At UN, EU Wants DPI, Will Rio+20 = DESA & Man Get Sexual Violence Post?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 -- With four or really three Under Secretary General posts still in play at the UN, the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict post now also needs to be filled, Inner City Press has learned.

  When Margot Wallstrom of Sweden took the post and was slow in responding to the ongoing scandal of the mass rapes in Waliwale in the Eastern Congo, Inner City Press questioned whether she would ever move to New York and fully engage in her new Office. 

 

  Now Inner City Press is told that after she did some good she is leaving and that there are two main contenders to replace her: the deputy in the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission in the Congo and Patrick Cammaert, who to his credit once criticized the UN for doing nothing about indicted war criminal Bosco Ntaganda having fancy public dinners in Goma.

  Whether a man can get the Sexual Violence in Conflict post is dubious. The Sri Lanka mission, to which Secretary General Ban Ki-moon closely listens, also has pitched its own tales of Cammaert. But, it is suggested, why doesn't he go for the job of Radhika Coomaraswamy, who once sent him to her native Sri Lanka in her stead?

 Coomaraswamy spoke, movingly, at  German Mission event on Thursday night, and provided news that will be reported shortly.

  Also Thursday night at a press freedom event at CNN topping France's sleaze fest the talk turned to Navi Pillay's post as High Commissioner for Human Rights -- if no second term and no Western replacement then who? This we will cover soon.

  Meanwhile while Inner City Press has it most reliably that China has put in two names, Brazil is said to also be pushing for the top post in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. If Brazil uses Rio + 20 to get it, then China would have to get the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management or the Department of Public Affairs (DPI).

(A disgusted UN staff member told Inner City Press that Ban's chief Information Technology officer, CITO Choi, might be considered to head DGACM; others say he's bound for Timor L'este to replace Amira Haq, who reportedly ended with friction with the Timorese.)

   An Ambassador who asked Ban's then chief of staff Vijay Nambiar to be considered for the DPI job was told "the Europeans want it." 

  There's said to be a candidate from Italy and one from Greece, reportedly the Ambassador who while on the Security Council helped shepherd through Ban Ki-moon's first term. This is how it works in Ban's UN - watch this site.

Sri Lanka Lobbies at UN To Be De-Listed Despite Child Soldiers Recruited, Others Barred from School, Lanka's Inside Man

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
www.innercitypress.com/lanka1caac020410.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 4 -- Two months after the UN sent retired Major General Patrick Cammaert to Sri Lanka, his report on Children and Armed Conflict in the country was presented to that sub-committee of the UN Security Council, in a closed meeting in the UN's basement.

The report, a copy of which Inner City Press obtained and exclusively puts online here, notes among other things the re-recruitment of children by a "commander named Iniya Barrathi who was part of the TMVP breakaway faction under Karuna's leadership." Cammaert recommends that that government take action.

But in the meeting, a move was afoot to "de-list" Sri Lanka, from its one connection to the UN Security Council. During the bloodbath on the beach in 2009, despite tens of thousands of cilivians killed, Sri Lanka was never put on the Council's main agenda. A few meetings were held, informally, in the basement.

Children and Armed Conflict, a committee of the Security Council, retained Sri Lanka on its list. It was in this context that Cammaert belatedly went to the country. His report also calls for wider accountability and investigations. But even the UN's Ban Ki-moon, who visited Sri Lanka in May for what many called a "victory tour," has not called for or begun any investigation.

The report has other examples of children still impacted. Cammaert writes of a "visit to the Poonthotam primary school [in Vavuniya]. Half of the classrooms are currently being occupied by the Sri Lank Army (SLA) to host adult surrenderees, disrupting the education of more than half the student population."

With all this unaddressed, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN Palitha Kohona was seen on February 4. He spoke to BBC, he was congratulated in the closed door meeting on Children and Armed Conflict. While he has been missing from the UN in New York for some time, he was still working, calling Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar to try to get canceled a press conference on Sri Lanka by UN Special Rapporteur on Executions Philip Alston.

