With UNSG Guterres in CAR, ICP Asks of Bad-Acting Staff Onana, No Answer, Threats & Restrictions

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 24 –  Before UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' current trip to the Central African Republic, Inner City Press asked him about UN sexual abuse there, and about the UN's inaction on mass killings in neighboring Cameroon. Guterres purported to answer on the former, and "didn't hear" the 15-second question on Cameroon. (Then Guterres' Department of Public Information two days later threatened Inner City Press' accreditation, see below.) Once Guterres was in CAR, with a personal photographer deployed in advance and his spokesman Stephane Dujarric, Inner City Press asked deputy spokesman Farhan Haq if Guterres in CAR will meet with Mr. Renner Onana, named as a bad actor in the UN's own report on its sexual abuse in CAR. Video here.

 Seven hours later, during a trip that DPI's Alison Smale said will be a litmus test of UN story-telling, the UN hadn't even answered this basic question. Story-telling indeed. Unless the UN intends to try to replace the independent press, isn't answering factal questions part of the litmus test? Or is attacking and censoring critics the goal? Smale and her deputy who brought about the threat to Inner City Press' accreditation after calling it too negative then blocking it on Twitter, were both on October 24 at the New York UN Day event, which UNlike other correspondents Inner City Press could only reach, later, with their minder. Alamy photos here. Deputy SG Amina Mohammed was informed - but Cameroonian diplomats quote her as saying Anglophone Cameroonian aspirations will never be supported because... Biafra. Maybe she said it; we know what the Cameroonian said but after DPIs threat are it seems not supposed to run audio. Today's UN seems corrupt, in CAR and at Headquarters. This is UN Day. The UN delivered a threat to Inner City Press to “review” it accreditation on Friday afternoon at 5 pm. The UN official who signed the letter, when Inner City Press went to ask about the undefined violation of live-streaming Periscope video at a photo op by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, had already left, minutes after sending the threat. What to make of the letter's vague statement, "filming and recording on the 38th floor are limited to official photo opportunities, and recording conversations of others in the room is not permitted. It has been brought to our attention that you breached that rule recently"? It's not only vague as to when, but absurd: once a Periscope is authorized to start streaming, it is impossible to not record someone who speaks loudly at the photo op. This comes two days after Inner City Press asked Guterres about the UN inaction on threatened genocide in Cameroon, and the UN claimed Guterres hadn't heard the 15-second long question.  Recently at a photo op, Guterres' adviser on Cameroon Khassim Diagne spoke loudly. Inner City Press later reported, based on sourcing, that Diagne who was previously the representative to Cameroon for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency Guterres ran, speaks in favor of Cameroon's government. Is this letter a response to the reporting? Is it retaliation? Is it intimidation to stop reporting on this threatened genocide? We can't ask the complainant, Maher Nasser: after the threat was delivered, he blocked Inner City Pres on Twitter, here.

  It also comes after Alison Smale the head of the Department of Public Information which would “review” Inner City Press' accreditation has ignored three separatepetitions from Inner City Press in the six weeks she has been in the job, urging her to remove restrictions on Inner City Press' reporting which hinder its coverage of the UN's performance in such crises as Yemen, Kenya,Myanmar, and the Central African Republic where Guterres travels next week, with Smale's DPI saying its coverage of the trip will be a test of its public relations ability. But the UN official who triggered the complaint is Maher Nasser, who filled in for Smale before she arrived. 

UN's Letter Threatening to Review Inner City Press' Accreditation for Audio Report While Staking Out on Cam... by Matthew Russell Lee on Scribd

His complaint is that audio of what he said to Inner City Press as it staked out the elevators in the UN lobby openly recording, as it has for example with Cameroon's Ambassador Tommo Monthe, here, was similarly published. 

A UN “Public Information” official is complaining about an article, and abusing his position to threaten to review Inner City Press' accreditation. The UN has previously been called out for targeting Inner City Press, and for having no rules or due process. But the UN is entirely UNaccountable, impunity on censorship as, bigger picture, on the cholera it brought to Haiti. And, it seems, Antonio Guterres has not reformed or reversed anything. This threat is from an official involved in the last round of retaliation who told Inner City Press on Twitter to be less "negative" about the UN - amid inaction on the mass killing in Cameroon - and who allowed pro-UN hecking of Inner City Press' questions about the cholera the UN brought to Haiti and the Ng Lap Seng /John Ashe UN bribery scandal which resulted in six guilty verdicts. We'll have more on this.

