By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 24 -- What about a referendum in Abyei? When the UN Security Council meeting Thursday on Sudan and South Sudan broke up, Inner City Press asked Azerbaijan's Agshin Mehdiyev, the Security Council's president of October, if there had been any discussion of the idea of holding the referendum now.
Mehdiyev answered that the statement, or elements to the press, which he had just read out to an otherwise empty media stakeout contained the answer: no, the Council is not in favor.
Inner City Press has obtained the agreed-to elements to the press, here they are:
The members of the Security Council reiterated their grave concern about the highly volatile situation in Abyei area, and urgently called on all concerned to refrain from any unilateral action that could heighten tension or impede a solution.
The members of the Security Council welcomed the 22 October Summit between the Presidents of Sudan and South Sudan, and the commitment again by the two Presidents to proceed expeditiously with establishment of Abyei Administration, Abyei Council and Abyei Police Service.
The members of the Council recall their decision in resolution 2046 that the parties must resume immediately negotiations to reach agreement on Abyei final status under the auspices of the AUHIP.
The members of the Council expressed support for the African Union Peace and Security Council visit to Abyei on 26-27 October and urged both communities to use this visit as an opportunity to ease tension.
The members of the Council looked forward to hearing from the AUPSC regarding its findings and to advancing the Parties’ efforts to peacefully resolve their differences.
But what about the people trying to return to Abyei to vote, reportedly left under insufficient sheet plastic without enough mosquito nets?
Inner City Press asked the UN's special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons Chaloka Beyani about the IDPs in Abyei. He said that in his visit to Sudan, he had not been able to visit Abyei, Southern Kordofan or Blue Nile states due to security concerns; he will soon travel to South Sudan.
Inner City Press asked him about accountability, including for UN Peacekeeping, for the killing of IDPs in Nahibly camp in Cote d'Ivoire. He said the government had said it will prosecute but he had no information that it has -- rather like the assurances UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous accepted from Congolese authorities about the 135 rapes at Minova by their forces.
A year ago, to the day, Beyani told Inner City Press that the UN Peacekeepers at Nahibly did not shot to protect civilians, since the attackers were not an army, but other civilians.
With Ladsous in DRC using attack helicopters and devoting UN resources to support France in Mali, while not protecting perceived Laurent Gbagbo supports in Cote d'Ivoire, one has to wonder what has become of UN Peacekeeping under his tenure.
To return to Abyei, what is the result of the promised investigation into the killing of the Paramount Chief of the area, which Ladsous' DPKO promised? What is it? Ladsous will not answer: video here, UN coverage here. Is this the UN, on UN Day? Watch this site.
