By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 12 -- When a press conference on the Central African Republic by Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Special Envoy of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation for CAR and Mansour Ayyad SH A Alotaibi, Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the UN on October 12, Inner City Press went to ask about refugees being able to vote, and about slow responses to peacekeepers' rapes in CAR.
On the former, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio said that efforts are underway in refugee camps where the government dares not go to place polling places in nearby safer places. On the sexual abuse charges, he said Babacar Gaye, whom he knows, was courageous to accept be removed from his position. But what about Gaye's boss, Herve Ladsous, who linked the rapes to “recreation”? See below.
After a long question from, and answer to, CAR's Permanent Representative to the UN who was in the UN press conference, an even longer or at least more impassioned answer was given to a non CAR question: rightly so, Inner City Press believes. But when Inner City Press asked a similar non CAR question, about the level of death in Yemen, Kuwait's Mansour Ayyad SH A Alotaib said he wanted to keep the press conference only about CAR. We'll have more on this.
Three week after UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous linked peacekeepers' rapes in the Central African Republic to "distraction" and R&R, and three days after Inner City Press asked French President Francois Hollande about it, Ladsous appeared for a Q&A stakeout about CAR. Video here.
After asking CAR's foreign minister about refugees' voting rights, and getting an answer as it has throughout the UN General Assembly week, Inner City Press asked Ladsous of an update on the rapes. He gave none. In fact, he had a staffer instruct the UNTV boom microphone operator to move the mic to the other side. As he left, Inner City Press asked about his R&R comment, which in many countries could get him fired. Not at the UN, at least not yet. Vine here.
On October 3, Ladsous' mission in CAR MINUSCA put this out:
"Unidentified armed individuals opened fire in the night of Friday 2 October 2015 on blue helmets guarding the Headquarters of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). United Nations soldiers vigorously fired back in response to this coward act, forcing the assailants to flee riding a motorbike.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the Central African Republic, Parfait ONANGA-ANYANGA, firmly condemns this attack and reminds that it can constitute a war crime, as per relevant international conventions. He welcomes the quick and appropriate reaction of the blue helmets and encourages them to continue to remain vigilant in the daily discharge of their tasks in the service of peace.
The Special Representative invites the population to remain calm and reassures them of MINUSCA’s determination to pursue its action to protect the civilian population, support the political process with a view to restore state authority throughout the national territory.
The Chief of MINUSCA calls for an immediate halt of violence in Bangui and throughout the country so that reason can prevail and that the wide consultations of the Nation’s Forces Vives as announced by the Head of State of the Transition lead the country to a peaceful and sustainable resolution of the crisis."
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the Central African Republic, Parfait ONANGA-ANYANGA, firmly condemns this attack and reminds that it can constitute a war crime, as per relevant international conventions. He welcomes the quick and appropriate reaction of the blue helmets and encourages them to continue to remain vigilant in the daily discharge of their tasks in the service of peace.
The Special Representative invites the population to remain calm and reassures them of MINUSCA’s determination to pursue its action to protect the civilian population, support the political process with a view to restore state authority throughout the national territory.
The Chief of MINUSCA calls for an immediate halt of violence in Bangui and throughout the country so that reason can prevail and that the wide consultations of the Nation’s Forces Vives as announced by the Head of State of the Transition lead the country to a peaceful and sustainable resolution of the crisis."
After Ladsous fled on October 1, Inner City Press asked CAR's economy minister if there was any legal proceedings against the peacekeepers accused of rape. She said yes, in CAR - then acknowledged that her government does not even have the names of the accused. What kind of legal procedure? The kind where the defendants have no name.
Ironically, Ladsous had talked about accountability in his stakeout - but only for Africans, it seems, not the French troops of Sangaris. He'll do a stakeout on another Francophone peacekeeping mission, in Mali, later on October 1. Watch this site.
On September 28, on the day of the UN Peacekeeping summit at the UN, Inner City Press managed to ask French President Francois Hollande about alleged rapes by French troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) and about French head of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous having linked rapes to “recreation” and R&R. Video here.