From Cameroon to UNSC, "Urgent & Confidential" Memo About Weapons, Copter, Here

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Series

UNITED NATIONS, May 5 – While the UN Security Council visited Cameroon during the 94 day Internet cut off and said nothing publicly about it, Inner City Press has obtained and has exclusively published on Patreon and now Scribd, here Cameroon's "Urgent and Confidential" letter to the UN Security Council, about weapons. It lists Chinese weapons, helicopters and more, to be repatriated to CAR. 

Exclusive: From Cameroon to UNSC, "Urgent & Confidential" Memo About Weapons, Copter, Here by Matthew Russell Lee on Scribd

This comes amid reports that armaments Cameroon got ostensibly to fight Boko Haram have been spotted in the Anglophone regions. On May 2 when Inner City Press told the UN's spokesman Stephane Dujarric that it had a question on Cameroon, he walked off the podium, as he has done before. He and the UN Department of Public Information, whose Cameroon mis-information is profiled below, worked together to evict and still restrict Inner City Press. The spin of the Francophone Cameroon government of Paul Biya has now reached the UN Security Council, or at least its media stakeout area. As Inner City Press asked questions at the stakeout on April 28, and telling Morocco's hatchet-man Ambassador that on decolonization Inner City Press errs on the side of the underdogs, video here, Cameroon's Ambassador Tommo Monthe approached. He handed two documents to Inner City Press: a chart of "actions taken by the Government following concerns raised by Cameroon Anglophone teaches and lawyers," and a press release mis-spelled "Realease." Inner City Press has put both online on Patreon, here. But here's how out of touch or worse the UN Department of Public Information, which evicted and still restricts Inner City Press with minders, is: its UNIC ("Information" Center) in Cameroon held a training and wrote it up with a single reference to "social upheaval in English speaking regions," nothing on the Internet cut-off. Here is DPI's full text, from the UN's iSeek intranet: "Tuesday, 2 May 2017 | Yaounde | UNIC Yaounde: Cameroon is currently being rocked by waves of attacks from the Boko Haram terrorist insurgency in the northern region. English-speaking regions have been witnessing social upheaval since November 2016. Overall, young people have been excluded in the peace building process of these conflicts - unaware of UN Security Council resolution S/RES/2250 (2015) on Youth, Peace and Security, which acknowledges the urgent need to engage young peacebuilders in promoting peace and countering extremism.
To tackle this issue, the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Yaoundé organized a one-day workshop on “youth, peace and development”, in partnership with Promise Africa and the Organization of African Youth for Peace. The objective was to educate youth leaders on the fundamentals of peace consolidation, conflict prevention, and crisis management. The hope is to engage them in the peacebuilding process.
During the 13 April session, UNIC Yaoundé’s Jean Njita emphasized the correlation between peace and development, linking to Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). The high rate of youth unemployment in Cameroon (about 6.7% in 2013, according to the ILO) was identified as the cause of conflicts. Political authorities were urged to exercise good governance to resolve the issue. While education, public awareness, and training are prerequisites for a durable peace, genuine mediation can be a catalyst in reconciling and healing post-conflict societies.
One participant called on young people to “bury their egoism, be tolerant, and accept different viewpoints for peace to thrive in their hearts…for today’s youths are too proud”. Participants acknowledged the youth’s role in conflict resolution and they were encouraged to use social media to transmit messages of love and reconciliation with a view to rebuild broken homes and their society. Just as war is waged, Cameroonian youths should also ‘wage peace’ by making peace as a full-time activity. NGOs and associations advocating for peace were urged to improve coordination for a greater impact on the field."

