By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 19 -- After the UN Security Council took no action Friday on the UN report of war crimes by Sudan in Southern Kordofan, with inaction by UN peacekeepers airbrushed out, Inner City Press asked UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay to explain her deletion of portions of the draft report. She claimed not to know about them. Her staff promised to respond by e-mail, but seven hours later had not.
At two pm with no other reporters around, Sudanese Permanent Representative to the UN Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman emerged from the Council and spoke with Inner City Press, which asked, how did it go?
"You know we are righteous people," Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman told Inner City Press, "today is a holy day, Friday for us as Muslims, our prayers to the Almighty, we have defeated faulty, groundless allegations."
Since UN TV was not in operation, perhaps due to UN budget cuts, Inner City Press began filming Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman. He said, "We have conveyed to all members of the SC that we have two reservations on the report. First of all , it's a preliminary report." See YouTube video, here and embedded below.
He went on to say that his government would itself investigate the allegations. Inner City Press asked, by when? In two weeks, he said.
He then said, making news, that his government had agreed to allow in to Southern Kordofan a UN humanitarian assessment mission.
Inner City Press asked about top UN humanitarian Valerie Amos' statement that visas were being blocked, amplified by her staff's email to Inner City Press that
"Humanitarian agencies have raised concerns on S Kordofan with various international mediators, including Thabo Mbeki, the head of the AU high level implementing panel on Sudan, and with Haile Menkerios, the UN Special Envoy. I think the Govt Sudan has said it sees the situation in S Kordofan as an internal matter - the international community is still trying to raise awareness of humanitarian issues and concerns. Since mid-July, only three international staff have received travel permits for South Kordofan."
Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said, on (YouTube) camera, that very few visas have been requested from his Mission.
Later, when UN TV re-opened, Inner City Press asked there if Sudan would allow the UN to rescue injured peacekeepers from Abyei by flying from Wau in South Sudan, as was recently blocked. Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman replied that the government has been ready to negotiate a new Status of Forces Agreement, but the UN has not sent anyone to negotiate.
UN TV seemed to be filming this, so Inner City Press stopped. But six hours later, the footage is not online. In the middle of the stakeout, a fire alarm went off. Only at the UN. Watch this site.