Free Republic

Serbia has asked the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to open an investigation into a top Danish diplomat Søren Jessen-Petersen, claiming that UNMIK covered up a report on the trade in human organs, according to the newspaper Blic. Jessen-Petersen headed the United Nations UNMIK operation in Kosova from 2004 to 2006. According to the report UNMIK representatives denied having seen a report on the subject, but Serbian authorities have now questioned the claim. “In 2008, our prosecutors came into possession of 16 pages from this report,” says Serbian Minister for Cooperation with the ICTY Rasim Ljajic,...

New York, Apr.22 (ANI): The United Nations has been lambasted as “utterly hypocritical” for continuing to employ Fiji’s soldiers and hand money to the country’s power-hungry military regime. New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully has joined a host of regional commentators in challenging the international organisation’s role in giving work to Fiji’s powerful military. The military, led by army chief Frank Bainimarama, has ruled Fiji since overthrowing a democratic government in a December 2006 coup, despite widespread and growing condemnation from regional and world leaders. Much of the government’s income comes from UN peacekeeping assignments. The UN Security Council this...

NDJAMENA (AFP) - European peacekeepers were hunting for a "deranged" French Foreign Legion officer who fled after going on a shooting spree in Chad, killing two comrades, a Togolese UN soldier and a farmer. The shootings began Tuesday at Camp des Etoiles, the main base of the European peacekeepers near the airport in the eastern town of Abeche near the Sudan border, a French military official said. "Gunshots were heard in the (military) camp and then the two legionnaires were found and then a little further away the body of the Togolese soldier was discovered," said Captain Christophe Prazuck. The...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Many Kosovo Albanians view the U.N. presence as an obstacle to independence a year after they seceded from Serbia, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report released on Thursday. "There is a perception among many Kosovo Albanians that the mission's tasks have been accomplished and its continued presence is an unwelcome obstacle to the desire for Kosovo to function as a sovereign state," Ban said in his latest report to the U.N. Security Council on U.N. activities in Kosovo. "The Kosovo authorities, who have been under significant pressure from opposition parties, have repeatedly stated...

The United Nations took over command of an EU protection force in eastern Chad on Sunday, and there were growing fears of more rebel violence and the possible arrival of tens of thousands more refugees from Sudan's Darfur. The European Union formally handed over command to the U.N. mission in Chad and Central African Republic (MINURCAT) at a ceremony in Chad's eastern city of Abeche on Sunday morning after Eufor's year-long mandate expired at midnight. The handover, which sees around 5,000 U.N.-commanded troops replace an EU force of close to 3,500, takes place at a time of heightened tension after...

Why are "peacekeepers" doing nothing as Rwanda II threatens to unfold? As America and Europe were in the clutches of eleventh-hour Obamania, a tragedy was unfolding in the heart of Africa: Up to 250,000 Congolese had been driven from their homes in the latest fighting that still threatens to engulf more African nations, driven into fetid refugee camps that supposedly offer U.N. peacekeeper protections from the carnage. On Halloween, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked the U.N. Security Council president to consider sending peacekeeping reinforcements to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Security Council didn’t take it up until this...

Israel is calling for removal of two United Nations soldiers from Lebanon after photographs surfaced of the soldiers saluting the coffins of Hezbollah terrorists during a prisoner exchange Wednesday. Associated Press photographer Mohammed Zaatari captured an image of the troops paying homage to fallen Hezbollah fighters as trucks bearing their coffins drove through the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon. The blue-helmet U.N. troops, who operate under the auspices of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), are meant disarm Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and be an impartial buffer along the country’s border with Israel. Israel’s ambassador to the United...

The UN again commits human rights violations in the Congo; and ignores Zimbabwean atrocities. Every once in a while a story crosses the wires that just has to stir outrage. The latest comes from the United Nations and their peacekeeping mission in the Congo. The Congo as you know is a nation rife with violence. So the United Nations sends in peacekeepers from India and Pakistan. Guess what happens next? If you guessed the looting of the nation and the arming of one force against another, you’d be right.

Israel: UNIFIL hiding info about Hezbollah from Security Council By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 08:16 28/04/2008 www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/978382.html The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is intentionally concealing information about Hezbollah activities south of the Litani River in Lebanon to avoid conflict with the group, senior sources in Jerusalem have said. In the last six months there have been at least four cases in which UNIFIL soldiers identified armed Hezbollah operatives, but did nothing and did not submit full reports on the incidents to the UN Security Council. The Israel Defense Forces and the Foreign Ministry are...

(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah terrorists scared off UNIFIL armed forces last month after the armed international soldiers found a truck carrying arms and ammunition for the group. According to Haaretz, which quotes an unnamed "source in Jerusalem," the UNIFIL troops were on patrol and pulled the truck over. When they approached the vehicle, armed Hizbullah terrorists exited and threatened them at gunpoint. The UNIFIL troops returned to their cars and went back to their base. The March 31 incident, which undercuts confidence in the ability of international troops to prevent the activities of the terrorist group in the region, was kept secret...

