to
support
Libyans rather
than act on
behalf of
them."
And
now? Watch
this site.
* * *
These
reports
are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for Sept 26, 2011 New Yorker on Inner City
Press at UN
Click
for
BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN
Corruption
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