UNITED
NATIONS, July
17 -- After UN
security
official Louis
Maxwell was
killed in
Kabul, it
seems clear by
Afghan
national
forces,
rather than
fully push the
government of
Hamid Karzai
for
accountability,
the UN took
other actions.
UN
officials flew
to meet Maxwell's
family members
who had
contacted
Inner City
Press
complaining of
a cover
up, and
tried to
convince them
differently.
Inner City
Press was told that it
was difficult
for the UN to
push for “just
one individual,”
when so many
have died in
Afghanistan.
That may be
true, but runs
counter to
what the UN
says about
backing up its
staff, and
about
accountability.
In
this context,
after Ban
Ki-moon's
second term
Deputy
Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson gave
a press
conference
about his
recent trip to
Afghanistan,
Inner City
Press asked
him about
Louis
Maxwell's
murder and
what is being
done. (Inner
City Press
asked two
other
questions,
yet to be
answered.)
On
Louis Maxwell,
Eliasson to
his credit
said he would
look into it
and get back
with an
answer. And
now, today, he
has. On his
way into the Security
Council on
Wednesday to
speak on the
protection of
journalists,
he told Inner
City Press he
had just sent
his answer on
Maxwell to the
Spokesperson's
office.
And lo
and behold,
this has
arrived,
stating that
“the Deputy
Secretary-General
has looked
into the
matter and has
learned that
the report of
the Board of
Inquiry into
the attack
suggested the
possibility
that Mr.
Maxwell may
have been
killed by
Afghan
security
forces” --
Subject:
Afghanistan
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Wed, Jul
17, 2013 at
9:52 AM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
We
have the
following in
response to
your question
to the Deputy
Secretary-General
at his recent
press
conference:
You
asked the
Deputy
Secretary-General
whether during
his trip to
Afghanistan
there had been
any discussion
about Louis
Maxwell, the
Close
Protection
Officer who
was one of the
five United
Nations staff
members who
lost their
lives in the
2009 terrorist
attack on the
Bakhtar guest
house in
Kabul.
The
Deputy
Secretary-General
can attest
that the
memory, as
well as the
legacy of the
Bakhtar attack
is still part
of daily life
for UNAMA
staff who,
since the
attack, now
live in the
same secured
and fortified
compounds in
which they
work (although
as the Deputy
Secretary-General
mentioned
during his
briefing, even
there they
have to spend
some nights in
bunkers).
While
the Deputy
Secretary-General
discussed the
need to
protect
civilians,
including
those working
for
international
organizations,
Mr. Maxwell's
tragic death
and that of
his four UN
colleagues and
of the three
Afghan
security
personnel who
also perished
in the attack,
was not
specifically
discussed in
his meetings.
The
Deputy
Secretary-General
has looked
into the
matter and has
learned that
the report of
the Board of
Inquiry into
the attack
suggested the
possibility
that Mr.
Maxwell may
have been
killed by
Afghan
security
forces
responding to
the attack,
who may have
mistaken him
for an
insurgent.
The
Secretary-General
has called on
the Afghan
authorities to
ensure a
thorough
investigation
into the
attack and the
death of
United Nations
staff. We have
yet to receive
a formal
response and
we continue to
seek one.
How
hard the UN
will “continue
to seek” a
formal
response
remains to be
seen. But
Eliasson
looking into
it and having
the above sent
in much
appreciated.
It is to
advance the
right and
ability of
journalists to
pursue
such questions
that Inner
City Press
co-founded the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access.
The UN
Secretariat's
most recent
response? To
threaten to
suspend or
withdraw the
accreditation
of Inner City
Press, for
merely hanging
a sign of
FUNCA on the
door to its
and its office
mate's office.
More soon on this
other question.
Watch this
site.
, 