 That's UN DPI. On May 1, Inner City Press asked the UN's holdover spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: I wanted to ask you a Cameroon question.  Over the most recent weekend, there was a guy, Awah Romeo, beaten to death by the police.  And there’s footage of it.  And I’m just sort of wondering, what’s the follow-up of that mission by François Louncény Fall, he said he’s coming back at some other date but…

Spokesman:  Right.  He said I think he was coming back… [inaudible] I think he was coming back in May, which is this month, and I have no doubt his office is following the situation.

Inner City Press: Because the Cameroonian Mission here is now using his statement as sort of to say everything is great.  I was handed just now…

Spokesman:  That’s… I mean, I think everybody’s free to interpret… I think Mr. Louncény Fall’s statement was fairly clear in what he felt the situation was and what he felt needed to be done.

  Tellingly, behind the "Realease" which tries to justify the cutting off the Internet for more than 90 days is the UN's own press release praising Paul Biya for belatedly "instructing that internet service be fully restored" and urging "avoiding the use of the Internet to incite hatred or violence" - precisely Biya's pretext. To this has the UN sunk. The day after Biya government belatedly restored the Internet he cut in the two Anglophone regions of the country, on April 21 Inner City Press asked long time Cameroonian Ambassador to the UN Tommo Monthe about it. Monthe, set to chair the UN's Fifth (Budget) Committee next year, told Inner City Press "the scissors are in our hands... we will cut it" if it is used not only for so-called hate speech but for secession talk of any kind. For exclusive audio click here. Now Inner City Press has published the 2-page letter demanding the censorship of TV channel Afrique Media for saying “it's a corrupt government” and “France is controlling many African countries." Where is the UN on this? To try to find out, Inner City Press on April 27 asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, and about Felix Agbor-Balla, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: I wanted to ask you, in Cameroon, again, the… the former UN legal adviser in Afghanistan and MONUC and also a former employee of the Special Court in Sierra Leone, Felix Agbor Balla, is facing death penalty by military trial.  And I wanted to know… there are also many of the other people that were… were… have faced trial today, and I wanted to know, is there any follow-up by the UN system on the issue?

Spokesman:  I will take… I didn’t see those reports.

Inner City Press: There’s also a TV station, Afrique Media, that’s being taken off the cable networks there for having had two statements in English, one that the Government is corrupt, the other one that France controls many countries in Africa.   [inaudible]  Is that a… does the UN think that that’s a reason…

Spokesman:  I will… I don’t… I can’t comment on something I don’t know about.

  Like nearly everything about Cameroon. They won't say who is their acting Resident Coordinator since Antonio Guterres promoted Najat Rochdi to Central African Republic; whoever it is is not speaking about blatant censorship. Then again, today's UN itself is continuing censorship. We'll have more on this. Monthe said people should be jailed for burning the Cameroon flag, and that it was fine to destroy the businesses of entrepreneurs in Southern Cameroons even if they were not involved in secession talk. Cameroon from the top is against freedom of speech and press. On April 25, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' holdover spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here: Inner City Press:  in Cameroon, a journalist, Ahmed Abba, was yesterday sentenced to 10 years in jail for reporting on the Boko Haram conflict.  And many press freedom groups have expressed concern.  I'm wondering, does the UN have any concern?  And I wanted… I guess I'm just asking you again, who is the Resident Coordinator in the country?

Spokesman:  As soon as the Resident Coordinator has been named, that person will… we'll announce it, and there will obviously be a press release.  As I've said before, the UNICEF representative is the acting Resident Coordinator.

Inner City Press: Right.  And are you aware of this case of the person being sentenced to 10 years?

Spokesman:  I've heard the case.  I think any sentencing of journalists, I think, is something that is of concern to us, and we have to make sure that it is not done for… in reprisals for anything that that person may have said or written.

Which is exactly what has happened. Last week Dujarric repeatedly refused to tell Inner City Press the name of the acting Resident Coordinator in Cameroon after failed Najat Rochdi was promoted and said to ask UNICEF, Inner City Press did. Inner City Press submitted these questions to two UNICEF spokespeople on April 20: "Please state who are UNICEF is the acting Resident Coordinator in Cameroon and what if anything they have said and done about the 92 day Internet cut off in two regions, including to schools, and on the current doctors strikes. What is UNICEF's position on the 92 Internet cut off in Cameroon, as impacts children and otherwise?" UNICEF's Najwa Mekki, Officer in Charge of the Media Section, replied "received, we'll get back to you as soon as we can." Five days later, nothing - not even the name of who's the head of UNICEF in Cameroon, despite a second question to Dujarric (who has declared Press criticism of the UN's performance to be harassment, and threw Inner City Press out of the Press Briefing Room and has it still restricted after 14 months). We'll have more on this.

