UNITED
NATIONS, July
2 -- Does the
UN probe
abuses by its
partners in
the
Congolese Army
or try to
cover them up?
More
than three
days have
passed since
Inner City
Press exclusively
published
the full text
of the new
Group of
Experts report,
including
details of
Congolese Army
involvement in
rape, torture,
child
soldier
recruitment
and trade
of conflict
gold.
On
June 29, Inner
City Press
asked four
spokespeople
of UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous to
answer a
simple
question: does
Ladsous' DPKO
provide
support to the
units links to
these abuses.
Several
of
the
spokespeople
had “out of
office”
auto-responders.
Kieran
Dwyer's
said he is
gone until
July 16, but
for media
inquiries to
contact
Andre-Michel
Essoungou.
But
Andre-Michel
Essoungou's
e-mail said he
was out of the
office, too.
In any event,
it was he
who seized the
UN Television
microphone at
Ladsous'
orders to try
to avoid a
question about
the 135 rapes
in
Minova by the
Congolese
Army, video
here.
The
spokesperson
who did on
June 29
acknowledge
receipt, when
asked again
on July 1
replied, “We
are looking
into your
questions...
We'll add
the new [FARDC
units] and get
back to you as
soon as
possible.”
But
since then,
nothing. At
the July
2 UN noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press
asked
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesperson
Eduardo
Del Buey:
Inner
City Press: a
couple of
questions
about the
Democratic
Republic of
Congo. One,
there is South
African
article today
saying that
the
South African
troops that
are part of
MONUSCO would
become part of
the
intervention
brigade, but
there is some
memorandum of
understanding
that is yet to
be signed. I’d
heard that it
was all
systems go
with the
intervention
brigade, are
there
documents that
were meant to
be signed and
what are the
issues that
are holding it
up?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, we’ll
have to check
on that for
you, Matthew.
Inner
City Press:
And I wanted
to ask you
whether DPKO
has provided
you any
answers to the
various
battalions and
regiments that
I asked them
about
Saturday, I
asked you
about
yesterday,
just to know,
yes or no,
whether
MONUSCO works
with those
units.
Deputy
Spokesperson:
No, I have got
no reply on
that.
Why
not? How can
DPKO have a
conditionality
policy without
knowing -- and
disclosing --
which units it
works with?
Meanwhile
Radio
Okapi, which
has many
committed
workers but
which is
controlled
by the UN
misison
MONUSCO, has
confined the
Group of
Experts report
to its “Media
Review.”
Bloomberg
News in
Kinshasa
credits
Inner
City Press for
the exclusive
publication of
the full text
report,
here.
The new Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
interested in
the
responsiveness
and
objectivity of
UN (social)
media, has twice
asked
Radio
Okapi when
it itself will
dig into the
Group of
Experts
report.
So far, no
answer.
And
with Roger
Meece gone,
and Martin
Kobler not
coming until
August,
@FUNCA_info's
questions
to MONUSCO
have gone
unanswered.
What
a bad
time to leave
a mission
without a
chief. Then
again, see
what Ladsous
has done with
DPKO, video
here.
Watch this
site.
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