Ladsous
Seeks Friendly
Coverage of
Mali, Dodges
War Crimes
Questions
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 10 -- UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous
recently
traveled
to Sudan,
where he met
with Omar al
Bashir who has
been
indicted for
war crimes and
genocide.
While there,
Ladsous
bragged
that his
peacekeepers
have become
more
aggressive,
even “kept the
body” of an
assailant they
killed.
In
New York,
Inner City
Press asked if
this complied
with the
Geneva
Conventions,
not to say
Islamic law.
But these
questions have
not
been answered.
Ladsous
went
to Mali, where
the French
government he
served for
years
including at
the UN during
the 1994
Rwanda
genocide has
been bragging
of its central
role in the
upcoming July
28 elections.
In
New York,
Inner City
Press asked
repeatedly if
Ladsous'
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
supports units
of the
Congolese Army
depicted
involved in
war crimes,
rapes, arming
the FDLR
militia and
even
looting UN
compounds in
the Group
of Experts
report, the
full text of
which
Inner City
Press exclusively
put
online on June
29.
That
day, 11 days
ago, Inner
City Press
asked Ladsous
four
spokespeople
-- Kieran
Dwyer,
Andre-Michel
Essoungou,
Josephine
Guerrero and
Anayansi Lopez --
for a yes or
no answer. Receipt
was confirmed,
and an answer
promised. But
no answer
has been
provided. This is a pattern: video compilation
here.
Now
11 days after
that question,
and after
Ladsous
skipped out on
a
question and
answer
stakeout he
was supposed
to hold on
July 9,
there's this
quote in AP:
“Herve
Ladsous told a
group of
reporters
Wednesday that
the new U.N.
peacekeeping
force in Mali
will also be
helping to
provide
security
for the
election.”
So
rather than
answer
questions that
are asked,
including at
the UN's
noon briefing,
Ladsous sneaks
around trying
to find
friendly
coverage
that will not
ask him about
war crimes,
whether in
1994 or by the
Congolese army
units he
supports in
2012 and 2013.
The
issue is now
raised that
the International
Criminal Court
has
jurisdiction
over the
situation in
the DR Congo -
that is,
Ladsous'
MONUSCO
mission - and
in Mali, the
MISUSMA
mission.
Days
ago, MINUSMA
answered a
question about
its role in
the election
to
the new Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
formed to make
the UN more
transparent
and officials
like Ladsous
answer. But
now, as
predicted,
MINUSMA
has stopped
answering, a
simple
question about
its mandate
and the ICC.
This
is what
Ladsous is
doing to the
UN, and UN
Peacekeeping.
#LADSOUS2013.
Watch this
site.
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