On
Mali, Koenders
Doesn't
Mention Chad
Troops' Rape,
Minister
Chides MINUSMA
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 16 (2d story
here) --
With Mali
slipping
backward, UN
envoy Burt
Koenders gave
a speech to
the UN
Security
Council on
Wednesday.
Under
the heading
"human
rights," he
referred
vaguely to
"pervasive
impunity
enjoyed by
different
actors."
But
speaking of
impunity,
Koender did
not mention
the gang rape
charges
against
Chadian
"peacekeepers"
in his Mission,
MINUSMA, nor
what had
happened with
the accused.
Nor did he
mention the
mutiny of
Chadian
peacekeepers
in the north
that his
mission was
supposedly
investigating.
This
follows
Koenders'
pattern from
Cote d'Ivoire,
where he never
followed
through in
"his"
peacekeepers
inaction when
perceived
supporters of
Laurent Gbagbo
were killed in
the Nahibly
camp for
internally
displaced
people. (Related
Inner City
Press at the UN YouTube video here.)
But
or so Koenders
was rewarded
with the
MINUSMA job.
[Update:
while Koender
did not include
the rapes in
his statement
to the
Council, Inner
City Press
later asked him
about it, click
here.
Koenders says
the answers on
Nahibly are in
press
conferences he
has given. We
hope to have
more on this.]
When
Mali's
Minister of
National
Reconciliation
and
Development of
Northern
Regions Cheick
Oumar Diarrah
came to the
stakeout
microphone
after the
Council's open
meeting, Inner
City Press
asked him if
Koender's
MINUSMA is
doing its
"protection of
civilians"
job in the
North.
Diarrah
said,
or seemed to
say, that
MINUSMA should
be more
presented in
Gao
and Kidal. It
was hard to
understand
Diarrah's
answer, as the
audio
at the
stakeout was
full of
echoes.
The Free
UN Coalition
for Access
@FUNCA_info
has asked UNTV
and its
supervisor,
Stephane
Dujarric, for
an answer.
The system was
privatized
this year, to
save money
(and
incidentally,
break a
union). You
get what you
pay for -- and
this applies
to
MINUSMA too.
Watch this
site.
, 
