At UN, Retaliation Found in Cote d'Ivoire, Exemplified by Herve Ladsous on Kompass

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 19 --With scandals surrounding the UN, from covering up child rape by French “peacekeepers” in the Central African Republic to buying sex in Haiti and Cote d'Ivoire diplomatsselling UN Police jobs in the DR Congo, the UN of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has adopted as a strategy, retaliation.

  The CAR whistleblower Anders Kompass was asked to resign, reportedly by UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous. When the Press tried to cover an open speech by Ban to peacekeepers on June 18, Ladsous ordered Ban's guards to throw the Press out of the meeting. On June 19, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about this pattern, and a case of retaliation in Cote d'Ivoire. Video here.

  Dujarric replied that the CAR whistleblower's contract has been or will be extended; he said Ladsous had "misunderstood" the meeting was open, a dubious proposition. Dujarric denied there is a pattern.

 But in the UN Dispute Tribunal case Inner City Press asked about, the UNDT ruled that" the  obvious  conclusion  in  this  case  is  that  by  blowing  the  whistle  on dubious  and unwholesome  practices  in  the  obtaining,  handling  and  disbursement of  certain  project  funds  by  UN  Women personnel,  the  Applicant  annoyed  her managers who were inclined to cover up what had transpired.

"The  Tribunal is  appalled  that  Ms.  Odera,  even  during  the proceedings, continued to dismiss  the  Applicant’s  concerns  about  the  misappropriation, abuse of  project  funds and  engagement in  outside  activities  by  the  NPO as  unfounded even though she was privy to the contents of the OAI investigation report. Had the  Tribunal not ordered the production of the said investigation report, these matters woul never have come to light."

  This is Ban's UN.

On June 18 Ban was scheduled to give a speech to UN Force Commanders in Conference Room 9 of UN Headquarters in an open meeting, following a public photo-op with the commanders.

   But when Inner City Press showed up for the photo op, UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous directed one of his officials to tell Inner City Press to leave. Then he got Ban's guards to eject Inner City Press from the open meeting.

 On June 19, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who previously enabled Ladsous' strikingly anti-press stance by refusing to allow Inner City Press to put a single question to Ladsous, to explain the use of Ban's security detail to oust a journalist from an open speech by Ban. Video here.

  Dujarric said those who needed to know weren't told early enough that it was an open meeting. It was a strange response, because there are open meetings every day in the UN without prior notice to all participants; this one was listed as open in the Media Alert the night before.

  It seems that what Dujarric meant is that had Ladsous been specifically directed to the open meeting notation, he would have had time to veto it, like this patron. But since he didn't, how could Ladsous who ostensibly works FOR Ban Ki-moon get Ban's guards to oust the Press from covering an open speech by their boss? Who works for whom? We'll have more on this.

  On June 18 Inner City Press first refused to stop taking pictures at the photo op, noting that Ban's appearance was listed in the online Media Alert of the UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit (MALU). Nevertheless, Ladsous' official insisted, and Ladsous himself began to film Inner City Press with his phone.

   When Ban Ki-moon and his security detail of at least four arrived, they proceeded into Conference Room 9, as did Inner City Press accompanied by a MALU staff member and a staffer from UN Photo. But just as Ban Ki-moon began speaking, two of his security officers came over and told Inner City Press to leave. In the hall they said that “the organizer” -- Ladsous -- had ordered it.

  Inner City Press asked, if some UN official tells you to throw out the media, you just do it? "If he told you to throw me on the ground, would you throw me on the ground?"

“Somebody doesn't have to tell me to throw you on the ground, if I've got to put you on the ground, I put you on the ground,” came the response. Audio here. Periscope video here. Now YouTube video permalink here.

   Another security officer said, at this point the media is not coming in. That's it.

  This is called censorship. And it happened right in front of Ban Ki-moon.  When Ban came out of Conference Room 9, he had a discussion with Ladsous - what about? - then walked on by. Periscope Video II here. This is Ban's UN, UNtransparent, descended to censorship.

 Inner City Press has reported not only on Ladsous' cover up of rapes in CAR (and before that in Minova in the DRC and Tabit in Darfur), but also on a growing lack of transparency in Ban Ki-moon's UN, including the reported use of Ban's name by his nephew "Dennis" Bahn while purporting to sell real estate in Vietnam to the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar. (Bahn works for Colliers International, which rents office space to and for Ban's UN system.) Now, outright censorship.

  The old UN Correspondents Association has said nothing, just as they said nothing and more when Ladsous said he would not answer Inner City Press and Ban's spokesman decided not to call on Inner City Press to put a question to Ladsous, on the CAR rapes and cover up. The newFree UN Coalition for Access has demanded an explanation and response from MALU and the Department of Public Information above it. A senior UN official told Inner City Press, “There is no court.”

 This use of UN Security is ironic, given that as Inner City Press reported on June 17 and asked Ban's deputy spokesman about on June 18, Ban shook hands in the UN in Geneva with a person on the US Al-Qaeda terrorist list, photo here. But today's UN has become the source of lawless censorship, amid its scandals. Watch this site.