UN criticizes Kazakhstan for the unauthorized use of a blue helmet peacekeeper
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The United Nations has slammed Kazakhstan for photos showing armed personnel wearing the world body’s iconic peacekeepers during last week’s violence and a crackdown on protests that left more than 160 people dead.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that the UN had complained to Kazakhstan’s diplomatic outpost in New York about the apparent use of peacekeeping equipment from the UN and said the matter “has been resolved”.
Over the weekend, journalists posted photos on social media showing soldiers on the streets of Kazakhstan wearing UN peacekeepers – which can only be worn by peacekeepers operating under the mandate of the UN Security Council.
“All UN troop and police contributing countries should use UN insignia only when carrying out their mandated tasks as UN peacekeepers,” Dujarric said in a statement. answer to a question from The National.
“We have directly expressed our concern to the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan on this issue, and we have received assurances from them that this issue has been resolved.”
The UN mission in Kazakhstan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The blue helmet worn by UN peacekeepers symbolizes perhaps the world body’s best-known function. The UN has more than 86,000 personnel from 121 countries deployed in a dozen missions in hotspots around the world.
According to UN data, Kazakhstan contributes to UN missions, with 16 troops deployed at the end of October. They are only authorized to wear official UN peacekeeping equipment when operating under a UN mandate.
Protesters took to the streets in Almaty and elsewhere in Kazakhstan on January 2 over rising fuel prices, but the protests quickly turned into broader complaints about corruption and discontent with authoritarian government.
The government reversed the fuel price increase and the cabinet resigned, but order was not restored until Russian troops and other members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) moved in. are deployed in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev blamed “terrorists” for the violence and allowed police and military to shoot to kill to restore order.
Nearly 8,000 people have been arrested across the country, Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry announced on Monday.
Updated: January 11, 2022, 7:08 a.m.