On
DRC, UN Report
Falsely Claims
Compliance
with Rights
Diligence
Policy
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 20 –
The UN's
report on its
mission in the
Congo,
dated February
15, is full of
contradictions.
To
choose one: at
Paragraph 52
the UN says
“at least 126
women,
including 24
girls, were
reportedly
victims of
sexual
violence by
FARDC soldiers
in Minova and
surrounding
villages,
Kalehe
territory,
between 20 and
22 November.
Eleven FARDC
elements have
been arrested
so far and are
awaiting
trial.”
But
it is not
clear that
these 11
arrests were
for rape.
After refusing
to answer
Inner City
Press'
questions on November 27, December
7 and December 18 about the rapes in
Minova by
the UN's
partners in
the Congolese
Army FARDC,
the UN's Herve
Ladsous
on February 6
told Inner
City Press
that the UN
knows the
identity of
the majority
of the
perpetrators
of the rapes.
But
after follow
up questions
in writing and
in person by
Inner City
Press, the UN
has said that
no action will
be taken or
changes made
until the
Congolese
investigation
is completed.
The
February 15
report at
Paragraph 37
claims,
however, that
the UN mission
MONUSCO's
continuing
support to
FARDC is
“provided in
strict
compliance
with
the Human
Rights Due
Diligence
Policy on UN
Support to
Non-UN
Security
Forces.”
That
policy
provided that
once the UN
knows of
Non-UN
Security
Forces
involvement in
abuses like
mass rape, the
UN can no
longer support
them.
But here,
Ladsous says
the UN knows
the identity
of the Minova
rape
perpetrators;
the UN says it
has not
instituted any
changes.
If
this is
“strict
compliance”
with Ban
Ki-moon's
“Human Rights
Due Diligence
Policy,” the
policy is
meaningless.
So
why did
breathless,
overplayed
retyping of
aspects of the
UN report
S/2013/96
entirely
ignore this?
See last
night's media
critique of
Reuters' UN
"reporting,"
here.
See also the
January 27
first video
#LADSOUS2013,
and the first
February 17
follow-up on
lack of
financial
disclosure, #BanLadsous2013. Watch this
site for more
to come.
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