EXCLUSIVE: UN Waste In Dump Caused Malaria in Central African Republic, Report Leaked to Inner City Press Shows

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, February 3 – Despite having killed more than 10,000 people in Haiti with lax sanitation practices, the United Nations peacekeepers in Central African Republic are dumping waste negligently, a UN memo leaked to Inner City Press shows.

  The memo states that "following complaints by the local population living in the vicinity of the dumpsite" a UN investigation found that the dumpsite sludge dams breed insects which result in sickness. Eighty-one percent of the UN's victims are children, the memo says.

  The report, under "Community Discontent," cites malaria. It notes that when concerns were raised, "police force was used to quell the dissent."

Exclusive: UN Waste In Dump Caused Malaria in Central African Republic, Report Leaked to Inner City Press S... by Matthew Russell Lee on Scribd

  This concerned the Kolongo dumpsite in Bangui. Related memos refer to the UN in Mali as well.

  Tellingly, this UN memo warns of litigation, "taking into account lessons learned in the Haiti case." But was did the UN learn?

  Ban Ki-moon, who after leaving the UN on January 1 has found his campaign for South Korea's Presidency implode amid corruption charges, dodged legal papers about Haiti for years. In his last month he promised millions but so far less than $2 million have been raised, more than half of it blood money from South Korea.

  In the Central African Republic, UN peacekeepers have been accused of sexual abuse, including of minors. The UN itself recently accused 25 Burundian peacekeepers of sexual exploitation and abuse, but UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, the fourth French national in a row to hold the position, determined to continue to pay the Pierre Nkurunziza government for 800 more troops.

  New UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is considering who will replace Ladsous. He should consider and act on this as well.

  UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, while declining to explain Ladsous' reasoning, recent answered only two and a half of 22 questions Inner City Press posed in writing. UN Department of Public Information chief Cristina Gallach evicted Inner City Press from its UN office without due process, confining it still to minders to cover the General Assembly.

  The UN reflexively covers up its abuses. Even after killing 10,000 people with cholera in Haiti, these practices continue in the Central African Republic.

  Other memos have been leaked to Inner City Press. Meanwhile even the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, rather than dealing with the substance of a UN Ethics Office memo Inner City Press published, has Tweeted a press release saying it is all unsubstantiated. Really? The UN must be reformed.

UN Rape Response Inadequate, 9-Day Suspension for Rape, Ladsous Links to R and R

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 4 -- Amid a litany of rape charges against UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous, Inner City Press exclusively obtained and on February 12 published UN emails showing another round of sexual abuse of minors in Ouaka prefecture in the Central African Republic by UN Peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Click here to view.

 On March 4 at 11 am Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's report on "Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse" came out from under embargo and Inner City Press immediately published this review.

Ban's response is inadequate; tellingly, it is not the boss of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous, who has on camera linked the rapes to R&R, who is presenting or pitching the response, but lower profile Atul Khare.

There is no accountability at the top - or in the field. The March 4 report in Paragraph 20 presents as legitimate a nine day suspension for sexual exploitation, and undefined "administrative sanctions" for sexual exploitation that led to a "Peacekeeper baby." This is shameful.

 As to the Central African Republic, where the UN covered up French Sangaris troops child rapes and then fired the whistleblower -- not mentioned in the report -- the UN blamed the victims, saying the country is poor, women and girls are for sale: a more diplomatic entree into what Ladsous came out and said on September 11, 2015, linking rapes to R&R.

 Combine this with an Inner City Press question Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric refused to answer - how could the UN log in sexual abuse of a 14 year old, statutory rape, as "transactional" sex -- and the scam of Ban's response becomes clear.

 Perhaps because the product is so worthless, the attempt to sell and spin it was extensive.

