Missing Persons Meeting of UN Security Council Had Burundi and Sri Lanka, Renditions and North Korea

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 27 -- With “Missing Persons” the topic of the UN Security Council's Arria formula meeting held in UN Conference Room 3 on January 27, Inner City Press expected the disappeared in countries such as Sri Lanka and Burundi to be brought up.

But the meeting, while called “open to the press,” was not on UN Webcast or in-house TV.  So Inner City Press went down and broadcast it live on Periscope, here, in the spirit of the new Free UN Coalition for Access: open the UN.  

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid brought up disappearance in Burundi; the deputy representative of New Zealand said that (mass) graves in Burundi should be preserved.

  US Ambassador Samantha Power focused on the disappeared in Sri Lanka and Mexico. On the former she cited a mother in Jaffna whose daughter was taken away by men in military garb. One wondered why there is so much praise of new president Sirisena even as he bans “foreign” or international involvement in looking into war crimes including disappearances.

  Japan brought up its abductees in North Korea. Malaysia cited “rendition” - there was no reply - and Senegal said it has had or prosecuted no cases of enforced disappearances, citing Casamance. France bought up Syria.

  Ukraine cited Donbas; Russia replied that the meeting went beyond the mandate of the Security Council, consider not only missing people in conflicts but also migrants and others, politicized.

  There was little time for the 178 member states not on the Security Council, much less for the impacted public. Inner City Press' Periscope stream triggered a sample question about Burundi, on whether the responsible government could be trusted to preserve (its mass) graves. Luxembourg spoke, then Italy emphasized that those missing on its territory are not Italians.

   Cyprus was asked, apologetically by the chair, the UK's Matthew Rycroft, to say a final line. Still on the list were Belgium, Serbia and Chile -- and last of which was until recently on the Council. Still it was interesting: thePeriscope, at least for the next 23 hours, is here.