Of Mercenaries in Congo & Bahrain, Who Are UN's Guards in Somalia?
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 4, 2013 -- In Somalia, which private armed guards
were running around Mogadishu with UN Mine Action Service chief David Bax,
as acknowledged but not named by UN envoy Nicholas Kay? Were they with South
Africa-based Denel?
In Eastern Congo, would Ukrainian pilots in helicopter gunships be
considered mercenaries, while recently naturalized Bahrain "security" force
members are not?
These were the questions Inner City Press put to three members of the
Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries on Thursday, and unlike at the UN's
own briefing in this room, each question got an answer. Video here,
<
http://webtv.un.org/watch/the-use-of-private-military-and-security-companie
s-in-un-peace-and-humanitarian-operations-in-the-field-press-conference/2579
578078001/> from Minute 40:24.
On Somalia, Working Group rapporteur Anton Katz of South Africa said he
and fellow member Faiza Patel of Pakistan had been there in December and
would be reporting soon. He said Denel may be working for some other entity
-- UNMAS? - but that the UN system does not employ Denel. Video here
<
http://webtv.un.org/watch/the-use-of-private-military-and-security-companie
s-in-un-peace-and-humanitarian-operations-in-the-field-press-conference/2579
578078001/> , from Minute 18:32.
This seemed strange, since three Denel employees were killed in the most
recent attack on UN Compound on Mogadishu. An arms expert tweeted
<
https://twitter.com/djolivier/status/363001800854482944> to Inner City
Press that Denel mostly doesn't do armed guards. Then who were they? We'll
await Kay's or less likely Bax's answer.
On behalf of the new Free UN Coalition for Access <
http://www.funca.info>
, Inner City Press suggested to the Working Group members that they
encourage UN agencies to publicly disclose which security companies they
use, and for what.
On Ukrainian pilots in the Congo, Gabor Rona replied that if they were
members of Ukraine's army, they could not be mercenaries, only parties to a
conflict. On Bahrain, he said that naturalization is enough, legally, to
come out from the definition of mercenary.
Can one be naturalized retroactively, Inner City Press asked, laundered so
to speak? Video here
<
http://webtv.un.org/watch/the-use-of-private-military-and-security-companie
s-in-un-peace-and-humanitarian-operations-in-the-field-press-conference/2579
578078001/> from Minute 42:38.
Anton Katz asked, to some laugher, Are you thinking of becoming one?
* * *
Speaking of mercenaries, once again the UN Correspondents' Association
asserted its "right" to have the first question, a right that 2013 president
Pamela Falk has said can be delegated to any dues paying UNCA member, even
one who ran for the Executive Committee and lost.
This means that in exchange for money, someone is given a question at the
UN.
Particularly now with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Martin
Nesirky outright refusing to take
<
http://www.innercitypress.com/ban1drcossg080113.html> some Press questions
<
http://www.innercitypress.com/sri1banfunca080113.html> , this pay to play
is unsavory, and the outstanding favoritism and rule of law questions must
be answered. Watch this site.
Received on Mon Aug 05 2013 - 09:18:27 EDT