By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1basnet011510.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 15 -- After Nepal sent Major Niranjan Basnet, charged with the torture and murder of a 15 year old girl, to the UN Peacekeeping mission in Chad, human rights groups protested. The UN send Basnet back to Nepal, but the Army has refused to turn him over to civilian authorities for trial.
Inner City Press asked the UN about this on December 24, but UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said that "a national Government is responsible for national armed forces."
On January 15, after UN envoy to Nepal Karin Landgren had briefed the UN Security Council, she emerged to a stakeout without any journalists. They and the UN had become, since the January 12 earthquake, all Haiti, all the time.
Inner City Press ran after Ms. Landgren and asked if the UN Mission in Nepal has raised to Nepal's government or army the need to hand Basnet over to civilian authorities for trial.
No, Ms. Landgren said. That is a "matter primary for DPKO and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights."
Inner City Press asked if it didn't have political ramification of the sort that UNMIN is charged to deal with.
"It's a peacekeeping and human rights issue," Ms. Landgren answered.
Later she acknowledged that there is a "link with impunity." When asked, she said that UNMIN raises impunity "in a general way" with the parties. But not about Basnet. Why not? Watch this site.
Footnote: following Ms. Landgren's generous hallway answers, Inner City Press would have asked for further UN clarification at Friday's noon briefing, but UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said that "I'm sticking on Haiti today," and has declined to response to many e-mailed questions. And so the UN Secretariat, DPA's and UNMIN's position appears to be that the the refusal by a government of a major TCC to put on trial an accused torturer and murder is... merely an internal matter.
Basnet and other war criminals must be happy with the UN's post Haiti earthquake desire and communications need to stay "on message," regardless of what happens elsewhere. Watch this site.
