Sudan's Ali Karti & Ghandour in DC, Tabit Rapes Whitewashed by Ladsous, HRW with UN Censorship Alliance

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 5, more here -- With UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous still providing few to no updates on its UNAMID mission's November 9 covering up of rapes in Tabit in Darfur, just asLadsous did about mass rapes in Minova in the DR Congo, here, some soft on the UN try to raise the issue without blaming those responsible for the cover-up, see below.

 On February 5, the US State Department's Deputy Spokesperson acknowledged that Sudan's foreign minister Ali Karti "was invited to the prayer breakfast.  Also we can confirm the official visit of senior Sudanese Government official Ibrahim Ghandour.  Next week, he’ll meet with senior U.S. Government officials.  This visit and also the discussions with Foreign Minister Karti are a continuation of dialogue on a number of issues of longstanding concern to the U.S. Government, with the Government of Sudan.  It’s part of the engagement process where we raise concerns, certainly, that you are well aware of.  And we engage them in a frank and frequent manner to discuss this full range of issues."

  So will those issues include getting a second chance to investigate, and no cover up, the rapes in Tabit?

  In terms of the UN, there is a pattern, and until UN Peacekeeping's senior leadership's cover up of these incidents - and even silence on dead peacekeepers for more than a week -- nothing will improve.

  So why is Human Rights Watch, which alongside its detailed work goes out of its way not to criticize the UN and especially Ladsous, for example on Central African Republic, as Inner City Press reported here, partnering to hold a privatized event on Tabit -- at the same time as a Security Council meeting about Yemen -- not in the UN Press Briefing Room but among friends, as they say?

  Any country can sponsor such a briefing in the UN Press Briefing Room. But HRW hides behind and in the clubhouse of the UN Censorship Alliance, Board members of which in the past have ordered changes to articles about Ladsous - and about Sri Lanka, more here. Human rights? Hardly.  Look how Human Rights Watch's selectively distributed invitation whitewashes UN Peacekeeping's and Ladsous' role:

"Between October 30 and November 1, 2014, Sudanese government forces entered Tabit, North Darfur, and carried out massive abuses against the town’s residents, including a mass rape of women and girls. Sudan responded by denying the abuses and has refused to allow international peacekeepers and other independent monitors to investigate the crimes."

  This is misleading - Ladsous' UNAMID was in Tabit on November 9, and put out a press release whitewashing the rapes and saying the people there like the government's security forces. This was shameful.

 More publicly, Inner City Press on January 26 asked Security Council ambassadors Mark Lyall Grant of the UK and Raimonda Murmokaite of Lithuania, "what happened with UNAMID going back for real investigation of rapes in Tabit?"

  Lyall Grant replied, "We continue to press DPKO to encourage UNAMID to revert on the Tabit allegations."

   Murmokaite added, "have been raising the issue at consultations, will continue."

 And so Inner City Press at the January 26 UN noon briefing asked Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, video here:

Inner City Press: two of the Security Council ambassadors this morning said they continued to ask DPKO to ensure that the Tabit site of alleged mass rapes is revisited. I want to know has any action been taken on that? Has there been any move by UNAMID?

Spokesman Dujarric: The request to visit Tabit stands. There's nothing to report.

 Nothing to report? Back on January 8 Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, video here:

Inner City Press: what has the UN system done in order to get access again to Thabit in Darfur, where there were allegedly 200 rapes, and then the Government didn’t allow any inspectors. What have you done since we last spoke on it? 

SG Ban: As for the first part of the question, as you know, we tried to have a thorough investigation. This report might not have been sufficient because of the lack of full cooperation of the authorities on the ground. That has really hampered our authorities to go into the field and get a thorough investigation. It is important that we have to have a thorough investigation and as a matter of principle, there should be a clear accountability process and justice. I am firm about this matter. And we will, in the course of time, have better information on this matter. 

  While appreciated, it is widely recognized that the more time goes by, the more difficult a credible rape investigation becomes. So why did UNAMID issue a cover-up November 9 press release? 
   

On Sudan Ousters, Khartoum Brags of UN Security Council Inaction, Scapegoating Its PR?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 30, more here – After Inner City Press received a leaked copy of Sudan UN Development Program Country Director Yvonne Helle's December 24 e-mail saying she had been ordered to leave the country, it reported it and asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about it at the UN's noon briefing on December 24. Story here, video from UN noon briefing here.

