When UN Says DRC Army Has Zero Tolerance for Child Soldier Recruitment, It Doesn't Mean Zero Child Soldiers

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- During the French-ledUN Security Council trip in October to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a staffer of the UN's MONUSCO mission there "speaking to reporters" expressed 

"surprise at Washington's decision regarding the Democratic Republic of Congo, which last year signed an action plan with the United Nations to stop and prevent recruitment of child soldiers. 'There have been huge results... They don't recruit children any more. There's been zero tolerance,' she said."

  On November 26, Inner City Press asked Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, if she would be surprised if the DRC Army is again found with child soldiers by the UN Group of Experts, as it was in April 2013.

  Zerroughui said she couldn't not say that would not happen. One thing is said in Kinshasa; in the provinces it is different. Then what was MONUSCO talking about, back in October, "they don't recruit children any more"?

  This is called going-local, or even, the Stockholm syndrome. Why would a child protection officer be so effusively praising a host government which the UN's own Group of Experts most recent report of June shows still involved with child soldiers? 

 Inner City Press asked for the transcript - and got something quite different.

  First, here's from the UN's own most recent Group of Experts report, which Inner City Press obtained and thenexclusively put online as credited by, for example, the BBC:

149. The Group is also investigating cases involving the illegal detention and use of children for military purposes by the FARDC. According to FARDC and MONUSCO sources as well as local authorities in the Kisala area of Butembo territory, between February and April 2013, FARDC’s 1032nd Battalion arrested four boys aged between 15 and 17 on charges of belonging to the Nyatura rebel group. An FARDC Major subsequently enlisted three of them as cooks, while assigning the fourth to be a soldier in Mushaki with the 106th Regiment commanded by Col. Civiri.

150. In April, UNICEF separated 19 children from the FARDC 812th Regiment located at Camp Bobozo in Kananga, in Kasai Occidental province. The Regiment had rotated from North Kivu to Kananga in March, and had forcefully recruited the children before their departure from North Kivu. Four soldiers from this Regiment acknowledged to the Group that they had been aware of the presence of the minors (commonly referred to as ‘kadogo’) in their ranks. In April, UNICEF separated two minors (one of them a girl) from the same Regiment; both had been forcefully recruited.

  Since what Reuters -- hand picked by colonial powerhouse France to accompany and document what's become known as France's Genocide Joyride -- quoted MONUSCO staffer Dee Brillenburg Wurth as saying in October contradicts the UN's own Group of Experts report, Inner City Press began asking that a transcript of what she "told reporters" be made public. 

   Inner City Press asked at the UN noon briefing -- not for more spin, but for a transcript of what Dee Brillenburg Wurth said:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask you about the trip, there seems to have been a briefing by a MONUSCO (United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) staffer, Dee Brillenburg Wurth, in which she is quoted as saying that the [Democratic Republic of the Congo], doesn’t recruit children, child soldiers any more. This is contrary to the Group of Experts report, which says in at least two paragraphs that they do. It was "said to reporters," is it possible to get a transcript or some audio file of what was said? And what would you say to a seeming total disparity between what MONUSCO told reporters, if not the Council, and what UN reports actually say about the recruitment of child soldiers by [the Democratic Republic of the Congo]?

Spokesperson: Well, I mean, I wouldn’t say anything at this point until I check into it myself, Matthew.

Two days later on October 9, rather than any transcript, this was sent to Inner City Press:

Subject: Your question on the DRC
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 3:18 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Concerning your question on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and recruitment of child soldiers, we have the following:

“In October 2012, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations signed an Action Plan to halt and prevent the recruitment and use of children, in addition to sexual violence against children, by the national armed forces and security forces. The Congolese government is currently implementing it. There is consistent progress in the implementation of the action plan.

The FARDC now systematically separates child soldiers from its troops and hands them over to UNICEF, amongst other organizations. Progress has also been made in the facilitation of access for the United Nations to national armed forces battalions and detention centres, resulting in the separation and reunification of approximately 340 children with their families."

  The phrase, "we have the following" is unclear -- who is "we"? It's certainly not the UN Group of Experts, charged with actually investigating these topics. 

  Was this.. from Herve Ladsous, whose non-responsiveness was picked up by the UN New Statesman, here?

  Was it from Zerroughi? On November 26, when pressed, she did not maintain, as MONUSCO did, that DRC "does not recruit children." So why did MONUSCO say that? 

Footnotes: On November 26, Inner City Press after thanking Zerroughui on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access asked her to also provide an update on Central African Republic, what the UN is doing. We continue to await that.

Meanwhile Third Committee moves said to be against Zerroughui's office and its mandate remain murky, but we continue to pursue that story, too. Watch this site.

   

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- During the French-ledUN Security Council trip in October to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a staffer of the UN's MONUSCO mission there "speaking to reporters" expressed 

"surprise at Washington's decision regarding the Democratic Republic of Congo, which last year signed an action plan with the United Nations to stop and prevent recruitment of child soldiers. 'There have been huge results... They don't recruit children any more. There's been zero tolerance,' she said."

  On November 26, Inner City Press asked Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, if she would be surprised if the DRC Army is again found with child soldiers by the UN Group of Experts, as it was in April 2013.

  Zerroughui said she couldn't not say that would not happen. One thing is said in Kinshasa; in the provinces it is different. Then what was MONUSCO talking about, back in October, "they don't recruit children any more"?

  This is called going-local, or even, the Stockholm syndrome. Why would a child protection officer be so effusively praising a host government which the UN's own Group of Experts most recent report of June shows still involved with child soldiers? 

 Inner City Press asked for the transcript - and got something quite different.

  First, here's from the UN's own most recent Group of Experts report, which Inner City Press obtained and thenexclusively put online as credited by, for example, the BBC:

149. The Group is also investigating cases involving the illegal detention and use of children for military purposes by the FARDC. According to FARDC and MONUSCO sources as well as local authorities in the Kisala area of Butembo territory, between February and April 2013, FARDC’s 1032nd Battalion arrested four boys aged between 15 and 17 on charges of belonging to the Nyatura rebel group. An FARDC Major subsequently enlisted three of them as cooks, while assigning the fourth to be a soldier in Mushaki with the 106th Regiment commanded by Col. Civiri.

150. In April, UNICEF separated 19 children from the FARDC 812th Regiment located at Camp Bobozo in Kananga, in Kasai Occidental province. The Regiment had rotated from North Kivu to Kananga in March, and had forcefully recruited the children before their departure from North Kivu. Four soldiers from this Regiment acknowledged to the Group that they had been aware of the presence of the minors (commonly referred to as ‘kadogo’) in their ranks. In April, UNICEF separated two minors (one of them a girl) from the same Regiment; both had been forcefully recruited.

