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Date Posted: 04:42:28 06/17/03 Tue
Author: Audrey
Author Host/IP: 209-234-160-75.gen.twtelecom.net / 209.234.160.75
Subject: Help a Blackman? Why?

Pleas for help, then death for U.N. workers
Their mutilated bodies were found in Congo. For days, they had begged to be evacuated.
By Sudarsan Raghavan
Inquirer Staff Writer

BUNIA, Congo - For six days, two terrified U.N. military observers phoned their superiors - as many as four times a day - begging to be evacuated from their remote outpost in northeastern Congo.

They were receiving death threats, they said. They were alone and unarmed in Mongbwalu, a town ruled by the Lendu tribal militias, notorious for cannibalism. A U.N. helicopter from the city of Bunia could have retrieved them in 35 minutes.

But the United Nations, handcuffed by rules and bureaucracy, didn't send a chopper. On May 18, 10 days after the two peacekeepers made their first call, the United Nations finally flew armed peacekeepers to Mongbwalu.

They found the mutilated bodies of Maj. Safwat al Oran, 37, of Jordan, and Capt. Siddon Davis Banda, 29, of Malawi.

Their corpses had been tossed into a canal and covered with dirt, according to those who saw the bodies. They were shot in the eyes. Their stomachs were split open and their hearts and livers were missing. One man's brain was gone.

The killings laid bare the challenge of bringing peace to a complex and resilient war and exposed the limits of U.N. efforts to do so.

The U.N. mission in Congo has been criticized by many, including some in its own rank and file, for being disorganized and naive. Now, its critics say, it is partly responsible for the deaths of the two observers.

"Why didn't they rescue them? They had armed troops here who could have saved them," said one U.N. observer in Bunia, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They killed them."

Col. Daniel Vollot, the U.N. Congo mission's sector commander in Bunia, said that all U.N. employees here worked in dangerous, unpredictable conditions and that the U.N. mission was not responsible for the deaths of Banda and Oran.

"We can't feel guilty," Vollot said. "Certainly, if we had arrived two or three days before, they would be alive. It's difficult, but I don't feel guilty about that."

The murders were a serious setback to U.N. operations in Congo's Ituri province, where about 50,000 people have died in fighting between Hema and Lendu tribal armies since 1999. After the killings, the United Nations pulled out all its military observers and sent them to Bunia, Ituri's largest city, with a population of about 200,000.

Details of the killings in Mongbwalu - one of the most horrific acts of violence against U.N. employees in the international body's 58-year history - are still emerging. The United Nations is investigating what happened.

But in separate interviews, five U.N. military observers with knowledge of what happened to Oran and Banda said their killings could have been avoided. In fact, they said, only luck prevented tribal fighters from butchering more helpless military observers trapped in other remote areas.

All five spoke on condition of anonymity because they worried about the repercussions they could face from the United Nations and their own countries.

Vollot acknowledged that Oran and Banda for several days had asked U.N. officials in Kisangani to be pulled out of Mongbwalu.

When asked why U.N. troops were not sent to pick up the two observers, Vollot said his command's Russian-made Mi-26 helicopters were piloted by civilians. The Russian and Ukrainian pilots were afraid to fly there, and the United Nations did not want to put their lives at risk, Vollot said.

And under U.N. rules, the ruling Lendu militia had to give permission to land a helicopter in Mongbwalu. It also was unclear which Lendu militia was in charge of the town, he said.

So his soldiers had to wait for clearance from the Lendu chief, and only the U.N. mission's headquarters in Kinshasa, the capital, could authorize a rescue operation.

"These are the rules of the United Nations," Vollot said.

The question in many minds is this: Why were the observers sent in the first place?

For years, Mongbwalu was a volatile, violent place in the most volatile, violent province of Congo. Six Red Cross workers were murdered in Ituri in 2001.

Neither Oran nor Banda spoke French, Swahili, or any local language. There were no armed U.N. peacekeepers in the area, and the observers were sent with no weapons.

"They were so at risk. It was not prudent for two [military observers] to be sent with no force protection to a place which was known to be violent for years," said Nigel Pearson, the medical coordinator in Bunia for Medair, a relief agency. "It was naive of [the U.N.'s Congo mission]. They weren't fully aware of the complexities of the situation."

The U.N. military observers agree. Several were sent in teams of four to other remote parts of Ituri at the same time as Oran and Banda in April. They were urged to go quickly with little preparation, they said. And after they arrived, they received little attention from mission officials, they said.

"After we got there, they forgot us," said another U.N. military observer. "Nobody told us what we had to do there. I didn't even know which group was Hema and which was Lendu."

At the time, the U.N. mission needed to have a strong presence in Ituri, the observers said. The Ugandan army, which occupied the province, was leaving in accordance with a multinational peace pact. The mission was expected to fill the security vacuum.

"The U.N. was very pressured to find a solution to the Congo war," a U.N. military observer said. "They sent observers too soon to a situation where we can't do our work."

The last telephone call from Oran and Banda was on May 13, the day the United Nations believes they were killed.

"Everyone is to blame, starting from the guy who planned the operation," said one of the U.N. military observers.

On Wednesday, the U.N. mission in Congo held a memorial service for Oran and Banda in Kinshasa. Senior representatives of all 15 members of the U.N. Security Council, who are here on a fact-finding mission, attended the ceremony.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Sudarsan Raghavan at sraghavan@krwashington.com.

