UNITED
NATIONS, April
14 -- What
about the
mis-management
of the UN
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations by
its fourth
French chief
in a
row Herve
Ladsous, in
this case at
the UN Mission
in South
Sudan? In
December an
UNMISS
helicopter was
shot down by
the
government,
killing the
four Russian
pilots on
board.
There
have still be
no findings;
the Russian
Mission to the
UN has
publicly
questioned how
envoy Hilde
Johnson is
running the
mission.
Now
five Indian
peacekeepers
have been
killed, along
with four
Kenyans
and three
South
Sudanese.
Senior
ambassadors
asked Inner
City Press
last week, why
were they out
there without
armored
personnel
carriers?
Several linked
this to
"Ladsous
mismanagement."
Inner
City Press
went to the
April 12 UN
noon briefing
and asked:
Inner
City Press:
about the
attack in
South Sudan on
the
peacekeepers
that
killed the
Indian
peacekeepers,
the Kenyans
and the South
Sudanese.
There is now a
pretty
detailed
account,
talking to
eyewitnesses,
saying that
200-some armed
fighters
attacked the
convoy. But,
one
thing that
came up
yesterday,
actually in
the North Lawn
Building,
around the senior
advisory group,
many of the
troop-contributing
countries are
protesting
that the
Indian
peacekeepers
didn’t have
APCs [armored
personnel
carriers],
basically
saying they
didn’t
have the right
equipment to
be in an area
as dangerous
as it is, and
I wanted to
know, is it
true? Does
UNMISS, South
Sudan Mission,
not
have armored
personnel
carriers? Why
was it in that
area? And, I
know, you
know, 20/20
hindsight, but
they are
saying there
were no
APCs and
that’s a
problem, and I
am wondering,
what do you
know
about it?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey: I’ll
have to find
out for you,
Matthew. I
don’t have
that
information
with me.
In
the two days
since, no
information
has been
provided, just
UN
Peacekeeping
tweeting its
condolences.
Under
Ladsous, UN
Peacekeeping
has hit new
lows in
information
games. On
matters like
the 126 rapes
in Minova by
the Congolese
Army, Ladsous'
partners,
Ladsous
outright
refuses (November
27, December
7, December
18) to
answer Inner
City Press'
questions.
Then
his DPKO - and now Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson's
office -- hand
the answers to
other, favored
media like Tim
Witcher
of Agence
France Presse
(Ladsous has
served on an
AFP management
board) and Louis
Charbonneau of
Reuters.
This has been
objected to,
now formally
as the Free
UN Coalition
for Access.
But
even if there
is some spin
about the lack
of APCs, who
would print
it? So maybe
there will
just be no
answer at all.
Watch this
site.
, 
