By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/doss7boot112609.html
UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- On its enabling of rape and murder in the Congo, the UN is either in denial or doesn't care, close observers increasingly conclude. On November 25 the UN's Congo sanctions experts leaked their report which concludes among other things that the UN Mission in the Congo is adding to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Kivus and is a failure.
Long after news and extensive quotes from the report were disseminated all over the world, Inner City Press asked UN Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq for the response of Ban Ki-moon and his scandal plagued Congo envoy Alan Doss.
Haq replied that the report is not yet official and so there will be no comment. He went on to say that the UN will continue with the military operation Kimia II, even moving into an undefined "new phase" in December. Video here, from Minute 13:48.
Inner City Press asked a simple yes or no litmus test question: is MONUC still supporting the Congolese army unit led by Colonel Zimulinda, named by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston as responsible for murder and at least 10, but probably 40 or more, rapes?
Haq said he didn't know, but claimed that Alain Le Roy's -- and he emphasized, Alan Doss' -- November 1 unrelated suspension of assistance to some units of the 213th Brigade made it clear the UN's hands are clean, in essence. Apparently, after Alston's detailed report on Zimulinda, nothing has been done.
The Security Council had a meeting on November 25 about Congo Sanctions. But members said they did not discuss the report, only the "regime" of sanctions.
Sources tell Inner City Press that it is because the report accuses not only the UN Secretariat but also member states of complicity in death in Congo that the report is being delayed, and the experts saw fit to selectively leak it. Only at the UN.
Combined with Alan Doss' nepotism scandal and mis-management of MONUC, this report would an most credible organization lead to the dismissal or removal of the manager at issue.
But Alan Doss is British, and the UK is a Permanent Member of the Security Council. If the past is any guide, a new UK post of similar power would have to be arranged and even delivered before the clearly needed change at MONUC could be made.
Beyond the lack of accountability within the UN system, there is a lack of corporate responsibility. As highlighted, Malaysian Smelting Corporation and Thailand Smelting and Refining Company, which is part of the UK metals group AMC, are among the companies again identified by the Group of Experts as sourcing minerals from suppliers who have links with killers and rapists.
The report among other things concludes that the CNDP, even after purported integration into the Congolese army, still maintains a network which now uses the army and UN to take mines over from the FDLR. That is, the UN has allowed itself to get sucked into favoring one criminal enterprise over another, and the denying this to the world. The UN experts group cut through the veil, but are so far being ignored. Watch this site.
Footnote: Days after the coordinated leak of the report, U.S. television network CBS' 60 Minutes show of November 29 will show the Enough Project's John Prendergast in the DRC tracking conflict minerals, relating them to cell phones and mp3 players. While we intend to watch, one wonder why the Enough Project, not unlike its response to the mass killing in Sri Lanka, has been retiscent to make the needed criticism of the compromised leadership of the UN Mission MONUC. Even those who are supposed to bring accountability don't, for their own reasons. Watch this site.