  Since what Reuters -- hand picked by colonial powerhouse France to accompany and document what's become known as France's Genocide Joyride -- quoted MONUSCO staffer Dee Brillenburg Wurth as saying in October contradicts the UN's own Group of Experts report, Inner City Press began asking that a transcript of what she "told reporters" be made public. 

   Inner City Press asked at the UN noon briefing -- not for more spin, but for a transcript of what Dee Brillenburg Wurth said:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask you about the trip, there seems to have been a briefing by a MONUSCO (United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) staffer, Dee Brillenburg Wurth, in which she is quoted as saying that the [Democratic Republic of the Congo], doesn’t recruit children, child soldiers any more. This is contrary to the Group of Experts report, which says in at least two paragraphs that they do. It was "said to reporters," is it possible to get a transcript or some audio file of what was said? And what would you say to a seeming total disparity between what MONUSCO told reporters, if not the Council, and what UN reports actually say about the recruitment of child soldiers by [the Democratic Republic of the Congo]?

Spokesperson: Well, I mean, I wouldn’t say anything at this point until I check into it myself, Matthew.

Two days later on October 9, rather than any transcript, this was sent to Inner City Press:

Subject: Your question on the DRC
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 3:18 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Concerning your question on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and recruitment of child soldiers, we have the following:

“In October 2012, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations signed an Action Plan to halt and prevent the recruitment and use of children, in addition to sexual violence against children, by the national armed forces and security forces. The Congolese government is currently implementing it. There is consistent progress in the implementation of the action plan.

The FARDC now systematically separates child soldiers from its troops and hands them over to UNICEF, amongst other organizations. Progress has also been made in the facilitation of access for the United Nations to national armed forces battalions and detention centres, resulting in the separation and reunification of approximately 340 children with their families."

  The phrase, "we have the following" is unclear -- who is "we"? It's certainly not the UN Group of Experts, charged with actually investigating these topics. 

  Was this.. from Herve Ladsous, whose non-responsiveness was picked up by the UN New Statesman, here?

  Was it from Zerroughi? On November 26, when pressed, she did not maintain, as MONUSCO did, that DRC "does not recruit children." So why did MONUSCO say that? 

Footnotes: On November 26, Inner City Press after thanking Zerroughui on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access asked her to also provide an update on Central African Republic, what the UN is doing. We continue to await that.

Meanwhile Third Committee moves said to be against Zerroughui's office and its mandate remain murky, but we continue to pursue that story, too. Watch this site.

   

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Amid Power Cuts In Gaza, Arab Idol Mohammed Assaf Rocks UN, Sponsor MBC in the Wings: UN Commercialized?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- Last night at the UN the Gazan singer Mohammed Assaf triggered dancing in the ECOSOC Chamber with his hit "Raise the Koufiyeh." Today he held a press conference in the UN, flanked with a promoter from MBC Television.

  It was said from the beginning that questions should be limited to Assaf's roles a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

  Inner City Press noted that outgoing UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi recently spoke about the lack of fuel for the power plant in Gaza. Further research found this lack has led to children walked in raw sewage in Az Zeitoun in Gaza.

  The first question, though, went to Pamela Falk of UNCA and CBS (if they cover this), who asked a fawning question about Assaf returning to Gaza to inspire the youth. Another of his promoters spoke of an apartment in Dubai, tours of the US. On the podium the man from MBC touted his company's affiliation with Al Arabiya, linking itself to Arab youth and even, it seemed to the "Arab Spring."

  There have been American musicians who've held UN press conferences, but not with the on-stage participation of their promoters network. This is called an advertisement, in most places.

  Assaf told a funny story of how he pressed to get into the Arab Idol contest in Cairo. (The new Cairo of Sissi and its impact on Gaza is, of course, another topic, one deemed off limits for the MBC press conference.)

  The moderator called on Inner City Press but another journalist, a former UNCA president, insisted on grabbing the floor. Due to the insistence, Inner City Press didn't cede but rather asked its Gaza power and sewage question quickly, without taking the time UNCA did to say, thank you on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access. In fact, FUNCA's focus on this press conference is on the commercialization.

Assaf answered that infrastructure is not UNRWA's job, but donors should come forward. Fair enough. We wish him well. Watch this site.

   

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- Last night at the UN the Gazan singer Mohammed Assaf triggered dancing in the ECOSOC Chamber with his hit "Raise the Koufiyeh." Today he held a press conference in the UN, flanked with a promoter from MBC Television.

  It was said from the beginning that questions should be limited to Assaf's roles a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

  Inner City Press noted that outgoing UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi recently spoke about the lack of fuel for the power plant in Gaza. Further research found this lack has led to children walked in raw sewage in Az Zeitoun in Gaza.

  The first question, though, went to Pamela Falk of UNCA and CBS (if they cover this), who asked a fawning question about Assaf returning to Gaza to inspire the youth. Another of his promoters spoke of an apartment in Dubai, tours of the US. On the podium the man from MBC touted his company's affiliation with Al Arabiya, linking itself to Arab youth and even, it seemed to the "Arab Spring."

  There have been American musicians who've held UN press conferences, but not with the on-stage participation of their promoters network. This is called an advertisement, in most places.

  Assaf told a funny story of how he pressed to get into the Arab Idol contest in Cairo. (The new Cairo of Sissi and its impact on Gaza is, of course, another topic, one deemed off limits for the MBC press conference.)

  The moderator called on Inner City Press but another journalist, a former UNCA president, insisted on grabbing the floor. Due to the insistence, Inner City Press didn't cede but rather asked its Gaza power and sewage question quickly, without taking the time UNCA did to say, thank you on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access. In fact, FUNCA's focus on this press conference is on the commercialization.

Assaf answered that infrastructure is not UNRWA's job, but donors should come forward. Fair enough. We wish him well. Watch this site.

   

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

UN Now Admits to Inner City Press that No Peacekeeping Mission Has a Standing Claims Commission, Like on Haiti Cholera, No Remedy

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- When the UN got sued on charges of bringing cholera to Haiti which has killed over 8000 people, a major reason was the UN's failure to set up the Standing Claims Commission provided for under its Status of Forces Agreement (or Status of Mission Agreement).

   And so starting nine days ago, Inner City Press has been asking UN spokespeople whether any UN Peacekeeping mission has a standing claims commission.

