UN
in Guinea Bissau Agrees to Hand Over Coup Plotter, Another Precedent?
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, January 11 -- Guinea Bissau accused attempted coup leader
Bubo Na
Tchut sought refuged in the UN in the country in the last
week of 2009. Now, the UN has agreed to turn him over to
authorities.
What is behind it?
Inner
City Press at
the new UN Headquarters building in New York on January 11 asked
several senior UN officials. They were quick to argue that the turn
over is not what it appears. We can't offer immunity, said one. We
can't offer protection. So we negotiated his surrender.
This
might be
contrasted to Brazil's protection, in its embassy in Tegucigalpa,
Honduras of Manual Zeleya. They didn't turn him over to the
Micheletti government. Why would the UN do it?
Another
official,
historically a better and more accurate source to Inner City Press,
said that former Rear Admiral Bubo Na Tchut had come back to the
country with this result in mind.
He didn't
want to stay in the
Gambia anymore, the official told Inner City Press. The government
would like him to go into exile again but he won't. He wants a trial
to clear his name.
Dead leader in Guinea Bissau, coup plotter's turn
over by UN not shown
So
he's a prisoner of conscience? The official disagreed. The guy is
hardly an angel. None of them are. Remember when we tried to help the
country to lock up drug smugglers until we found out they didn't even
have a jail?
So
how will Bubo
Na Tchut be held? Watch this site.
* * *
On
War Crimes, UN's Ban Listens to Sri Lanka President over Alston's
Views
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, January 11 -- Days after video footage depicting Sri Lankan
soldiers murdering naked and blindfolded prisoners was authenticated
by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, Inner City Press asked
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to comment on Alston's urging him to
establish a commission of inquiry on war crimes, as Mr. Ban did in
Guinea. Video here,
from Minute 16:38.
Mr.
Ban's answer,
surprising to some, distanced Mr. Alston from the UN, giving weight
to the Sri Lankan government's out of hand rejection of the video and
Mr. Alston's requests.
Ban
said of
Alston, "he is the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council. He is acting independently. You might have heard
statements made by the Sri Lankan Government and his own personal
one. We will review all these situations."
The
"statements
made by the Sri Lankan government" since Alston's report have
consisted of claiming Alston violated UN protocol by releasing his
experts' report authenticating the video.
When
Inner City
Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky about Sri Lanka's
accusations on January 8, Nesirky emphasized that Sri Lanka had not
accused Ban of violating protocol. He is correct: by
undercutting a UN human rights rapporteur's report by noting the
government's denial.
UN's Ban and Nesirky, Sri Lankan independent inquiry
not shown
From the January 11
transcript:
Inner
City Press: I also wanted to know if you had any response to Philip
Alston, the Special Rapporteur on executions, calling on you to name
a Commission of Inquiry for war crimes in Sri Lanka. He said that
you did it in Guinea, you could do it in Sri Lanka, and I am
wondering what you think of his report and his call?
SG Ban
Ki-moon: I
have seen the report, and he is the Special Rapporteur of the Human
Rights Council. He is acting independently. You might have heard
statements made by the Sri Lankan Government and his own personal
one. We will review all these situations and we will what the United
Nations can do to follow up on these issues. There are still many
issues pending: the relocation of displaced persons in Sri Lanka by
the end of this month, and the political reconciliation process and
also the accountability process, which I have talked to President
[Mahinda] Rajapaksa during my visit, to which he had agreed to take
the necessary actions. I will continue to follow up on this issue.
Thank you very much.
On
January 7,
Nesirky told the Press that Ban had let the Sri Lankan government
know that he is considering appointing experts to advise him on war
crimes in Sri Lanka. Inner City Press asked when Ban had said this,
and Nesirky said he'd check.
Later
he confirmed
to Inner City Press that the call was three months ago, a letter
delivered by the UN's Lynn Pascoe in September. Still, Nesirky
insisted, the idea remains "under active consideration."
Given
Ban's
January 11 response, to many it does not sound like Ban is in such
active consideration. Ban is still replying on Rajapaka's
"assurance," and given Sri Lanka's denials primacy over
Alston's "personal" views. What was that again, about
accountability? Watch this site.
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