By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 18,
updated -- As
Kenya's navy
has been
shelling and
"softening up"
Kismayo in
Somalia, and
in the process
killing at
least three
civilians,
Inner City
Press has
repeatedly
asked the UN
what
safeguards are
in place.
After
pointing out
that the
Kenyan navy is
not part of
the
UN-assisted
AMISOM
mission, UN
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
finally
pointed back
to a
three week old
statement by
the UN's
humanitarian
Mark Bowden.
But
given the UN's
role in
funding
AMISOM, with
which the
Kenyan naval
shelling is
clearly
coordinated,
doesn't the UN
have a greater
role?
On
Tuesday
morning Inner
City Press
asked UK
Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant about
the shelling,
after he
described the
just-passed
Security
Council
resolution and
upcoming
summit meeting
at the UN.
Lyall
Grant said the
Kenya's ground
troops are
part of
AMISOM, but
the "Kenyan
navy assets"
are not. He
said he would
not speak to
the timetable
for re-taking
Kismayo from
Al Shabab,
which he
called "a
longstanding
objective that
will be
pursued."
Inner
City Press
asked, since
the Kenyan
navy is
clearly
coordinating
with
the Council
authorized
(and UN
funded)
AMISOM, what
safeguards are
in
place?
Lyall Grant
said the issue
goes beyond
Somalia,
whenever
regional
organizations
are authorized
by the Council
in this way.
He
said while
less direct
than with UN
blue helmets
(or berets),
AMISOM
is still
expected to
comply with
human rights,
and he said
"we have not
reasons to
believe that
they are not
doing so."
But what about
the Kenyan
Navy and its
shelling?
There was
previously a
dispute in the
Security
Council about
whether to
fund the
Kenyan naval
component, or
at least its
maintenance.
Did declining
to provide
that funding
leave this de
facto
component
outside any
human rights
safeguards?
Watch this site.
Watch this site.
Here
is the UK
Mission
transcript:
Inner City Press: you mentioned Al-Shabaab, and there’s been a lot of reports in recent days of the Kenyan Army and AMISOM closing in on Kismayo, and also some shelling from ships that are said to be in the Kenyan Navy. I’m wondering 1) what you can say about this kind of end game with Al-Shabaab, but a question arose, whether the Kenyan navy was part of AMISOM, was it ever approved by the Council, are you paying for the ships, and if, what safeguards are in place for this, essentially, shelling into Kismayo that some people say has killed at least three civilians?
Amb. Lyall Grant: “Well, it has always been a long term objective of both AMISOM and the Somali authorities to take back control of Kismayo from Al-Shabaab. I’m not going to comment on the timetable for that, or the plans for that. But that is clearly an objective and it’s an objective that will be pursued. In terms of the Kenyan naval assets, they are not formally part of AMISOM. The Kenyan troops since June, when the MoU was signed with the African Union, have become part of AMISOM and are being funded accordingly. But the Kenyan naval assets are funded by the Kenyans and are not part of AMISOM.”
Inner City Press: something I’ve been trying to figure out for a few days. Since it’s working obviously in coordination with AMISOM, and there are at least reports, Human Rights Watch put out a report that a pregnant woman and two children were killed by the shelling, how does the Council ensure that something that’s part of a mission that it authorised, that there’s human rights monitoring, and safeguards in place for the whole operation, and not only part of it.
Amb. Lyall Grant: “Well, that is a general challenge that goes beyond the case of Somalia. There are other examples of regional organisations that are authorised, mandated, by the Security Council to take action. Now obviously, when it is a full UN peacekeeping operation with blue berets, there is a more direct control on the part of the UN system and on the part of the Security Council on issues like human rights. With the case of AMISOM, it is a more distant, hands off relationship. But nonetheless, it is a UN authorised mission and we do expect AMISOM to abide by international standards of human rights and humanitarian law, and we have no reason to think that they are not doing so.”