   UN acting deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told Inner City Press it is "not a yes or no question," then that counting days without an answer wasn't helpful.

   Inner City Press waited more days, then on November 26 -- nine days after asking the question -- asked it again at the day's noon briefing. Minutes later, this admission:

Subject: Your question on claims commissions
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 1:13 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Regarding your question at today's noon briefing, we can confirm that no peacekeeping mission has a claims commission in place.

  Clearly something is broken; people in countries ostensibly helped by the UN have no recourse when things go wrong, even deadly wrong.  So what will be done by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Herve Ladsous, the UN head of peacekeeping selected like his three predecessors by France?

    The impunity is flagrant. With the UN now akin to a scofflaw, its acting deputy spokesperson Haq last Thursday refused to confirm or explain refusing even service of the court papers. 

   When the lawyers in the class action suit for victims of theUN bringing cholera to Haiti tried to serve the complaint, they told Inner City Press last Wednesday, the UN "refused to physically receive process."

  Inner City Press asked UN spokesperson Farhan Haq the next day to confirm and explain -- but he said there was nothing more to say, that previous statements explain it.Video here and embedded below.

  So did then UN lawyer Patricia O'Brien ruling the adminstrative claims were "not receivable" mean her successor Miguel de Serpa Soares wouldn't even "receive" the court case papers?

  The lawyers tell Inner City Press they aim to ask for permission for an alternate mode: service by publication. Those are the legal notices published in newspapers, often putting deadbeat parents on notice their wages will be garnished. How has the UN fallen this low?

  The victims' lawyers anticipate the UN, once it is served if only by newspaper publication, making a motion to dismiss on the grounds that it is immune. But, they say, no remedy has been provided, nor any alternative mechanism.

  Just as Sri Lanka military figure, now Deputy Permanent Representative Shavendra Silva successfully did, the US State Department will be asked to make a court filing supporting immunity. 

  This time, the lawyers say, there will be a campaign to ask the State Department not to support impunity, with letters to Secretary of State John Kerry including from members of Congress.  Would newly appointed US Mission reform ambassador Leslie Berger Kiernan play a role in this?

  On last Tuesday evening, Inner City Press filmed as State Department official Victoria Holt heard the UN's Edmond Mulet essentially blame the cholera deaths on Haitian under-development; when given the floor, Holt said nothing about this. Video here; longer form analysis by this author here, on Beacon Reader.

  In the UN Press Briefing Room, for seven days now Inner City Press has waited for a UN answer to a yes or no question: has UN Peacekeeping established any of the Standing Claims Commissions provided for its its Status of Forces Agreements.

  On November 14, UN acting deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said that actually setting up a standing claims commission depends on the request of the mission's host government. But that not only ignores the power relations, it did not answer the yes or no question.

  Haq referred to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. But its chief Herve Ladsous has refused to answer basic questions, such as about the 135 rapes at Minova by UN Peacekeeping's partners in the Congolese Army. Video here, UK coverage here. So would will this simple question be answered?

  Not on November 18. Asked again, Haq said the question had been put to UN Peacekeeping, but it's "not a yes or no question." Video here. If the answer's yes, can't it be said in four days? And if no - what's the explanation? Or does the UN Peacekeeping under Ladsous think they can just not answer?

  Waiting two days, and after filming UN Peacekeeping deputy Edmond Mulet Tuesday night, here, Inner City Press, on November 20 asked Haq again, saying it had been six days. Haq replied that counting days is not helpful. But why did UN Peacekeeping not answer a basic question for eight days? Would it have ever answered, if not asked again and again? Watch this site.

Footnote: also last Thursday, Inner City Press asked the UN's Haq for an update on previous answers that the UN Mission in the Congo MONUSCO was "verifying" reprisal attacks in Bunagana and Kiwanja. These was no update. So is the UN checking or not?

   

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- When the UN got sued on charges of bringing cholera to Haiti which has killed over 8000 people, a major reason was the UN's failure to set up the Standing Claims Commission provided for under its Status of Forces Agreement (or Status of Mission Agreement).

   And so starting nine days ago, Inner City Press has been asking UN spokespeople whether any UN Peacekeeping mission has a standing claims commission.

   UN acting deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told Inner City Press it is "not a yes or no question," then that counting days without an answer wasn't helpful.

   Inner City Press waited more days, then on November 26 -- nine days after asking the question -- asked it again at the day's noon briefing. Minutes later, this admission:

Subject: Your question on claims commissions
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 1:13 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Regarding your question at today's noon briefing, we can confirm that no peacekeeping mission has a claims commission in place.

  Clearly something is broken; people in countries ostensibly helped by the UN have no recourse when things go wrong, even deadly wrong.  So what will be done by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Herve Ladsous, the UN head of peacekeeping selected like his three predecessors by France?

    The impunity is flagrant. With the UN now akin to a scofflaw, its acting deputy spokesperson Haq last Thursday refused to confirm or explain refusing even service of the court papers. 

   When the lawyers in the class action suit for victims of theUN bringing cholera to Haiti tried to serve the complaint, they told Inner City Press last Wednesday, the UN "refused to physically receive process."

  Inner City Press asked UN spokesperson Farhan Haq the next day to confirm and explain -- but he said there was nothing more to say, that previous statements explain it.Video here and embedded below.

  So did then UN lawyer Patricia O'Brien ruling the adminstrative claims were "not receivable" mean her successor Miguel de Serpa Soares wouldn't even "receive" the court case papers?

  The lawyers tell Inner City Press they aim to ask for permission for an alternate mode: service by publication. Those are the legal notices published in newspapers, often putting deadbeat parents on notice their wages will be garnished. How has the UN fallen this low?

  The victims' lawyers anticipate the UN, once it is served if only by newspaper publication, making a motion to dismiss on the grounds that it is immune. But, they say, no remedy has been provided, nor any alternative mechanism.

  Just as Sri Lanka military figure, now Deputy Permanent Representative Shavendra Silva successfully did, the US State Department will be asked to make a court filing supporting immunity. 

  This time, the lawyers say, there will be a campaign to ask the State Department not to support impunity, with letters to Secretary of State John Kerry including from members of Congress.  Would newly appointed US Mission reform ambassador Leslie Berger Kiernan play a role in this?

  On last Tuesday evening, Inner City Press filmed as State Department official Victoria Holt heard the UN's Edmond Mulet essentially blame the cholera deaths on Haitian under-development; when given the floor, Holt said nothing about this. Video here; longer form analysis by this author here, on Beacon Reader.

