On Mali, Ban Ki-moon Says Accepts Results Even If Election Imperfect – But How Imperfect? FUNCA Questions

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 16 – While in Paris for the Bastille Day parade, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon wasquoted, as to Mali, that “the results, even if the election is imperfect, must be respected by all parties.”

  In French: “Les résultats, même si l'élection peut être imparfaite, doivent être respectés par toutes les parties.”

At the UN in New York on Tuesday, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson Martin Nesirky if Ban really said it – the phrase didn't seem to appear in a search of the Ban transcripts e-mailed by the UN – and if so, is there no level of imperfection that would legitimate not accepting the election?

  Nesirky confirmed the quote, adding it was said in France at the Francophonie organization, and insisted it was sent out. He said not to read too much into it, that everyone knows how difficult the election will be.

  Yes, Inner City Press follow up, but how can he say in advance that the election must be accepted, no matter how imperfect?

  France and other certainly want the election held before the end of July, and would like its results – regardless – to be accepted. But can the UN tell people to accept a result before having any sense of how imperfect it is? Couldn't that UN statement be seen as inviting fraud?

  To be fair, while it appears that the Francophonie Q&A was not e-mailed out to correspondents, it does appear on the UN's “off the cuff” website, here.

  Inner City Press has previously asked why in a transcript of a press conference by Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson, its introduction on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access was removed from the transcript, while the similar statement of the UN's partner UNCA was left in. An answer to that question has been promised. Watch this site.

   

On Darfur Killings, Strange Claims of Mandates, Chapters & Tanks, Ladsous' DPKO Stonewalls

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 15 -- The killing in Darfur on Saturday of seven UN peacekeepers from Tanzania continues to be shrouded in mystery, including due to the refusal to take or answer questions by UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations under Herve Ladsous.

  Ladsous was in France -- where else? -- over the weekend at the colonial Bastille Day military parade.

  In New York when the UN Security Council requested and got a briefing about the killing on Monday afternoon, it was not from Ladsous or his deputy, but rather Dmitry Titov, formally in charge of the Rule of Law for DPKO. 

 Afterward, following the lead of Ladsous but not his predecessor Alain Le Roy, no question and answer stakeout was held.

  In terms of written questions, Ladsous' top four spokespeople have been sitting for sixteen days now on questions submitted by Inner City Press. Ladsous himself has repeatedly refused to answer Press questions. Video compilation here.

  In terms of the call for accountability for the killings in Darfur, it's noteworthy that Ladsous downplayed the previous kidnappings of UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, confining even the announcement of a kidnapping to a “conversation” with friendly journalists. Four pilots for the UN were killed in South Sudan in December, and no one has been held accountable. What message did that send?

  At Monday's UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Martin Nesirky about the Darfur killings and Tanzania's statements:

Inner City Press: the spokesman for the Tanzanian People’s Defence Forces has said, “we are only allowed to use armoured personnel carriers under Chapter VI. This puts our troops in danger in volatile areas like Darfur.” Maybe I am missing something, it seems like it is a Chapter VII mission. But, the quote goes on to say that he’d like to use tanks, and I am wondering first of all, if you could clarify if the Mission is under Chapter VII, what the UN thinks of using tanks and what the purpose of that convoy was and whether any vehicles were stolen?

Spokesperson: Well, as I have said, there are still details emerging on this. With regard to the first part of your question, I’ll check with Peacekeeping Operations, okay?

  But seven hours later, there was no answer at all. This is Ladsous', and therefore Ban's, UN. Watch this site.

   

From UN, Trayvon's Death in Sanford Echoes Congo and Liberia, King Leopold and Ladsous: Plus Ca Change

By Matthew Russell Lee, News Muse

UNITED NATIONS, July 14 – The Florida town of Sanford, where George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, was founded and named for Henry Shelton Sanford, who lobbied and got the US to recognized Belgian King Leopold II's Congo “Free” State in the 1870s.

Sanford worked on this with the chairman the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Alabama Senator John Tyler Morgan, who wanted freed slaves sent back to Liberia in Africa.