  Since December Inner City Press has asked at noon briefings when Ban Ki-moon's response to the Deschamps report would be released, including asking about member state dissatisfaction with the response, and Ladsous.  "March," Ban's two spokesman said.

 On Wednesday Inner City Press learned that not the official responsible for the rapes, Herve Ladsous, but lower profile Atul Khare had shot a UN TV "interview" about the response. Now, in similar propaganda fashion, an UNnamed UN official has poured the spin on Reuters and the old "small group of reporters" -- that is, those who never reported that Ladsous, on camera, linked the rapes to R&R. This is the UN Corruption Association.
 
  Inner City Press on March 3 asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask you about DPKO.  I've seen a story in which an unnamed UN peacekeeping official has, I guess, previewed what Mr. Khare is going to say on Friday, and he talks about possible court-martials and even DNA testing.  And I guess… first, I wanted to ask, who was he?  And the reason I ask is, if you're talking about name and shame, why would DPKO be presenting its information anonymously?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  Matthew, the background briefings that are provided are background briefings.  You know that we have background briefings.  You've attended them.  And I will abide by the rules of them.

Inner City Press:  Did Mr. Atul Khare conduct already, on Wednesday of this week, a sit-down interview with UNTV?  And, if so, when will it be released?  And why would… is this actually a publicity campaign to promote belated response to the rapes in the CAR [Central African Republic]?  Or can we see the video now?  Is it under embargo?  I would like to know what the rules of that.

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  Different UN officials do, in fact, talk to UNTV, and that's part of what we do in order to actually communicate the work of the United Nations.  There's nothing untoward about that.  And it will air at some point fairly soon, I believe.  But, ultimately, it becomes public when it does.  You'll be able to see it on the website, as anyone else.

  But, even as to the report which the UN insisted was under embargo until 11 am on March 4, when Reuters nevertheless published a weak story about it on March 3, with no mention of Ladsous, the UN did nothing.

  Given the UN's no due process move to on February 19 expel Inner City Press from the UN for merely trying to cover an event in the UN Press Briefing Room on January 29, petition here, Inner City Press strictly complied with the embargo although obtaining the report through other channels was easy.

 Reuters doesn't have to worry about the UN throwing it out - it does (some in) the UN's dirty work. We'll have more on this as well.

  Even from within DPKO there is disgust at the response, as dodging or not implement many of the recommendations. More on that when the UN belatedly comes out from behind its self-pleasuring curtain of its own media, and insider scribes. One final note: the Reuters bureau chief at the March 1 press conference by Angola on its Program of work loudly cut off another reporter - not this one -- as if owning the UN.
  After Inner City Press on February 15 asked about the email its had published - and Reuters' UN bureau chief Louis Charbonneau, notably, tried to dismiss and then stole the story - on February 16 UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq in the noon briefing read out a statement confirming nearly all of the email Inner City Press had published: that there were four new victims, minors, troops from DR Congo.

 But Haq did not say that two of the victims had children from the statutory rape. So Inner City Press asked Haq to confirm that, and asked who would pay: the UN or the DRC soldiers? Haq said there are meetings in Ban's office to respond to just such issues, after December's Deschamps report. Video here.

 And then Reuters, even while its editor Dan Grebler said the first theft was being looked into, just retyped and stole it again, this time by its UN correspondent Michelle Nichols, here.

  It was this same Nichols who, at the UN Security Council stakeout on February 18 while Inner City Press was live-streaming after asking about a draft statement on Palestine, cut in loudly with "I see you Periscoping!"  And? So what? UN missions and the UN itself are broadcasting inside the UN on Periscope. Why would one media try to censor others?

  On February 15, Reuters first tried to claim these were "old" rapes, here -- then when shown otherwise, simply stole the story with no credit. This is apparently policy.

  So Inner City Press raised the issue of theft of exclusives (and lack of objectivity, at least at the UN) to Reuters itself. For now, we've received this, cc-ed also not only to the (repeat) offender but also to Reuters' genial seeming Brian Moss and Clive McKeef:

"Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. The appropriate Reuters staff will look into it and get back to you as soon as feasible.

