By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 10 – Not only has the UN been silent on the crackdown in Cameroon's Anglophone areas - UN Peacekeeping has failed to vet the Cameroon security forces it sends into other countries and has failed to follow up on allegations against them for example in the Central African Republic. In CAR last year, "a Member of Parliament representing the Nana-Bakassa District in the Ouham Prefecture, Roland Achille Bangué-Betangaye, accused Cameroonian forces serving in his country under the banner of the United Nations Multidimensional Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA) of trafficking in minerals, including gold and diamond. Speaking over CAR national radio, the MP said Cameroonian soldiers serving in the country have transformed themselves into business men through the smuggle of food items, gasoil and beer. In turn, he said, they make away with minerals especially gold and diamond. The Cameroonian military serving in the Nana-Bakassa District, the law maker said, have even opened a drinking spot where people come and refresh themselves." So what has the UN done about it?
There are also sexual abuse allegations, at a time the UN is saying it is getting tough, on which we'll have more.
The UN says it's fine that its Resident Coordinator from her official Twitter account blocks the Press which asks about it. Amid the ongoing abuse of Anglophones in Cameroon, the Internet being turned off for 51 day in their regions, Inner City Press on March 8 discovered that the UN's Resident Coordinator in Cameroon, Najat Rochdi of Morocco, blocks it on Twitter, see here. So Inner City Press asked Secretary General Antonio Guterres' holdover Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq about it on March 9, UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: the answer you sent about Mr. [Francois] Louncény Fall saying that he would raise issues to the authorities. Can you say whether the issue of the internet being off in two provinces for 52 days has been raised? And, secondarily, I wanted to ask you this. You announced from this podium that Najat Rochdi is going to Central African Republic as Resident Coordinator. What's the process to appoint a new Resident Coordinator for the UN system in Cameroon? And is it… is it… is it… can it be public in any way? It seems many people have complained that, while she was there, she never raised the Anglophone issue. And, in fact, I found that she blocks Inner City Press on Twitter, so I'm unable to ask her why this issue has not been raised. But what's the process to replace… and you can smirk, but should a UN official in their official account…?
Spokesman: That's an unrelated thing. I mean, obviously, all people… all individuals, not even just all UN officials, are free to block whoever they want on Twitter. That's within their rights.
Inner City Press: Including missions? So you think a peacekeeping mission should pick and choose which media can follow it?
Spokesman: Organizations will respond… are supposed to respond to press requests. Individuals can do whatever they like with their Twitter accounts.
Inner City Press: What's the process of replacing the Resident Coordinator in Cameroon?
Spokesman: It's the same as in any other place. There's a process that goes… that you go through, and the Resident Coordinator's selection process is supervised by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Spokesman: That's an unrelated thing. I mean, obviously, all people… all individuals, not even just all UN officials, are free to block whoever they want on Twitter. That's within their rights.
Inner City Press: Including missions? So you think a peacekeeping mission should pick and choose which media can follow it?
Spokesman: Organizations will respond… are supposed to respond to press requests. Individuals can do whatever they like with their Twitter accounts.
Inner City Press: What's the process of replacing the Resident Coordinator in Cameroon?
Spokesman: It's the same as in any other place. There's a process that goes… that you go through, and the Resident Coordinator's selection process is supervised by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
This is at odds with the UN's claims to be transparent in its use of public money, and to be open to the press and impacted public, and will be pursued at Rochdi's next assignment at the UN in Central African Republic. But it raises the question: how are UN Resident Coordinators selected? Inner City Press reported on Ban Ki-moon's son in law Siddharth Chatterjee getting multiple promotion under Ban, including being named UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya by Ban himself. (Inner City Press was evicted by Ban's UN, and remains restricted under Ban's successor). But shouldn't Anglophone Cameroonians have some input into the UN's next Resident Coordinator in their country? This is a project for the Free UN Coalition for Access, @FUNCA_info. Watch these sites and feeds.
