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On S.
Sudan, ICP
Asks UN After
AU Finds No
Cooperation by
UNMISS
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 28 --
The UN's
peacekeeping
mission in
South Sudan,
under Herve
Ladsous, has
been slow to
report on
crimes against
(some)
civilians,
much less to
protect them
as this month
in Leer. Inner
City Press on
October 28
asked the UN
to respond to
criticism from
the African
Union, below.
Inner City
Press asked
on October 26
about Leer,
and on October
27 the UN came back with
this:
"Yesterday,
Matthew you
asked about
South
Sudan.
The Department
for
Peacekeeping
Operations
says that it
is aware of
reports of
SPLA [Sudan
People’s
Liberation
Army] attacks
in Leer.
While the UN
Mission in
South Sudan
(UNMISS) does
not currently
have presence
in Leer, it is
looking at
ways to
improve its
ability to
assess the
situation and
enhance the
protection of
civilians by
establishing
longer and
more
established
presence in
southern Unity
state."
But now that
the African
Union report
has been
released,
there are more
questions for
the UN and
Ladsous to
answer.
From Paragraph
27: "the
Commission was
unable to
access any
data in the
possession of
the UNMISS
which has been
documenting
the violations
committed
since the
start of the
violence in
December 2013
— despite the
resolution of
the Security
Council
mandating it
to cooperate
with AUCISS."
So,
despite the
UN's claims
about "Rights
Up Front," not
only did
UNMISS not
comply with
general
requirements
of reporting
on harm to
civilians -
the AU says
UNMISS didn't
even comply
with UN
Security
Council
resolutions.
Who will
answer for
this?
On
October 28,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric:
Inner City Press:
I'm sure
you've seen
finally, after
much delay,
the AU
[African
Union]
released its
report on
South
Sudan.
There's a lot
in it, and
many people
are saying
many things
about it, but
the thing I'd
wanted to ask
about is the
section that
has do with
the UN.
And it says…
this is in
paragraph
37. And
this is… it's
sort of
surprising.
It says, "The
commission was
unable to
access any
data in the
possession of
UNMISS [United
Nations
Mission in
South Sudan]
which had been
documenting
the violations
committed
since the
start of the
violence
despite the
resolutions of
the Security
Council
mandating it
to cooperate
with AU
CISS. So
what does DPKO
[Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations]
say?
Spokesman:
Well,
obviously, we
welcome the
report and the
issuance of
the report,
which the
Secretary-General
has called
for, had
called
for. I
think the
issue of
transparency
is an
important one,
as is the
issue of
accountability.
As for the
details of the
report, I
think we're
still reading
through
it. So
if I have
something to
add…
Inner City
Press:
Right.
Eventually,
there's some
direct
allegations
about the
mission…
Spokesman:
I understand.
Inner City
Press:
Okay. I
have one
more...
We will
continue
asking. And
about this,
too, on UNDP
and UNICEF:
"The
Commission
learnt that
the CPA-DDR
program was
supported by
the UNDP,
UNICEF and
UNMISS. By the
time the
program was
closed in
December 2011,
not much had
been
achieved."
An internal UN
document
leaked to
Inner City
Press, which exclusively
published it
here,
shows the high
degree of
dysfunction in
the country,
and in the UN.
* * *
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