Rwanda
PR Tells ICP
Ladsous Admits
External
Support Is
Based "on
Rumors"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS, July
11 -- For a
“biased”
report on the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo, UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous was
grilled in a
two hour
meeting
Thursday
afternoon in
the Security
Council.
Two
Ambassadors
who left the
meeting near
but before the
end told Inner
City Press,
Ladsous is not
doing well,
Ladsous has a
lot of
questions
to answer.
Finally,
on
the record,
Rwanda's
Ambassador
Eugene Richard
Gasana came
out and
exclusively
told Inner
City Press
that Ladsous
had admitted
that his
report's
statements
about external
support (to
the M23 from
Rwanda)
were “based on
rumors that we
heard.”
Gasana
shook his
head. “How can
a UN report be
issued based
on rumors?”
Twelve
days
ago, Inner
City Press
asked Ladsous'
four
spokespeople a
simple
question. It
was whether
the MONUSCO
mission
provides
support to the
Congolese Army
units depicted
engaged in
looting, rape
and war crimes
in the Group
of Experts
report the
full text
of which Inner
City
Press exclusively
put
online.
The question
was
acknowledged
on June 29 and
an
answer was
promised. None
has been
provided, as
of July 11.
Thursday
afternoon
when Ladsous
emerged from
the Security
Council after
his
closed-door
grilling,
Inner City
Press asked
him directly,
if MONUSCO
which he
supervised
provides aid
to the
Congolese Army
units in the
Group of
Experts
report.
Ladsous did
not answer. This is a pattern:
video here.
Thursday
morning Inner
City Press
asked Ladsous
if the Geneva
Conventions
apply to
MONUSCO; he
refused to
answer. Some
say Ladsous
might want to
check.
Himself.
Presumably
Ladsous has at
least French
supporters.
But even they
need to ask:
who is he
serving,
refusing to
answer basic
questions
about UN
peacekeeping
and the law?
In
this context,
we must note
that Ladsous
was France's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
in the UN
Security
Council during
the 1994
genocide,
arguing for
the escape of
the
genocidaires
into Eastern
Congo. It was
when Inner
City Press
asked Ladsous
about this, in
his first UN
press
conference,
that Ladsous
began refusing
to answer.
This have now
reached a new
low.
The
report at
issue is,
formally,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
report.
On July 14,
Ban will be
with Ladsous
at the
Bastille Day
parade with
armies of
France's
African former
colonies. UN
Peacekeeping
is owned
by France,
with the last
four chiefs in
a row. But
Ladsous? This
is a
new low. Watch
this site.
, 
