At
UN, Ladsous'
Push for
Drones Remains
Stealth, He's
in Haiti
Without
Safeguards
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 11 --
As France
deploys drones
over Mali, at
the UN
there is less
and less
clarity about
the proposal
for the
Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations to
use
surveillance
drones.
The
proposal was
most recently
made in a
closed door
Security
Council
meeting on
January 8 by
Herve Ladsous,
the fourth
Frenchman in a
row
to head DPKO.
As
Inner City
Press
reported on
January 8, at
least five
countries on
the Security
Council raised
serious
qustions about
Ladsous'
proposal,
including who
would get the
information
from the
drones, if
they
would comply
with
International
Civil Aviation
Organization
rules,
and how
companies to
provide the
drones would
be selected.
Several
countries,
not only in
the Security
Council but also the C-34,
tell
Inner City
Press they
believe
Ladsous has
French
military
contractor
Thales in
mind.
Despite
the
concerns
raised, on
January 9
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
said not only
that "UN
peacekeeping
assets and
resources are
used in line
with Security
Council
mandates,
force
requirements
and
guidelines"
but "also to
introduce
them, we would
need the
support of
Member States
to equip the
mission."
On
January 11,
Inner City
Press asked
Nesirky for
DPKO's and
Ladsous'
answers to a
series of
simple
questions:
would DPKO
start using
drones with
less than 15
to 0 support
on the
Security
Council? Who
would get the
information
feeds from the
drones?
Nesirky
repeated
again the line
about
"Security
Council
mandates and
guidelines."
Inner City
Press pointed
out that for
some
decisions, the
Security
Council
requires
unanimity; for
others,
majority and
no veto. Which
would apply
here? Nesirky
didn't say.
So
Inner City
Press asked,
and asks: will
DPKO and
Ladsous commit
to
getting
approvals, and
to making a
public
announcement
before, using
drones in any
way? Even this
has not been
answered.
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
Meanwhile
Ladsous was in
Haiti, where
the DPKO that
he heads
brought
in cholera.
Inner City
Press has
asked him what
safeguards he
has
implemented to
avoid bringing
cholera into
another
country;
Ladsous
refused to
answer.
This was posed
on Twitter,
too, without
response from
MINUSTAH Media.
Ladsous'
UNsocial
media. Watch
this site.
, 
