UN Peacekeepers Murdered on Duty Die in Obscurity (Africa)

[TomSea]

UN Peacekeepers Murdered on Duty Die in Obscurity


Sgt. Maj. Albert Ndikumana, 29-year-old Burundian peacekeeper, was killed during an ambush on Aug. 23, 2018, in the village of Pavika, Central African Republic. He received “the last honors of his UN family,” the Minusca mission said, on Sept. 6 in a ceremony held at its headquarters in Bangui. Beyond such official recognition, peacekeepers murdered in the line of duty receive little notice from the UN in New York. LEONEL GROTHE/MINUSCA

In the early morning of Tuesday, April 3, 2018, a temporary United Nations peacekeeping base in the village of Tagbara, in the Central African Republic, was attacked by rebel militia groups. One peacekeeper was killed and 11 others were injured in the fighting. Soon after, the UN also discovered the bodies of 21 civilians, including four women and four children, near a church in the village.

A spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Stéphane Dujarric, who regularly remarks on casualties of peacekeepers, said at the time of the incident: “The Secretary-General extends his condolences to the family of the fallen peacekeeper and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.” In keeping with other UN statements of dead or injured peacekeepers, the soldier was not named. His nationality was given: Mauritanian.

Only a week later, on April 10, another UN peacekeeper was killed and eight more injured in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. A similar statement was issued by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, with more force: “The Secretary-General recalls that attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime and calls on the Central African Republic authorities to investigate them and swiftly bring those responsible to justice.”

Read more at: https://www.passblue.com/2018/10/29/un-peacekeepers-murdered-on-duty-die-in-obscurity/