By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, June 8 -- After UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon decided not to list Israel or Hamas in the annex of his Children and Armed Conflict report, most questions to the UN concerned that issue, statements below. Inner City Press reports on that, but also on this, in the report at Paragraph 44 but also not in the Annex:
"44. The United Nations interviewed several boys following allegations of repeated acts of sexual violence by elements of 'Operation Sangaris' in and around M’Poko IDP camp, Bangui, between December 2013 and May 2014. Their national authorities have opened an investigation that is ongoing. The victims have been provided with necessary assistance by the United Nations and local partners. It is of the utmost importance that the perpetrators be held accountable."
It is notable that even the paragraph doesn't mentioned that the "Operation Sangaris" is a force of France, the (former?) colonial power. Also, if Anders Kompass has not leaked the report, would the UN ever had included this paragraph?
Also notable is the continued inclusion in the Annex not only of the Somali National Army, but also of the "Free Syrian Army" - which the US stands prepared to "train and equip." Does this now comply with US law? This has yet not been inquired into - watch this site.
Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, issued a statement that “we deeply regret the Secretary-Generals decision to exclude Israel from the list of parties who commit grave violations against children in armed conflict. This decision strikingly contradicts the UN's own evidence and the set criteria on this matter. It is without doubt that Israel, the occupying Power, flagrantly, systematically and grossly commits human rights violations against Palestinian children constituting grave violations that qualify it for such a listing in the annex to the Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict.. The UN's inaction, submitting to the inordinate pressures exerted, sends a most regrettable signal that the same criteria do not apply in all situations for all children, undermining the credibility of the UN system as a whole and the CAAC mechanism in specific.”
The “pressure exerted” included the United States, which also got Ban to cancel the Yemen talks that had been slated for May 11, click here for that Inner City Press exclusive. Likewise, despite a UN Dispute Tribunal ruling that UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous asked for CAR rape whistleblower Anders Kompass to resign, nothing has been done with regard to Ladsous, the four Frenchman in a row atop UN Peacekeeping. It is not only on CAAC that Ban gives in to inordinate pressure.
Israel's Ron Prosor put out a statement that “the UN Secretary General was right not to submit to the dictates of the terrorist organizations and the Arab states, in his decision not to include Israel in this shameful list, together with organizations like ISIS, Al Qaeda and the Taliban. However, the UN still has a long way to go. Instead of releasing thousands of reports and lists against Israel, the UN must unequivocally condemn the terrorist organizations that operate in the Gaza Strip. I call on the Secretary General to put an end to the destruction these organizations cause the people of Gaza, when they obstruct humanitarian aid, fire from civilian population centers and use innocents as human shields. Only after these organizations are recognized as terrorist organizations and condemned, can we promote real solutions.”
Ban's spokesman Dujarric, before Inner City Press asked him about the French Sangaris force in CAR, told reporters to not worry so much about the list. Really? Others, reporting on this, did not mention the French forces' sexual abuse. We'll have more on this.
Back on June 1 In the run up to Ban's decision on whether to include Israel in the UN's list of those abusing children in armed conflict, Inner City Press asked Pierre Krähenbühl, the Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, for his view.
Krahenbuhl diplomatically said he'd have no comment until after the decision is made.
And now?
