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As UN Charges Indian Peacekeeper of Consorting With
Congo Rebels, Discipline Is Questioned
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
July 16, updated July 17 --
In the eastern Congo, a UN
peacekeeper from India has been caught on tape praising
and bonding with rebel fighters
led by Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda and Jean Bosco Ntaganda, charged
for war
crimes by the International Criminal Court. The peacekeeper, identified
as Colonel
Chand Saroha, was told by Nkunda, "You have helped us a great
deal."
He in turn gushed, "Officially we are not allowed to meet you. But your
good conduct... made us feel we were associated with proud people. We
are like
brothers."
When faced
with evidence that other peacekeepers, also from India, had given
weapons to
Congolese rebels in exchange for gold, the UN denied and, according
to the UN
auditor initially on the case, whitewashed the evidence. But since the
taped
talk with Nkunda is harder to controvert, the UN Mission in the Congo
has briefed
the government in Kinshasa. MONUC Spokesman Kemal Saiki, slated to
shift to
perhaps an even more difficult job in Darfur, stated "We have launched
an
investigation. If confirmed ... this would be personal conduct
unbecoming a
peacekeeper and is a dereliction of duty."
In the
other cases of peacekeeper misconduct, all the UN has done is turn over
its
evidence to the troop contributing country and hope. In many cases, no
discipline has been administered. In
this case, the UN or Mr. Saiki seem to be implying that the UN has more
power,
to declare an act unbecoming and a dereliction of duty, a term of arm
associated with courts martial.
Indian peacekeepers in DRC, Nkunda and Bosco
not shown
On July 15
at UN Headquarters, Inner
City Press asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's deputy
spokesperson Marie Okabe
Inner City Press: In the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, there's a story of this Indian colonel who met
with the
rebel leader General Nkunda, and he was videotaped saying I support
you, you're
my brother. It seems that the United
Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(MONUC)
has been quoted as saying that, if this is true, it would be personal
conduct
unbecoming a peacekeeper and a dereliction of duty.
Does that mean that MONUC itself would remove
the peacekeeper or would all they would do be to turn over this tape to
the
Indian Government?
Deputy Spokesperson Okabe: I’m
not familiar with the report you're
referring to, so I'll have to look into it after the briefing.
Video
here,
from Minute 15:49. Some hours
later, Inner City Press was told that
"It is a clear violation of
the UN's principle of impartiality. The mission contacted the national
authorities to reassure them that the remarks made by the peacekeeper
in no way
represent an official posture. MONUC has asked OIOS to open and
investigation
and if the facts are proven, the peacekeeper will be sanctioned in
accordance
with established procedure."
But what is
the "established procedure"? Even in the
upheld case of peacekeepers from India
illegally trading in
gold in the Congo, all the UN did was refer the charges to the Indian
government, and all they
did was issue a warning, no discipline. So what will
happen in this case?
Footnote:
UNESCO is often seen of the lighter
side of the UN, its liberal arts, issue statements about freedom of the
press
and putting monuments on the list of World Heritage Sites. UNESCO is
not
supposed to encourage or cause conflict between states. But UNESCO's
recent
approval of an application by Cambodia alone to grant the World
Heritage
designation to a temple on the border Cambodia shares with Thailand has
caused
friction. Thais note that their territory is most often crossed in
order to
reach the temple; Thailand
has reportedly sent hundreds of troops in to
Cambodia.
On Wednesday Inner
City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesperson
to confirm the incursion, and why UNESCO didn't require a joint
application or
otherwise try to avoid foreseeable conflict. "We'll have to ask
UNESCO," the spokesperson said. But twelve hours later, there is no
response at all. For now we note that UNESCO blithely listed the Preah
Vihear Temple at the top of their July 8 press release announcing "new
cultural sites inscribed... on UNESCO's World Heritage List."
Update: 23 hours after the question
was asked, this
from UNESCO --
"UNESCO is not the body that
took the decision to inscribe the Preah Vihear site on the World
Heritage List.
The decision was taken by the World Heritage Committee, an
intergovernmental
body composed of twenty one members representing as many countries,
elected by
the General Assembly of all the States that have ratified the World
Heritage
Convention. UNESCO, and its World Heritage Centre, only serves as the
Secretariat to this Committee. The role of the World Heritage Centre
during the
nomination process has been to try and assist the Cambodian authorities
in the
technical aspects -- limited to the scientific, archeological,
management, and
protection issues -- of their nomination proposal."
And, "the
U.N. does not monitor the border between these two countries." What was that the UN Secretariat was talking
and asking for money for, "preventive diplomacy"?
Watch
this site.
And this --
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