In Mali
UN Says
Platforme
Attacks
Menaka,
Ladsous
Refused Qs on
UN Killing 3
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April
22 -- When UN
Peacekeepers
are
determined, by
the UN itself,
to have killed
three
civilians in
Mali by using
excessive
force, what
accountability
is
there?
None - and UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous on
April 2
refused to
answer
questions
about his own
responsibility.
Video
here. Vine here.
Now
on April 27
the MINUSMA
mission issued
a statement
that the
Platforme
group attacked
the town of
Manaka,
loosely
translated by
Inner City
Press below.
But how does
UN
Peacekeeping
killing
civilians,
then its boss
refusing to
answer or even
take questions
about it,
impact the
UN's
credibility?
Ladsous was in
DR Congo for
days.
Tellingly,
Ladsous
refused an
invitation to
attend a
"protection of
civilians"
high level
event in
Rwanda in May,
click
here for that
scoop.
Now
Ladsous heads
to the Central
African
Republic
instead of
Mali - or
Darfur, where
UNAMID stands
accused by
Sudan's
government of
killing seven
civilians.
Since Ladsous'
UNAMID has
prevoiusly
lied FOR
Sudan, this
one is hard to
figure out.
What's clear
is that
Ladsous is
hurting UN
Peacekeeping.
Here
is our loose
translation of
the MINUSMA
press release
of April 27:
SRSG
Mongi
Hamdi called
for the armed
groups to
immediately
cease
hostilities
and return to
their
positions.
“This
resurgence of
tension puts
in jeopardy
all efforts to
restore
durable peace
in
Mali,” Hamdi
said. MINUSMA
said that on
Monday near
noon the
mission
learned of an
attack
launched by
the
MAA-Platform
and GATIA
groups on the
town of
Menaka, held
by elements of
the
Coordination
of
Movement of
Azawad (CMA).
MINUSMA said
it deployed
helicopters to
evaluate the
situation.
Hamdi
went to
Nouakchott on
April 26 to
meet the
representatives
of the
CMA, who
reaffirmed
their
adherence to
the peace
process under
way,
and confirmed
their
intention to
initial the
agreement.
“Two
months of
intense
negotiations
involving all
of the parties
with a
view to put an
end to the
Malian crisis
could be
threatened.
These
actions are a
grave
violation of
the ceasefire
accords
reiterated in
the
declaration of
February 19,
2105,” Hamdi
said in his
statement.
Hamdi
also
cited the UN
Security
Council's
statement of
February 6
which
threatened the
imposition of
targeted
sanctions on
anyone who
returned to
hostilities
and violated
the ceasefire.
“I
therefore
appeal for
calm and
reason for the
benefit of all
Malians.
The only
solution to
this crisis is
through the
route of
dialogue. I
remain
convinced that
all the
parties will
show wisdom
and reason and
sign this
historic peace
agreement,”
Hamdi said.
Here's what
Inner City
Press asked
the UN about
Darfur on
April 27:
Inner
City Press: on
Darfur, I saw
the
clarification
put out by
UNAMID
[African
Union-United
Nations Hybrid
Operation in
Darfur], but
the Government
of Sudan is
saying that
the UNAMID
peacekeepers
killed seven
civilians, and
I wonder,
what… beyond
just UNAMID
putting out a
press release,
some of which
in the past
have been
press releases
that the UN
has ultimately
walked away
from, is there
an intention
to do the type
of report that
was done in
Mali when
people were
killed or in
Haiti when
people… when
people were
shot at?
Deputy
Spokesman
Frahan
haq: On
that, I
actually
expect that we
will have a
statement from
the Spokesman
for the
Secretary-General
responding to
the latest
events in
Darfur.
So, I'll wait
until… until
we get that.
Inner City
Press:
But, is the
protocol if a
Member State
alleges that
UN
peacekeepers
have killed
civilians to
do such a
report, or is
there no such
protocol?
Deputy
Spokesman:
Like I said…
first of all,
I… as you
know, you're
aware of the
press release
from UNAMID,
which is their
clarification
of the
situation, and
then beyond
that, we do
expect to have
a statement
attributable
to the
Spokesperson.
But when the
statement came
it did not
even mention
the
government's
allegations.
Khartoum's
credibility
may be low -
but what about
Ladsous'?
We'll have
more on this.
, 
