On
S. Sudan,
Obama Says
Work with UN,
But 6 Qs
UNanswered for
4
Hours
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 21 --
After news
that three US
military
aircraft
were fired at
while
approaching
Bor in South
Sudan, where
some 15,000
people are in
the UN base,
Inner City
Press put
questions to
US
Africom and to
the UN's two
top
spokespeople
in New York.
Africom
quickly
answered,
twice. And the
White House
sent a
statement that
President
Barack Obama
was briefed,
including by Susan
Rice, and
"reaffirmed
the importance
of continuing
to work with
the United
Nations to
secure our
citizens in
Bor."
But
from the UN
came only an
auto-response,
that the
acting deputy
spokesperson
will be out of
the office
until December
30, and to put
any questions
to the sole
weekend duty
officer of the
Office of the
Spokesperson
for Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon. Inner
City Press
sent
these, on the
morning of
December 21,
more than four
hours before
deadline for
this
publication:
Now
with
3 US aircraft
shot over Bor,
this is a
press request
for an
update from
the UN:
What
is
the UN's
knowledge of
military
conflict in
Bor, impact on
civilians?
Is
the
army aligned
with Salva
Kiir seeking
to re-take
Bor? Is it
coordinating
in any way
with UNMISS?
Since
the
beginning of
the unrest in
Juba, has
UNMISS
provided any
support
to which the
UN's Human
Rights Due
Diligence
Policy
applies? If
so,
to which
units?
Has
any
UN official
spoken with
Riek Machar
during this
period?
To
the
UN's
knowledge, did
Uganda or any
other outside
country take
military
action in Bor
or elsewhere
in South
Sudan?
This
is
a request,
including on
behalf of the
Free
UN Coalition
for
Access,
that the
Office of the
Spokesperson
hold (noon)
briefings
during this
phase of
crisis in
South Sudan,
certainly on
Monday,
December 23.
On
Friday
December 20,
amid the South
Sudan crisis,
Farhan
Haq announced
that the UN
would cancel
its normal
noon
briefings, all
the way
through
December
30.
While
some
information
trickles out
from UNMISS in
Juba, which
only started
a twitter
account last
week, it comes
late. For
example, on
the
afternoon of
December 20
outside a
closed door
meeting of
Troop
Contributing
Countries in
the UN
basement, a
diplomat from
inside the
meeting told
Inner City
Press that the
UN had not
been
successful in
its planned
evacuation of
its
peacekeepers
from Yuai,
fired at.
Twenty
two hours
later, UNMISS
confirmed
this. Clearly,
they are busy.
That's why the
UN's Office of
the
Spokesperson
should be
providing
information,
and / or Herve
Ladsous' UN
Peacekeeping.
Their twitter
account is
blithely
promoting
itself, with a
few re-tweets
from
UNMISS.
This
is a time for
the UN to
communicate.
But it is not.
As was jotted
during the
Security
Council's
consultations
on December
20, there is
a credibility
crisis for the
UN. And it is
getting worse.
Watch this
site.
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