By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, June 29 -- Can the UN, spending $2 billion a year on now three peacekeeping missions in Sudan, monitor human rights in Abyei and at least count casualties in the Nuba mountains of Southern Kordofan?
It is by no means clear. On June 29 Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq for the second time to describe how the Secretary General will monitor human rights in the flashpoint Abyei area.
The day previous, a UN official speaking on the condition of not being identified by name acknowledged to the Press that it will be very difficult, that at least some other civilian employees can try to convert military reports into civilian or even human rights ones.
A Security Council member, telling Inner City Press later on June 28 that the deputy chief of UN peacekeeping Edmond Mulet had provided assurances to the Council, suggested that Mulet or the Secretariat be asked for the details.
But Haq on June 29 again refused to provide any details, saying only that whatever the Secretariat does will be in its report to the Council -- which will not be filed until after the July 9 expiration, by the UN's admission, of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
For $2 billion, Ban Ki-moon's UN Secretariat should be able to do better.
So too in Darfur, where it is reported that hundreds of
“families who fled from Shangil Tobaya, Wadi Marra, Korkolah, Hashaba and villages to the west of Tabit and who went to Tawila are still suffering from difficult humanitarian conditions. Witnesses said that these refugees did not receive any relief from the World Food Program (WFP) and were not given tents with which to face the rainy season. The displaced people appealed to the international community and relief organizations to take steps to help the newly displaced people in the area of Tawila.”
When Inner City Press asked Haq about this, Haq referred back to a previous denial issued on behalf of WFP regarding complaints from IDP camp residents in Darfur. Inner City Press noted that the camp residents are complaining about the vouchers now provided by WFP, instead of food. Haq then said you'd have to ask WFP. But isn't Darfur, and Sudan more generally, one of Ban Ki-moon's priorities?
In fact, even on the day Ban “welcomed” the agreement between Khartoum and the “SPLM-North” in Southern Kordofan, Haq would not directly answer whether or not Ahmed Haroun, a figure indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur then flown around by the UN, has been responsible for blocking access to Kadugli town and closing its airport.
After correcting the pronunciation of Haroun's first name, Haq said haltingly that the UN's “relation is dealing with them on, uh, restricted need,” only if a “particular need, like the protection of civilians” arises. But why would the UN speak with and fly around a person already indicted for killing civilians, ostensibly to protect civilians? We will continue reporting into this: watch this site.
