UN
in
Sudan Didn't Ask Security Council As Flew War Criminal Haroun to
Abyei
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 12 -- After Inner City Press got the UN to
confirm
on January 11 that its UN Mission in Sudan provided transportation
and logistics help to indicted war criminal Ahmed Haroun to
organizing nomadic tribes accused of murders in Abyei as in Darfur,
reports went out and criticism of the UN rolled.
Inner
City Press
asked several UN Security Council ambassadors laste on January 11
about UNMIS' assistance to Haroun and they expressed surprised, that
the Council had not been told anything.
On
January 12,
Inner City Press again asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky about the
UN's transport of International Criminal Court indictees or indictee:
had UNMIS checked with the UN's Office of Legal Affairs, headed by
Patricia O'Brien, who rarely speaks to the press?
Why did UNMIS
think
it should not check with the Security Council, which sets the
Mission's mandate?
Nesirky
did not
say whom UNMIS had checked with.
Inner
City Press
asked Nesirky, “since what he’s alleged to have done in Darfur is
to actually work with such nomadic tribes — at least it’s alleged
in the ICC – to bring about war crimes against more sedentary
populations, you don’t see any contradiction then in calling him an
organizer, as sort of a uniter of such tribes?”
Nesirky
protested,
“I haven’t used that word, Matthew. This is the Governor of
Southern Kordofan, and this was critical to help to bring the
Misseriya leaders to the meeting with the Nur Dinka people — to try
to ensure that the further clashes could be avoided.” We'll see.
From
the UN's
January
11, 2011 transcript:
Inner
City
Press: I just wanted to... ask you to confirm it from here,
that UNMIS flew Ahmed Haroun, the ICC [International Criminal Court]
indictee who was the governor of south Kordofan, flew him in a UN
helicopter to Abyei and facilitated his travel. I wanted to know, if
that’s true, what’s the UN’s policy on the transporting and
facilitating the travel of an indicted war criminal?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: ...On the question of Governor Haroun, the Mission
is mandated to provide good offices to the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement parties in their efforts to resolve their differences
through dialogue and negotiations, and I can tell you that the UN
Mission in Sudan has been working with the parties, including local
authorities, to contain any potential violence that may escalate. As
you know, there have been clashes in Abyei, and these clashes were
actually threatening to escalate into a wider war. And so Governor
Haroun was critical to bringing the Misseriya leaders in southern
Kordofan to a peace meeting in Abyei to stop further clashes and
killings. And, in accordance with its mandate, the Mission will
continue to provide the necessary support to those key players in
their pursuits to find a peaceful solution.
Inner
City
Press: So, they did transport him? I mean, I just want to make
sure I’m not reading between the lines.
Spokesperson:
Correct.
Moreno Ocampo of ICC & Ban of UN: one
indicts war criminals, the other transports them
Inner
City
Press: I guess I just wanted to know, have they transported Ali
Kushayb, the other indictee, and did they check with OLA [Office of
Legal Affairs]? I mean, I understand the rationale of transporting
someone if necessary. But it makes you wonder, like, Joseph Kony, I
mean, where’s the line drawn, and was this checked with
Headquarters before it was done?
Spokesperson:
What I can tell you is what I’ve already told you. It’s in
accordance with the mandate to provide support to key players. Clearly,
as I also said, Governor Haroun was critical to bring the
Misseriya leaders in southern Kordofan to this meeting that had been
arranged in Abyei.
Inner
City
Press: Doesn’t the Government of Sudan have its own Air Force? I mean,
they fly patrols, and bomb in South Sudan, why weren’t
they able to transport their own leaders?
Spokesperson:
This is something that was being brought together with the help of
the Mission. In other words, this was a mediation effort — and
this was a part of that mediation effort.
From
the UN's
January
12, 2011 transcript:
Inner
City
Press: I wanted to ask about Sudan. After your statement
yesterday about UNMIS [United Nations Mission in Sudan] transporting
Ahmed Haroun, some human rights groups have been pretty critical of
it. And I’ve spoken to a couple of Security Council ambassadors,
who said they weren’t aware that UNMIS was transporting these ICC
[International Criminal Court] indictees…
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Indictee.
Inner
City
Press: Okay, indictee. So, two questions. One, did UNMIS –
who did UNMIS check with before engaging in this? I understand
there’s a 2006 OLA [Office for Legal Affairs] guidance. But was
this the kind of thing that they would try to check with the Security
Council or OLA? And also, is there anything more that you want to
say, given – the Save Darfur Coalition and others have said that
this was irresponsible and sends all the wrong messages to the people
of Darfur when an indicted war criminal is transported by the UN
elsewhere in the country.