  On December 30, UN Security Council consultations came to nothing: no Press Statement, not even "elements to the press." The UN Secretariat's briefer, Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson, did not come to the stakeout to speak, even after a request from Inner City Press and the Free UN Coalition for Access (see below).

 Now the Sudan Tribune -- we name the media -- quotes Foreign Minister Ali Karti crowing that "[The UNSC] did not come out with anything." They also report that "local Sudanese newspapers quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Khartoum decided to replace its UN ambassador Rahamtalla Mohamed Osman and have him return home by mid-January... Sources attributed the move to his unjustified absence from the UNSC briefing this month by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda... Sudan’s current ambassador to Juba Mutrif Sideeg is speculated to replace Osman."

  Inner City Press noted the presence outside the Security Council on December 30 of Rahamtalla Mohamed Osman; Council sources described to it an encounter between Rahamtalla Mohamed Osman and UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant including the latter saying, You can't say that, it is outrageous -- which might actually help Rahamtalla Mohamed Osman. We've asked.

 Inner City Press on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access asked the UN:

"This is a request that Deputy SG Eliasson or someone else from the Secretariat hold a press availability on Sudan's decision to expel Yvonne Helle (which I asked about at the December 24 noon briefing) and Ali Al-Za'tari... I understood the DSG to say he would not be speaking afterward since it was consultations. But a media availability by the Secretariat, ideally the DSG but another if necessary, later this afternoon is being requested, including on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access."

   UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq replied in the negative:

"Regarding your request for a press availability, yes, the Deputy Secretary-General said that he would not speak at the stakeout, given that the Security Council had held consultations. The views he expressed were in keeping with what we have been saying on Sudan, including in the 25 December SG statement: 

'The Secretary-General condemns the Government of Sudan's decision to expel the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator and the Country Director of the United Nations Development Programme. The sanctioning of United Nations personnel sent to Sudan to carry out their duties in accordance with the United Nations Charter is unacceptable. The Secretary-General calls on the Government of Sudan to reverse its decision immediately and urges it to cooperate fully with all United Nations entities present in Sudan.'"

 Later on December 30, minutes before the UN Security Council was to vote on the draft Palestine resolution, the UN put this out:

Note to Correspondents – in response to questions on Sudan

The Secretary-General’s strongly critical position on the expulsion from Sudan of the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC) and UNDP Country Director is clear.

Departure of these key senior United Nations officials would constitute a serious loss for the humanitarian and development community in Sudan at a time when humanitarian needs are growing and the country faces significant development challenges.

The United Nations has been engaging the Government of Sudan at several levels to obtain a reversal of its decision.  It is essential that the United Nations can continue to carry out its crucial duties in the country. The Government has agreed to extend the deadline for the RC/HC's departure from 2 January until the end of the month. Discussions on this issue continue.

The United Nations remains committed to a productive and fruitful working relationship with the Government of Sudan for the benefit of its people, on the basis of respect of sovereignty. The United Nations counts on the full cooperation of the Government of Sudan in enabling all UN entities and their leadership to carry out their important work. 

"  Inner City Press has asked, why was nothing said when Sudan expelled the Country Director of the UN Population Fund UNFPA in April? When Sudan this Fall chased a UN aid official out of Darfur? There have been no public explanation, but Inner City Press is compiling a picture -- call it "Profiles in Cowardice" -- from multiple sources; watch this site.

   (Inner City Press is told by sources that Sudan's Permanent Representative exchanged words with a Security Council members PR on December 30, we hope to have more on this.)

  For now we add this: when UNHCR the UN's refugee agency held a  staff planning mtg in Khartoum, Sudan's security agency NISS then refused to let the Darfur-based international staff return to their posts. 

 For months they sat in Khartoum waiting, incidentally spending large amounts from UNHCR's public budget. Ultimately many of the international staff were simply moved, quietly, to other countries. 

 And why didn't the UN system, the UN Security Council and its members speak at that time, and in April when UNFPA's Country Director was thrown out?

