Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

As UN Claims It Urges All Ivorians to Halt Fight, Choi Speaks of Destiny

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 30 -- On Cote d'Ivoire, moments after the UN's envoy to that country Choi Young-jin was on Al Jazeera television saying that in the advances of military forces supporting Alassane Ouattara the Ivorian people are taking care of their own destiny without outside military intervention as in Libya, Inner City Press asked the UN for clarification.

  Inner City Press asked Haq, yes or no, if the UN is calling on Ouattara forces to stop military advances. Haq replied he has no information about Yamasoukro.

  Are Choi, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN calling for a stop to military action or rooting Ouattara's forces on? Haq said, contrary to what Choi has just said, that “we urge all sides to halt fighting.”

  But Choi, on television, did not issue such a call. Inner City Press asked Haq if he could understand that a lack of impartiality by the UN is seen by some people --

  Haq demanded of Inner City Press, "By 'some people' you mean yourself?"

  From the same podium, Haq and main Ban spokesman Martin Nesirky have repeatedly complained of protests against the UN by Ivorians, always characterizing them as supporters of Gbagbo.

  But apparently to even ask a question of the UN about these critique of objectivity, impartiality and primary concern with civilians leads to the above.

Ban & YJ Choi, "destiny" talk not shown

  Haq made claims about what Nesirky had said on March 29. Here's from the UN's transcript of March 29:

Inner City Press: Amnesty International has come out saying that there is a UNOCI base, three kilometres, I guess, from the town and saying that the peacekeepers should do more to protect civilians. It’s obviously, it’s a fight that the Ouattara forces are winning, some people are fleeing and I am wonder… when you say it was a reconnaissance helicopter, what exactly is UNOCI’s role as these… the two… the supporters of the two camps clash in these towns, how are civilians being protected? And is UNOCI calling for the Ouattara forces to… what is UNOCI’s call on the Ouattara forces, as regards protection of civilians?

Spokesperson Nesirky: The call is the same, regardless, and that is that innocent civilians need to be protected. And what we are alarmed about is that, with each successive move from whichever side, I mean armed move, we are seeing displacement of people, either inside the country or into another, particularly into Liberia. And, as you know, inside the country, people are also seeking shelter. They are desperate, they are frightened, and it’s the mission’s job within the mandate it has, as much as possible, to protect those civilians. And I know that they are actively engaged in that. In some cases, it is easier said than actually done. If I have an update on precisely the location you are referring to, I’d be very happy to give you that.

Inner City Press: I want to follow up on this, because, in variants of the announcements made from this podium, there is sort of running count of civilians killed by, generally associated with the pro-Ouattara forces, and how it is described. And I just wondered, the number may be lower, but does the UN have any estimate of the number of civilians killed by the pro-Ouattara sides, and also of the number of people displaced, the relative causation factor of the people that have been chased into Liberia or into other places?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, on the casualties, those people who have lost their lives, there is a very strict way of handling this within the mission. They need to be able to verify the location, the name, the identity of the person and the age of the person. And that is a very important part of the process. It isn’t always feasible to ascertain who was to blame. The fact remains that you, very sadly, have civilians who have lost their lives. It isn’t always possible to ascertain. And where it is, I am sure that the mission will be seeking to log that, not least because, if you are trying subsequently to hold people accountable, you do need to have that kind of material at hand. On the broader question, if I have anything further from the mission, then I’d be happy to share that with you.

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Footnote: on Tuesday evening across from the US Mission to the UN, Inner City Press spoke with Ouattara's UN envoy Yousoufou Bamba, who jovially predicted that it will all be over by the weekend "and we'll have a coffee together, you and me."

  That type of talk is one thing for Ouattara's envoy. But the celebratory talk of YJ Choi is something not before seen in the UN system. So too the hiring of UN envoy who are allowed to continued to be paid by outside governments. More on that to follow.

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