http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/2.1198/un-chief-fires-general-in-south-sudan-after-harsh-report-1.436921
UN chief fires general in South Sudan after harsh report
By EDITH M. LEDERER | Associated Press | Published: November 1, 2016
UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon fired the commander of
the peacekeeping force in South Sudan on Tuesday after an independent
investigation sharply criticized the military response to deadly
attacks in July on a U.N. compound housing 27,000 displaced people.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced the dismissal of Kenyan Lt.
Gen. Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki shortly after the investigators'
report was released, saying the U.N. chief was "deeply distressed" by
the findings.
South Sudan, the world's youngest country, has been riven by ethnic
violence since shortly after gaining its independence from Sudan in
2011. Civil war broke out in 2013 when government forces loyal to
President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, battled rebels led by his
former vice president Riek Machar, who is a Nuer. A peace agreement
was signed in August 2015, but fighting, that has left tens of
thousands dead and more than 2 million displaced, continues.
A confidential U.N. report obtained by The Associated Press in
September said the deadly fighting in July was directed by the highest
levels of Kiir's government. Among the targets were the U.N.
peacekeeping base known as UN House and the adjacent camp where some
27,000 displaced civilians, who are Nuer, had sought safety and the
Terrain Camp, a private compound just over a kilometer (0.6 miles)
away where U.N. staff, aid workers and local staff were housed.
In this Monday, Dec. 30, 2013 file photo, a United Nations armored
vehicle passes displaced people walking towards the U.N. camp in
Malakal, South Sudan. An independent investigation released Tuesday,
Nov. 1, 2016, of attacks in July on a U.N. compound in South Sudan
housing 27,000 displaced people, and a private compound not far away
housing U.N. staff and aid workers, is sharply critical of the U.N.
peacekeeping mission's leadership and the response by troops from
China, Ethiopia, Nepal and India.
Ben Curtis/AP
The report said "a lack of leadership on the part of key senior
mission personnel culminated in a chaotic and ineffective response to
the violence" at UN House and the compound for displaced civilians.
"The force did not operate under a unified command, resulting in
multiple and sometimes conflicting orders to the four troop
contingents from China, Ethiopia, Nepal and India, and ultimately
underusing the more than 1,800 infantry troops at UN House," it said.
In three days of fighting in July, at least 73 people were killed
including more than 20 internally displaced people who had sought U.N.
protection. Two Chinese peacekeepers were among those killed and
several were wounded; 182 buildings on the UN House compound were
struck by bullets, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, and
thousands of internally displaced people fled into UN House, the
report said.
The report said confusing senior leadership and the lack of leadership
on the ground, where the Chinese battalion commander had been
appointed as the incident commander, "contributed to incidents of poor
performance among the military and police contingents at UN House."
This included "at least two instances in which the Chinese battalion
abandoned some of its defensive positions" and an "inadequate"
performance by Nepalese police to stop looting inside UN House by some
displaced people and control the crowd, it said.
The investigators also criticized the U.N. mission and its
peacekeepers for failing to respond to the attack on the Terrain Camp,
where U.N. staff, aid workers and local staff were robbed, beaten,
raped and killed by armed soldiers.
The report said peacekeepers and international police were "risk-averse."
The investigators, led by retired Dutch Maj. Gen. Patrick Cammaert,
recommended that "peacekeepers, commanders and relevant troop
contributing countries should be held accountable for failures to
protect" civilians.
Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, told reporters that Ban asked "for the
immediate replacement of the force commander."
Received on Tue Nov 01 2016 - 16:16:36 EDT