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UN in Congo, Genocidaires Into Moral Vacuum,
Zero Follow-Through on Sexual Abuse Charges
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
December 4 -- The UN so wants there
to be good news in the Congo, it only gives answers when pushed to do
so. On November
21, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson about reports
that the
genocide-linked Hutu militia of the FDLR was stepping into the vacuum
left by
the pull-back of the militia of self-styled Tutsi defender Laurent
Nkunda. The
UN never answered. Then on December 3, Inner Press again asked the
spokesperson
for Ban, and then her counterpart for the Department of Peacekeeping
Operations. This results in the a semi-detailed response on the morning
of
December 4:
Per
your question yesterday
evening, here's what I was able to find out that the FDLR have not
redeployed
to "fill in" wherever CNDP has vacated. However, MONUC
confirmed today that FDLR have entered the town of Ishasha in
Northeastern
North Kivu near the Ugandan border. The Nepalese and Indian battalions'
redeployment
in the area continues. The Indians will be establishing themselves in
Ishasha. It will take until the end of December to complete these
moves. North
Kivu Brigade is sending a patrol there today. The intention of
the Force
is to tell the FDLR to leave.
The
problem, sources say, is the close alliance of the FDLR with the Joseph
Kabila
government, and his army, the FARDC.
Another
problem arose at a UN Department of Public Information panel discussion
in
which Inner City Press participated on Wednesday morning. Several NGOs
who had
attended the Paris conference of DPI say they sent a letter to Ban
Ki-moon to
take action on sexual abuse and exploitation by UN Peacekeepers. Inner
City
Press ran to Wednesday's noon briefing and asked
about the letter, and any
action by the UN.
UN's Indian battalion with the FARDC, sexual abuse and FDLR not shown
Ban's
Spokesperson Michele Montas said she was not aware of the letter, but
that Ban
Ki-moon is clear. How? After expressing concern about sexual abuse by
Indian
peacekeepers in the Congo Ban traveled to India and praised the
government
take taking action.
Wednesday
Inner City Press asked what action was taken. "We did talk about
disciplinary matters taken," Ms. Montas answered. But in fact we did
not;
Peacekeeping source said, "Ask Afghanistan." When
it's the UN's own credibility on the
line, outsourcing the responsibility to answer questions doesn't cut it.
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
Click here for Inner City
Press Nov. 7 debate on the war in Congo
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
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