  In the UN Press Briefing Room, for seven days now Inner City Press has waited for a UN answer to a yes or no question: has UN Peacekeeping established any of the Standing Claims Commissions provided for its its Status of Forces Agreements.

  On November 14, UN acting deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said that actually setting up a standing claims commission depends on the request of the mission's host government. But that not only ignores the power relations, it did not answer the yes or no question.

  Haq referred to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. But its chief Herve Ladsous has refused to answer basic questions, such as about the 135 rapes at Minova by UN Peacekeeping's partners in the Congolese Army. Video here, UK coverage here. So would will this simple question be answered?

  Not on November 18. Asked again, Haq said the question had been put to UN Peacekeeping, but it's "not a yes or no question." Video here. If the answer's yes, can't it be said in four days? And if no - what's the explanation? Or does the UN Peacekeeping under Ladsous think they can just not answer?

  Waiting two days, and after filming UN Peacekeeping deputy Edmond Mulet Tuesday night, here, Inner City Press, on November 20 asked Haq again, saying it had been six days. Haq replied that counting days is not helpful. But why did UN Peacekeeping not answer a basic question for eight days? Would it have ever answered, if not asked again and again? Watch this site.

Footnote: also last Thursday, Inner City Press asked the UN's Haq for an update on previous answers that the UN Mission in the Congo MONUSCO was "verifying" reprisal attacks in Bunagana and Kiwanja. These was no update. So is the UN checking or not?

   

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

'I've been to Athens' ... and Paris ... and Muleshoe

Before this blog takes a few days off for the holiday, let's round up a few items that merit Grits readers' attention:

'12,000 days later, Texas still won't release Jerry Hartfield from custody'
This is just pathetic. Conviction overturned, a new trial ordered, then 33 years in prison without any additional movement on his case.

Audits coming for county court costs
The Office of Court Administration will begin auditing counties' court collection reporting for data integrity as a result of recommendations from the state auditor. See here for more recommendations and the full report.

Good news: Gubernatorial candidate calls for red-light camera ban
The bad news: It wasn't Greg Abbott.

Scheck: 'I've been to Athens'

Barry Scheck of the national Innocence Project praised the Texas Legislature at a recent event in Houston for its willingness to pass innocence reforms, the Houston Press reported. While this comment bordered on hyperbole - "I went back to New York and told them, 'You won't believe this! I have been to Athens. They have a real democracy in Texas. You can actually get things done'"- it's true that, to my knowledge, Texas has passed more innocence-related legislation than any other state. Of course, we started with one of the most slanted, unfair systems in the country so we had (and have) a long way to go to catch up. (Ask Jerry Hartfield.)

Brennan Center Byrne grant recommendations behind the curve
The Brennan Center issued a new report suggesting improved performance measures for the federal Byrne grant program and establishing program goals aimed at reining in drug task forces whose focus on low-level drug busts contribute to over-incarceration. See the press release and the full report. Strangely, the report doesn't mention Texas' experience. In 2005, legislation by state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa put drug task forces under DPS management and the agency implemented performance measures of just the sort the report advocates. When the task forces couldn't (or really, wouldn't) meet them, Gov. Rick Perry pulled the plug on their funding, shifting resources to specialty courts, diversion programs and border security. Back when I worked for ACLU of Texas, your correspondent authored a pair of public policy reports in 2002 and 2004 (see here and here) advocating for the establishment of better performance measures and the abolition of Texas' drug task forces, though none of that work was acknowledged in the Brennan Center report, which all in all struck me as about a decade behind the curve compared to debates over these issues in Texas.

Hope for probation reform
Check out this PBS News presentation on a strong probation initiative out of Hawaii called the "Hope program" which embodies most of the reforms Grits would like to see in Texas' probation system: Closer supervision of probationers for shorter time periods, with swift and certain consequences for probation violators short of actually revoking them to prison. As a criminologist in the story described the program, "What they have done with the HOPE model has been to ratchet down the level of penalty so that it's something you can actually afford to do and then ratchet up the likelihood that if you engage in misconduct, you will actually experience that penalty."

Before this blog takes a few days off for the holiday, let's round up a few items that merit Grits readers' attention:

'12,000 days later, Texas still won't release Jerry Hartfield from custody'
This is just pathetic. Conviction overturned, a new trial ordered, then 33 years in prison without any additional movement on his case.

Audits coming for county court costs
The Office of Court Administration will begin auditing counties' court collection reporting for data integrity as a result of recommendations from the state auditor. See here for more recommendations and the full report.

Good news: Gubernatorial candidate calls for red-light camera ban
The bad news: It wasn't Greg Abbott.

Scheck: 'I've been to Athens'

Barry Scheck of the national Innocence Project praised the Texas Legislature at a recent event in Houston for its willingness to pass innocence reforms, the Houston Press reported. While this comment bordered on hyperbole - "I went back to New York and told them, 'You won't believe this! I have been to Athens. They have a real democracy in Texas. You can actually get things done'"- it's true that, to my knowledge, Texas has passed more innocence-related legislation than any other state. Of course, we started with one of the most slanted, unfair systems in the country so we had (and have) a long way to go to catch up. (Ask Jerry Hartfield.)

Brennan Center Byrne grant recommendations behind the curve
The Brennan Center issued a new report suggesting improved performance measures for the federal Byrne grant program and establishing program goals aimed at reining in drug task forces whose focus on low-level drug busts contribute to over-incarceration. See the press release and the full report. Strangely, the report doesn't mention Texas' experience. In 2005, legislation by state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa put drug task forces under DPS management and the agency implemented performance measures of just the sort the report advocates. When the task forces couldn't (or really, wouldn't) meet them, Gov. Rick Perry pulled the plug on their funding, shifting resources to specialty courts, diversion programs and border security. Back when I worked for ACLU of Texas, your correspondent authored a pair of public policy reports in 2002 and 2004 (see here and here) advocating for the establishment of better performance measures and the abolition of Texas' drug task forces, though none of that work was acknowledged in the Brennan Center report, which all in all struck me as about a decade behind the curve compared to debates over these issues in Texas.

Hope for probation reform
Check out this PBS News presentation on a strong probation initiative out of Hawaii called the "Hope program" which embodies most of the reforms Grits would like to see in Texas' probation system: Closer supervision of probationers for shorter time periods, with swift and certain consequences for probation violators short of actually revoking them to prison. As a criminologist in the story described the program, "What they have done with the HOPE model has been to ratchet down the level of penalty so that it's something you can actually afford to do and then ratchet up the likelihood that if you engage in misconduct, you will actually experience that penalty."

