By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 9 --
The UN of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon under
Herve Ladsous
has reached
this point:
this Friday
evening it
claimed
that its
non-response
to Inner City
Press questions
since June 24
about the UN in
Somalia
either were
answered, or
have not yet
been
partially
answered in a
statement
by Ladsous'
spokesperson
Kieran
Dwyer
spoon-fed to
another media.
Both are
false.
At
Friday's
noon briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
associate
spokesperson
Farhan Haq:
Inner
City
Press: a
question that
I have asked
all the way
back to June
about Mr.
David Bax of
UNMAS [United
Nations Mine
Action
Service] in
Somalia. One
of the
questions that
was asked was,
who were the
private
security
personnel or
armed guards
with whom he
went to the
compound on
the day of the
attack; it
seems like if
they are UN
contractors
and they are
getting paid
by the UN, it
shouldn’t be
hard to answer
it, but it is
yet to be
answered. I am
wondering if
you either
have that
answer or can
provide it
today?
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: On the
latter, as I
believe Martin
[Nesirky] had
mentioned a
few days ago,
the United
Nations Office
for Project
Services,
which is the
contracting
group
regarding Mr.
Bax, is
looking into
this
particular
case, and we
wouldn’t have
any further
comment while
it looks into
it.
Inner
City
Press: Are
they looking
into just the
sexual
harassment
allegations or
the private
security?
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: We have
no comment
while they
look into the
matter.
Inner
City
Press: I went
back and
looked, I
think it was 5
July, in this
room, when I
asked about
Mr. Bax. You
made a big
point of
saying,
“we always
answer your
questions, we
always send
answers,” and
I
am wondering,
should I still
be waiting,
which I have
yet to receive
from your
Office, so
it’s an answer
on the
questions that
I asked
about Mr. Bax,
or is this is
indirectly
answering the
answer that’s
gonna be
given?
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: No,
while… as I
just made
clear, while
they are
looking into
this, we
wouldn’t have
any further
comment. At
some
point, if we
have some
answers…
Inner
City
Press: Well,
why is Kieran
Dwyer sending
an answer to
other…
if the policy
is that there
will be no
answer, so I
am still
wondering why…
Associate
Spokesperson:
Matthew, I
don’t speak
for Kieran.
Whatever
information we
have, we’ve
provided once
we have it. As
we did, by
the way, with
David Bax.
Well,
no. After
Inner City
Press on
Friday
afternoon
published a
piece with
the video and
Haq's previous
July 5
statement,
Ban's
Spokesperson's
Office sent
this:
Subject:
Your
question at
noon on
Somalia
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not
Reply [at]
un.org
Date: Fri, Aug
9, 2013 at
6:39 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
On
24
June, you
asked whether
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations
(DPKO) had a
response to
the email
received from
an anonymous
source
in relation to
a contractor
in Somalia.
Today
and
on earlier
occasions,
DPKO says it
has relayed
the position
that
the hiring
agency of the
UN Mine Action
Service staff
member in
question, the
UN Office for
Project
Services, is
inquiring into
the
complaint and
will not make
further
comment while
its inquiries
are
ongoing. This
was and
continues to
be the case.
DPKO's
public
affairs team
did not share
any other
information
with other
correspondents
on questions
on this
anonymous
email. This is
the
United
Nations'
response to
questions on
the email, and
DPKO has
relayed that.
The
game here
seems to be to
pretend that
Inner City
Press only
asked
about the
whistleblower's
complaint. But
as simply one
example, Inner
City Press at
the June 26
noon briefing
asked Ban's
deputy
spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey
Inner
City
Press: What’s
their response
to a… to
public
allegations
that the head
of the Mine
Action Service
in Somalia… a
David Bax,
shares
information
with United
States
intelligence
through
Bancroft
Global
Services and
also was seen
and
photographed
entering the
UN
compound with
armed private
contractors?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, we’ll
have to check
on that for
you, Matthew.
I don’t have
an answer to
that right
now.
As
Inner City
Press reported
on August 7, a
canned
response from
UNMAS
through
Ladsous'
spokesperson
Kieran Dwyer
was given to
another
media:
Agnes
Marcaillou,
the director
of UN Mine
Action Service
in New York:
Note
to Kieran
Dwyer
#1
The
UN Mine Action
Service
(UNMAS)
supports
AMISOM and
Somali Police
Force
explosive
ordnance
device teams
collect
evidence from
the site
of an IED
incident or
from recovered
IEDs which
have been
rendered
safe.
UNMAS
is
mandated to
provide
technical
assistance,
including
training and
mentoring, to
the African
Union Mission
in Somalia
(AMISOM) and
the
Somali Police
Force (SPF) in
explosive
ordnance
disposal
(EOD), first
response and
post-blast
investigation
(PBI) to
improvised
explosive
devices (IED),
including
mentoring and
training them
in law
enforcement
investigative
techniques.
This
assistance to
Somalia
contributes to
building a
capacity
commensurate
with that of
most
nations with a
well
functioning
security
sector.
UNMAS
provides
assistance to
the Somali
Police in the
preservation
of
evidence from
IED incidents,
to enable them
to later
prosecute
through proper
judicial
process. This
is important
because
improper
handling
and/or
disposal of
explosive
devices would
destroy
evidence
and result in
minimal
opportunity
for possible
legal action.
UNMAS
supports
cooperation
between law
enforcement
agencies in
facilitating
knowledge
sharing
between the
Somali Police
Force and law
enforcement
agencies, such
as Interpol
and the FBI.
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