  This was 140 years ago – but Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo still have UN Peacekeeping missions in them, run by France's Herve Ladsous. As Inner City Press exposed, the UN in Liberia was paying workers $8 a day, here.

  After buying 23 acres in Florida and naming them after himself, Sanford headed to Brussels as US minister, and later became Leopold's negotiator on the Congo. 

  Both pretended that the venture was intended, at least eventually, to end the slave trade. But hands were cut off; African soldiers were paid in brass for the decapitated heads they carried back from battles.

  Not to put too fine a point on it, but in 2013 a UN Intervention Brigade is being deployed in Eastern Congo, ultimately run by Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row to head the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

  Leopold held so-called anti-slavery conferences (some might think of some ironic UN conferences); Sanford paid journalists to spread propaganda about the “humanitarian king.”

At the UN in 2013, running “peacekeeping” missions in Liberia and the DRC, the latter with an all-African Intervention Brigade, Ladsous refuses to answer critical Press questions, running into to friendly scribes to, well, tell his stories.

  Ban Ki-moon, who issued a statement about the recent crash in San Francisco of a South Korean airline's jet, has yet to speak on the Trayvon Martin non guilty verdict in the UN's host country. 

  Ban is at the colonial Bastille Day parade on the Champs d'Elysees in Paris with Ladsous, who runs missions in Liberia and the DR Congo. Plus ca change. This ends Inner City Press' Sunday history musing. Watch this site.

   

As Seven UN Peacekeepers Killed in Darfur After Ladsous Met Bashir, Now at Bastille Parade with Ban Ki-moon

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 13, updated – Seven UN peacekeepers were killed in Darfur today, shortly after a visit by UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous to Sudan, including meeting with president Omar al Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide in Darfur.

  While in Khartoum, Ladsous bragged about “keeping the body” of an assailant in Darfur and also claimed, despite his meeting with Bashir, that he cannot accept impunity. Back in New York, he refused repeated to answer Press questions about his statements in Sudan.

  Under Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row atop UN Peacekeeping, there have been at least two trends: the missions become more closely aligned with governments (and French foreign policy) against opposition groups, as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali, and more deaths and injuries among peacekeepers. 

  And, Ladsous has refused to answer critical questions from the Press, choosing to seek out small groups of friendly reporters even on the kidnapping of peacekeeper in the Golan Heights.

  While the seven peacekeepers were being killed in Darfur,Ladsous was in Paris with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for the colonial Bastille Day military parade featuring soldiers from Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Chad (a country currently on the UN child soldier recruitment list, but accepted by Ladsous for the UN's MINUSMA mission in Mali.
 
 Would Ladsous take and answer questions there? Or upon his post-parade return to New York? 

Here's what, after publication of the above, UNAMID put out:

On 13 July, a joint patrol of the African Union - United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was ambushed in South Darfur.   The incident, which began at 9:00 hours, occurred approximately 25 kilometers west of the Mission's Khor Abeche team site. 

 The UNAMID team came under heavy fire from a large unidentified group. Following an extended firefight, the patrol was extracted by UNAMID reinforcements that arrived from the Mission's Khor Abeche and Manawashi team sites. Seven UNAMID military peacekeepers were killed and 17 military and Police personnel, among them two female Police Advisers, were wounded.   

"The Mission condemns in the strongest possible terms those responsible for this heinous attack on our peacekeepers," said UNAMID Joint Special Representative Mohamed Ibn Chambas. "The perpetrators should be on notice that they will be pursued for this crime and gross violation of international humanitarian law."

 Watch this site.

As ICC-Indictee Bashir Heads to Nigeria, UN's Herve Ladsous Met Him, Takes Ban Ki-moon to Bastille Day Parade with Chad

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 12 -- Nigeria is set to host Sudanese president Omar al Bashir for a conference on HIV / AIDS, and groups including the Coalition for the International Criminal Court are saying Bashir should be arrested on the ICC warrant for war crimes and genocide.

