As In
Mali 2
Peacekeepers
Killed, UN
Silent in NY
on "Friendly"
Fire, Ladsous
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 27 --
When two UN
peacekeepers
from Chad were
killed in
Kidal in
northern Mali
on February
26, the UN in
New York made
no mention of
it. This
stands in
contrast to
announcements
in other cases
of
peacekeepers'
death. But
this one was
"friendly"
fire. So,
silent.
Inner City
Press: I
wanted to ask
about this
incident in
Mali where one
Chadian
peacekeeper
killed two
other
peacekeepers.
It says that
it's based on
tensions in
their
contingent.
Is it based on
the conditions
there?
Why didn't you
announce it
from the
podium if two
peacekeepers
are dead?
Spokesman
Dujarric: On
the incident,
yes, there was
a press
release issued
this morning
by the Mission
in
Kidal.
There was a
shooting
incident in
the camp
yesterday
within the
Chadian
contingent.
One soldier
opened fire,
killed one of
his
colleagues.
Another one
was wounded
and later
succumbed from
his
injuries.
As for the…
the
perpetrator
was detained
and is in
custody, and
there's an
investigation
going on.
Inner City Press:
I guess I'm
asking because
there… there…
there are even
some Security
Council or
recent
Security
Council
members have
said that the
conditions for
particularly
the African
contingents in
Northern Mali
are quite
negative.
But I also… I
repeat the
question.
Is… is it the
norm to… to
announce here…
not by a press
release from
Bamako, but
here, when
peacekeepers
are killed,
and if so… why
didn't that
happen in this
case?
Spokesman:
Well, I'm
confirming it
now, and as I
said, the
announcement
was made very
publicly from
the Mission in
Kidal… in the
Mission in
Mali.
The conditions
for
peacekeepers
in Mali,
especially in
the north, are
extremely
challenging.
Question:
Are the
conditions…
[cross talk]
Spokesman:
I'll come back
to you.
Sherwin?
And
after this
dodge, a second
round:
Inner City
Press: what I
wanted to know
is whether the
conditions of
the Dutch
contingent,
which is a
part of
MINUSMA
(United
Nations
Multidimensional
Integrated
Stabilization
Mission in
Mali), are
similar or
different than
those of the
Chadian
contingent, as
I previously
asked you
about their
equipment,
their
communications
equipment,
that seem to
also be
different.
So some people
look at it and
they say it
should be one
peacekeeping.
How do you
explain the
different… or
do you
acknowledge or
disagree
that…
[cross talk]
Spokesman:
I don't know
where the
Dutch are
stationed.
I don't know
if they're
stationed in
Kidal.
The issue of
equipment,
especially
sometimes with
contingents,
they don't
come with
enough
equipment,
creates
challenges for
DPKO
(Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations).
I know the
Chadians have
been on the
front lines of
the UN's work
in Mali, have
borne the
brunt of some
of the
violence that
we've
seen.
And I know we
and DPKO,
everyone, is
extremely
grateful for
what they
do. And
I'm sure the
Mission does
whatever they
can to ensure
that their
conditions are
acceptable.
Yeah,
sure.
Back on
January 11
when the UN
Security
Council heard
about Mali it
was not from
the new UN
Envoy to the
country, but
rather first
from UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous, who
has overseen
two-tier
peacekeeping
in the country
and bears
responsibility
for rapes in
Central
African
Republic.
Ladsous'
depiction in
the UN's own
report on
rapes in CAR
stands in
contrast with
his invocation
on January 11
of Mali's
Truth, Justice
and
Reconciliation
Commission.
That came in
this
paragraph:
"The fact that
the monitoring
bodies are
functional did
not fully
translate into
tangible
progress
toward the
implementation
of the
agreement over
the reporting
period, and
the process
has continued
to encounter
important
delays over
the past few
months. While
progress was
made with the
validation of
11 cantonment
sites and the
launch of the
construction
work for two
of them,
earlier this
month, and
with the
adoption on
the decrees
establishing
the
Integration
Commission and
the Commission
on DDR on
December 29,
it is
regrettable
that only one
mixed patrol
was conducted
to date, on
November 14.
