Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1r2p042808.html
www.innercitypress.com/un1r2p042808.html
UNITED NATIONS, April 28 -- Darfur is not a good test case for the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect, the UN's special advisor on the topic Edward Luck said Monday. In front of him sat Sudan's ambassador to the UN, who after the panel discussion offered praise for Mr. Luck. "That's the kiss of death," another panelist remarked. The three remarks evidence the range of views on Responsibility to Protect, known by some its adherences as R2P. There is not even agreement on when R2P began. One astute panelist dates it to 1999 and NATO's proto-R2P bombing. Luck, on the other hand, seems to place the concept's birth after Darfur became a prominent issue, for example in Kofi Annan's speech on the tenth anniversary of the Rwanda genocide.
Rwanda's Ambassador to the UN Joseph Nsengimana was on the panel, and intoned that the genocidaires from his country are still alive and active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (UN Peacekeepers are reported by the BBC to have traded arms for gold with the FDLR fighters, click here for today's story on that.) Filipino professor Noel Morada spoke of ASEAN's reservations about R2P, ascribin these to a mis-using of the concept of humanitarian intervention in Cambodia to justify foreign domination. He described growing support for R2P within Thailand, despite former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's opposition to the concept. A representative of the Thai mission to the UN took the floor to dispute any support for R2P in her country. Sudan's Ambassador asked why the concept is not applied to Gaza, or to immigrants in Western societies.
Luck, as luck would have it, was surprisingly accommodative of Sudan's views. The concept must apply everywhere, he agreed, and it does apply to immigrant, and not only to citizens of countries. Several observers opined that Luck, given problems earlier this year with even setting up his office, is trying to befriend countries perceived as on the receiving end of R2P doctrine. Whether this undermines the concept, or Luck's credibility in his post, remains to be seen.
Inner City Press asked Luck to address criticisms leveled in the UN's budget committee on March 3, and the UN spokesperson's response on March 4 that Luck's post is temporary and interim, and funded by voluntary contributions. Video here, from Minute 2:08:00. We got beaten up in the Fifth Committee, Luck joked, and we weren't even asking them for anything yet. But "that's life." He said he is getting a dollar a year, and as an Assistant Secretary General does not have a UN e-mail account or even a UN phone number. But "I can roll with that," he said. Video here, from Minute 2:25:50.
Canada, on the other hand, bragged of larger sums of money. Inner City Press asked Canadian Ambassador John McNee about a speech by a fellow Canadian, Stephen Lewis, which took the UN to task for not implementing or living up to R2T in the Eastern Congo. Video here, from Minute 2:07:25. Amb. McNee responded that his country has given $15.5 million to Eastern Congo. Video here, from Minute 2:33:40.
And Ed Luck still doesn't have a phone or e-mail address. All he has is a concept and soon, after a buy-out, a new spokesman. He said that the next approach to the budget committee will be better organized, and build "a bridgehead on this side of First Avenue, and not only at IPI," the International Peace Institute. Video here, from Minute 2:25:50. We'll see.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1r2p042808.html