  In April 2014, Inner City Press asked UNFPA to "Please confirm or deny that in Sudan UNFPA Representative Pam Delargy was told to leave the country on April 7 and, separately, that she did leave. And anything else. Please also provide an update on Mr. Siddhart Chatterjee as UNFPA Representative in Kenya: date of commencement, what work has been done."

  UNFPA replied to Inner City Press on April 9, "The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Khartoum, Sudan was notified by the Government of Sudan that the UNFPA Representative had been requested to leave the country at a short notice. A press release by the Sudanese Government has been issued to this effect. We regret this decision and are in communication with the United Nations Country Team in Sudan to seek further clarification on this matter. We hope that we would very soon be able to continue and re-establish normal relationships with the Government of Sudan."

  Inner City Press asked this week about the UN system's silence and UNFPA replied, "UNFPA now has a new representative in Sudan, who has assumed her responsibilities three months ago. I will follow up with our Khartoum office regarding your second question."

  We'll have more on this. 

   

UN Journal Today Lists Sudan's Bashir As Speaker for Tomorrow in UNGA, Of Karti, Ladsous and ICC

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 25 -- When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Sudan on Tuesday evening, it was not with President Omar al Bashir, whose been indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide. But a member of Ban's team, UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, had met with Bashir only in July.

  Representing Sudan on Tuesday night was foreign minister Ali Karti. Beyond Ladsous, Ban had with him his chief of staff Susana Malcorra, Department of Field Support chief Ameerah Haq, his Special Adviser on Africa, his deputy chief of of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, his adviser on sexual violence and conflict, and Haile Menkerios.

   It was a big UN team -- though not as big as the UN team that, twenty minutes earlier, met with Israel's minister for international affairs. For example, the Department of Public Information was at the Israel meeting, but not Sudan.

  But where was Bashir? He has complained that the US has not come through with a visa. Some take Ban meeting with foreign minister Karti as signifying that Bashir is not coming, on the theory that a country -- at least if not one of the Security Council's Permanent Five members, with whom Ban is lunching on Wednesday -- could not get more than one meeting with Ban.

  But would Bashir even ask to meet with Ban? And if he did, would Ban (as Ladsous did) hold the meeting?

It is still possible, according to UN documents, that we will find out. The September 25 UN Journal, in the section called "Forthcoming Meetings," has the General Assembly speakers' list for September 26, including as the second speaker in the afternoon

"2. Address by His Excellency Omer Hassan A. Al-bashir, President of the Republic of the Sudan."

That's in a UN document -- like Ban's chemical weapons report on Syria, it HAS to be true, right? Even "overwhelming." Watch this site.

   

IMF Tells ICP Welcomes Sudans Deals, Ready to Support Both - Debt Relief?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 4 -- Just before Sudan spoke last Saturday at the UN General Debate, the IMF "encouraged the authorities to step up their dialogue with creditors and donors to garner support for debt relief." Sudan's arrears to the IMF itself are part of the problem.

  Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti in his September 29 speech called for debt relief. At the IMF's next media briefing on October 4, Inner City Press asked two questions on Sudan:

"In the UN General Debate, Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti said the country's debts should be forgiven. Any response? Do Sudan's and South Sudan's agreements last week in Addis Ababa have any impact on IMF analysis of or programs in either country? Any IMF comment on the agreements?"

  IMF spokesman Gerry Rice took these as the penultimate question during the embargoed briefing, replying that

"The Fund welcomes the agreement on oil related and other issues between the two countries. We look forward to its implementation and to the resolution of other bilateral issues. The Fund stands ready to continue supporting both countries going forward."

But what support does the IMF give to Sudan? What about Ali Karti's call for debt relief?

Thursday in the UN Security Council, one of the "unresolved bilateral issues," Abyei, was to be discussed. Watch this site.

As Sudan Summarizes Bashir Meeting with Ban, UN Says It Was Only a Handshake

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 30 -- Of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's time in Iran for the Non-Aligned Movement summit, the UN has provided descriptions of a range of meetings, with leaders ranging from Burkina Faso to Mali, Palestine to Iran, even North Korea's Kim Yong Nam.

  But no mention was made by the UN of Sudan's president Omar al Bashir. Inner City Press went to the UN's August 30 noon briefing in New York and asked if Ban had met with Bashir, and what had been discussed. Video here, from Minute 8:43.

