By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, December 10 -- After Ugandan President Museveni said UN Peacekeepers in the Congo are engaged in "military tourism," there was some anger at the UN in New York on Monday among large Troop Contributing Countries.
But Peacekeeping chef Herve Ladsous had nothing to say, just as he has refused to answer which units of the Congolese Army his MONUSCO mission supports.
A well placed SADC source told Inner City Press that the idea of a new troop deployment is not to engage the M23, but rather to police the border. Still that could lead to skirmishes, it was pointed out.
Another Security Council source, from a country that has signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, expressed to Inner City Press dismay at the "mechanism" announcement over the weekend that new ICC prosecutor Fatima Bensouda is now looking into indicting the M23 and its supporters.
Opponents of Joseph Kabila get indicted by the ICC, from Bemba to Bosco, the complaint runs. And what has been accomplished? Let the ICC at least try an indictment in another continent and see how it goes. Or why not look at Kabila or those in his administration, as well?
There was still been no answer on what MONUSCO and Ladsous' DPKO know about which Congolese units were in Minova during the rape of at least 70 women in late November, one of whom died.
Nor will DPKO say which FARDC units it works with and supports. The UN's Human Rights Due Diligence Policy, launched with fanfare by Ban Ki-moon, is being rendered misleading and meaningless by Ladsous' DPKO. Watch this site.
