After
UN's Congo
Failure,
Ladsous
Re-Floats His
Drone Plan,
Exposed by ICP
in March
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 23, updated
-- As the M23
mutineers
advance past
Goma to
Bukavu in
Eastern Congo,
UN
Peacekeeping
is trying to
erase it
failure with a
technological
fix: drones.
Back
in March
2012,
Inner City
Press exclusively
reported that
Herve
Ladsous,
the fourth
Frenchman in
row atop the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations, had proposed
in a
closed-door
session of the
C-34 the use
of drones.
Several
delegations
criticized it
to Inner City
Press,
questioning
not only
"who would get
the
information,"
but also
Ladsous'
motives.
The
representative
of a
Francophone
African
country told
Inner City
Press that
Ladsous
already had a
French
company,
Thales, in
mind.
Inner
City Press
after its
exclusive
report got
the Office of
the
Spokesperson
of Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
March 27, 2012
to confirm
the
proposal, click here for
the UN's
e-mail to
Inner City
Press.
Then on May 1,
2012 Inner
City Press was
able to ask
Ladsous
himself about
his drone
proposal. From
DPKO's
own online
transcript:
Matthew
Lee,
Inner City
Press: You
should set up
a time, I
think, to take
questions on
Sudan and
Haiti. But
here is on
Syria, on air
assets. I
know you
proposed in
the C34
committee the
use by the UN
of
surveillance
drones. Now I
wanted to know
if that is
something that
you would
consider in
this instance
and if not,
why not? Given
the
need to
monitor a
ceasefire.
Also, there is
a talk about
freedom of
movement. Can
you say what
the
restrictions
have been to
date and
also how they
would compare
for example
with
restrictions
that DPKO
accepts in
MINURSO?
USG
Ladsous: As
far as drones,
I think the
issue is not
here and now.
We
are conducting
a study on the
issue because
there are
numbers of
aspects,
technical,
financial and
others. And of
course one
very
strong
parameter of
any deployment
of unmanned
aerial
vehicles would
be to secure
the consent of
the government
concerned. So
we are not
there yet.
After
that, even
more
delegations
complained to
Inner City
Press, noting
that Ladsous
has no
approval at
all to even
proceed and
ask "the
government
concerned"
about flying
UN drones.
Inner City
Press
paraphrased
one of the
complaints and
coined the
nickname,
Herve "The
Drone"
Ladsous, which
a diplomat
said also
referred to
Ladsous'
speaking
style.
By
late May,
Ladsous openly
refused to
answer any
questions from
Inner
City Press. In
this, he was
emboldened by
other attacks
on press
freedom in Ban
Ki-moon's UN,
on which we
will have
more.
On drones on
June 20, 2012,
Inner City
Press asked
Ladsous about
safeguards;
Ladsous
replied, "I
don't talk to
you, Mister."
Click
here for that,
and more on
Ladsous' DPKO
and drones.
Also on June
20, Inner
City Press
asked one of
Ladsous'
DPKO's force
commanders Major
General Moses
Bisong Obi
about
drones; at
first he said
he didn't get
the question.
Video here,
by Minute
35:22. THen
Obi said of
course he'd
like drones,
and any kind
of
surveilance.
But,
Inner City
Press asked,
who would get
the
information?
Only the
Mission? Troop
Contributing
Countries? All
Security
Council
members? Only
the P-5? Only
France?
Obi
said the
policy would
be made "by
the UN" --
Ladsous? Ban
Ki-moon? --
and that if he
got these
resources,
he'd be given
limitations
and guidance.
By Ladsous?
Ladsous
doesn't
answer.
Most
recently on
November 21,
after Goma
fell to M23
with no fight
back
from Ladsous'
peacekeepers,
giving rise to
protests and
threats
against UN
personnel in
Bunia,
Kisangani and
Bukavu, Inner
City Press
sought
to ask Ladsous
if UN
Peacekeeping
would even try
to defend
Bukavu,
and for
Ladsous'
response to
the protests
and threats in
Bunia,
Kisangani and
Bukavu. Video
here, at
Minute 10:13,
13:25 and
especially
11:50.
Ladsous
refused
to answer; his
spokesman
Kieran Dwyer
told staff to
not give
Inner City
Press the
microphone,
while "une
question
en Francais"
was sought
out.
Since
then UN
personnel have
been attacked
and UN
buildings
burned down;
several
Congolese
protesters
have been shot
dead, at least
three
in Kisangani,
click here.
In Bunia, at
least six were
killed, four
of them
students, click
here (all
in French, a la
Ladsous).
Now
the drone('s)
proposal has
taken flight
again, spun by
none other
than
Kieran Dwyer,
Ladsous'
censorer in
chief.
Inner City
Press has
posed a number
of questions
to the UN and
will be
reporting them
and all
responses (or,
if up to
Ladsous,
non-responses)
here.
Update:
Inner City
Press asked
the Office of
the
Spokesperson
for the
Secretary
General, "How
would such
[drone] use be
consistent
with USG
Ladsous'
statements to
the C34, which
were never
approved or
acted on, and
USG's Ladsous'
statements
since?"
Ladsous'
spokesman
Kieran Dwyer,
saying the
questions were
referred to
him, on this
emailed back:
"the
consideration
on utilising
unarmed aerial
vehicles in
eastern DR
Congo is one
of a set of
measures which
DPKO is
considering in
response to
the Security
Council
request for
proposals on
how to
strengthen
MONUSCO's
capabilities
to fulfil its
mandate to
protect
civilians."
So does Ban
Ki-moon's UN
believe that
only the
Security
Council would
need to
approve
drones? Or the
member states
of the General
Assembly?
Watch this
site.
, 