Ban's associate spokesman Farhan Haq replied that there had merely been a hand shake, not a meeting. "There was no meeting per se, no," Haq said, just "a brief greeting and handshake between the Secretary General and President Bashir."

  But Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti provided this read out to his own state media: Bashir's meeting with Ban "discussed ways to implement U.N. resolution 2046, the continued violations by South Sudan and the controversy that has arisen about the new map issued by the African mediator to operationalize a demilitarized zone between the two countries."

Hard to discuss all that during a handshake. Inner City Press asked Haq, is this read out false? But Haq would only say, it was not a meeting, only a handshake.

  Bashir has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court. Ban routinely calls for "accountability," but here had this encounter with a person already indicted for genocide and war crimes.

  The UN has a policy of only meeting "as necessary." There are many questions about the policy -- the UN flew indicted Ahmad Harun to Abyei, and now departed Darfur mission chief Ibrahim Gambari took photos with Bashir at a reception for the wedding of Chad's Idriss Deby and the daughter of the founder of the Darfur janjawiid militia.

 In connection with the General Assembly's most recent resolution on the ICC, there was much discussion of no UN money being spent on such contacts with ICC indictees.

View: If the UN's policy is to be credible, it should be applied publicly to the encounters the UN has with ICC indictees, especially when the encounter is by the Secretary General himself. We will have more on this - watch this site.

Troops Cited by Sudan Means “10 to 15” Monitors, Not UN, Maybe European

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, July 20 -- Sudan's UN Ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman narrowly interpreted to Inner City Press on Wednesday the July 19 statement by Foreign Minister Ali Karti on Southern Kordofan that “if there's an agreement with local leaders specifying the sending of foreign troops, it will be welcome.”

When Inner City Press first asked him about it, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said Karti was referring to “international forces, not peacekeepers, not UN.”

Inner City Press had asked the US Ambassador Susan Rice about Karti's quote as she went into the Security Council. “I don't quite know what to think of that,” Rice said.

Now Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman has told Inner City Press that she should look at history, that in the run up to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement there was a deal, in Southern Kordofan, involving the US, Norway and UK.

Sudan is harkening back to that, he said, but is referring only to a small, “high ranking” force on monitors.

When asked how many people, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman replied, “ten to fifteen.” It has been speculated that Karti's quote was related to a July 20 deadline set in the resolution winding down the UN Mission in Sudan. But only ten to fifteen?

When asked from what countries, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said they “could be European.” But again: only ten to fifteen? The representative of another Security Council member, not unsympathetic to Khartoum, when Inner City Press conveyed this said, “Oh, that's far too small.” Watch this site.

At UN, As Clinton Accuses Sudan of Harassing Witnesses, Karti Denies, Hague Meets

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 16 -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the UN Security Council's Sudan meeting Tuesday morning referred to Khartoum having arrested and harassed even people who met with the Council in Darfur in October. She said "activists are arrested, some merely for speaking to members of this Security Council."

Afterward Inner City Press asked UK Foreign Minister William Hague about the statement, and what has been done by the UK, which led the leg of the Council's trip that went to Darfur. Hague said he would be raising the issue to the Sudanese later in the day.

As the Council meeting moved behind closed doors, Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti came out to take questions. His delegation urged two reporters to ask Karti about improved relations with the United States.

Inner City Press asked Karti directly about the people arrested after the Security Council traveled to the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced people outside El Fasher in Darfur. Karti insisted that these were “gang members” apprehended by Sudan.

Minutes later, Karti and his entourage went into the Security Council chambers. Inner City Press asked if this would be the Karti - Hague meeting, and was told “yes.”

Ten minutes later, the Southern Sudan delegation went in. Can't tell the players without a scorecard.

Footnote: Inner City Press also asked Karti about the statements by Hillary Clinton and Hague that the US and UK are working on reducing Sudan's debt. These are just talks, Karti said, while calling them positive.

Sudan's Permanent Representative then read off of a paper, “someone asked about new good will with the US.” Karti lit up, said it seems that this might be. A reporter asked about the International Criminal Court. “The US is not a member,” Sudan's Permanent Representative answered, smiling.