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

As Uganda Complains of Non-Payment for Peacekeeping Helicopters, UN Tells Inner City Press that Member States Bear the Risk

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- A full week ago, Inner City Press asked the UN for its response to Uganda complaining about delay in reimbursement for its three helicopters destroyed in Kenya on the way to the peacekeeping mission in Somalia, for which the UN pays:

Inner City Press: Uganda is complaining that its three helicopters that were destroyed in 2012 on the way to AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia), that they have not been compensated by the UN for them and they say they are still waiting for that. What’s the delay, it’s been a year and three months now, what’s the procedure for compensating countries for destroyed materiel and what’s the problem in this case?

Acting Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq: Well, we’ll have to check with… as you know, there is a [United Nations Support Office for the African Union Mission in Somalia], called UNSOA for short, and we’ll have to check with UNSOA how that particular payment is being handled through the Support Office. You might also want to check with the African Union about whether they can confirm any sort of payment for AMISOM.

  Now after seven days, the UN has responded with this, that they are not paying:

Subject: Your question on Ugandan helicopters
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 10:18 AM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Regarding your question on Ugandan helicopters, we have the following from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations:

“The helicopters in question were being provided by the Government of Uganda to the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM. In line with established procedures, the Member State is to bear the risk of loss or damage to the aircraft and to insure against these. DPKO-DFS understands that the African Union has communicated this situation to the Government of Uganda.”.

  From public report it seems clear Uganda does not understand or agree with this. This, and building up big arrears to Troop Contributing Countries like Rwanda, Nigeria, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, raises questions. We'll have more on this. Watch this site.

   

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- A full week ago, Inner City Press asked the UN for its response to Uganda complaining about delay in reimbursement for its three helicopters destroyed in Kenya on the way to the peacekeeping mission in Somalia, for which the UN pays:

Inner City Press: Uganda is complaining that its three helicopters that were destroyed in 2012 on the way to AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia), that they have not been compensated by the UN for them and they say they are still waiting for that. What’s the delay, it’s been a year and three months now, what’s the procedure for compensating countries for destroyed materiel and what’s the problem in this case?

Acting Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq: Well, we’ll have to check with… as you know, there is a [United Nations Support Office for the African Union Mission in Somalia], called UNSOA for short, and we’ll have to check with UNSOA how that particular payment is being handled through the Support Office. You might also want to check with the African Union about whether they can confirm any sort of payment for AMISOM.

  Now after seven days, the UN has responded with this, that they are not paying:

Subject: Your question on Ugandan helicopters
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 10:18 AM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Regarding your question on Ugandan helicopters, we have the following from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations:

“The helicopters in question were being provided by the Government of Uganda to the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM. In line with established procedures, the Member State is to bear the risk of loss or damage to the aircraft and to insure against these. DPKO-DFS understands that the African Union has communicated this situation to the Government of Uganda.”.

  From public report it seems clear Uganda does not understand or agree with this. This, and building up big arrears to Troop Contributing Countries like Rwanda, Nigeria, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, raises questions. We'll have more on this. Watch this site.

   

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Why private prisons don't (and shouldn't) have immunity from civil rights litigation

Attorney Jennifer Hulvat has an article at Corrections One ("Unprotectcted: Private prison personnel and civil liability," Nov. 25) explaining why private prison companies and staff do not enjoy the same qualified immunity from civil rights lawsuits as publicly owned and operated prison units.

Historically, Title 42 U.S.C. §1983 has provided a procedural mechanism for state and local prison inmates claiming violations of their civil rights to sue those acting “under color of law”. Qualified immunity, however, bars §1983 suits against certain state, local and federal officials unless the actor reasonably believes that his conduct violates a clearly established constitutional right. Certainly, claims suggesting deprivation of rights rooted in the Fourth Amendment, the Eighth Amendment and the 14th Amendment are ripe in the prison context. ...

We need only look as far as the most recent Supreme Court opinion on the matter to quickly conclude that prison guards in private prisons are, for all practical purposes, exposed and vulnerable to liability for civil rights violations. The 1997 Supreme Court case of Richardson v. McKnight established that prison guards working for a private prison company that contracted with the state could not assert the defense of qualified immunity against civil rights allegations. There, two inmates in a privatized Tennessee prison alleged that prison guards subjected them to severe physical restraints, thereby depriving them a constitutionally protected right. The Court believed that “history does not reveal a ‘firmly rooted’ tradition of immunity applicable to privately employed prison guards”. Most notably, the Court found no reason to extend this critical protection to private contracted prison guards. The key factor in the Courts decision was that the person being accused of the constitutional deprivation was not hired directly by the government, rather “a private firm, systematically organized to assume a major lengthy administrative task (managing an institution) with limited direct supervision by the government, undertak[ing] that task for the profit and potentially in competition with other firms”.

Hulvat clearly believes qualified immunity should extend to government contractors including private prisons and their employees, but that's a slippery slope she's suggesting the courts head down. The Geo Group is to TDCJ as the mercenary firm Blackwater was to the US Marines. There are good reasons why Blackwater retained liability when performing its functions and you couldn't set the precedent for one sort of entity without extending it to others. The government contracts for all sorts of services with the private sector: Should rental car firms enjoy qualified immunity because the government sometimes rents cars from them? Where would it end?

In any event, Ms. Hurvat's complaint won't be satisfied anytime soon. She noted that a Supreme Court case in 2012 finding qualified immunity for an attorney hired to perform a police Internal Affairs investigation "was very careful not to overrule Richardson, finding that the employment relationship of a privately retained 'one' is quite different than the position and relationship of 'many' working for the entity hired by the government. For the time being, then, private prison guards facing civil rights allegations remain exposed and susceptible to liability."

Strip away that liability and abuses would surely rack up. Already, private facilities tend to be less accountable and more prone to abuse than publicly operated ones (though both have their problems). In part that's due to underpaid, under-trained staff, high turnover, fewer services and a tendency to cut corners to maximize their bottom line. How much worse would those problems be if private facilities weren't accountable in court for abuses? In that vein, via Texas Prison Bidness, this morning I noticed this new report (pdf) from the Detention Watch Network about alleged civil rights violations at private immigration detention facilities, including in Polk County, TX. 

 Government agencies are accountable to legislatures or other elected entities who can and do intervene - as happened at the Texas Youth Commission, for example - when serious problems arise. But private companies are only accountable to their board and shareholders. In Grits' view, SCOTUS was wise not to extend them immunity.

