By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 29 -- When UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous on March 28 simply refused on camera to answer a Press question about his inaction for four months on 126 rapes in Minova by his partners in the Congolese Army, you'd think something would have been done.
Video here, at Minute 4:29 and 5:53.
After all, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has claimed a “zero tolerance” policy about rape, and more specifically a “Human Rights Due Diligence Policy” supposedly stopping UN support to army units which rape.
But while Ladsous technically works for Ban, he was in fact give the UN peacekeeping job by the French government, which has appointed the last four occupants of the post.
Ladsous was rejected for the job by Kofi Annan, and was not then-President Nicholas Sarkozy's first choice in 2011. But the UN thought Jerome Bonnafont was too brash -- for bragging that he had the job while in India, his posting at the time, as reported by Inner City Press.
So France said, take Ladsous. Without any interview. Just take him. And Ban did.
Inner City Press reported that, including that the French Mission to the UN told French media the morning of the announcement that it would be Bonnafont.
Agence France Presse Tim Witcher then asked the UN Correspondents Association to censure Inner City Press for its report. Inner City Press fought back -- AFP was in no way the source, Inner City Press doesn't read their reports and hadn't even noticed Witcher to that point.
Other big media in UNCA, Reuters' Louis Charbonneau and reporters from Bloomberg, Al Arabiya and BBC, among others, sided with AFP for their own reasons, and the fight was on.
Ladsous, still mad about the Press reports, latched on to the UNCA fight and at a press conference on May 29, 2012 openly refused to answer Inner City Press' questions.
The UNCA “leaders” did nothing about this open refusal to answer questions by a UN Under Secretary General. In fact, one of them blamed it all on Inner City Press. Not enough of a lapdog?
Flash forward to March 28, 2013, when the story Inner City Press has pursued since November 2012, the rapes in Minova, has been half leaked to, who else, Agence France Presse. Inner City Press asks Ladsous, at the Security Council stakeout, to be more specific and name the rapist units “and if not, why not.” Video here at Minute 4:29.
Ladsous pretends he hasn't heard, asks for other questions. From who else? Tim Witcher of AFP. And then another French reporter.
Inner City Press asks again, about the four months and Ban's supposed Human Rights Due Diligence Policy. Ladous walks away from the microphone. Video here from minute 5:53.
In most governments, at least in democratic countries, such an official would be fired. And at the UN? Watch this site.