At UN on Sudan, Scratchy Mbeki, UN Silent on Bombs, Hillary on Decoupling Darfur

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 16, updated below -- The UN Security Council ministerial meeting on Sudan was kicked off Tuesday morning by UK Foreign Minister William Hague reading out a Presidential Statement, largely boilerplate about the Southern Sudan referendum scheduled for January 9. On Darfur, it condemned “militia attacks on civilians,” then government aerial bombardments.

The day previous, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq about one such bombing:

Inner City Press: over the weekend, there was this incident in which the South Sudanese said that Khartoum or the Sudanese Air Force has bombed Southern Sudanese territory. What has been found about the casualties, injuries and what comments does the UN have on this bombing in South Sudan territory?

Acting Deputy Spokesperson Haq: We don’t. We were trying to get some information, but we didn’t have a confirmation of that particular fighting. If we get any further details, including a confirmation, we’d have something.

But for the rest of the day, and the following morning, no information was provided. As with attacks in Darfur, the UN tries to not see and not report. And to not be seen -- while envoys to Sudan Haile Menkerios and Ibrahim Gambari are to brief the Council on Tuesday, it will be by video and only in closed consultations, not allowing any questions from the Press.

Among the questions Gambari is ducking is his negotiation with Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti, in attendance Tuesday, to turn over five supporters of Fur rebel Abdel Wahid Nur to the government of Omar al Bashir, indicted already for war crimes and genocide.

Gambari has tried to get a written commitment against the death penalty -- many doubt its credibility -- while saying nothing about evidence that Sudan engages in torture. To many, it is a new low for the UN.

The Council itself has shown a failure to follow through. After they visited the Abu Shouk camp in Darfur on October 8, people who had planned and attended the meetings were harassed and arrested by the Sudanese authorities. So far nothing has been done.

The UN's humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, visiting a month later, at first spoke of “fear,” then modified that to blame the internally displaced people for not meeting with her.

While the European Union held a session on Sudan on November 14, attended by some 60 people, many EU member states have yet to follow through on this commitments to the “Basket Fund” for the Southern Sudan referendum.

After Hague read out the Presidential Statement, Ban Ki-moon read a speech. On Darfur, he blamed the rebels for not joining the supposedly successful Doha negotiation process, moribund until December 19.

Hillary Clinton walked in, rebuffing a question about what she expected from the meeting. One might have asked, why did you decouple Darfur?

In the chamber, Thabo Mbeki spoke by scratchy video link which few could understand. Hague said there had been a power failure in Jo'burg, which Mbeki denied. He would be followed by Ali Karti, Pagan Amum of the SPLM then Hillary.

In order thereafter, Spindelegger of Austria -- which hosted a human rights reception on Monday night, no mention of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, Sven Alkalaj of Bosnia, Odein Ajumogobia of Nigeria, Henry Okello Oryem of Uganda, Takeaski Matsumoto of Japan, Antonio de Aguiar Patroita of Brazil then mere Ambassadors. Watch this space.

Update of 10:37 am - Ali Karti says his government met its responsibilities to the referendum, denounces Darfur rebels as “saboteurs” who hide behind civilians. Outside the meeting, so far two people have fallen on the stairs, including the EU's representative Rosalind Marsden. An African diplomat tells Inner City Press the AU shound be running the show.

A sad and telling e-mail from the UN Department of Public Information:

Subject: Correction - the Security Council meeting is on the Sudan NOT on Darfur
From: Dpi Mdc [at] un.org
Date: Tue, Nov 16, 2010 at 10:18 AM

Media Documents Centre

Update of 11:03 am -- Hague, speaking for UK, says “What I have heard today from our four distinguished briefers convinces me that there can be peace and stability in Sudan.” But this was written BEFORE any of the four briefers spoke. It seems doubtful that Ali Karti of Sudan shared his statement with the UK before he delivered it. Hague as clairvoyant?

Update of 11:10 am - while Hillary Clinton says Darfur important, says journalists and activists arrested “some merely for speaking to members of this Council,” she does not explain why Obama administration now offers to take Sudan off terrorism sanctions list without regard to what they do in Darfur. Will she take a question on this?

For UN's Nov 16 Sudan Meeting UK Plays Hide the Ball With Invitations and Darfur, Hillary to Come?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 11, updated -- The UK called Sudan their priority when they took over the Presidency of the UN Security Council for November. But they haven't called Sudan -- that is, for the November 16 ministerial level meeting on Sudan, the UK has yet to announce the format or participants, nor to convey any invitation to Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti.

