By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 11 -- After "dozens" or now "hundreds" were killed in East Darfur, with the figure of 100 dead on August 10 alone, one wondered if the UN Security Council would meet or issue a Press Statement about it.
There is a billion dollar "peacekeeping" mission in Darfur, with a protection of civilians mandate. UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous visited Sudan in July; he met with International Criminal Court indictee president Omar al Bashir.
Inner City Press has asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spokespeople what the goals and accomplishments of this Ladsous - Bashir meeting were, without substantive response.
During this deadly fighting, which spread from Saturday into Sunday, August 11, where WAS the billion dollar UNAMID mission?
Where was Ladsous? Before disappearing from sight, Ladsous had his spokesperson Kieran Dwyer spoon-feed an answer to Inner City Press' June 24 question about the UN Mine Action Service in Somalia funneling information to the US with another media. See #LADSOUS2013, The History through Twitter, Part 1 here, Part 2 here.
The Free UN Coalition for Access, which seeks to open and make more fair access to information not only from reclusive UN Secretariat officials like Ladsous but also from the Security Council, directed a question to the UK and Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, Council "pen-holders" on Darfur: is any meeting or statement planned?
The same was directed by @FUNCA_info to UNAMID and to the US Mission and new Ambassador Samantha Power, who gave a speech Saturday in California to the group behind #KONY2012, Invisible Children. There's a lot of invisibility going on at the UN. Watch this site.
