By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, July 14 -- With the UN peacekeepers in Southern Kordofan staying in their bases, unable to patrol, there's documentation of mass graves being discovered and of continued bombing, the latter said to be reported by the UN. But by whom in the UN?
Sudan's Ambassador to the UN has said, and top UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy on Wednesday confirmed, that the UN Mission in Sudan “is over,” and force can no longer be used, even to protect civilians.
Meanwhile the UN's chief humanitarian Valerie Amos told Inner City Press that the future of the UN country team in Sudan is being negotiated with Khartoum. If the UN has told peacekeepers in Kordofan to stand down due to lack of host country consent, the same would seem to apply to all parts of the UN system.
On July 13 Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky about the bombing in Kordofan:
Inner City Press: There are these reports of continued bombing in Kadugli and South Kordofan. It says the UN has reported, I guess to BBC, that these bombs are falling. One, can you confirm that? And two, this would seem to indicate that the UN is at least in a position to report what they hear or see. I am just trying to figure out what the UN presence in Kordofan is going to be between now and the end of August. Is there going to be some kind of at least visual observation and reporting?
Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, it depends on what you mean by the UN, Matthew, because there is a UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) which is now being liquidated, because that’s what has to happen. And there are other members of the UN family, so to speak, who would also presumably be in the area, too. That’s the first point. The second is that I would need to check with my colleagues to see whether they have any further information on the bombings that you have referred to. But we’ve made clear, I have made clear from here, that the UN Mission in Sudan is in now the phase of winding down. It no longer has a mandate to operate. It’s not what we wanted, but it is a fact. And so, therefore, it is not possible for the Mission — the previous Mission — to be active in patrolling and so on. I would need to find out if these reports are correct and where they emanate from.
But a full 19 hours later, Nesirky had not provide any information in this regard. Meanwhile satellite imagery was released, not by the UN, showing mass graves in Kordofan.
On July 13, the UN's Alain Le Roy said that peacekeepers still could and would respond as humanitarians while in Kordofan. What do they do now? Watch this site.
