UN to reopen investigation of Philippine officer died in Sudan

September 21, 2009 (NEW YROK) — The United Nations has agreed to reopen an investigation on the death of Philippe army officer who died in 2007 of malaria in southern Sudan.

Lt. Col. Renerio Batalla, who was serving as a military observer with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), succumbed to cerebral malaria in the southern district of Rumbek on Oct. 24, 2007.

A UN investigation released seven months later recommended a reprimand for a UN doctor due to negligence and for not administering immediate treatment to the Filipino soldier.

The UN peacekeeping department promised to conduct another probe into the case of Lt. Col. Batalla after a request made by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro during a meeting with Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy in New York last week.

“I would like to raise a matter of sensitivity and would appreciate if the United Nations could take a second look into the case of Lt. Col. Batalla,” Teodoro told Le Roy during a meeting held on September 11 at the UN headquarters.

In the past the UN declined a Philippine demand to remove the doctor and bar him from serving in other peacekeeping missions, saying there was no evidence of gross negligence on his part and that there was no basis for disciplinary action based on existing UN rules and regulations

However, the Philippines stressed that reopening a probe on Batalla’s death could unearth evidence or information that may have been overlooked when the recommendations to reprimand the doctor were made.

The Philippines peacekeepers have served in Sudan since 2005, helping to supervise a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the former rebel SPLM/A. Manila has 11 military observers and 40 police officers serving in the UNMIS — one of two UN peacekeeping operations in that country. The Philippines also has 89 police officers serving with the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

(ST)