Spokesperson:
I think I was fairly explicit yesterday on the reasons why this was
done. And as you pointed out, there is a standing instruction that
dates from 2006 that spells out the way that one should interact —
and namely that it should be done when it is necessary. And clearly,
in this instance, the Mission felt, given what was happening in
Abyei, and given that there was a risk that this could escalate into
wider conflict, it was deemed necessity — necessary, critical, for
Governor Haroun to be able to bring the Misseriya leaders in Southern
Kordofan to this meeting in Abyei. And this is in line with its
mandate, which is to provide good offices for the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement, and is, as I say, meeting the criterion of necessity. This
was a necessity to ensure that the two sides that were fighting
could be brought together to stop that, to prevent further clashes.
Inner
City
Press: Just because, since what he’s alleged to have done in
Darfur is to actually work with such nomadic tribes — at least it’s
alleged in the ICC – to bring about war crimes against more
sedentary populations, you don’t see any contradiction then in
calling him an organizer, as sort of a uniter of such tribes?
Spokesperson:
I haven’t used that word, Matthew. This is the Governor of
Southern Kordofan, and this was critical to help to bring the
Misseriya leaders to the meeting with the Nur Dinka people — to try
to ensure that the further clashes could be avoided.
We'll see.
* * *
As
UN
Admits Transporting ICC Indictee Harun to Abyei, NGOs & US Have Yet
to
Speak
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 11 -- The UN Mission in Sudan transported and
assisted International Criminal Court indictee Ahmed Harun, UN
spokesman Martin Nesirky confirmed to Inner City Press on Tuesday,
because the UN finds Harun helpful in dealing with violence in Abyei.
Nesirky implied that the UN will continue to transport
Harun, saying that the UN "will continue to provide necessary support
to key players." Video
here,
from Minute 13:48.
Inner
City Press
asked why the UN transported Harun, not only in light of his ICC
indictment for war crimes in Darfur, but also of the capacities
of
the Sudanese Air Force, which has recently conducted bombing raids
in
and near Southern Sudan.
If
the Sudanese
Air Force can bomb, Inner City Press asked, why can't it fly Harun to
Abyei? Nesirky did not answer this question. Nor would he tell Inner
City Press if UNMIS, led by Haile Menkerios, had checked with UN
Headquarters' Office of Legal Affairs or Ban Ki-moon before
transporting an indicted war criminal.
It
seems to some
that the Sudanese government of Omar al Bashir, who has also been
indicted by the ICC for genocide as well as war crimes, has no lack
of capacity to transport its official Harun, but instead wanted to
get the UN further involved in undercutting the war crimes
indictments.
Already,
Haile
Menkerios and his counterpart at the Mission in Darfur UNAMID Ibrahim
Gambari attended the inauguration of Omar al Bashir. Inner City Press
asked Nesirky, without answer, if the UN would provide transport and
assistance to other ICC indictees, including Joseph Kony of the the
Lord's Resistance Army, widely thought to be in South Darfur.
UN Security Council in Sudan w/ Gambari, 10/10 (c)MRLee
Earlier
on
January 11, Inner City Press asked representatives of
non-governmental organizations active on Sudan about the UN's
transport of ICC indictee Harun. David Abramowitz, the Director of
Policy and Government Relations of the group Humanity United, said
that he wasn't aware of the reports of Harun being transported, "I have
not seen that report."
Nor
has the US
administration, including its Mission at the UN, yet spoken on the
matter. Some wonder whether they were consulted, even whether, in
light of the offer to delink Darfur from the offer to remove some
sanctions on Sudan in exchange for the South Sudan referendum, if the
US agreed.
Sam
Bell, the
Executive Director of the Genocide Intervention Network / Save Darfur
Coalition, said he hadn't
seen the report confirmed, but either way
it did not send a good message to the people of Darfur, where Harun
was indicted for war crimes: "already Darfuri are suspicious of UNAMID
and UN personnel."
In
fact, Harun was
indicted for working with and organizing the type of nomadic tribes
which are accused of the killings in Abyei, and now in South Kordofan
state as well.
Nesirky
told Inner City Press that "Governor Harun was critical" to bringing
the Miseriya tribes together. Video
here,
from Minute 15:58.
So
in this view,
it is not only a matter of the fox guarding the hen house: the UN has
taken to transporting the fox to the hen house. Where will there be
accountability? Watch this site.
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