Protect the Protectors

Burundi, 12 October 1999. Two United Nations officials were shot and killed when their relief mission was ambushed by a group of child/young soldiers. Former top United Nations official Kathleen Cravero was part of the mission, but managed with four other UN staff to flee the scene, having witnessed the brutal murders of two colleagues. Ten years later, Cravero says the carnage continues, with those responsible for killings of humanitarian workers rarely held to account.

Ten years ago today, I was kneeling on the ground, lined up next to my colleagues and security guard, as a young man in a ragtag uniform fired into the air, and then turned his gun on us.

Four of us managed to escape. Our dear colleagues - Luis Zuniga of UNICEF and Saskia von Meijenfeldt of the World Food Program - did not.

In Burundi as the UN's top official, I was leading a seven-person humanitarian mission to deliver life-saving supplies to the southeastern province of Rutana - ravaged by violence and civil war - at the request of its governor. We had just landed at the airstrip and were met by the governor and a dozen Burundian soldiers, as the UN was required to have a military escort. We reached the site when a large group of armed men - or boys - emerged from the makeshift camp, shouting. Our military escort ran away. As we tried to negociate with the gunmen, we were lined up against the wall. Suddenly, one of the group - a boy who looked no more than 14 - shot and killed my two colleagues. I knew I was next. But somehow, the situation changed. Our security guard was able to overpower the killer and we fled. We ran for hours until we reached an old sugar plantation where we were able to call for assistance.

A decade after I knelt with my colleagues in their final seconds of life, the carnage continues. Crimes against humanitarians occur regularly as people who risk their lives to serve others are kidnapped, hijacked, robbed and raped. More than 700 humanitarian workers have been killed in the last ten years, far outstripping the death toll of UN peacekeepers.

The world's concern is short-lived, a headline, a few hours, and then it's over. And in this case, as in too many others, those responsible are never held accountable. Killings are rarely investigated in depth. For all the humanitarian workers killed in the past ten years, not one investigation reached a clear conclusion after which someone was punished. Nor was any government held accountable.
In the case of the Burundi killings, a cursory two-day investigation came up with no concrete results. The UN was so incensed it pulled out most of its staff. Burundi then undertook a longer investigation which did little more than reiterate the party-line: Hutu rebels -- which the Tutsi government was fighting -- were deemed responsible. No further action.

We who survived the killings decried the cold-blooded murder of our colleagues -- and the half-hearted, inconclusive investigation that followed their deaths. We called for the international community to "draw a line in the sand". We asked that, at a minimum, UN member states ensure adequate security arrangements for humanitarian staff and blacklist governments that fail to protect humanitarian workers on their territory or who fail to take appropriate action when crimes occur. Put simply, we appealed to nations with sizeable foreign aid budgets to insist on accountability from the nations they help.

A decade later, nothing has changed.

Governments are consistently failing to stand up to violence against humanitarian workers. Countries that face emergencies are quick to call on the UN and on non-governmental groups to provide basic necessities and survival skills when they are in need, yet in many cases fail to protect those workers from rogue groups or at times from their own troops. Nor do they take action when violence does occur. And yet, we continue pouring money into them in the name of humanitarian good.

The UN Secretary General has declared August 19 as International Humanitarian Day in memory of those who have been killed. This is a noble gesture but it is not enough. A proof of real action would be for the UN General Assembly to hold a session each year to review violence against humanitarian staff. Each country where relief workers have been killed should be obliged to explain what went wrong, who was responsible and what was done as a result.

Only then will our fallen colleagues get the justice -- and recognition -- they deserve.

Comments

[Dixieboy]

God bless all of you who have lost colleagues and loved ones around the world doing this service. My grandfather and uncle started a church mission in Haiti and underwent tremendous negative pressure for this. We cannot rely on an out-dated and scandal ridden UN to perform this function. The US will be pressured to intercede in this process to find these perpetrators...and then be blamed for "invading" another country for the purpose of instigating an overthrow. I would like to think everyone wants peace the world over.....but greed and power corrupt quickly...and power is maintained by constant fear among an ill-informed and ill-equipped populace.

[ghenry]

Dear Kathleen

Burundi, 26 September 2004

My husband was a UNV when he was attacked one night and murdered in cold blood by a gang of rebel soldiers. To date, no one has been brought to justice. I am not seeking revenge. I just need to know that they were caught and made to understand what they did was horribly wrong. I would lalso like to know that they are in a rehabilitation programme that would help them to return to their former human selves and to themselves help others who have been part of this killing cycle.

jbh