Inner City Press asked UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant about this just outside the Council on November 10. He acknowledged no invitation had been sent to Karti, saying the format had yet to be decided. He added that South Sudan's representative would already by in New York.

On November 11, other Council sources told Inner City Press that the UK as president is nearly entirely in charge of “it's” November 16 debate. So far they say it has been decided that Thabo Mbeki (by video link-up) and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will speak in the open meeting; the participation of Khartoum has not yet been decided. What is known is that the UK's William Hague will preside and, it is said, Hillary Clinton will be present.

Now that the US has "detached" Darfur from its terrorism sanctions on Sudan, to many there is an even greater risk that the November 16 meeting, and Security Council for the rest of the year, will turn an increasingly blind eye to Darfur. The UK's lack of transparency for the November 16 meeting, and so far this month, has done nothing to allieviate these concerns.

For the closed door consultations after the open session, it has yet to be finalized that Haile Menkerios of UNMIS and Ibrahim Gambari of UNAMID in Darfur will appear by video, along with Benjamin Mkapa.

The UK has told other members to expect a Presidential Statement, but early November 11 a non Permanent member complained to Inner City Press it had seen no draft.

The UK is excluding not only those media which most closely follow Sudan, but also the other Council members. We'll see.

Update: now a draft PRST has been circulated, to be negotiated at the expert level. Invitations to Sudan and South Sudan still unclear. Watch this site.

On Sudan, Susan Rice Defends Decoupling Darfur from Terror Sanctions, Karti Not Invited

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 10 -- With killing in Darfur escalating and internally displaced people arrested and harassed for providing testimony, United States Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice was asked Wednesday by the Press why the US has told Sudan that if it allows the referendum in South Sudan and “addresses” Abyei, the Obama administration will move to take Sudan off the state sponsors of terrorism list.

This was called “decoupling from Darfur” by an Obama administration official who asked to not be named; human rights advocates have called it “de-emphasizing” or even selling out Darfur.

When Ambassador Rice came to speak about blocking Iran from the board of UN Women at the stakeout in front of the UN Security Council, which will host a November 16 ministerial level meeting on Sudan, mostly on the South Sudan referendum, Inner City Press twice asked that she take a Sudan question. To her credit she did, offering an explanation -- unconvincing to some -- of the administration's thinking. Video here.

In essence Ambassador Rice argued that since there are other US sanctions regimes on Sudan, taking the country off the state sponsor of terrorism list in exchange for allowing the South Sudan referendum should not be read as de-emphasizing Darfur. Said otherwise, the US is offering a “carrot” for something other than Darfur.

Inevitably, Sudanese diplomats see in this a de-emphasize of scrutiny on Darfur. Something that they went -- off of the terrorism sanctions list -- could be obtained regardless of escalation of killing and harassment in Darfur. Some might even call this, intentionally or not, a green light.

Regarding the November 16 meeting, a Sudanese diplomat complained to Inner City Press on Wednesday that while “it is a ministerial meeting and the Council is supposed to send formal invitations to the Minister of Foreign Affairs” Ali Karti, no invitation has been sent.

This seemed strange, since other Council sources have already described to Inner City Press statements in an open session of the Council by Thabo Mbeki and diplomats from both Khartoum and South Sudan, following by closed door briefings from the envoys on South Sudan and Darfur, Haile Menkerios and Ibrahim Gambari respectively.

Inner City Press asked this month's Council president, Mark Lyall Grant of the UK, about the Sudanese complaint that Ali Karti had yet to be invited. Lyall Grant acknowledged this is the case, saying that the format has yet to be decided. But why the talk already about the attendance of South Sudan? Lyall Grant said that he understands they (South Sudan) will already be in New York that day, November 16. But will Ali Karti?

At the November 10 UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked acting deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq to confirm a report by Radio Dabanga, the closure of whose Khartoum office has been denounced, that UN Humanitarian Coordinator Valerie Amos “apologized” to IDPs in Darfur for the UN's failure to protect them, including after some spoke to the Council and Ms. Rice on October 8.

Haq pointed to canned (and confusing) statements issued by Amos' office, while indicating she may speak to the press upon her return to New York. Video here.

