By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unsc1monksviet101609.html
UNITED NATIONS, October 16 -- Nearly three weeks after some 400 Buddhist monks in Vietnam were evicted and beaten, and Vietnam took over the Presidency of the UN Security Council, on October 16 Inner City Press asked Vietnam's Ambassador and Council President Le Luong Minh about the incident. Video here, from Minute 3:09.
Ambassador Le Luong Minh at first look puzzled, then smirked. Inner City Press explained the "hook" to the Security Council, a report that "supporters are also asking the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to help them arrange a meeting with Vietnam's U.N. ambassador."
While U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice was present in the Council on Friday, when Inner City Press asked if the matter had been raised, Le Luong Minh said "no one has raised it, and there are no grounds for anyone to raise it."
When monks, admittedly a larger number, were cracked down on in Myanmar, the matter was quickly raised in the Security Council, and Myanmar is now on the Council's agenda. There are other less than reasonable exclusions from the Council's agenda, such as the tens of thousands of ethnic Tamils killed in Sri Lanka earlier this year. But when events like this take place in a country holding the presidency of the UN Security Council, it should not be surprising that they are raised.
Only this week, five countries ran for and won seats of the Security Council. When Inner City Press asked Brazil's Ambassador if she envisioned bringing up Honduras in the Council when she joins it in January, if it is still needed, she referred only to "regional organizations."
When Inner City Press asked Nigeria's foreign minister if Nigeria would like to bring up Guinea in the Council, he also referred to regional organizations. When Ban Ki-moon on October 16 announced a UN inquiry into the killings and rapes in Guinea, Inner City Press asked his spokesperson if the inquiry had the consent of the government, as the UN implied would be necessary in Sri Lanka. His spokesperson replied that a regional organization had asked for the Guinea inquiry.
ASEAN's inward gaze condemn many victims to suffer in silence. While often the Council accomplishes little for those on its agenda, it does let a government know it is being watched. In the case of Vietnam, the response was just a smirk. And so it goes at the UN.