Attorney Jennifer Hulvat has an article at Corrections One ("Unprotectcted: Private prison personnel and civil liability," Nov. 25) explaining why private prison companies and staff do not enjoy the same qualified immunity from civil rights lawsuits as publicly owned and operated prison units.

Historically, Title 42 U.S.C. §1983 has provided a procedural mechanism for state and local prison inmates claiming violations of their civil rights to sue those acting “under color of law”. Qualified immunity, however, bars §1983 suits against certain state, local and federal officials unless the actor reasonably believes that his conduct violates a clearly established constitutional right. Certainly, claims suggesting deprivation of rights rooted in the Fourth Amendment, the Eighth Amendment and the 14th Amendment are ripe in the prison context. ...

We need only look as far as the most recent Supreme Court opinion on the matter to quickly conclude that prison guards in private prisons are, for all practical purposes, exposed and vulnerable to liability for civil rights violations. The 1997 Supreme Court case of Richardson v. McKnight established that prison guards working for a private prison company that contracted with the state could not assert the defense of qualified immunity against civil rights allegations. There, two inmates in a privatized Tennessee prison alleged that prison guards subjected them to severe physical restraints, thereby depriving them a constitutionally protected right. The Court believed that “history does not reveal a ‘firmly rooted’ tradition of immunity applicable to privately employed prison guards”. Most notably, the Court found no reason to extend this critical protection to private contracted prison guards. The key factor in the Courts decision was that the person being accused of the constitutional deprivation was not hired directly by the government, rather “a private firm, systematically organized to assume a major lengthy administrative task (managing an institution) with limited direct supervision by the government, undertak[ing] that task for the profit and potentially in competition with other firms”.

Hulvat clearly believes qualified immunity should extend to government contractors including private prisons and their employees, but that's a slippery slope she's suggesting the courts head down. The Geo Group is to TDCJ as the mercenary firm Blackwater was to the US Marines. There are good reasons why Blackwater retained liability when performing its functions and you couldn't set the precedent for one sort of entity without extending it to others. The government contracts for all sorts of services with the private sector: Should rental car firms enjoy qualified immunity because the government sometimes rents cars from them? Where would it end?

In any event, Ms. Hurvat's complaint won't be satisfied anytime soon. She noted that a Supreme Court case in 2012 finding qualified immunity for an attorney hired to perform a police Internal Affairs investigation "was very careful not to overrule Richardson, finding that the employment relationship of a privately retained 'one' is quite different than the position and relationship of 'many' working for the entity hired by the government. For the time being, then, private prison guards facing civil rights allegations remain exposed and susceptible to liability."

Strip away that liability and abuses would surely rack up. Already, private facilities tend to be less accountable and more prone to abuse than publicly operated ones (though both have their problems). In part that's due to underpaid, under-trained staff, high turnover, fewer services and a tendency to cut corners to maximize their bottom line. How much worse would those problems be if private facilities weren't accountable in court for abuses? In that vein, via Texas Prison Bidness, this morning I noticed this new report (pdf) from the Detention Watch Network about alleged civil rights violations at private immigration detention facilities, including in Polk County, TX. 

 Government agencies are accountable to legislatures or other elected entities who can and do intervene - as happened at the Texas Youth Commission, for example - when serious problems arise. But private companies are only accountable to their board and shareholders. In Grits' view, SCOTUS was wise not to extend them immunity.

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Exclusive: On Sanctions, UN Monitoring Group Recounts Somalia Charcoal Disputes, Arms Embargo Filings, Eritrea Meeting

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- In the run-up to the November 26 closed door briefing of the UN Security Council on Somalia and Eritrea sanctions, the new Monitoring Group coordinator Jarat Chopra raised to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and others the shipping and sale of charcoal from Somalia in violation of the sanctions.

  The UAE and Oman did not immediate respond to inquiries about particular ships. The UAE prefers the re-sale of seized charcoal to its destruction under the supervision and advice of the UN Environment Program, despite concerns about corruption in re-sale that have been raised.

  The Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group's most recent public report "estimates... an overall international market value of US $360 to #384 million, with profits divided along the charcoal trade supply chain, including for Al-Shabaab." The SMEG puts the Al-Shabaab share at 40% - and says "the remaining 60% is divided between the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) (20%) and Ras Kamboni (40%)."

  Sources informed Inner City Press that the SMEG had been ordered out of, or "Persona Non Grata-ed" from, Kenya. 

  Inner City Press exclusively spoke with senior representation of Kenya on this, and it was denied. Others say the UN's Department of Political Affairs is trying to resolve the situation, particular in light of the Security Council's rejection with eight abstentions of the African Union's request that the Council suspend the Kenya proceedings of the International Criminal Court for a year.

  In its last report the SMEG named an array of arms embargo violators in Somalia. Click here for Inner City Press'reporting on those violations, including by the UK, which(overly) "insider" Reuters for example neglected to mention in its gushing report.

  Now in its 120 day report to the Council, obtained by Inner City Press from multiple sources, it says "with regard to the arms embargo, the Committee considered three notifications for exemptions from the arms embargo pursuant to paragraph 11(a) of resolution 2111 (2013) [Australia, International Maritime Organization and Yemen] and received, for its information, four notifications pursuant to paragraph 10 (g) of the same resolution."

  These last were from Norway and the United Kingdom (two notification) -- and from UNPOS, the UN Political Office in Somalia now UNSOM, run by Nicholas Kay. The UN had previously, it seems, violated its own sanctions.

  Kay has been talking up charcoal sanctions enforcement in the UAE and wider Gulf, along with long time hangers-on in what we call the Somalia Industrial Complex; we still await updates on the Somaliland airspace issue.

  On Eritrea, the SMEG is saying it will meet with Eritrean representatives in Paris in December. We'll have more on this. Watch this site.

   

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- In the run-up to the November 26 closed door briefing of the UN Security Council on Somalia and Eritrea sanctions, the new Monitoring Group coordinator Jarat Chopra raised to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and others the shipping and sale of charcoal from Somalia in violation of the sanctions.

  The UAE and Oman did not immediate respond to inquiries about particular ships. The UAE prefers the re-sale of seized charcoal to its destruction under the supervision and advice of the UN Environment Program, despite concerns about corruption in re-sale that have been raised.

  The Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group's most recent public report "estimates... an overall international market value of US $360 to #384 million, with profits divided along the charcoal trade supply chain, including for Al-Shabaab." The SMEG puts the Al-Shabaab share at 40% - and says "the remaining 60% is divided between the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) (20%) and Ras Kamboni (40%)."

