UN peacekeepers temporarily barred from using rubber bullets
Saturday, July 14, 2007
THE United Nations said on Thursday it has imposed a moratorium on the use of rubber bullets by its peacekeepers around the world pending a review following two deaths linked to these ammunitions in Kosovo in February.
Nick Birnback, a spokesman for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), said the temporary suspension was in effect in six UN missions pending a review of policies and procedures "to make sure there's not a systemic problem".
The six DPKO missions involved are in Kosovo, East Timor, Haiti, Liberia, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Birnback said the move did not amount to a policy change but was merely standard operating procedure. "Until such time as we can determine that all our peacekeepers in missions where we have this type of technology...are properly trained on that equipment and that the equipment is up to international norms and standards, we put a moratorium on its use," he said.
Last week the UN police commissioner in Kosovo, Richard Monk, said he had imposed a ban on the carriage and use of rubber bullets by international police in the UN-run province. His decision came after two ethnic Albanian protesters died of head wounds suffered from the ammunition during a February demonstration.
Monk said he had asked UN headquarters in New York to order any countries that had been supplying rubber bullets for police in Kosovo to stop doing so.
AFP
Nick Birnback, a spokesman for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), said the temporary suspension was in effect in six UN missions pending a review of policies and procedures "to make sure there's not a systemic problem".
The six DPKO missions involved are in Kosovo, East Timor, Haiti, Liberia, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Birnback said the move did not amount to a policy change but was merely standard operating procedure. "Until such time as we can determine that all our peacekeepers in missions where we have this type of technology...are properly trained on that equipment and that the equipment is up to international norms and standards, we put a moratorium on its use," he said.
Last week the UN police commissioner in Kosovo, Richard Monk, said he had imposed a ban on the carriage and use of rubber bullets by international police in the UN-run province. His decision came after two ethnic Albanian protesters died of head wounds suffered from the ammunition during a February demonstration.
Monk said he had asked UN headquarters in New York to order any countries that had been supplying rubber bullets for police in Kosovo to stop doing so.
AFP
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