Inner City Press on March 7 and March 8 asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' spokesman, for the third and fourth times, about what the Political Affairs official Guterres extended to April 1, 2018, told the Press: that Francois Lonseny Fall visited the areas. Video here and here. After the March 8 briefing, the UN sent this to Inner City Press:
"Subject: Your question on CameroonFrom: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply
Date: Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 3:30 PM
To: matthew.lee [at] innercitypress.com
Mr. Francois Lounseny Fall and members of his team have conducted a series of visits to Cameroon to assess the situation in the Anglophone regions. Mr. Fall will continue to engage with the national authorities and monitor the situation in these regions and, in the first instance, bring any concerns to the authorities so that they may be addressed."
Date: Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 3:30 PM
To: matthew.lee [at] innercitypress.com
Mr. Francois Lounseny Fall and members of his team have conducted a series of visits to Cameroon to assess the situation in the Anglophone regions. Mr. Fall will continue to engage with the national authorities and monitor the situation in these regions and, in the first instance, bring any concerns to the authorities so that they may be addressed."
So have any "concerns" been raised by the UN to President Biya? We will continue on this.
From the UN's March 7 transcript:
Inner City Press: On Cameroon, I’d asked Stéphane Dujarric, then I’d asked you. Finally, Mr. [Jeffrey] Feltman said Mr. [Francois] Louncény Fall had made two visits to the area. Many people have now asked online, what came of those visits? Because there was nothing put out by the UN. When were the visits made? Did Mr. Louncény Fall express any concern about the treatment of Anglophones to President [Paul] Biya’s Government? And is there some way to know what the purpose of those visits were?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, we’ll check with his office about whether they have an update.
Deputy Spokesman: Well, we’ll check with his office about whether they have an update.
Six hours later, nothing. Absolutely nothing. On March 6, Inner City Press asked the UN Secretariat for the second time about the issue. On March 3, lead spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Inner City Press, "We're obviously following it, and I'll see if I can get you something further." But on March 6 Dujarric's deputy Farhan Haq had nothing further, just generalities about a due process that the UN itself doesn't offer. But when Inner City Press asked UN official Jeffrey Feltman of the Department of Political Affairs, Feltman said that Francois Lonseny Fall of UNOCA has visited the regions twice. To what end? We hope to have more on this.
On March 5 asked Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for UN High Commission for Human Rights Prince Zeid of Jordan, questions including this: "What is the UN system, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), doing about abuses against the Anglophone community in Cameroon, in the Northwest and Southwest regions where the Internet has been cut for 49 days and counting?"
Past noon the following day, March 6, still no response from Colville or the OHCHR. Is this acceptable?
While UN Security Council members visiting Niger, 188th out of 188 on the UN Development Index, is certainly welcome, it is noteworthy has is not being addressed or even publicly mentioned on this trip.
Beyond the omission, which some called shameful, of the plight of Anglophones in Cameroon -- the Internet has been turned off in their regions -- the common denominator of France's historical power relations with, say, Chad and Niger was omitted even from reporting from inside the Council's bubble.
It was complained to the Free UN Coalition for Access that the UN didn't even inform the News Agency of Nigeria that it could go on the trip (but did inform, for example, Voice of America). Might NAN have been more critical of aspects of the trip? How will this omission be addressed?
And while a Security Council member has responded to Inner City Press that the issue was raised in meetings, given that VOA, invited and on the trip, did not even mention it, one wonders when, where and with what seriousness it was raised. We hope to have more on that.
Inner City Press in the past was informed of such trips, and went on some, for example to Chad where then French Ambassador Jean Maurice Ripert dissembled about President Deby's non-appearance, then confronted Inner City Press about its reporting, in the airport in Kigali, Rwanda. Now, following a retaliatory eviction and continuing restriction at the UN by Department of Public Information chief Cristina Gallach and spokesman Stephane Dujarric for seeking to cover the Ng Lap Seng / John Ashe UN bribery case in the UN Press Briefing Room on January 29, 2016, Inner City Press is no longer informed or invited. DPI under Gallach churns out assemblages of canned quotes and tweets as "stories," as from within the bubble. We'll have more on this.
On a previous Security Council trip that included Sudan, Council members spoke to the Press about standing up to the Sudanese government about abuses. So what happened in Cameroon?