Ban later distanced himself from Alston and his call that Ban start an investigation. Why cancel the Children and Armed Conflict meeting, if it was to be a venue for celebrating the bloodbath on the beach and lobbying to de-list Sri Lanka from this last UN list? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/lanka1caac020410.html

Child Soldiers in Sudan and Myanmar, No UN Comment on Sri Lanka, LRA on Move

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/caac1sudmysri112709.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 27 -- In South Sudan, both local officials and humanitarian groups are calling for the UN Mission in Sudan to do more to protect civilians from the Lord's Resistance Army, UN child soldier expert Radhika Coomaraswamy told the Press on November 25. She also acknowledged that the government of Myanmar continues to recruit child into its "vast" army, while declining to comment on children and armed conflict issues in her native Sri Lanka.

While in Sudan, Ms. Coomaraswamy met with the governor of Western Equatoria after she met with humanitarian groups. The latter urged that UNMIS do more to protect civilians, and that the Security Council strengthen the Mission's mandate if that is the only way to make UNMIS take these actions. The governor echoed these concerns.

After her briefing, Inner City Press asked Ms. Coomaraswamy whether the governor or the NGOs raised this concern firm. She replied that the NGOs raised it to her, so she asked the governor.

Inner City Press asked about reports that the LRA is moving into South Darfur. Ms. Coomaraswamy said that the LRA is said to be "moving up the Central African Republic" to the border with South Darfur. Video here, from Minute 35:43. Since Ms. Coomaraswamy's November 25 briefing, the Justice and Equality Movement rebels have fired back, saying she did not visit their camps, click here for that.

Later in the briefing, on non-Sudan questions, Inner City Press asked about the Than Shwe government's continued recruitment of child soldiers in Myanmar, and about the just announced moves on internally displaced persons including children in Sri Lanka's internment camps.

Ms. Coomaraswamy replied, in a seeming partial defense of Myanmar, that the recruitment takes places at the "regional" level -- every place is in a region, isn't it? -- and that if the UN gets an action plan with the military junta, it will be allowed to verify. We'll see.

On Sri Lanka, on which Inner City Press posed questions to Ms. Coomaraswamy as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, she replied that she has appointed Patrick Cammaert to go there from December 5 to 11, that he will hold a press briefing after that and answer all Sri Lanka questions. Video here, from Minute 46:57.

In the past, Ms. Coomaraswamy has at least proffered some answer to Sri Lanka questions. Ironically, by appointing Cammaert, she now defers all questions to him. But he is in UN Headquarters much less than she is. After the briefing, Inner City Press told Ms. Coomeraswamy that the test will be if Cammaert is as accessible, that is, able to be accessed, as she is. Again, we'll see after December 11. Watch this site.

Footnote: Inner City Press has asked UNICEF about a child soldier issue raised to it in Georgia, and has been promised an answer. While Ms. Coomaraswamy was not asked about it on November 25, one wonders how many issues are out there, from Yemen to the Philippines, and what her Office should do to make these known. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/caac1sudmysri112709.html

On Sri Lanka, UN's Cammaert's Visit Now December 5, Council Lauds Basement Meetings

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/untrip9may7srilanka110409.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 4 -- The mission to Sri Lanka by the UN's Patrick Cammaert, which had been set for early November until the Rajapaksa administration changed its mind, is back on the schedule to begin December 5, Inner City Press has learned.

Seeking confirmation from Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN Palitha Kohona on November 4, Mr. Kohona said yes it is set, "the visa will be issued in due course, we have confirmed the visit." He added, in response to Inner City Press' question about Sarath Fonseka, that Fonseka "has gone back," has left the United States. He was not questioned by the U.S. State Department about the Department's recent report on crimes of war in Sri Lanka this year.

In response to a question from Inner City Press, the UN's Radhika Coomaraswamy last month disclosed that Caemmart would be going to Sri Lanka at her request. Inner City Press was later told that the visit was postponed, and reported that. Some requested that Inner City Press withhold publication, as Sri Lanka might retaliate even at the coverage. Now the visit is back on, and confirmed by Sri Lanka's Ambassador. One assumes this will not change.

