Then Ban Ki-moon
left.
Despite his
refusal to
speak to the
UN press corp
at the stakeout, as his
predecessors
Alain Le Roy
and Jean-Marie
Guehenno
before him
did, Ladsous
appeared on Wednesday
on a
television
station from
Norway,
the country of
UN envoy to
South Sudan
Hilde
Johnson.
Why?
This matters
because while
various wire
services on
Tuesday quoted
an unnamed UN
official that
400 to 500
people had
been killed,
no named UN
person stood
behind the
number.
Some French
publications
linked Ladsous
to the number.
It was unclear
if this
partial or
targeted
approach was
authorized.
But at Tuesday
by the Security
Council,
Ladsous
simply walked
out without
speaking. This
is a pattern:
UK
coverage here.
Again,
here's a
question: if
the UN means
its post Sri
Lanka "Rights
Up Front"
action plan,
why would it
only give its
estimate of
deaths
anonymously?
It seems clear
there will be
no "Rights Up
Front" for UN
Peacekeeping
as long as Ladsous
is at the
helm.
Ladsous'
spokesperson
Dwyer remained
as Gerard
Araud, the
Ambassador
of Ladsous'
native France
and December's
Security
Council
president,
took questions
on South
Sudan, Syria
and Mali.
Araud's
spokesperson
Frederic Jung
tried to
control the
proceeding,
telling
the UN
Television
(actually,
outside
contractor
Team People)
microphone
operator to go
to Reuters,
then to Agence
France Presse.
Inner
City Press
asked, what
about clashes
outside of
Juba, in Pibor
and
Bor?
Araud
acknowledged
there had been
fighting in
Pibor; he did
not mention
Bor
where it is
reported at
least three
people have
been killed.
Inner
City Press
asked if
Ladsous had
briefed on how
this split,
between
Salva Kiir and
former vice
president Riek
Machar, might
impact fights
with the David
Yau Yau
rebels. Araud
said that
hadn't been
considered
yet, and that
he'd told
another
Council
members it
couldn't yet
be
known.
Then
after a
typical AFP
question --
from the
scribe who
once asked
breathlessly
what time a
head of
state's plane
would land in
New York
-- Araud
called on
Reuters to ask
a question
about Syria.
Predictably,
it was about
Assad leaving
power, at
least
executive
power. It was
not the type
of question a
President of
the Security
Council would
answer, but
Araud used the
stakeout and
microphone to
state France's
position and
brag that
France's "side
event" with
Saudi
sponsored
rebel Ahmad al
Jarba was the
best attended
side event.
(As
noted, the UN
Censorship
Alliance
a/k/a UNCA
also hosted
Jarba for a
faux "UN
briefing.")
Then
Inner City
Press asked a
question about
Mali, which
Araud refused
to
answer. It was
the type of
question the
president of
the Security
Council should
answer: have
the
peacekeepers
that the
Council has
sent
into Mali
become
combatants and
therefore
targets?
Araud
gave a lecture
about three
levels of
decision
making,
calling
himself
"the
political" and
saying "it's
not to me to
care"
what happens
on the ground
with the
MINUSMA
mission. Inner
City
Press YouTube
video here.
Then Araud
walked away
from the
stakeout.
The AFP scribe
snickered and
Ladsous'
spokesperson
Kieran O'Dwyer
stood feeding
the scribes
for some time.
The feeding is
set to
continue.
Watch this
site.
, 