Here is the US Mission to the UN's transcript of Inner City Press' question and Susan Rice's answer:

Inner City Press: I wanted to know about the decoupling Darfur from the state sponsorship of terrorism, with a State department official quoted, unnamed saying that the Obama administration would move to take Sudan off the state sponsored terrorism list if the referenda go forward, but that Darfur is being decoupled... I just wanted to understand, how is one to read that in terms of the importance of humanitarian and the escalating violence in Darfur?

AMBASSADOR RICE: Well first of all the United States, as you've heard me express on many occasions, and so have my colleagues and counterparts in Washington, is very much focused on the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Darfur. We're very concerned about it. We're focused on it. There are a number, frankly a large number, of sanctions in U.S. law that relate not only to the situation between the north and the south, but also to Darfur, and they will not be alleviated [unless and] until the situation in Darfur is adequately addressed consistent with U.S. law. What we have also said to the Government of Sudan is that were it to take the steps that it's committed to and allow the peaceful and on-time conduct of the referendum in the South, and resolve all of the outstanding issues that remain between the two sides, including Abyei and borders and security and citizenship, to name just a few, as well as respect the outcome of the referendum, then that could initiate a process of improved relations with the United States. We've communicated to them what that process might look like, and we think it's in the interest of the Government of Sudan and the people, all of the people of Sudan, to fulfill their commitment to implement the CPA and choose a peaceful resolution to this longstanding conflict. Thank you very much.

On this last, another Permanent Five member of the Council's Permanent Representative has said, on condition of anonymity, that it is increasingly unlikely that even the South Sudan referendum will be held on January 9, and that focus has turned to convincing the leaders in South Sudan not to hold their own referendum. Watch this site.

UN Torture Expert Urges UN Not to Handover to Sudan, Gambari & Rice Absent

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 26 -- In Darfur, moves by the UN to hand over to the government five supporters of Fur rebel Abdel Wahid al-Nur were criticized Tuesday by the UN's own Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak.

Inner City Press, which first exposed the UN's draft agreement between Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti and Ibrahim Gambari of the Darfur mission UNAMID, asked Nowak if such a turn over would violate the law. Video here, from Minute 30:40.

Nowak replied that objectively, “there is no question that torture is widely practices in Sudan.” Are the five sheikhs, political opponents targeted by the government of Omar al-Bashir, for some reason exempt from torture?

Gambari's draft agreement with Karti, leaked to and published by Inner City Press, sought only to preclude execution, with a promise from al-Bashir. Even this promise has been disavowed -- Sudan's Ambassador to the UN Dafaala Al Haj Ali Osman on October 25 told Inner City Press such a commitment has not been and could not be made, that at most Gambari must have been referring to the idea that “blood relatives” might offer forgiveness (for money). Video here.

Gambari was in New York on October 25, according to Nigerian mission sources, but did not come to the UN Security Council's meeting about Darfur and UNAMID. Inner City Press has repeatedly asked the spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Martin Nesirky, where Gambari is.

On October 26, Inner City Press asked Nesirky for Gambari's or the UN's response to Nowak's statement urging the UN not to turn the five over to Sudan. Nesirky replied that “special rapporteurs have independent status.” Video here, from Minute 32:07.

On October 25, chief UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy told the Security Council “we have made clear we cannot hand over the sheikhs in the absence of a clear commitment the death penalty, if issued, would not be carried out, alongside other assurances.”

But Nowak, when asked by Inner City Press, said that “diplomatic assurances with respect to torture are not worth the paper they are written on.”

While Gambari has asked Inner City Press, in a containing in the UNAMID Super Camp, what he can do except negotiate to turn the five sheikhs over to Sudanese authorities, now the UN system's two top experts on torture have said this would violate the law, including customary international law.

How as the UN so badly lost its way? And who will be held accountable?

The issue was raised to Western Permanent Five ambassadors of the Security Council before their Sudan trip. But the UK's Mark Lyall Grant twice said it wasn't among the trip's “terms of reference.”

The US' Susan Rice has indicated she asked about the issue while in Sudan, but has declined to disclose what she or Gambari said. It was impossible to ask her these questions at the Security Council's October 25 meetings on Darfur and South Sudan, because she was not present and therefore no US official took questions at the stakeout, unlike Sudan's Ambassador.

