06 June 2016By Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi
The UN blacklisting of the Arab coalition in Yemen for allegedly causing
deaths and injuries to children did not come as a surprise. Neither was the
news that the United Nations Secretary General's Office added the coalition to
the list, at the last minute, caused any surprise. It is just what, we Arabs,
expect from this office.
The UN report is on expected lines. After all, it is the UN policies that are
to blame for the present situation in Yemen. It is UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon,
and his ex-representative in Yemen, Jamal bin Omar, who are as responsible —
for the miseries and atrocities brought upon innocent Yemenis — as the rebels.
Under the UN watch, the Houthis grew from a small, local militia into a
full-blown rebel army that took over the capital, Sanaa. Instead of crying
foul, the secretary general and his representative acknowledged the status quo
and negotiated peace accords with the rebels, and therefore, gave legitimacy
to the rebellion.
Even after the Houthis imprisoned the elected president and his government,
and went on to take over the rest of the country with the support of former
President Ali Abdullah Saleh. They overtook one region after another and
bombard Aden and Taiz. Bin Omar dealt with them as if they were a legitimate
government. If it wasn't for the Arab coalition intervention in support of the
Yemeni government, Ban Ki Moon, today, would be expressing his ''usual''
concern for the disasters his policies would have caused, and asking neighbors
for humanitarian help.
Later, when the Security Council issued Resolution 2216, under Chapter VII,
the secretary general was required to report to the Council within 15 days
whether the Houthis complied with the UN order. Their failure would have led
the Security Council to call for a military intervention, like in the case of
the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Well, the secretary general never did that! The report, his homework, was
never produced. Instead, he pushed for a peace process that put both the
legitimate government and the rebels at the same table, like equals!
The secretary general's failure to carry out his
responsibilities and legal obligations emboldened coup leaders who refused to
abide by the Security Council resolution. This prolonged the war of
liberation, and forced the Yemeni army, resistant groups and coalition forces
to continue the fight in mostly civilian areas, increasing the likelihood of
the collateral damage.
Like all these failures were not enough, the secretary general is sending yet
another message of support to the rebels, by enlisting the coalition forces on
the backlist of countries and groups targeting children in war zones. It is
telling that he chose to send this signal exactly as the Yemeni parties were
negotiating, in Kuwait, the implementation of the Security Council
resolutions. Such show of support would certainly embolden the rebels to
reject any peaceful solution, as they have done again and again, under United
Nations auspices.
The blacklisting is not legally binding, since it is a general report that
comes from the secretary general office, not voted by UN members. It is more
of a political statement that reflects his impressions about the dangers
children face in conflict zones.
The office was supposed to discuss these allegations with the parties
involved, like they did last year with Israel regarding its treatment of
Palestinian children. Of course, in the Israeli case, the secretary general
was forced to drop these allegations, even though they were supported by
overwhelming evidence — Uncle Sam helped!
In the Arab coalition case, Ban never consulted with the Gulf ambassadors, as
he was supposed to. No proofs were provided, and the whole case was built on
heresy from the social media, human rights advocates, Houthi sources and press
reports. The UN had no eyewitness accounts or investigative teams, since the
secretary general refused to let hem operate on the ground or move their
offices from Djibouti to Aden.
Strangely enough, all UN reports have never dared to condemn American and
British crimes against children in Iraq and Afghanistan. They merely condemned
what they called international forces in Afghanistann, to avoid identifying
mighty US by its name.
The same goes for Russian and Iranian crimes in Iraq and Syria, for the report
has only listed the Syrian regime.
Such double standard clearly shows who runs the puppet theater in which the
secretary general plays the role of an office boy in the superpower executive
club.
I wouldn't rule out his personal feelings after the Gulf states stood firmly
with the Kingdom of Morocco in its protest after he called its rule of Western
Sahara an occupation!
Unfortunately, Ban Ki-moon does not represent the UN member states that
elected him, as he should. He is, as former Secretary General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, once admitted, a mere secretary in the White House, and in the
service of other Security Council permanent members' interests.
If we are to understand the message behind the blacklisting
decision, we should study the superpowers' policies, not their obedient
messenger.
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached
at kbatarfi@gmail.com. Follow him at Twitter:@kbatarfi
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