Earlier this month the head of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous met with Bashir in Khartoum. At the UN in New York on July 5, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's associate spokesperson Farhan Haq about the meeting

Inner City Press: with Bashir, who is indicted by the ICC [International Criminal Court] for war crimes and genocide. Can you say why this was considered a necessary meeting and whether any of his other interlocutors were also indicted by the ICC, such as the Defense Minister, Ahmed Haroun, or Ali Kushayb or any of the other ICC indictees, did he meet them as well?

Associate Spokesperson Haq: Regarding the meeting with President Omer al-Bashir, in the matter of UN representatives meeting persons indicted by international criminal jurisdictions, the overriding test is whether contact with such a person is strictly necessary for carrying out UN-mandated activities. As the head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Mr. Ladsous has the responsibility of ensuring that UNAMID is able to carry out its mandate, and it is for this reason that the meeting with President Bashir was necessary.

  This “strictly necessary” policy was repeated later in the week by Ban's outgoing lawyer Patricia O'Brien in a meeting exclusively reported by Inner City Press, in which O'Brien claimed that Ban is so concerned about this that he calls her to ask advice. What happened on Ladsous' meeting with Bashir?

It is not clear if the CICC -- we've asked -- commented about UN official Ladsous meeting with Bashir, or if Human Rights Watch did. HRW's Ken Roth refused to disclose even the topics of his meeting with Ban at the UN; his spokesman said secrecy is kept in order to maintain access.

  Ban left the UN on Friday afternoon to rush to France to attend, with Ladsous, the Bastille Day military parade, featuring soldiers of former French colonies Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire and Chad, which itself has four times hosted Bashir since his indictment. 

 Chad is on the UN's list of child soldier recruiters, butLadsous has agreed to pay them as part of the UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA. A question Inner City Press asked the UN this week about that has gone unanswered.

What had Ladsous done to the UN? And more generally, what messages is the UN sending? Watch this site.

   

Exclusive: Rwanda PR Gasana Tells Inner City Press that UN's Ladsous Admitted "External Support Is Based on Rumors," Ladsous Won't Answer

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, July 11 -- For a “biased” report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous was grilled in a two hour meeting Thursday afternoon in the Security Council.

  Two Ambassadors who left the meeting near but before the end told Inner City Press, Ladsous is not doing well, Ladsous has a lot of questions to answer.

  Finally, on the record, Rwanda's Ambassador Eugene Richard Gasana came out and exclusively told Inner City Press that Ladsous had admitted that his report's statements about external support (to the M23 from Rwanda) were “based on rumors that we heard.”

  Gasana shook his head. “How can a UN report be issued based on rumors?”

  Twelve days ago, Inner City Press asked Ladsous' four spokespeople a simple question. It was whether the MONUSCO mission provides support to the Congolese Army units depicted engaged in looting, rape and war crimes in the Group of Experts report the full text of which Inner City Press exclusively put online. 

  The question was acknowledged on June 29 and an answer was promised. None has been provided, as of July 11.

  Thursday afternoon when Ladsous emerged from the Security Council after his closed-door grilling, Inner City Press asked him directly, if MONUSCO which he supervised provides aid to the Congolese Army units in the Group of Experts report. Ladsous did not answer. This is a pattern: video here.

  Thursday morning Inner City Press asked Ladsous if the Geneva Conventions apply to MONUSCO; he refused to answer. Some say Ladsous might want to check. Himself.

  Presumably Ladsous has at least French supporters. But even they need to ask: who is he serving, refusing to answer basic questions about UN peacekeeping and the law?

In this context, we must note that Ladsous was France's Deputy Permanent Representative in the UN Security Council during the 1994 genocide, arguing for the escape of the genocidaires into Eastern Congo. It was when Inner City Press asked Ladsous about this, in his first UN press conference, that Ladsous began refusing to answer. This have now reached a new low.

The report at issue is, formally, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's report. On July 14, Ban will be with Ladsous at the Bastille Day parade with armies of France's African former colonies. UN Peacekeeping is owned by France, with the last four chiefs in a row. But Ladsous? This is a new low. Watch this site.