By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, December 7 -- On Sudan, the UN turns away from killing and abuse while the US downplays it. On December 7, Inner City Press asked the UN spokesman, the US' PJ Crowley and the US Mission to the UN about bombings by Khartoum, with a range of evasive answers and non-answers.
At the UN's Tuesday noon briefing, Inner City Press asked spokesman Martin Nesirky:
Inner City Press: There have been — the SPLM [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement] has come out and said that, now Monday and Tuesday of this week, that Khartoum has bombed West Bahr El-Ghazal State and they’re calling for a UN investigation and saying this could throw the referendum off track. What has UNMIS [United Nations Mission in Sudan] done to investigate it and what does UN say to this call for an investigation?
Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, as far as I know from UNMIS, they have been informed by the SPLA [Sudan People’s Liberation Army] that an aerial bombing took place yesterday, 15 miles north-east of Timsaha. And a monitoring and verification team led by UNMIS is on the ground trying to verify the incident. So that’s as much as I have at the moment.
Inner City Press: What about this thing that I asked you yesterday about the transitional Darfur regional authority being raided by the Sudanese authorities in Darfur? Does Mr. [Ibrahim] Gambari or UNAMID [African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur], have they been able in the many hours since that happened to confirm it?
Spokesperson Nesirky: I don’t have anything specific for you on that at the moment, no. Okay?
[The Spokesperson later added that, at this stage, the Mission is looking into the possible implications of recent statements and actions by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Armed Forces and will discuss it with the Government.]
Actually, it's NOT okay -- the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General delivered this belated (non) response not at the briefing or by email afterward, but by an in-house squawk system not audible at the Security Council where Inner City Press and other reporters were.
When US Ambassador Susan Rice emerged from the Council and delivered a short statement about Ivory Coast, Inner City Press asked one question on that topic, then asked repeated, “A question on Sudan?” Ambassador Rice smiled but walked away from the microphone.
Inner City Press conveyed the question -- what will the US do about the SPLM's call for a Security Council investigation of the bombings, during this month when the US is the Council President -- but four hours after delivery, there was still no answer. We will report it when one arrives.
US State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley came to New York on Tuesday to address reporters, largely about Wikileaks. Inner City Press asked about Crowley's December 15 negative response to a question if there were “any” US military operations in Yemen, in light of the December 17 drone attacks in Yemen (Crowley said his response was only about the Houthi), and about Sudan and the bombings.
Crowley barely addressed the bombings, but said that the South Sudan referendum would be one of the biggest events of the first half of 2011, and could help or hurt the situation in Darfur. But what about the situation now, and the UN's and envoy Ibrahim Gambari's inaction?
Inner City Press asked Human Rights Watch's Richard Dicker about Gambari's recent actions, attending Bashir's inauguration and negotiating to hand over to Bashir five supporters of Fur rebel Abdel Wahid Nur. Video here, from Minute 41:30. Dicker said that it seems “Gambari is violating policy.” Seems? Watch this site.