Meanwhile,
although the
installation
of the Truth,
Justice and
Reconciliation
Commission
constituted a
positive step,
we remain
concerned that
other
political and
institutional
reforms that
underpin the
peace
agreement are
yet to be
implemented...
“These delays,
if not
addressed in
earnest, bear
the potential
to unravel the
hard-won
confidence
built so far
between the
signatory
parties, as
illustrated by
the concerns
expressed by
the
Coordination
and the
Platform in
the last
session of the
CSA on
December 17
and 18. We
welcome in
that context
the
consultative
meeting of the
members of the
CSA convened
at ministerial
level in
Algiers, on
January 18,
and hope that
it will
contribute to
address the
above concerns
and set new
timelines for
implementing
outstanding
reforms."
It's
fine material,
but the
official
delivering it
is
discredited,
including in
Mali.
In Mali, where
many UN
peacekeepers
nearly all of
them from
Africa have
been killed,
the Dutch
battalion has
communications
equipment that
only
contingents
from NATO
member
countries can
use, Inner
City Press has
been
exclusively
informed.
While
the reasoning
may be to
prevent
copying of the
technology by
others, the
result leaves
non-NATO
troops at
increased
risk.
Belatedly,
there is an
attempt to
procure
alternative,
non-NATO
limited
technology.
But this
two-tier
system, which
some even call
in context
racist, has
been allowed
by UN
Peacekeeping
under its boss
Herve Ladsous.
Two
week ago,
Inner City
Press asked
Ladsous, who
usually
refuses to
answer all
Press
questions,
about the
two-tier
nature of UN
peacekeeping.
On December 2
after a
screening of a
film about UN
Peacekeeping,
“Last Station
Before Hell,”
which
portrayed
missions in
Lebanon, DR
Congo and
Central
African
Republic,
Inner City
Press asked
Ladsous why
French and
other European
troops like
the Dutch
serve
alongside but
not with UN
peacekeepers,
in Mali
(including
Germans and
Slovakians now
replacing
French), Cote
d'Ivoire and
CAR. The
second was for
an update on
the rape
allegations
against French
and UN
peacekeepers
in CAR. Video
here and
embedded
below.
Ladsous, who
has repeatedly
outright
refused to
answer Inner
City Press
questions in
the UN, did
respond to the
first
question,
denying there
is a two-tier
system and
describing
what some view
as a vestige
of
colonialism:
he listed the
UK having a
special
interest in
Sierra Leon,
like France
has in Mali,
and a desire
to serve under
its own
command.
Ladsous
pointedly did
NOT answer the
request for
any update on
the sexual
abuse
allegations
against
Sangaris and
MINUSCA,
something
pointed out
afterward by a
number of
those in
attendance at
the
International
Peace
Institute.
One
also noted
this: while
Ladsous
trumpeted a
number of
female SRSGs
in UN
Peacekeeping,
only that day
one of them,
Ellen Loj, was
confined to
speaking
behind closed
doors after
Ladsous'
public speech,
and then
followed his
pattern of no
comments to
the media
afterward, a
come-down from
her
predecessor
Hilde Johnson
and even her
own previous
appearances.
(Johnson,
sources say,
pursued the
Somalia SRSG
post that was
given to
Michael
Keating.)
One of
Ladsous two
fellow
panelists at
IPI, Lise
Morjé Howard,
an Associate
Professor of
Government,
Georgetown
University,
answered Inner
City Press
that the
French troops
are not really
peacekeepers
but more akin
to
counter-insurgency
forces.
Ladsous called
France “the
country I know
best.” He is
listed in UN
Dispute
Tribunal
documents as
having tried
to fire, then
to retaliate
against, the
whistleblower
who revealed
the
allegations of
child rape by
French
soldiers in
CAR.
There's talk,
even about the
P5, of Ladsous
being a
liability who
shouldn't
remain even
during Ban
Ki-moon's
remaining
time. His
non-answer on
sexual abuse
on December 2
is
particularly
noteworthy
given his
Septembr 11
on-camera
linking of the
CAR rapes to
“R&R,”
video here.
We'll continue
on this. Follow @innercitypressFollow @FUNCA_info
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