Regards,
Dan Grebler
Desk Editor, Americas Desk"

  But but February 18, still no response. It's not that complicated.  Or was the Reuters correspondent's "intervention" the response? We'll have more on this too.

 The underlying emails, dated February 11, 2016, describe at least four underage victims, two of whom were impregnated by the rapist UN peacekeepers -- "in the locality Ngakobo in the Ouaka prefecture."

  On February 15, after emailing questions for two days to UN spokespeople in CAR and New York, Inner City Press at the UN's noon briefing asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq about the rapes, and the email it published on February 12. Haq answered, dodging on part of the email but not denying it. Video here.

 Then Associated Press asked, what about these new allegations? Video here. Haq answered - and from that, AP wrote its own derivative and belated story -- without credit, and without any mention of the critique of the UN in the emails. This is how it works, or doesn't.

 This too - Reuters UN "bureau chief" on Monday evening first reflexively came to the UN's defense saying that "Alleged Central African Republic rapes UN spox talked about today are same ones UN CAR said Feb 4 it was probing," citing (what else) a Reuters story of February 4 -- about a Human Rights Watch report about rapes in Bambari. But read the February 11 emails Inner City Press exclusively published, here:

“Herewith sharing with you a report I have just received from UNICEF indicating four minor girls aged between 16 and 17 years were victims of sexual exploitation and abuse allegedly committed by members of the DRC battalion in the locality Ngakobo in the Ouaka prefecture.”

  Up the email chain, Mercedes Gervilla in UN headquarters writes that “it would seem that many among the troops concerned, including Commanding officers were well aware of the abuse to which these children were being subjected. I also regret to inform you that in addition to these new 4 cases, there will likely be two more...”.  [We'll have more on this.]

  This is called... spinning for the UN. This is a trend at Reuters, even last week, here.



And there is a history: this same Reuters UN Bureau Chief Lou Charbonneau, when challenged, wrote to Stephane Dujarric, UN Spokesman, trying to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN, here.

  When this was exposed, Charbonneau cited Reuters to get his email to the UN taken out of Google's search, saying he never meant for it to be public and it was somehow copyrighted. (See his filing here, made public by EFF's ChillingEffects.org). That's censorship... by Reuters.

  This this case, after being shown this reflexive defense of the UN was wrong, Reuters simply re-wrote the story and stole it, with no credit.

 And now we must go back: Charbonneau announced a policy of not crediting Inner City Press, see here.

 This was raised at the time to Reuters, including to Stephen J. Adler. What kind of company is this?

  (Inner City Press previously asked the decaying UN Correspondents Association, while it tried to censor Press coverage of its boss, to promulgate a best practice for media at the UN to credit others' exclusives; it never happened. AP at the UN speaks for this UNCA, and apparently it for AP.)

  In the email chain Inner City Press exclusively published, middle management at the UN noted that the majority of sexual abuse in CAR has been committed by the battalions from the DRC and the Republic of Congo. And so Inner City Press posed these questions to UN spokespeople in both New York and the CAR:

"This is a request for your comment on, and any update on, the sexual abuse and exploitation cases in the Feb 11, 2016 emails now here

Also, what will be done with the Republic of Congo and DR Congo contingents? We are interested in if the UN and DPKO can, as currently be configured, be reformed.What is the status of the sexual abuse and exploitation cases that have been listed, including in the UN Press Briefing Room?"

  The response received by Inner City Press on Saturday afternoon in New York was from Bangui-based MINUSCA spokesman Vladimir Monteiro:

"Regarding your questions on DRC and Congo, here is Minusca's position:

"On DRC contingent, a decision to repatriate them has already been taken. It will be completed without delay by the end of the month. It is just a matter of planning it properly.

"On the 120 troops from Congo, they have been cantoned in Berberati to permit investigations by national investigators before their repatriation to their country  which will occur on 20 February 2016. For further details on this matter please contact HQ."

  But of course Inner City Press has already contacted "HQ" or UN Headquarters, including for example Ismini Palla of Ladsous' DPKO, who gave Agence France Presse the response to questions Inner City Press has publicly posed to UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, to the DPKO spokesman Nick Birnback, also cc-ed.