As Austria takes over the presidency of the UN Security Council for November, its Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting has spoken on and off camera about the benefits gained by the Council's so-called basement meetings on Sri Lanka earlier this year.

As previously explained by now-gone UK Ambassador to the UN John Sawers, no procedural vote to put Sri Lanka on the Council's formal agenda was ever called for, and now the Council does not follow-up, even as IDPs remain trapped in closed camps, refugees flee and humanitarian NGOs face expulsion.

Inner City Press asked, in light of the reports of war crimes, what the benefit was of keeping Sri Lanka off the agenda. Video here, from Minute 34:41. As summarized by the UN's own Department of Public Information

"Sri Lanka, [Mayr-Harting] said, turning to another question [by Inner City Press], which was not included in this month's programme of work. When the situation came up, there had been an option to force an open debate. However, the Council had chosen for another format of meeting which had resulted in some important messages to all sides to the conflict, including the Government conducting a legitimate fight against terrorists, that international law had to be respected. Those messages had been heard. Those messages would have been impossible, had one not agreed on the special format."

After this answer, given at a mid-day briefing on November 3, Inner City Press understands that Sri Lanka's Kohona discussed it with Mayr-Harting. Sri Lanka has become even more vigilant, or overbearing as some see it, than for example Sudan, both in the face of war crimes charges. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/untrip9may7srilanka110409.html

Is Sri Lanka Postponing Visit of UN's Caemmart Retaliation? UN Claims Photo-Op Was Disclosure

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/untrip9may5srilanka102009.html

UNITED NATIONS, October 20 -- The Sri Lankan government is already delaying the visit of the UN's Patrick Cammaert, announced a mere week ago as starting in early November. In response to questions from Inner City Press last week, UN Children and Armed Conflict expert Radhika Coomaraswamy disclosed for the first time that the government had agreed to an early November visit by Mr. Cammaert, formerly with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Congo.

Yesterday, Inner City Press reported that sources told it the visit would be delayed. Tuesday it was authoritatively and multiply confirmed to Inner City Press, that the government has pushed the date back to November 23 -- a time which currently doesn't work for Mr. Cammaert.

The government's pretext for the delay is that it is moving some of the youths from one camp to another. These moves are of course within the control of the government, and it is not at all clear that the government didn't know about its move last week.

To some, the postponement seems a heavy handed reaction to Ms. Coomaraswamy having said anything publicly about Cammaert's trip. Then again, Inner City Press' sources for yesterday's item now say that the government is dangling the possibility of reinstating Cammaert. It is called trying to control the UN's speech: quite successfully, of late.

Footnote: following yesterday's piece which questioned why Ban Ki-moon's Spokesperson did not last week in lengthy noon briefing read-outs mention anything about Ban's meeting with the Sri Lankan minister, the Spokesperson points to the listing of a photo-op between the two. Inner City Press, which had seen that before publishing yesterday's not inconsistent piece, has asked for a copy of Ban's Daily Schedule for October 12, for an on the record answer as to why the Spokesperson's Office does not archive Ban's daily schedule and an explanation of how it is decided which of the S-G's meetings and calls are presented in the initial parts of noon briefings or in writing, and which are only summarized if someone knows to ask. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/untrip9may5srilanka102009.html

With UN Sending Cammaert to Sri Lanka on IDPs, Kohona Combats Salt and Probes

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/untrip9may3srilanka101409.html

UNITED NATIONS, October 14 -- The UN will send Canadian Major General Patrick Cammaert to Sri Lanka from November 8 to 13, and "internally displaced children will be one of the issues raised," UN children and armed conflict official Radhika Coomaraswamy told the Press on Wednesday.

Inner City Press had asked Ms. Coomaraswamy about her reported meeting with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister during the UN General Debate in late September. Video here, from Minute 42:26.