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Pleas for help, then death for U.N. workers
Their mutilated bodies were found in Congo. For days, they had begged to be evacuated.
By Sudarsan Raghavan
Inquirer Staff Writer

BUNIA, Congo - For six days, two terrified U.N. military observers phoned their superiors - as many as four times a day - begging to be evacuated from their remote outpost in northeastern Congo.

They were receiving death threats, they said. They were alone and unarmed in Mongbwalu, a town ruled by the Lendu tribal militias, notorious for cannibalism. A U.N. helicopter from the city of Bunia could have retrieved them in 35 minutes.

But the United Nations, handcuffed by rules and bureaucracy, didn't send a chopper. On May 18, 10 days after the two peacekeepers made their first call, the United Nations finally flew armed peacekeepers to Mongbwalu.

They found the mutilated bodies of Maj. Safwat al Oran, 37, of Jordan, and Capt. Siddon Davis Banda, 29, of Malawi.

Their corpses had been tossed into a canal and covered with dirt, according to those who saw the bodies. They were shot in the eyes. Their stomachs were split open and their hearts and livers were missing. One man's brain was gone.

The killings laid bare the challenge of bringing peace to a complex and resilient war and exposed the limits of U.N. efforts to do so.

The U.N. mission in Congo has been criticized by many, including some in its own rank and file, for being disorganized and naive. Now, its critics say, it is partly responsible for the deaths of the two observers.

"Why didn't they rescue them? They had armed troops here who could have saved them," said one U.N. observer in Bunia, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They killed them."

Col. Daniel Vollot, the U.N. Congo mission's sector commander in Bunia, said that all U.N. employees here worked in dangerous, unpredictable conditions and that the U.N. mission was not responsible for the deaths of Banda and Oran.

"We can't feel guilty," Vollot said. "Certainly, if we had arrived two or three days before, they would be alive. It's difficult, but I don't feel guilty about that."

The murders were a serious setback to U.N. operations in Congo's Ituri province, where about 50,000 people have died in fighting between Hema and Lendu tribal armies since 1999. After the killings, the United Nations pulled out all its military observers and sent them to Bunia, Ituri's largest city, with a population of about 200,000.

Details of the killings in Mongbwalu - one of the most horrific acts of violence against U.N. employees in the international body's 58-year history - are still emerging. The United Nations is investigating what happened.

But in separate interviews, five U.N. military observers with knowledge of what happened to Oran and Banda said their killings could have been avoided. In fact, they said, only luck prevented tribal fighters from butchering more helpless military observers trapped in other remote areas.

All five spoke on condition of anonymity because they worried about the repercussions they could face from the United Nations and their own countries.

Vollot acknowledged that Oran and Banda for several days had asked U.N. officials in Kisangani to be pulled out of Mongbwalu.

When asked why U.N. troops were not sent to pick up the two observers, Vollot said his command's Russian-made Mi-26 helicopters were piloted by civilians. The Russian and Ukrainian pilots were afraid to fly there, and the United Nations did not want to put their lives at risk, Vollot said.

And under U.N. rules, the ruling Lendu militia had to give permission to land a helicopter in Mongbwalu. It also was unclear which Lendu militia was in charge of the town, he said.

So his soldiers had to wait for clearance from the Lendu chief, and only the U.N. mission's headquarters in Kinshasa, the capital, could authorize a rescue operation.

"These are the rules of the United Nations," Vollot said.

The question in many minds is this: Why were the observers sent in the first place?

For years, Mongbwalu was a volatile, violent place in the most volatile, violent province of Congo. Six Red Cross workers were murdered in Ituri in 2001.

Neither Oran nor Banda spoke French, Swahili, or any local language. There were no armed U.N. peacekeepers in the area, and the observers were sent with no weapons.

"They were so at risk. It was not prudent for two [military observers] to be sent with no force protection to a place which was known to be violent for years," said Nigel Pearson, the medical coordinator in Bunia for Medair, a relief agency. "It was naive of [the U.N.'s Congo mission]. They weren't fully aware of the complexities of the situation."

The U.N. military observers agree. Several were sent in teams of four to other remote parts of Ituri at the same time as Oran and Banda in April. They were urged to go quickly with little preparation, they said. And after they arrived, they received little attention from mission officials, they said.

"After we got there, they forgot us," said another U.N. military observer. "Nobody told us what we had to do there. I didn't even know which group was Hema and which was Lendu."

At the time, the U.N. mission needed to have a strong presence in Ituri, the observers said. The Ugandan army, which occupied the province, was leaving in accordance with a multinational peace pact. The mission was expected to fill the security vacuum.

"The U.N. was very pressured to find a solution to the Congo war," a U.N. military observer said. "They sent observers too soon to a situation where we can't do our work."

The last telephone call from Oran and Banda was on May 13, the day the United Nations believes they were killed.

"Everyone is to blame, starting from the guy who planned the operation," said one of the U.N. military observers.

On Wednesday, the U.N. mission in Congo held a memorial service for Oran and Banda in Kinshasa. Senior representatives of all 15 members of the U.N. Security Council, who are here on a fact-finding mission, attended the ceremony.

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