In
Addis, Still
No DRC Envoy,
Ladsous But
Nothing on
Drones or
Minova
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 24 –
Before UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon flew
to Addis Ababa
to witness or
“guarantee” a
peace
agreement for
the Democratic
Republic of
Congo, his
spokesman in
New York said
Ban's new
Special Envoy
to the region
would be
announced
soon. So
many expected
the name to be
announced or
floated Sunday
in Addis.
During
the
ceremonial
meetings
before the
signing, and
during the
signing
session
itself, the
Africa Union
tweeted
summaries of
some attendees
speeches, but
not Ban's. AU
Commission
chairperson
Nkosazana
Dlamini Zuma,
in his speech,
quoted a
length from a
letter by
Patrice
Lumumba to his
wife.
The UN's
output
considered of
three
photographs, one
with UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous
prominently
in the
foreground
(and Ban's
chief of staff
Susana
Malcorra
behind
him).
Even
two hours
after Ban's
speech and the
ceremony was
finished,
there was
radio silence
with the UN.
After two
Press
complaints, of
the type being
made
systematic by
the new Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
a series of
readouts and
Ban's speech
were sent out.
In
his speech,
Ban said he
would name a
Special
Envoy... soon.
He said
he would
provide more
detail on the
so-called
Intervention
Brigade.
He did not
mention the
new drones for
the MONUSCO
mission pushed
through by
Ladsous,
despite
opposition
expressed to
the concept by
members of the
UN's own
Special
Committee on
Peacekeeping
Operations.
Among
the questions
unanswered is
who will be
getting the
information
feed
from Ladsous'
drone, and
more
fundamentally,
who gets to
decide this:
Ladsous
himself?
Ladsous has
said he might
share the
intelligence
with not
only the
MONUSCO Force
Commander but
two of the
regional
groups also
guaranteeing
the framework
agreement.
Could
Permanent Five
members of the
Security
Council, or
just France
for
which Ladsous
served as
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
at the UN
during the
1994 genocide
in Rwanda, get
the
intelligence
from
Ladsous?
Who sets the
rules? Inner
City Press has
repeatedly
asked
this, like why
Ladsous has
yet to act on
his stated
knowledge of
the
identities of
the majority
of the
Congolese Army
November 20-22
rapes
at Minova, but
answers have
not been
provided. Now
FUNCA is
asking why
not.
What
would Lumumba
have thought
and done,
wonders one
wag, of
Ladsous and
his double
role?
Relatedly,
despite Ban's
statements
about his
offiicals
making public
financial
disclosure,
there has been
no such
disclosure by
Ladsous -- nor
by Ban's
current DRC or
just MONUSCO
envoy Roger
Meece. Leading
by example? See video here.
The
UN readout of
Ban's meeting
with
Ethiopia's
(and AU
chairman)
Desalegn did
not mention
Abyei, where
the “UN”
peacekeeping
mission is
entirely made
up of
Ethiopian
troops.
Last week,
Inner
City Press
asked the UN
about the
deadly clash
with Misseriya
nomads
in or near
Abyei; days
later, no
response has
been provided.
There
are, however,
the
photographs.
Ah, social
media. Watch
this site.
Update
- and when
later the UN
sent its
transcript of
Ban's press
conference in
Addis, both
questions were
listed as
"inaudible;"
Ban's two
responses,
full of
material added
in brackets,
did not
mention the
M23 or the
Kampala talks.
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