Ms. Coomaraswamy replied that she "met the Prime Minister more socially," but had officially met with the Foreign Minister and Secretary Minister of Defense (apparently referring to presidential brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa). She said that the rights of IDP children were one of the issue raised.

Inner City Press asked if she thought that the condition of IDP children in the Menik Farm camps in Vanni and elsewhere complied with the "Rights and guarantees for internally displaced children" which is Annex I to her Office's report to the UN General Assembly.

Ms. Coomaraswamy replied that on "freedom of movement" and other issues, she believes the camps are "in violation of principles." She called Sri Lanka's response "draconic" or draconian.

Inner City Press has previously interviewed Cammaert, who used to serve a UN military commander in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He told Inner City Press it was an outrage that the UN stands by while indicted war criminal Jean Bosco Ntaganda walks freely around Goma in North Kivu, and has a role with the Congolese Army which the UN assists. What outrages while Cammaert witness, and have the courage to speak about, in Sri Lanka and after he comes back?

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN Palitha Kohona was to be found down in the basement of the UN, where Sri Lanka was sponsoring a lunch time session on desalinization. Kohona appeared recently on BBC's Hard Talk program, and said that no investigation of war crimes in Sri Lanka is needed, because people just want to move forward.

Which, some noted, is among the defenses being offered in the Security Council today, and in Geneva tomorrow, by Israel, for its acts in Gaza earlier this year. Click here for that story.

Footnote: more seriously, there is a boat en route to Australia, now in Indonesian waters, full of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka. The way the ship and refugees are being treated does not seem to comply with international law. And where is the UN High Commissioner for Refugees?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/untrip9may3srilanka101409.html

As Bosco Dines in Congo, UN Called Shameful by Former Commander, Chissano's Goodbye

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un3bosco062409.html

UNITED NATIONS, June 24 -- A former commander for the UN Mission in the Congo (MONUC), Major General Patrick Cammaert, on Wednesday told the Press that recent events in Eastern Congo are "shameful" and "destroy the reputation of the UN and of MONUC." Video here, from Minute 37:29.

Inner City Press had asked him about MONUC working with indicted war criminal Jean-Bosco Ntaganda of the CNDP rebels, and having stood by and done nothing about rapes by CNDP forces, according to a doctor from Bukavu's Panzi Hospital. Click here for previous Inner City Press story.

Cammaert recounted that in the past, MONUC had tried to arrest Bosco but failed -- because a subordinate commander lost will, Cammaert, said. But now, MONUC is aware that Bosco has been described as a deputy coordinator of an operation by the Congolese Army which MONUC is assisting. Video here, from Minute 24:40. Cammaert said that MONUC should not even indirectly work with Bosco. But it is.

Cammaert said that he was recently in Goma, dining at the lakeside Le Chalet, and almost "choked on his chicken" when he saw that Bosco was dining there too. He said that President Kabila should be pressure to arrest Bosco, rather than being allowed to say that despite being indicted he is invaluable to the peace process.

Jan Egeland, former UN Humanitarian Coordinator and now with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, concurred that heads of state should be held accountable. Inner City Press asked Egeland not only about Sri Lanka -- article elsewhere on this site -- but also Northern Uganda. Egeland said he had been proud of his work there, reducing the level of threat in Northern Uganda. But it spread to Eastern Congo.

Inner City Press asked for Egeland's view of the early termination of the UN-funded mission by Joaquim Chissano to meditate with the Lord's Resistance Army. Egeland said that mediation should continue.Video here from Minute 41:50. But the UN is closing the office, and Chissano is moving on to a SADC inspired mediation in Madagascar.

UNIFEM's Anne-Marie Goetz, describing the outcomes of the colloquium on Conflict Related Sexual Violence in Peace Negotiations, said that UN envoys -- like MONUC's Alan Doss -- should be measured and assessed by what happens on these issues. She said that data should be collected, as it is on the issue of Children and Armed Conflict. Who will hold the UN accountable?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un3bosco062409.html