By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 22 -- In the wake of the UN Security Councils visit this month to Darfur, the Sudan regime of Omar al Bashir pursued sixteen internally displaced person camp residents who spoke to the Council, making threats and arrests.
In New York on October 22, UN acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN couldn't confirm these reports, even those a UN Secretariat official is now scheduled to belatedly brief the Council on October 25 about the arrests.
Similarly, even though an internal UN document Inner City Press obtained while covering the Council's trip to Sudan reflects the shrinking and near closure of the Kalma IDP camp, the UN's Farhan Haq has said that Kalma camp is not, in fact, being closed down.
So was the internal UN document, shown by the UN to the Council members while in Darfur, incorrect?
While the Council was in Darfur, it asked to visit the Shangil Tobaya IDP camp, but could not. Days later, a Council diplomat told Inner City Press that the Council had been blocked from visiting Tobaya. Inner City Press asked, by whom? The government of UNAMID? Both, was the answer.
Now, in response to Inner City Press' question about people displaced by continued fighting in Jebel Marra going tot the Tobaya camp, the UN has said that it has full access to the camp, but sees nothing strange going on.
Subject: Your question on Shangil Tobaya
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply
Date: Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 3:44 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
There are five IDP camps in Shangil Tobaya, and UNAMID regularly patrols all of them. UNAMID said that they have full access to these camps and that there hasn't been anything significant to report in them lately.
Could this be like the UN's patrol in Eastern Congo in early August, where in villages where mass rapes were taking place, the UN peacekeepers visited and concluded that nothing was going on?
Inner City Press on October 22 asked the outgoing Representative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons Walter Kalin about the arrest of residents of Abu Shouk camp, and the dismantling of Kalma.
While saying that such dismantling would violate international law, Kalin said he couldn't comment further because Sudan has rejected his request to visit the country.
Likewise when Inner City Press asked the UN's Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living Raquel Rolnik about the housing rights not only for people in Darfur, but also nomadic tribes in Abyei and elsewhere, she said that she had asked to visit Sudan but was unable to.
A cynic compared this to Omar al Bashir allowing the Security Council to visit Darfur, to watch and learn who to target and arrest. What will the Council and UN Secretary do? Watch this site.
