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UN's
Treatment of
National
Staff,
Immunity &
Use of Spy
Drones Arise
at IPI
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 19 --
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous, while
refusing to
answer Press
questions even
about linking
rapes to
“R&R”
has pushed
forward with
deploying
drones. On
October 19 at
the
International
Peace
Institute,
Haidi Willmot
on leave from
UN
Peacekeeping
said that the
drones will
not spy on any
member state.
Only last
week, South
Sudan's
representative
Francis Deng
complained in
the UN
Security
Council about
the UNMISS
mission
deploying
drones without
his
government's
permission. So
Inner City
Press ran
across First
Avenue to
asked Ms.
Willmot about
it, and to ask
UN Department
of Safety and
Security chief
Andrew Drennan
about the
distinction he
made in the
UN's “duty of
care” to
international
and national
staff. Periscope
video here.
Willmot
thanked Inner
City Press for
asking the
hard questions
-- clearly
DPKO boss
Ladsous does
not agree,
having said even at IPI that “I don't respond
to you
Mister,”
whether about
the rapes in
Minova in the
DR Congo,
Thabit in
Darfur or now
in the Central
African
Republic --
then said one
has to be
realistic, the
drones are not
to collect
information
about member
states. But is
the consent of
the states
required or
not?
While
Drennan had
distinguished
the UN's duty
of care to
national and
international
staff, when
Inner City
Press asked he
recounted that
in Yemen,
national staff
didn't so much
want to be
evacuated as
to be more
involved.
Inner City
Press heard
from a number
of UN national
staff who DID
want to be
evacuated, and
weren't.
Similar
disparities
took place in
Haiti after
the
earthquake,
even in UN's
counting of
“its”
casualties.
Ian
Martin, also
on the panel,
answered Inner
City Press'
question by
recounting the
dangers faced
by UN national
staff in Gaza.
We hope to
have more on
this.
Finally, the
Indian Mission
to the UN's
Military
Adviser Col.
DG Misra
mentioned the
need for
clarity about
peacekeepers'
immunity.
Inner City
Press asked
him about the
counter-veiling
trend of the
UN ostensible
reducing its
immunity for
rapes, if not
for bringing
cholera to
Haiti. Misra
to his credit
was quick to
say, Zero
Tolerance for
Sexual Abuse,
he meant the
need to
clarify
peacekeepers'
roles and
legal status
as they veer
closer to
being parties
to a conflict.
In
Eastern Congo
after the UN
and its Force
Intervention
Brigade
“neutralized”
the M23 but
then has
not under
Herve Ladsous
followed
through
and similarly
neutralized
the Hutu
FDLR militia,
it gave raise
both to “party
to the
conflict”
problems and a
distrust of
Ladsous' use
of drones.
The
issues that
arose at IPI,
and will be
discussed
again later
this month,
cannot be
solved under
DPKO's current
“leadership.”
And still no
comment from
UN Women on
Ladsous'
public,
on-camera
linking of
rapes to
“R&R.”
We'll have
more on this.
* * *
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