Food riots turn deadly in Haiti At least four people were killed and 20 wounded when demonstrations against rising food prices turned into riots in southern Haiti, officials say. Reports say scores of people went on the rampage in the town of Les Cayes, blocking roads, looting shops and shooting at UN peacekeepers. The UN said its personnel had opened fire at some of the armed protesters. For two days running, parts of Haiti have been erupting into violence triggered by the soaring cost of food. The prices of rice, beans and fruit have gone up by 50% in the...

Kiev - A senior official in Kiev blamed poor rules of engagement given United Nations peacekeepers for the death of a Ukrainian policemen in Kosovo, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday. Yury Lutsenko, Ukraine's Interior Minister, said strict UN rules forbidding international force members to use their weapons in almost all circumstances caused the Sunday death of police senior lieutenant Ihor Kinal. "This is absolutely unacceptable, and it will lead to further loss of Ukrainian lives," Lutsenko said. "This policy (of making it impossible for Ukrainian service personnel to defend themselves) cannot be allowed to continue. Kinal died in the...

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Regional UNMIK chief Gerard Gallucci has resigned, but the UN HQ has not accepted his resignation. The U.S. diplomat in charge of the UN operations in Kosovska Mitrovica was asked to withdraw his resignation. This is what an anonymous diplomatic source told Beta news agency tonight, adding that Gallucci was "currently on vacation, and will resume his duties once he returns". Earlier today, KIM Radio reported that Gallucci, who is currently abroad, opted for this move because of the differences he has with Priština. KIM's sources with the UN mission in the province's capital confirmed this. "Gallucci...

Sri Lanka has promised to look into allegations that 108 of its UN peacekeepers in Haiti paid for sex, in some cases with underage girls. The men are being sent home after being accused of sexual misconduct and abuse. Officials say the law will take its course once the soldiers arrive back in Sri Lanka, but warn that little tangible evidence has been produced. In the past, UN peacekeepers have been involved in a series of sex scandals, including this year in Ivory Coast. 'Zero tolerance' Sri Lanka has sent four senior officers, including a female brigadier, to Haiti to...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations has agreed to the appointment of a Rwandan general as deputy commander of the Darfur force, saying there was not enough evidence against him to support allegations of human rights abuses. Maj. Gen. Karenzi Karake has taken up his position in Darfur to help supervise formation of the joint African Union-U.N. force. Rwanda fields some 2,000 of the 7,000 AU troops now in Darfur. U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said Monday the appointment was on track because "there was not enough evidence for anything to change" after a number of organizations had been asked...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations is seriously considering allegations of human rights violations against a Rwandan general, nominated as deputy commander for the new U.N.-African Union force in Darfur, a U.N. official said on Saturday. The African Union has approved Rwandan Maj. Gen. Karenzi Karake for the post but the United Nations has not yet confirmed it, despite pressure from Rwanda, which fields some 2,000 of the 7,000 AU troops now in Darfur. "We are aware of these allegations and we take them seriously," the U.N. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We are consulting with the...

It's hard to be optimistic about the UN Security Council's toothless resolution -- gee, why does that phrase ring a bell? -- to send a peacekeeping force to Darfur. Four years in the making, the resolution calls for of 26,000 international troops who will be authorized to defend themselves or to protect civilians -- but not to disarm the rebels or the deadly government-sponsored militias before they attack civilians. The resolution dutifully promises not to disrespect Sudan's sovereignty. That's an open invitation to more stonewalling from President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has long railed against Western interference in the genocidal...

Pakistani UN peacekeeping troops have traded in gold and sold weapons to Congolese militia groups they were meant to disarm, the BBC has learnt.(sic) These militia groups were guilty of some of the worst human rights abuses during the Democratic Republic of Congo's long civil war. The trading went on in 2005. A UN investigative team sent to gather evidence was obstructed and threatened. The team's report was buried by the UN itself to "avoid political fallout". These events took place in and around the mining town of Mongbwalu, in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Pakistani battalion of the...

Despite the 20,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon, the United Nations admits that weapons smuggling from Syria continues unhindered. A German report finds UNIFIL does not patrol after dark. Hizbullah terrorists are free to roam at night without fear of being identified by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), according to a report by the German paper Der Spiegel. UNIFIL commanders were interviewed by the paper, saying their function is to "observe changes in the behavior of the local population," with Spanish UNIFIL official Richard Ortax admitting that no patrols are carried out at night “because of the...

MOSCOW, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - Russia holds only the 40th place by the numerical strength of the military contingents, which take part in U.N. peacekeeping operations, Deputy Prime Minister, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said during a “government hour” meeting at the Federation Council on Friday. “In mid-90s some 2,000 Russians on the average took part annually in U.N. peacekeeping operations, while now, during the past four years, the figure was reduced to 120 men a year. As a result of it, Russia now is only the 40th on the list of 108 countries, which send their specialists for taking part...