  Sources informed Inner City Press that the SMEG had been ordered out of, or "Persona Non Grata-ed" from, Kenya. 

  Inner City Press exclusively spoke with senior representation of Kenya on this, and it was denied. Others say the UN's Department of Political Affairs is trying to resolve the situation, particular in light of the Security Council's rejection with eight abstentions of the African Union's request that the Council suspend the Kenya proceedings of the International Criminal Court for a year.

  In its last report the SMEG named an array of arms embargo violators in Somalia. Click here for Inner City Press'reporting on those violations, including by the UK, which(overly) "insider" Reuters for example neglected to mention in its gushing report.

  Now in its 120 day report to the Council, obtained by Inner City Press from multiple sources, it says "with regard to the arms embargo, the Committee considered three notifications for exemptions from the arms embargo pursuant to paragraph 11(a) of resolution 2111 (2013) [Australia, International Maritime Organization and Yemen] and received, for its information, four notifications pursuant to paragraph 10 (g) of the same resolution."

  These last were from Norway and the United Kingdom (two notification) -- and from UNPOS, the UN Political Office in Somalia now UNSOM, run by Nicholas Kay. The UN had previously, it seems, violated its own sanctions.

  Kay has been talking up charcoal sanctions enforcement in the UAE and wider Gulf, along with long time hangers-on in what we call the Somalia Industrial Complex; we still await updates on the Somaliland airspace issue.

  On Eritrea, the SMEG is saying it will meet with Eritrean representatives in Paris in December. We'll have more on this. Watch this site.

   

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Brownsville can't keep 911 dispatchers on board

Brownsville PD is having trouble finding dispatchers who'll stay past their training period, reported a local TV station:

"We have a difficult time finding people who can fill those slots and can make a commitment to stay with it," Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said.

Starting next year, all dispatchers will have to be licensed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. They must first go through a 20-hour observation period to see if they want to apply for the job. Officials said about 80 percent decide it's not the job for them after that part of the process.

Before they are hired, they must pass a background check and go through a psychological examination. They must attend 64 hours of training. Usually, they work for six to eight months before they start working as a dispatcher alone without a trainer.

One recalls the Legislature raided "dedicated" 911 fees the last couple of sessions to help balance the budget. I don't know whether or not that has anything to do with the shortage in Brownsville.

Brownsville PD is having trouble finding dispatchers who'll stay past their training period, reported a local TV station:

"We have a difficult time finding people who can fill those slots and can make a commitment to stay with it," Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said.

Starting next year, all dispatchers will have to be licensed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. They must first go through a 20-hour observation period to see if they want to apply for the job. Officials said about 80 percent decide it's not the job for them after that part of the process.

Before they are hired, they must pass a background check and go through a psychological examination. They must attend 64 hours of training. Usually, they work for six to eight months before they start working as a dispatcher alone without a trainer.

One recalls the Legislature raided "dedicated" 911 fees the last couple of sessions to help balance the budget. I don't know whether or not that has anything to do with the shortage in Brownsville.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

On Central African Republic, France Calls Military Commander Hamat a Thug While Relying on Invitation from His Government: Rwanda & Sri Lanka Echoes

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 25 -- On the Central African Republic, the UN Security Council has again let colonial power France take the lead, as on Mali, DR Congo and Cote d'Ivoire.

  On CAR, France has a problem: if it admits that the government and its military commanders have committed war crimes, how is the government's invitation to France triple its force size a legitimate one?

  Inner City Press asked French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud about government military commander Abdallah Hamat, accused of leading war crimes in Camp Bangui earlier this month.

  "He's a thug," Araud quickly responded. But when Inner City Press asked, what should "president" Djotodia do about Hamat, Araud did not directly answer. This is the government whose invitation France is relying on.

With the word genocide being used, it may be instructive to flashback to France's role in Rwanda in 1994. It withheld information from the Council; it worked to help the Hutu government escape into Eastern Congo. 

  Troublingly, Herve Ladsous who argued for those policies as France's Deputy Permanent Representative in 1994 is now the head of UN Peacekeeping, which might get involved in CAR.

  UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson cited the UN's post Sri Lanka "Rights Up Front" plan in his speech to the Security Council's open session. Inner City Press asked him about it at the stakeout afterward and he acknowledged the connection, including to Sri Lanka.

  While the UN's recent silence about the crackdown during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is troubling, one might say at least the UN admits it failed in Sri Lanka, and aims to do better at least in the Central African Republic.

If foisting Ladsous on the UN is any guide, France has not learned that those who advocated for the escape of the genocidal government in 1994 from Rwanda to Eastern Congo are a danger in today's latent genocide in Central African Republic. France has CAR troubles -- which we will continue to closely cover.
 
  Araud, who stands to become UN Security Council president in December, has complained that the Central African Republic is under-covered by the media. On that, we agree with him and will do what we can on our end, particularly during the coming month.

  Araud said France will circulate a draft resolution later on November 25, aiming for adoption next week, and will ask Ban Ki-moon for a report in three months.

  Since 40,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka just in the Spring of 2009, to say nothing of the 100 days of Rwanda in 1994, three months for even a UN report seem irresponsibly slow. What was that again, about learning? Watch this site.

Footnote: on accountability, Araud made the point that CAR is a member of the ICC, so it is up to Prosecutor Bensouda to act or not. Will she, after the recent mis-handled show down about Kenya? 

From the UN's transcript of Deputy Secretary General Eliasson:

Inner City Press: The reports of Government military commanders, one is named Abdallah Hamat actually ordering, what seems to be a kind of atrocity – the burning down of a town called Camp Bangui. The Human Rights Watch report about this is pretty detailed, saying that this is a test for the Government whether they will hold this commander to account. What is your sense of the Government’s own role, both in the violence and sectarianism etc?

DSG: I don’t know the details about this situation that you describe. I would say the situation is rather chaotic. There is lacking control [by] the Government of the Seleka movement. There is also lacking control of the anti-Muslim, anti-Seleka groups that are now fighting the Seleka movement. So there is a risk of a rather anarchic situation arising and that’s why there is a need for stability to come from the outside at this moment. We hope very much that there will also be possibilities for us to introduce humanitarian assistance which could also have a positive stabilizing effect.

Inner City Press: Can you say how the Secretariat’s briefing today and actions relate to this new plan on human rights since the Sri Lanka….?

