UNITED
NATIONS, April
17 -- During
the day-long
UN Security
Council debate
on sexual
violence in
conflict there
was a lot of
talk about
accountability,
but none for
Herve Ladous,
the UN
Peacekeeping
chief
who
stonewalled on
the 126 rapes
in Minova for
at least four
months.
German
Permanent
Representative
Peter Wittig,
for example,
said that
perpetrators
have to be
held
accountable,
and that
journalists
who
report on
sexual
violence in
conflict are
at risk.
Well,
the UN's
Ladsous
refused Press
questions on
the Minova
rapes on
November
27, December
7 and December 18 (when he had the UN
Television
microphone
grabbed by his
spokesman).
Still,
France's
statement (so
far only in
French)
blathered that
“En
République
démocratique
du Congo, les
violences
sexuelles, en
dépit
de la
mobilisation
de la
communauté
internationale,
restent
omniprésentes.
Commises par
toutes les
parties, elles
se perpétuent
aussi au sein
des forces
armées
congolaises,
notamment en
raison des
lacunes du
processus de
filtrage, de
sélection et
de formation
des
ex-milices
intégrées aux
forces
congolaises.
La réponse au
drame
de Minova doit
être
exemplaire.
Les autorités
congolaises
doivent
faire plus et
plus vite pour
punir les
coupables.”
Vite?
(Fast?)
Ladsous did
nothing for
months. And it
is France who
put
Ladsous in
place. He is
the fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head up
UN
Peacekeeping.
Even if France
wants to “own”
the
Department, it
could and
still should
send someone
else,
including on
this issue.
A
well placed
Secretariat
staffer told
Inner City
Press this was
just a
precursor for
June; there
were a lot of
calls for
women
protection
advisers but
none yet in
the field.
The
final speaker
was Syria --
not Permanent
Representative
Ja'afari,
with whom
Inner City
Press spoke
about the
draft General
Assembly
resolution,
here --
accusing Qatar
and Turkey of
providing
Syrian
rebels with
“media
support.”
And
thus the stage
was set for
the
next two days
of Syria
meetings in
the Security
Council. Watch
this
site.
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