On May
26 amid UN
Peacekeeping
scandals
ranging from
rapes and
sexual
exploitation
to the
“protection of
civilians”
crisis
exemplified by
the failure at
Malakal in
South Sudan,
DPKO chief
Herve Ladsous
and DFS' Atule
Khare held a
press
conference.
Ladsous
refused any
questions; and
the Malakal
report
promised by
the end of May
didn't come
out for three
week.
On
June 21 while
the UN's email
wasn't
working, a
white-wash
"Note to
Correspondents"
was issued. We
published it
in full, and
audibly on
June 22 asked
Ladsous, what
about the
weapons
allowed into
the Malakal
camp? Ladsous
refused to
answer. Video
here;
Earlier
on June 22
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Farhan Haq, UN Transcript
here:
Inner
City Press: on
Malakal, I saw
the note to
correspondents
last night,
and I’m sure
you’ve seen
the MSF
(Médecins Sans
Frontières)
statement.
One thing that
didn’t seem to
line up is
they talk a
lot about the
time period
before the
events.
They say weeks
before,
weapons were
being smuggled
in. They
say a fence
was cut and
humanitarian
partners told
the UN, and
nothing was
done.
What’s the
UN’s response
to the idea
that, in the
weeks running
up to it, they
didn’t do
anything to
stop weapons
that were
ultimately
used to kill
people being
smuggled into
the camp?
Deputy
Spokesman:
Well, we
certainly have
been in touch
with Médecins
Sans
Frontières,
and we’ve
tried to take
some of their
concerns on
board.
We were in
communication
with them as
these reports
are being
prepared.
Some of the
details are in
confusion.
And some of
these things,
such as the
question of
whether the
gate was cut,
I don’t
believe we
have the full
confirmation
of that… and
so we’re
continuing to
study
matters.
Like I said,
the Board of
Inquiry is…
the report is
being
finalized
now. I
believe there
will be some
further
details as
well shared
with the
Security
Council when
Under-Secretaries-General
Ladsous and
Khare meet
with them this
afternoon.
And like I
said, I
believe Mr.
Ladsous will
speak to the
press after
that.
While Ladsous
has engaged in
censorship for
some time,
refusing to
answer Press
questions,
Khare on May
25 indicated
he would take
a question.
But apparently
the DPKO-DFS
partnership or
"brotherhood"
is not equal:
Ladsous'
predilections
won out.
Khare
spoke of
recycling in
Darfur, and of
the Tanzanian
battalion
agreeing to
paternity
tests. When
Inner City
Press asked,
quite audible,
for Ladsous to
clarify his
September 11,
2015 linking
of rapes to
"R&R," he
declined.
Nothing on
Malakal,
either. This
is Ban
Ki-moon's UN.
After Ladsous
refused these
audible
questions,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Farhan Haq
about Malakal
and, again,
about the
UNIFIL food
re-sale
scandal
exposed by El
Pais. Haq said
the
investigations
are ongoing.
This too is
Ban's UN.
This
too: on May 18
the annual
meeting
between the UN
Security
Council and
DPKO Force
Commanders
which has
always before
been open -
has gone
behind closed
doors.
This was
particularly
inappropriate
given the
Force
Commanders
present:
rape-central
MINUSCA
commander
Lieutenant
General Balla
Keïta;
Lieutenant
General Derick
Mbuyiselo
Mgwebi (South
Africa) of the
UN
Organization
Stabilization
Mission in the
DRC (MONUSCO),
Lieutenant
General
Yohannes
Gebremeskel
Tesfamariam
(Ethiopia) of
the UN Mission
in South Sudan
(UNMISS), and
Major General
Michael
Lollesgaard
(Denmark) of
the UN
Multidimensional
Integrated
Stabilization
Mission in
Mali
(MINUSMA).
Why is this
meeting
closed? Why is
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous, who
linked rapes
to R&R,
not scheduled
for a Q&A
Press
conference?
Even to
stakeout the
closed
meeting, Inner
City Press is
this year
required by
DPI's Cristina
Gallach and
ultimately Ban
Ki-moon
required to
have a UN
“minder” as it
seeks to speak
on background
with sources.
This is
censorship and
UN decay.
Still,
it seems that
at least one
member state
not on the
UNSC this year
was asked to
leave; others
wondered why
the meeting
was closed, or
at least some
part of it not
left open.
Inner City
Press said to
French
Permanent
Representative
Francois
Delattre,
apparently NOT
on the
Security
Council's
mission to
Somalia, "ca
doit etre
ouvert." He
replied,
politely, that
he wasn't
sure.
On May
17, Ban's
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
announced the
availability
of the UN's
own count of
sexual abuse
and
exploitation
allegations in
2016, 44. Of
this, 29
MINUSCA, 7
MONUSCO, 2
MINUSTAH, one
each in
UNMISS, UNOCI,
MINUSMA,
UNISFA, UNSCO
and UNSMIL
(Libya). Is it
credible? When
is the UN
Peacekeeping
Q&A?
After a bill
on UN
peacekeepers'
sexual abuse
and
exploitation
passed the US
Senate Foreign
Relations
Committee,
Inner City
Press on April
29 asked the
spokesman for
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon what
he thought of
the bill, video here, UN
transcript
here.
On
April 20,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
rapes inside
the UN's
"protection"
camps, UN
transcript
here.
On
April 12 Inner
City Press
asked Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about an April
13 hearing in
the US House
of
Representatives
about impunity
for UN rapes.
Just as the UN
skipped court
hearings on
bringing
cholera to
Haiti, Haq's
answer did not
say that the
UN would
attend the
hearing. Video
here.
Inner
City Press
live-tweeted
the House
hearing on
April 13, in
which Aicha
Elbasri
described
Herve Ladsous'
cover up in
Darfur, and
former OIOS
auditor Peter
Gallo
described how
top UN
officials just
USE the OIOS
(as they have
to de-link Ban
Ki-moon from
the Ng Lap
Seng scandal).
Brett Schaefer
said there is
a need for US
training of
other
countries'
peacekeepers.
There's truth
in that, but
one of the DRC
Army units
implicated in
the mass rapes
in Minova was
US trained.
Chairman
Chris Smith
cited the UN's
"zero
tolerance,
zero
compliance
culture;" in
the Senate
there were
strong
argument for
reducing the
UN's funding.
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