UN
Silence
on Mercenaries Not Only in Libya but Bahrain, Pakistani Police
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 22 -- The UN made much about the reported use of
mercenaries by Laurent Gbagbo in Cote d'Ivoire. But when Inner City
Press asked the spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on
Tuesday about reports that Gadhafi is recruiting mercenaries in
Nigeria, Guinea and Ghana, Martin Nesirky said he was not aware of
the UN looking into this.
In
Bahrain, the
Sunni ruling family used police from Pakistan, Yeman and Sunni Muslim
from India to crackdown on largely Shiite protesters. The Executive
Office of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is aware of this, but has yet
to say anything.
These too can
be viewed as mercenaries, even if the
Bahrain ruling family offers some of them citizenship in order to
keep up Sunni numbers against the Shiite majority. But the UN has
said nothing.
UN's Ban & Bahrain PM, action on mercenaries not shown
On
February 20
Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Nesirky
“Given
that the Presidency of the General Assembly was held just three years
ago by a family member of the dynasty which has ruled Bahrain for 300
years, has the Secretary-General sought to use his special
relationship with former PGA Sheikha Haya Rashed al-Khalifa (who
served during Ban’s first year as SG) to persuade the her ruling
regime not to gun down any more protestors, as Bahraini Defense
Forces did on Thursday? Does the Secretary-General think he has any
influence at all over the ruling House of Khalifa, and might the
former PGA be of assistance to the UN in this regard?”
More
than two days
later, no answer from the UN. Watch this site.
* * *
As
Libya
Kills
Protesters, Gadhafi Daughter is UN Ambassador, UNDP Silent
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February
20 -- As in Libya the forces, including
mercenaries, of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi shoot and kill peaceful
protesters, the UN has been nearly entirely silent.
On
the morning of February 20, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky:
In
the
wake
of the gunning down of 46 democracy protesters in Libya’s
second largest city, Benghazi, by security forces under the command
of Colonel Gadafi, is the UN reassessing its relationship with Col
Gadhafi’s daughter, Aicha, who the UN has designated a “Goodwill
Ambassador?
Has
the
Secretary-General
sought to use the UN’s special relationship
with its Goodwill Ambassador Dr Aicha Gadhafi to persuade her father
not to use such excessive force against peaceful demonstrators?
Nine
hours
later,
no response at all from the UN. Inner City Press also asked Ban's
spokesman Nesirky “in this context, the Secretary-General's planned
trip to California to meet and greet 'the entertainment industry,'
how much is this trip costing, and is it funded by the Regular Budget
of the UN -- and if not, what is the funding source?” Again, no
answer.
On February
17,
Inner City Press had asked Nesirky
Inner
City
Press:
Is there any thought of using the existing UN programs on
the ground, whether it is UNDP or
otherwise? There was some
criticism of this training of police in Egypt
prior to the — there
was criticism by NGOs that it didn’t bring in human rights
activists but rather Government people. Is there some thinking of
how — the UNDP website about Libya hasn’t been updated now in
several months, I guess — it seems to some, due to the turmoil. What
about these UN…?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Who
might that be? Who is it, these people who think it
might be?
Inner
City
Press:
People that look at it and have seen that it was updated
all the way, until suddenly there was turmoil in the country and then
it is not updated any more.
UN's Ban and Gadhafi, Goodwill Ambassador daughter not shown
Inner
City
Press: What’s the role, according to the
Secretary-General, of the existing UN programmes in countries like
Libya and Yemen, where Helen Clark visited and didn’t say anything
about democracy?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well,
there are lots of, as you know, across the region,
there is a UN presence in different constellations; country teams
with different components, whether it is UNDP or other UN agencies,
funds and programmes. Of course, given that they are already on the
ground, given that they have been working there in different
capacities on different projects, they are well placed to be further
involved. But this is part of a bigger picture, and it is being very
carefully coordinated.
Inner
City
Press:
Is there any change of policy? I guess I am saying,
given that the announcement today that the UN is sort of taking
cognizance of all this, is there, is that…?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well,
Matthew, it’s hardly an announcement today. This
is something that has been said consistently for a number of weeks
now. And indeed, further back, as you know, the Human Development
Reports on the Arab world have been saying this for the best part of
a decade. So, okay, thank you very much.
But
what had the UN
been doing about Libya? Watch this site.
* * *
, 
