Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/ungo2haiti030709.html
UNITED NATIONS, March 7 --
Ambassador Urbina said that while the issue of exploitation by peacekeepers is not formally in the terms of reference of the mission, other Ambassadors or if not he himself “may ask about this difficult issues” when they meet with the UN Special Representative Hedi Annabi or the mission’s Force Commander. He acknowledged that the mission has become one of “peacebuilding,” aiming at sustainable development, which is “not the focus” of the Security Council.
With much fanfare, the UN set up a Peacebuilding Commission to work in post-conflict countries. So far it has focused on
On this last, Inner City Press inquired with Ban’s Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe on March 3, and later sent a reminder, without receiving any response. When one is received, it will be reported on this site.
As Inner City Press noted on March 2, that day UN Peacekeeping chief Alain “Le Roy mentioned ‘good news’ from
Back on February 3, Inner City Press asked Ms. Le Roy’s colleague “Ms. Malcorra about reports of staff unrest in the UN Mission in
Later, Ban’s Spokesperson told Inner City Press that the unrest was not limited to
This Spokesperson responded back in November 2008 to questions about the deadly school collapse in Petionville, telling Inner City Press, which asked whether the UN given its central role in Haiti might be trying to encourage improvements in building codes, that "there is a government in Haiti... those codes have existed for two hundreds years." That might be the problem. Reportedly
"anger boiled over as thousands of Haitians looked on in the blazing sun, with the stench of rotting bodies beginning to rise from the rubble. Rumors have circulated that the international rescuers were working slowly to inflate their wages. About 100 men rushed the unstable pile... Thousands cheered them on, chanting, 'We don't need money to do the work!' Baton-swinging Haitian police and United Nations peacekeepers in riot gear drove the men away, only for them to return and throw rocks."
The Spokesperson was asked who decided on this use of force. Initially and cordially, she said that a "serious problem of crowd control" had existed as parents tried to get to the school, which "two teams, French and American, were working with MINUSTAH" to clear the rubble. Video here, from Minute 13:20.
One wondered, given the insistence that the UN system which includes the UN Development Program can do nothing about the building codes and practices that led to the collapse, why MINISTAH was described as being in charge of the rescue effort.
In fact, the Council mission if not that of Ban and
"the main MINUSTAH headquarters complex (The Christopher Hotel) is rented directly from a private individual (Dr. Gerard Desir) at the rate of $3.86 per square meter. The total complex is 24,383 square meters which includes parking, office space, pre-fab office space, canteen and conference space. The total monthly rent is thus $94,000. Please note that this does not include the MINUSTAH logbase, which is located on a plot of land provided at no cost by the Haitian Government. The decision to select the Hotel Christopher was based on a locally-completed analytical process which determined that this facility was one of the few premises in Port au Prince which would meet the
Beyond all these hard-won numbers, we are left with the question of the transition from a peacekeeping mission, not to peacebuilding, but emergency humanitarian. As Annabi said, such aid is needed. But is DPKO the right agency to be coordinating it?
The Council may also wish to follow-up on a UN shooting incident in April 2008 which Inner City Press asked Deputy Spokesperson Okabe about
Inner City Press: There are reports from
Deputy Spokesperson Okabe: I'll look into that for you.
Added later to the transcript:
"The Deputy Spokesperson later told the correspondent that, according to MINUSTAH, the mission says it has not been sent any complaint or protest directly, but it has received a copy of a letter from two local commercial associations (Association of the Defense of Haitian Merchants & Consumers and The Association for Small Businesses) addressed to the Government prosecutor, in which it is alleged that the two persons named were killed by MINUSTAH troops on 12 April 2008 following the public murder of a Nigerian United Nations Police, who was shot dead in the market in Belair.
MINUSTAH is, of course, investigating these allegations, but has not found any facts to substantiate them. Consequently the allegations that any MINUSTAH personnel killed these individuals or subsequently removed their bodies from the scene remain unsupported by any evidence."
The individual named in Inner City Press follow-up written question were Amonese Pierre and Anna Ainsi Connu. While the UN has said it is investigating itself -- we have heard this before -- this particular case should continue to be followed, as a matter of the UN's own "Responsibility to Protect" and otherwise.
In March 2008, exactly a year ago and where we’ll leave this retrospective off, Inner City Press asked about "an AP story today about
Ban's Spokesperson Michele Montas said, "I don't know whether I can say that or not. There have been a number of measures against corruption in the ports, which might have created this situation. I have nothing from MINUSTAH giving me information about people dying of hunger because the food is not getting in. Okay, thank you very much."
No, thank you – while we await the delayed response to our timely March 3 inquiry. Watch this site.
