After
UN
Spent Billions
in Sudan, No
Comment on
Critiques of
Elections,
Rights
Violations
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 23 --
With the UN
Mission in
Sudan having
"expired,"
the UN no
longer has any
answers,
including on
reports
showing fraud
in the
election in
Southern
Kordofan of
indicted war
criminal Ahmed
Haroun which
then UN envoy
Haile
Menkerios
"welcomed."
The
UN
tries to
explain that
away, but has
had no comment
about Haroun's
ethnic firing
of 177 Nuba
civil
servants. This
is what a $1
billion a
year UN
peacekeeping
mission comes
down to?
There's
another $1
billion a year
mission in
Sudan, UNAMID
in Darfur. But
it can or will
not even
answer basic
questions
about the murder and
detention of
the
civilians it
is supposed to
be protecting,
thirty hours
after the
questions are
referred and
went to them
midday on
August 22.
On
August 23,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
acting
deputy
spokesman
Farhan Haq
some Sudan
questions:
Inner
City
Press: there
is a report
out today by
the Rift
Valley
Institute
going back
into the South
Kordofan
elections that
were held, I
didn’t
understand the
distinction,
but that the
UN welcomed
the election
but
not the
result. This
new detailed
analysis is
saying that
Ahmed
Haroun didn’t
win, stole the
election and
that’s one of
the roots
of the
problems
there. And I
just wonder
since the UN
sort of opined
or at least
welcomed the
elections if
not the
results, what
do they
think of this
study?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: They
welcomed the
holding of the
elections;
we never
commented on
the result. We
had no
favoured
result, one
way
or the other.
And you are
aware of
course of the
long-standing
indictment
against Ahmed
Haroun. But we
welcomed the
peaceful
holding of the
election at
that time.
That’s what,
that’s where
we had stood.
Inner
City
Press: But has
the UN see it,
if there was
still an UNMIS
[United
Nations
Mission in
Sudan], I
guess they may
want to have a
comment on
this, but is
there anyone
now monitoring
that including
Mr. [Haile]
Menkerios?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: As you
know, the
mandate of the
UN Mission
in Sudan has
expired. If
Mr. Menkerios
has anything
further to say
about that, we
will let you
know if he has
said that. But
he has not
commented on
this
particular
case. Yes?
Inner
City
Press: A
Darfur
question;
another from
the African
Centre for
Justice and
Peace Studies,
put out a
detailed
account how in
Darfur,
in Nyala two —
a Fur and a
Masalit —
political
activists that
were released
by local
courts were in
turn arrested
by national
intelligence
of Sudan. So I
am wondering,
I know that
yesterday you
told me, ask
UNAMID [United
Nations-African
Union Mission
in Darfur],
and I want to
tell you that
I sent three
questions to
UNAMID and
thus
far have no
answers. So I
am asking you,
since there is
a
billion-dollar
peacekeeping
mission there,
what does
UNAMID think
of
this account
by a respected
NGO that
civilian
protesters in
Darfur
are being
arrested and
detained by
the
Government?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, again,
that’s a
question for
UNAMID. I
think you’d
have to follow
up and get the
facts. I know
some of
these things
are local
media reports
you’ve been
following up
on
and we’d need
to get those
verified.
But
there has been
no response to
the questions
below, thirty
hours after
they were
sent to two
UNAMID
spokesman
including
chief Kemal
Saiki:
From right:
Haq, Ban,
Pascoe &
Kim, Sudan
& UNAMID
answers not
shown
I
was just told
to "ask
UNAMID" about
the following:
"A
sheikh
in Hamidiya
refugee camp
in Zalingei,
West Darfur
was
allegedly shot
dead on
Saturday by
gunmen loyal
to the
Sudanese
government.
Witnesses said
that the
perpetrators
shot Sheikh
Abbas
Juma Barak
twice in the
chest by a
creek between
Zalingei town
and
Hamidiya
refugee camp.
The coordinator
of the
Zalingei camps
[said]that
camp leaders
had informed
the United
Nations
African
Mission in
Darfur
(UNAMID) of
the incident."
So,
was
UNAMID told
about it? If
not, has it
sought any
corrections?
If
so, what has
UNAMID done?
Also, just to
confirm, does
UNAMID deny it
was informed
of the
following:
"Nine
(9)
gunmen riding
horses are
reported to
have looted
three (3) cars
carrying goods
and passengers
on its way
from Marchin
to east of
Jebel Marra in
South Darfur
on Monday. One
of the
passengers in
the
car [said]
“The gunmen
raped four (4)
women at
gunpoint in
front of
Nazerem in
daylight in
Ramadan.” The
passengers in
the car were
also asked to
empty the
goods and
subjected to
beating by the
armed
men. The
incident has
been reported
to the United
Nations
African
Mission in
Darfur (UNAMID)."
What
does
UNAMID say
about this?
Has it sought
any
correction? Or
done
anything?
Finally,
for
now, what is
UNAMID's
knowledge of
any attack on
any UN
affiliated
person earlier
this month in
or around Fur
Baranga in
West
Darfur?
So
far, the UN
has
denied the
last of these
three
allegations;
UNAMID denied
even
hearing about
the second,
and there has
still been no
response on
the
first. We'll
see.
, 