DSG: This is first case where the so-called “Rights Up Front” process is being discussed. This has to do with the enhanced role of human rights and looking at human rights violations as the first sign of serious conflict and also the importance of protection of civilians. That work has started after the Sri Lanka report, as you know, earlier this year, and we are now seeing this Central African Republic situation as a practical example of how we should act before the situation deteriorates further. It is serious enough already, but now is the time to react very strongly and this explains, I think, the tone of urgency of the Secretary-General’s report last week and my presentation here today.

    

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 25 -- On the Central African Republic, the UN Security Council has again let colonial power France take the lead, as on Mali, DR Congo and Cote d'Ivoire.

  On CAR, France has a problem: if it admits that the government and its military commanders have committed war crimes, how is the government's invitation to France triple its force size a legitimate one?

  Inner City Press asked French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud about government military commander Abdallah Hamat, accused of leading war crimes in Camp Bangui earlier this month.

  "He's a thug," Araud quickly responded. But when Inner City Press asked, what should "president" Djotodia do about Hamat, Araud did not directly answer. This is the government whose invitation France is relying on.

With the word genocide being used, it may be instructive to flashback to France's role in Rwanda in 1994. It withheld information from the Council; it worked to help the Hutu government escape into Eastern Congo. 

  Troublingly, Herve Ladsous who argued for those policies as France's Deputy Permanent Representative in 1994 is now the head of UN Peacekeeping, which might get involved in CAR.

  UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson cited the UN's post Sri Lanka "Rights Up Front" plan in his speech to the Security Council's open session. Inner City Press asked him about it at the stakeout afterward and he acknowledged the connection, including to Sri Lanka.

  While the UN's recent silence about the crackdown during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is troubling, one might say at least the UN admits it failed in Sri Lanka, and aims to do better at least in the Central African Republic.

If foisting Ladsous on the UN is any guide, France has not learned that those who advocated for the escape of the genocidal government in 1994 from Rwanda to Eastern Congo are a danger in today's latent genocide in Central African Republic. France has CAR troubles -- which we will continue to closely cover.
 
  Araud, who stands to become UN Security Council president in December, has complained that the Central African Republic is under-covered by the media. On that, we agree with him and will do what we can on our end, particularly during the coming month.

  Araud said France will circulate a draft resolution later on November 25, aiming for adoption next week, and will ask Ban Ki-moon for a report in three months.

  Since 40,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka just in the Spring of 2009, to say nothing of the 100 days of Rwanda in 1994, three months for even a UN report seem irresponsibly slow. What was that again, about learning? Watch this site.

Footnote: on accountability, Araud made the point that CAR is a member of the ICC, so it is up to Prosecutor Bensouda to act or not. Will she, after the recent mis-handled show down about Kenya? 

From the UN's transcript of Deputy Secretary General Eliasson:

Inner City Press: The reports of Government military commanders, one is named Abdallah Hamat actually ordering, what seems to be a kind of atrocity – the burning down of a town called Camp Bangui. The Human Rights Watch report about this is pretty detailed, saying that this is a test for the Government whether they will hold this commander to account. What is your sense of the Government’s own role, both in the violence and sectarianism etc?

DSG: I don’t know the details about this situation that you describe. I would say the situation is rather chaotic. There is lacking control [by] the Government of the Seleka movement. There is also lacking control of the anti-Muslim, anti-Seleka groups that are now fighting the Seleka movement. So there is a risk of a rather anarchic situation arising and that’s why there is a need for stability to come from the outside at this moment. We hope very much that there will also be possibilities for us to introduce humanitarian assistance which could also have a positive stabilizing effect.

Inner City Press: Can you say how the Secretariat’s briefing today and actions relate to this new plan on human rights since the Sri Lanka….?

DSG: This is first case where the so-called “Rights Up Front” process is being discussed. This has to do with the enhanced role of human rights and looking at human rights violations as the first sign of serious conflict and also the importance of protection of civilians. That work has started after the Sri Lanka report, as you know, earlier this year, and we are now seeing this Central African Republic situation as a practical example of how we should act before the situation deteriorates further. It is serious enough already, but now is the time to react very strongly and this explains, I think, the tone of urgency of the Secretary-General’s report last week and my presentation here today.

    

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On Central African Republic, Jan Eliasson Cites "Rights Up Front" Plan - But UN Was Silent on Sri Lanka During CHOGM, Squawks Censors

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 25 -- The Central African Republic briefing of the UN Security Council on Monday was, Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson said, under the UN's post-Sri Lanka "Rights Up Front" plan.

That Plan, which Inner City Press first published -- UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky then said it "may or may not exist" -- provides for sounding the alarm to human rights abuses such as those that occurred in Sri Lanka in 2009, when 40,000 civilians were killed.

Eliasson said the alarm will henceforth be sounded, especially when national authorities cannot act.

That is a distinction between CAR, which Eliasson described as falling apart, and Sri Lanka, where it was an authoritarian government, member of the UN, which did the killing. In these cases it is less likely the UN Secretariat will sound the alarm.

Even this month during Sri Lanka's crackdown during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the UN remained silent as Inner City Press asked four times in a week if they had any comment. Journalists were banned from going to the north, where the killings took place; families of the disappeared were blocked from traveling south to testify. But the UN Secretariat said nothing. Rights up front, indeed.

  While the Central African Republic meeting of the UN Security Council was ongoing, the UN squawked to (some) reporters to go to the UN Censorship Alliance, with its own record on Sri Lanka, see outside coverage here....

   

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 25 -- The Central African Republic briefing of the UN Security Council on Monday was, Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson said, under the UN's post-Sri Lanka "Rights Up Front" plan.

That Plan, which Inner City Press first published -- UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky then said it "may or may not exist" -- provides for sounding the alarm to human rights abuses such as those that occurred in Sri Lanka in 2009, when 40,000 civilians were killed.

Eliasson said the alarm will henceforth be sounded, especially when national authorities cannot act.

That is a distinction between CAR, which Eliasson described as falling apart, and Sri Lanka, where it was an authoritarian government, member of the UN, which did the killing. In these cases it is less likely the UN Secretariat will sound the alarm.

Even this month during Sri Lanka's crackdown during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the UN remained silent as Inner City Press asked four times in a week if they had any comment. Journalists were banned from going to the north, where the killings took place; families of the disappeared were blocked from traveling south to testify. But the UN Secretariat said nothing. Rights up front, indeed.

  While the Central African Republic meeting of the UN Security Council was ongoing, the UN squawked to (some) reporters to go to the UN Censorship Alliance, with its own record on Sri Lanka, see outside coverage here....

   

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