UNITED
NATIONS, March
28 -- Even
while the UN
says that
UN
Peacekeeping
under
Herve Ladsous
has belatedly
set a second
“final”
deadline for
action on the
126 rapes in
November in
Minova by two
battalions of
the Congolese
Army, Thursday
Ladsous flatly
refused to
answer Press
questions on
camera.
Inner
City Press
asked Ladsous
to name the
two battalions
or to explain
why
not -- that
is, why this
silence and
cover-up does
not further
impunity.
Ladsous
looked
around,
finally
finding his
favorite and longtime
lapdog, Tim
Witcher of
Agence
France Presse,
who dutifully
asked a
get-away
question. In
order not
to hinder any
other
journalist's
work, Inner
City Press
waited while
another French
journalist
also asked
Ladsous a
question,
in French.
Then
Inner City
Press asked
more directly,
why did Ladous
wait four
months
(so far) on
the 126 rapes?
What does this
say about Ban
Ki-moon's
supposed Human
Rights Due
Diligence
policy?
Ladsous
did
not answer,
walked away
from the
microphone.
This week the
UN
has refused to
answer a
simple Press
question about
the training
for
UN
peacekeeping
missions of
more than 800
troops from 23
countries --
in Nepal, from
where the UN
brought
cholera to
Haiti. What
safeguards
are in place?
Ladsous
won't
answer that
one either.
There remains,
it seems, only
one
question for
Ladsous. Watch
this site.
Footnote:
by contrast,
Inner City
Press' DRC
questions were
taken by
France's
Gerard Araud
and the DRC
foreign
minister, who
would not name
any action on
Minova to be
taken before
Monday. So
what is wrong
with Ladsous?
Like we said,
one question.
, 
