UN to Aquino: We ‘improved’ troop weapons

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations maintained that it “improved” the weapons of peacekeepers deployed to the Golan Heights after President Benigno Aquino III criticized the UN for giving the troops “mission impossible.”

A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon responded to Aquino’s criticism but remained non-committal on reviewing the mission’s mandate despite a firefight between Filipino peacekeepers and Syrian rebels, and the abduction of Fijian blue helmets in late August.

Stéphane Dujarric was asked about Aquino’s statements, particularly that the UN refused a Philippine request to give the peacekeepers enough additional weapons after Filipino troops were kidnapped in two incidents last year.

“Over the past year, we have enhanced the self-defense capabilities of [the mission] including increasing troop strength to about 1,250 and improving the self-defense equipment and that is done within the parameters of the protocol to the disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria,” Dujarric said in a press briefing at the UN Headquarters here in New York on Wednesday, October 1.

Formally known as the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the peacekeeping mission is tasked with implementing the 1974 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria after the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Peacekeepers are mandated to supervise the so-called area of separation between the two countries. 

Yet in a ceremony honoring Filipino peacekeepers in Malacañang on Wednesday, Aquino said that the presence of rebels involved in Syria’s civil war, and inadequate weapons from the UN made the mission “impossible or unclear.”

Rappler asked Dujarric whether or not the UN will review the mission’s mandate.

He replied, “[The rebels’ presence] is obviously complicating the mission. The mandate was given under a very different time. The mandate is given by the [UN] Security Council and is also an outcome of the Disengagement Protocol between Israel and Syria.”

Dujarric said that the UN appreciated the efforts of Filipino peacekeepers, who became controversial for defying the order of their UN commander to supposedly surrender their weapons to rebels, including the Al-Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front. The UN has denied that the order was made, and supported the commander.

“As far as the Filipino contingent [is concerned], they worked under an extremely difficult, complicated and challenging environment. We’re obviously very grateful for all the energy and the expertise and the selfless work that our peacekeepers and civilian personnel do all over the world, especially in a mission like UNDOF,” Dujarric now said.

“We’re very grateful for their service and for what Filipino peacekeepers have done for all peacekeeping missions all over the world,” he added.

The controversy over the standoff is a sore issue between the Philippines and the UN, and sparked a rare public spat between Filipino and Indian officials.

Filipino military officers called for an investigation into Indian UNDOF commander Lieutenant General Iqbal Singh Singha. Singha shot back by calling the Filipinos’ escape “an act of cowardice.”

Aquino opted to skip the UN General Assembly, sending Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario instead. In his speech, Del Rosario made it a point to praise the bravery of Filipino peacekeepers.

‘No timeline for investigation’

Aquino said that the Philippines will not deploy troops to the Golan, pending a UN investigation into the 4-day standoff with the Syrian rebels. 

Ban’s spokesperson could not say when the investigation will be concluded.

“I don’t have a timeline to share with you. The Secretary-General had successive reports on UNDOF, [that] UNDOF [have] a capacity to ensure that it fulfills the mandate security and safely,” Dujarric said.

It is not just the Philippines that is awaiting the results of the probe. Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja’afari said that he too wants to know the findings but the UN did not give him an update. (READ: Syrian envoy hits UN’s ‘total inaction’ on Golan peacekeepers)

“All I know there is an investigation undertaken now. Many governments are interested in what happened,” Ja’afari said on Tuesday. 

Besides the investigation, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also ordered a comprehensive review of all peace operations for the first time in 15 years.

Even before the standoff, the Philippines already decided to withdraw its troops from UNDOF because of the kidnapping incidents. The schedule was moved a month earlier in September when the UN withdrew from the Syrian side of the Golan because armed groups advanced on the peacekeepers’ camps.

Dujarric said, “We decided in cooperation with the government of the Philippines to move up their repatriation since the positions they occupied could no longer be occupied. We facilitated that repatriation.”

Fijians’ weapons still with rebels 

The spokesperson reiterated that the UN is concerned that the rebels took the weapons, equipment and uniforms of the Fijians. Still, he did not elaborate on how the UN intends to recover these.

“It is incumbent on anyone holding UN equipment, uniforms to return them and we would call on those groups to return them,” Dujarric said. 

Aquino said that the Filipino peacekeepers’ decision not to give up their arms was simple. “When we become hostages, the situation will become more complicated.”

The Philippines is the 33^rd top troop contributing country among UN members.  

As of August, 672 UN peacekeepers were from the Philippines. Manila recently deployed a new batch of peacekeepers to Haiti, even after the Golan controversy. – Rappler.com 

Rappler multimedia reporter Ayee Macaraig is a 2014 fellow of the Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists. She is in New York to cover the UN General Assembly, foreign policy, diplomacy, and world events.