By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, July 14 -- The UN always says that it is watching, but only sometimes it denounces. So it is in Libya.
Abuses by Gaddafi forces, still prevalent, have been condemned from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on down. But amid reports of looting and beatings by anti-Gaddafi rebels, the UN in New York stands silent, trying to pass the buck to more distant parts of the UN system.
On July 13 Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky:
Inner City Press: the Libyan rebels are, according to the [reports], responsible for looting and beating people in towns they have taken over in their drive towards Tripoli. These are towns viewed as supporting [Muammar al-] Qadhafi. There have been many UN statements on abuses by the Qadhafi forces. What’s the UN system’s response to these pretty well-documented reports of abuses going the other way?
Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, I would have to check with the relevant folks, for example in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and with our colleagues in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs who have people on the ground in Benghazi. I think it is self-evident that we would condemn abuses, human rights abuses from whichever quarter. But I would want to add there that it is obviously important that the relevant people who would monitor these things — I am thinking of our colleagues who deal with human rights in particular — to be able to comment in detail on that.
This was followed up on:
Question: On this situation that you were just talking about in Libya, that I think Matthew asked you, about the rebels are now being accused of perpetrating attacks against the civilians…attacking civilians inside Libya and that is creating another problem.
Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, I have my work cut out being the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, but I am certainly not the spokesperson for Matthew Lee. So you might want to check with him what he was asking me. But the point that I was trying to make was that human rights abuses by anybody should be condemned and need to be investigated. And it is for the relevant people within the United Nations, particularly those who deal with human rights, to look into this.
This answer implies that Ban Ki-moon does not “deal with human rights,” and doesn't answer why Ban himself would condemn actions by Gaddafi forces, but defer to other “people in the UN.. who deal with human rights” to address documented abuses by anti-Gaddafi forces.
A similar dynamic played out in Cote d'Ivoire, where Ban himself criticized the use by Gbagbo forces of heavy weapons, while deferring to other in the UN system on murders by pro Ouattara and Soro forces in Douekoue and elsewhere.
Even worse is this UN's performance on Myanmar, where Ban's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar, ostensibly in charge of the UN's Good Offices role in Myanmar, has had nothing to say as the Burmese government has launched attacks against the Kachin people, and is now documented to be using Karen captives as slave labor and human shields.
On July 13 Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Nesirky:
Inner City Press: on Myanmar, there has been a report issued documenting the use by the military there of convicts pressed into service, some people call it slave labor or... human shields. It’s a report issued by the Karen Human Rights Group. Is it something that the UN system, particularly the good offices mandate, is aware of, and is it the type of thing that it would be raising to the Government to not be using convicts as human shields for its military?
Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, I would be confident that our colleagues who deal with this topic would be aware of any reports that come out and would want to study them carefully. I don’t have any further details on what they may or may not do, having studied those reports.
Inner City Press: Thanks a lot. I am always trying to figure out what the scope of that good offices office is. I understand, like in almost any country in the world, the Office of Human Rights, the Commissioner, that there is some UN monitoring process. But this seems to be a country that there is a particular GA-mandated unit headed by the Secretary-General’s Chief of Staff. So, when you say “our colleagues”, is that the Office you’re referring to, or is it a more general --
Spokesperson: As you yourself pointed out, there are different parts of the UN system that would be dealing with different aspects of what transpires in Myanmar, or indeed in any other country. And as you well know, there is a country team in place in Myanmar. And outside of Myanmar, there is indeed the good offices mandate and there are those, including in the Office of the High Commissioner, who would be looking at Myanmar through that particular prism of human rights. And they of course coordinate with each other. They don’t work in isolation. If I have anything further on that, of course, I would let you know.
But a full 19 hours later, nothing had been said. Earlier in the week Ed Luck, Ban's adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, said that if inconsistencies or double standards are seen in the Secretariat's actions and statements, it should be brought up.