What is the US position on torture? Watch this site.

Karti Takes Hard Line on Darfur and Abyei to UN Council, Which Responds With Platitudes

By Matthew Russell Lee

KHARTOUM, October 9 -- Having avoided meeting in Sudan with President Omar al Bashir, indicted for genocide and war crimes, the UN Security Council on Saturday morning sat for a speech by Bashir's Foreign Minister Ali Karti.

Mere blocks from a loud demonstration opposing the secession of South Sudan and Abyei, Karti told the Council that some in the South, including by implication Salva Kiir, are violating the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Karti's long remarks strongly implied that a referendum in Abyei will not take place by January 9 -- a result all the more likely due to the reported partial breakdown of the talks about Abyei in Addis Ababa.

On Darfur, Karti took a hard line: no negotiations with preconditions. Both Abdel Wahid Nur and Khalil Ibrahim of the Justice and Equality Movement have been calling for the UN to better ensure the protection of civilians in Darfur before they'd negotiate with Bashir in Doha.

Meanwhile the Sudanese Army continues attacking and bombing, with the UN not going to the site of the attacks even to count, much less try to save, bodies.

The UN's and African Union's Joint Special Representative in Darfur Ibrahim Gambari, who flew with the Security Council from El Fasher to Khartoum on Friday afternoon, has prepared a letter and attachment to Karti, to “finalize” the turn over of five supporters of Abdel Wahid Nur to the government, in exchange for a promise from Bashir they won't be executed.

Anti-secession rostrum Oct 9, UN Council not seen (c) MRLee

After Karti spoke, UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant gave a response, largely repeating the terms of reference of the UN Council's visit, which he has emphasized do not include the turn over of the Kalma Five, nor apparently any oversight of Ibrahim Gambari.

Once Lyall Grant was finished, the press corps was told to leave. A scheduled lunch with the new UNMIS communications chief was canceled so that the reporters could go and file stories. The UN vehicle went out of its way to avoid the area of the demonstration, quite near the ministry of foreign affairs. Instead they drove by UNMIS' old site near the Nile.

One reporter said that except for some references to God, Karti's speech had been the better one. But what about protection of civilians? Watch this site.

In Khartoum, As Demonstration Opposes Secession and ICC, UN Council Avoids It

By Matthew Russell Lee

KHARTOUM, October 9 -- In downtown Khartoum on Saturday morning, a raucous crowd of several thousand demonstrated against the separation of Sudan. Their signs said it was colonialists drawing lines again on Africa, asked International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo why the US is not a member of the ICC, which has indicted President Omar al Bashir.

Groups of men in white turbans shook green treelike plants and women in bright orange robes stopped for Inner City Press to photograph their banners, many with English subtitles thanking Bashir for “stopping the long war in the South.”

Sudanese jazz played from a bandstand, toward which people continued to stream, past Omdurman National Bank under reconstruction.

The background, Inner City Press is told, is that Southerners rally on the 9th, in the run up to the secession referendum scheduled for January 9, 2010. Unity supporters also now gather on the 9th, though most of them won't be eligible to vote. There were reports of a pro separation rally at the University of Juba campus in Khartoum.

Khartoum demo Oct 9, UN Security Council not shown, (c) MRLee

Inner City Press visited the headquarters of UNMIS, near the airport. UNMIS has taken over a police hospital, across a dirt street from “Judges' Home.” Inside, some of the offices had no electricity on Monday. The walls have photographs from Juba and Abyei. If there is a war, Inner City Press was told, it will probably start in Abyei.

The UN Security Council, meanwhile, met in the basement of the luxury hotel the delegation stayed in with the members of the South Sudan Referendum Commission. There was a photo “spray” at the beginning, then the Press was ordered out. There came word of the demonstration, first a false rumor of one in front of UNMIS, which happens not infrequently, then the transfer to downtown.

The crowd was still gathering when Inner City Press rushed to catch up with the Security Council which had moved to a meeting with Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti. We will report on Karti's speech, and UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant's response, in a separate piece.

After the two speeches, the UN rushed the press corps back to the hotel, taking care to entirely avoid the growing area taken up by the demonstration. Would the Security Council likewise avoid the demonstration? Watch this site.