By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, February 3 -- As the Cote d'Ivoire strategy of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his ONUCI envoy Choi Young-jin is described as unraveling, the ONUCI Mission and UN no longer answer basic questions. Inner City Press has asked about events on January 28, in which two journalists flown from Bouake to Abidjan on a UN plane were immediately arrested.
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq on February 3 said that “UNOCI has not comment on this,” and argued that the arrest did not take place in flight, but after landing. But if the UN can't even protect civilians or journalists the moment they get off a UN plane, how can they comply with their protection of civilians mandate?
Inner City Press had asked and is asking the UN to
“please confirm or deny the UN's / ONUCI's awareness of the arrest below, please explain how journalists could be arrested while flying on a UN operated flight, and regarding the helicopters voted on by the Security Council more than two weeks ago, please state between whom the “discussions” in your response of yesterday are taking place, and on what topic. Also, what were these helicopters doing with UNMIL until until two weeks ago, and now? The reported arrests:
“Sanogo and Charly left Bouaké for Abidjan at about 3 p.m. on 28 January aboard a flight operated by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire (ONUCI). They were arrested on their arrival at the Abidjan air base by members of the Defence and Security Forces (FDS).”
Also on January 28, UN peacekeepers engaged with “young people” with “moderate force.” Inner City Press since then has been asking the UN and its Department of Peacekeeping Operations how young these people where and what safeguards were in place -- without answer.
So on February 3, Inner City Press asked the UN's Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy about the incident, and what rules apply to UN peacekeepers engaging with child soldiers or activists.
Ms. Coomaraswamy said she would call for the use of “minimal” force -- to be contrasts with the “moderate” force ONUCI says it used.
But when Inner City Press asked Ms. Coomaraswamy if her office had been notified by ONUCI or DPKO about their engagement with “youth people,” she said no.
Also, with the helcopters voted on by the Security Council more than two weeks ago still no in Cote d'Ivoire, Inner City Press has asked, among other things, “Regarding the helicopters for Cote d'Ivoire / ONUCI voted on by the Security Council more than two weeks ago, please state between whom the “discussions” in your response of yesterday are taking place, and on what topic.” Watch this site.