  So where ARE the updates on the cases the UN's Diane Corner listed in the UN Briefing Room? Why was it reported in early January that the DRC contingent had "been dismissed" when, in mid February, they are still in place? What is the status of the Burundian contingent in CAR? Follow up questions have been submitted to UN officials and spokespeople in CAR and headquarters in New York.

  Well placed sources tell Inner City Press these two countries' soldiers have been in the UN MINUSCA mission nearly entirely due to Ladsous and, more outrageously, the / his French government due to its political relations with the Republic of Congo and DRC.

  Ladsous, as Inner City Press has reported, told Burundi's Vice President that he is "pragmatic" about human rights; even on camera, Ladsous linked the rapes to "R&R," click here for video.

  While Ladsous' DPKO and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Office of the Spokesperson announced that the DRC contingent would be pulled out of Bambari and CAR in late Janaury, Inner City Press is informed this never happened: they are still there.

  Ladsous' DPKO, and now the UN Spokesperson's Office, are engaged in misleading the press and public, and doling out what information they provide to only the friendliest media.

 For recent example, Inner City Press for week has reported on and asked about the repatriation from CAR of Burundian troops charged with abuse during the crackdown on opponents of Pierre Nkurunziza's third term. Even after Inner City Press obtained and published on February 9 proof of three repatriations, all UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Inner City Press is that he would seek an update.

  Simarily, Ladsous' lead spokesman Nick Birnback told Inner City Press DPKO would have something to say about the particular Burundian officers in CAR Inner City Press asked him about.

  Then Ladsous' spokespeople including Ismini Palla gave their limited confirmations to Reuters and Agence France Presse, who published it without credit or context. (Neither media reported on Ladsous linking rape to R&R - nor did AP.)

 In a February email by UN official Anthony Banbury, soon to leave the UN after some heartfelt tears of outrage at peacekeepers' rapes, it is said:

"We have a pack of predatory criminals and rapists, preying on young girls,
under the banner of the United Nations. How can we stand by? In my view that battalion should be ordered to cease operations today, same with the RoC battalion, and be confined to camp and guarded full time so they cannot continue to abuse children. While we would pay a short-term price in terms of operations, we would gain so much in terms of the integrity and reputation of the UN, in the CAR and internationally, and we would almost certainly prevent more rapes of minor girls. We simply cannot sustain the argument that the benefit these troops are bringing to the UN and PoC is greater than the harm they are doing."

  What will the UN do? What will France, with new foreign minister Jean Marc Ayrault, do? How long can Ladsous - and the Congolese contingents - remain in place?

Exclusive: UN Emails Show New Rapes in CAR, Ladsous' Contingents by Matthew Russell Lee

 


Having been told by sources of more rapes by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, Inner City Press on January 26 reported them and on January 27 asked the UN's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric to confirm them - but he wouldn't. UN transcript here. Video here.




  So what is the protocol of UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous, who linked the rapes to "R&R," here? How many more do they know about?

The UN report on rapes in the Central African Republic, released on December 17, found that UN Peacekeeping's Under Secretary General Herve Ladsous “illustrate[s] the UN's failure to respond to allegations of serious human rights violations in the meaningful way.”

 Ladsous has yet to take any questions about the report...

  When the Panel's three members held their December press conference, Inner City Press asked about Ladsous' failure to vet and his linking of rapes to “R&R.” Video here.  Marie Deschamps said pointedly she wouldn't comment on Ladsous' remarks; Yasmin Sooka said these are crimes for punishment, not recreation.

  As the last question, Inner City Press asked what it had wanted to ask Ban, and tried to ask Dujarric: what does this say about Ban's management? Video of Q&A here. Didn't Ban's chief of staff Malcorra, criticized in the report, do it for Ban? Didn't the “senior official” who ostensibly let the rape information die on the vine in the 38th floor work in an atmosphere created by Ban's nine years? We will pursue this.

  In December 2015, Ban allowed those who cover him, at least the UN Correspondents Association, to sell seats with him for $6,000. And it is these same who have airbrushed out Ladsous and others. We'll have more on this.

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