dagblog - Comments for "Unspeakable horrors in a country on the verge of genocide"

Following is UN Deputy

artappraiser — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 04:38:16 +0000

Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Central African Republic today:

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/dsgsm727.doc.htm

Senior official urges UN

artappraiser — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 04:35:03 +0000

In reply to Unspeakable horrors in a country on the verge of genocide

Senior official urges UN force to curb ‘horrific’ situation in Central African Republic
UN News Centre, 25 Nov., 2013

Citing mounting human rights abuses, sexual violence and other “horrors,” a top United Nations official today called on the international community for immediate action to halt the rapidly deteriorating situation in conflict-wracked Central African Republic (CAR), which, he said is “descending into complete chaos before our eyes.”

“It is critical for the international community and this Council to act now,” Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told the Security Council, proposing that a UN peacekeeping mission eventually replace the current African-led International Support Mission in the CAR (MISCA).

“We face a profoundly important test of international solidarity and of our responsibility to protect. We cannot look away. The situation requires prompt and decisive action to place protection of the people of the CAR up front,” he said, presenting a report from a technical assistance team that recently returned from the country [....]

“The population is enduring suffering beyond imagination,” Mr. Eliasson said. “As we see far too often, women and children are bearing the brunt. Human rights violations are mounting. The use of child soldiers is rising. Sexual violence is growing. There are widespread reports of looting, illegal checkpoints, extortion, illegal arrests and detentions, torture and summary executions.”

He noted that in a recent report Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced particular concern at the alarming increase in inter-communal violence. “Harmony among communities has been replaced by horror,” Mr. Eliasson said, noting that manipulation of religious affiliations is fuelling never-before-seen sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians [....]

France 'to send more troops'

artappraiser — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 04:30:41 +0000

In reply to Unspeakable horrors in a country on the verge of genocide

France 'to send more troops' to Central African Republic
BBC News, 25 Nov., 2013

France has agreed to send 800 extra troops to the Central African Republic (CAR), CAR Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye has said. He said the deployment to the conflict-torn nation would take place after a vote in the UN Security Council - expected next week.

The UN deputy secretary general has called for the council to take urgent action, warning of "complete chaos". The CAR has been in a state of chaos since rebels seized power in March.

Communal violence

France currently has 410 soldiers in the capital Bangui.

Mr Tiangaye said the deal was reached during his talks in Paris with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. "France has the military, financial and diplomatic means for efficient intervention," Mr Tiangaye said. He added that Paris was willing to provide even more troops "if needed". Mr Tiangaye said the extra troops would help patrol a key road from Bangui to the Cameroonian border and also north-western parts of the CAR.

The UN Security Council is expected next week to adopt a resolution, authorising the deployment of African Union troops with French support in the impoverished nation.[....]

Perhaps some good things are

Aaron Carine — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:57:35 +0000

In reply to I wondered the same thing

Perhaps some good things are coming out of U.N. intervention in the Congo, although I read in the New York Times that some people in the U.N. are uneasy about their forces essentially taking sides in the civil war, as it's a major departure from most previous peacekeeping missions(although U.N. troops fought in the Congo before, back in the early sixties).

On what comes after

artappraiser — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 21:32:05 +0000

In reply to I wondered the same thing

On what comes after that:

Here's my letter to the editor of the New York Times about Africa's Great Lakes: http://t.co/jJMXiey8Ej (scroll down after the link)
— Russ Feingold (@US_SEGL) November 15, 2013

I wondered the same thing

artappraiser — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 21:28:15 +0000

In reply to Smith complains that the

I wondered the same thing because he doesn't get into suggestions. (To be fair, he certainly got his hands full writing about the situation itself without getting into that; it's a "world, pay some attention here!" piece.) On the other hand, we do now have the example of more aggressive U.N. forces in the Congo bearing some fruit, in a situation has been labeled hopeless for a very long time. It didn't take that much, not a gargantuan military effort of first world nations, but just a bigger force and some changes of rules about what "peacekeeping" might entail for that force. First world intervention came into play with things like pressure on involved actors like Rwanda and in the Security Council agreements and pllans to let peacekeepers change their role.

Smith complains that the

Aaron Carine — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 14:37:19 +0000

In reply to Unspeakable horrors in a country on the verge of genocide

Smith complains that the world isn't doing anything. Do what? Military intervention is almost never a solution. Intervention would mean intervention by the United States, and all the American wars since 1945 have been disasters.