Hollande replied that when French troops are charged -- as they have been, in CAR -- France pushes for prosecutions, but also due process. Does that explain the one-year delay in the Sangaris CAR case? The question was not taken.
Later on September 28, Inner City Press went to cover the High Level Meeting on Peacekeeping, and found Ladsous slouched in his hair, wanly applauding pledges then glaring up at the photographers booth where Inner City Press was. Something is very wrong at the top of UN Peacekeeping - until it is addressed, the various commitments ring hollow.
A year after French President Francois Hollande tried to privatize the UN Press Briefing Room by having non-French journalists removed, his team on September 27, 2015 adopted a different strategy for the same result. At 8:40 am the UN said there would be a press conference by Hollande in just five minutes, at 8:45 am. Call it innovation.
Apparently in his press conference, Hollande had many of the seats in the front of the UN Press Briefing Room “reserved” - because Brazil cited this as a precedent for their 11:30 am press conference by Dilma Rousseff (that's another story). France, returning with Hollande for a session scheduled for 2:15 pm, again tried to control spaces in the front rows, as did the old UN Correspondents Association, which ejected a visiting journalist from “its” seat.
And the question for Hollande? For Inner City Press, it would be what actions have been taken on the French soldiers alleged to have raped children in the Central African Republic. Watch this site.
Update: After Hollande came in, two people who had sat next to Inner City Press through the entire Japanese briefing from 1:30 pm got up, to give their seat to Laurent Fabuis and Royale. Then a lady approached Inner City Press, in full view of UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, and told Inner City Press to move, she's a "minister." Inner City Press for the Free UN Coalition for Access said Non, je suis journaliste, je veux poser ma question.
Meanwhile Ban Ki-moon said Peru's President Humala regretted not being present. But he WAS present, next to Hollande. Inner City Press asked Humala about the Trans Pacific Partnership on September 27: watch this site.
Back on September 23, 2014 the entourage of French President Francois Hollande repeatedly ordered the UN accredited Press to leave the UN's Press Briefing Room.
A briefing by Hollande had been scheduled for 11 am, then was canceled. But at 10:55 am as a previous briefing about climate change was ending, Inner City Press was told to leave the room.
The question, On whose orders? was not answered. Instead a woman in the French delegation said the room was "reserved."
This is not a restaurant, Inner City Press replied, now on behalf of the new Free UN Coalition for Access, which advocates for the rights of journalists and for a Freedom of Information Act covering the UN.
Another member of the French delegation said loudly, "They'll take away his accreditation." It was not necessarily an idle threat: the UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had looked into the room as this happened.
Inner City Press said, if UN Media Accreditation -- or UN Security -- tell me to leave, I will. But not before. Video here.
Meanwhile the representative of the old UN Correspondents Alliance meekly left; previously, UNCA did nothing when previous French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud in this room told a Lebanese reporter, "You are not a journalist, you are an agent."
After a time, the woman from Hollande's entourage said that the chief of UN Media Accreditation, whom she made a point of saying she knows well, was not answering the phone. A French security guard told Inner City Press to leave. But this is not their role, in the UN briefing room.
Finally the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and the new Permanent Representative to the UN came and sat in the front room with Inner City Press and FUNCA. Hollande appeared from the doorway Spokesman Dujarric had looked out of.
Hollande said he had come mostly about climate change, but that a French citizen had been taken hostage in Algeria by a group linked with ISIL or "Da'ech," as he called the group. He said arms deliveries would continue; he noted the previous night's air strikes, by others, on Syria.
Hollande said he would meet in the afternoon with the Syrian Opposition Coalition's Hadi al Bahra, who he called the only legitimate leader of Syria. Then he left without taking questions.
The day before, UNCA hosted al Bahra (as they had his predecessor Ahmad Jarba) in the clubhouse the UN gives this group, publicized only to those which pay it dues. Given that UNCA did nothing when Araud told the Lebanese reporter "you are not a journalist, you are an agent," why didn't Hollande hold his press conference in the club of UNCA, the UN's Censorship Alliance?
