By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, October 28 -- In the UN Security Council's “Displaced Women
and Girls” open debate on October 28, UN Peacekeeping not through its
head Herve Ladsous but rather his deputy Edmond Mulet made a number of
claims of how it protects women.
But
UN Peacekeeping did not, as it should, acknowledge sexual violence
problems in its ranks and among its partners, from Haiti to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tellingly this was left to member
states, for example the lone foreign minister among the 70 speakers,
Urmat Paet of Estonia, that in UN peacekeeping mission, “sexual violence
has been an issue.” Egypt, Thailand and others mentioned the topic as well.
UN
Peacekeeping's Mulet, on the other hand, said that the UN Mission in
South Sudan UNMISS advocated “for a gendered approach to camp logistics
and protection, resulting in establishment of separate facilities for
women and men and to appointment of women as camp management.”
Since under Ladsous, UN Peacekeeping does not answer Press questions,
Inner City Press went to the October 28 noon briefing and asked UN
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric what Mulet meant: is the UN splitting up
families? Dujarric made a reference to safety, then said don't get ahead
of yourself, we'll find out. OK, we're waiting - as we're waiting to
know if UN Peacekeeping ever suspended any support to units of the DRC
Army which committed more than 130 rapes in Minova, for which only two
soldiers were convicted.
Back on October 20 when UN Sexual
Violence in
Conflict
expert Zainab
Bangura
spoke about
South Sudan,
Inner City
Press asked of
her meeting
with Riek
Machar and
whether she
thinks he
controls Peter
Gadet, under
sanctions by
the US and
suspected of
shooting down
a UN
helicopter. Video here.
Bangura called
her talks with
Machar
"decent"
including
"very detailed
information on
where he is in
command."
Apparently,
Machar is
responsible or
accepts
responsibility
for Gadet. But
where are the
results of the
helicopter
probe? Another
UN cover-up?
Inner
City Press
also asked
Bangura of the
130 rapes in
Minova by the
DR Congo Army
in November
2012, after
which only two
soldiers have
been convicted
while UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous
continues
supporting the
rapist units.
Bangura said
she couldn't
speak to that
part of the
UN, and linked
the lack of
justice for
Minova to the
government's
delay in
investigating.
Video
here. But
doesn't the
government,
and Ladsous'
DPKO and
MONUSCO, know
which DRC Army
units were in
Minova during
the rapes, and
who was in
charge of
them? Impunity
continues.
While South
Sudan
President
Salva Kiir was
in New York,
he did not
attend the
UN's “High
Level” event
about his
country on
September 25.
A
Senior US
State
Department
Official,
speaking on
background,
said that
“there was a
lot of
disappointment
expressed in
the meeting
that Salva
Kiir who is
here in New
York did not
attend the
meeting. He
sent his
Minister of
Foreign
Affairs and
some of his
ministers to
the meeting
and several of
the attendees
made a point
of noting that
Salva Kiir was
not at the
meeting.”
Inner
City Press
asked the
Senior State
Department
Official if
the US know
who was behind
the recent
shooting down
of a UN
helicopter, if
it could
confirm that
forces under
the control of
Peter Gadet,
already under
US sanctions,
did it.
The US
official said
“we know that
the UN is
investigating
it, we are
waiting for
the results of
that
investigation.
Gadet has been
put on the
sanctions list
even before
that
happened.”
The
official
called the
shoot-down
“evidence of
how difficult
it is to work
in South
Sudan,” and
added that
South Sudan's
foreign
minister had
said the
government is
committed to
not blocking
NGOs and the
UN from
providing aid.
“We have to
hold them to
that
commitment,”
the official
concluded,
“people are
suffering.”
Background:
back
on May
6, 2014, when
the US imposed
sanctions on
Gadet,
Inner City
Press asked:
MODERATOR:
Great.
Thank you. Our
next question
is from the
other Matt
Lee, Matthew
Russell Lee of
Inner City
Press. Go
ahead.
QUESTION:
Great.
Thanks a lot,
[Moderator]. I
wanted to ask,
there was a –
it was said
that in
Security
Council
consultations
at the UN that
senior
government
officials were
named in a
radio
broadcast
prior to the
attacks in Bor
on the UN
compound in
killing the
civilians. I
just wonder if
you can say
are these
people – is
that the case?
Do you know
the names of
people that
sort of called
for that
attack, and in
which case,
why aren’t
they on this
list?
And I
also – this
might for
Senior
Administration
Official
Number Two.
Secretary
Kerry was
talking about
a legitimate
force to help
make peace.
And I just
wanted to
know, is the
UN – is the
U.S. thinking
of that as
part of UNMISS
mission or as
the IGAD
force? And if
so, would it
require a
Security
Council
approval?
Thanks.
SENIOR
ADMINISTRATION
OFFICIAL ONE:
On the first,
I mean, we
typically do
not comment on
actors against
whom we are –
we have not
yet – we have
not yet acted,
a clunky way
of saying we
don’t comment
on those who
are not part
of our
designation.
But anyone who
is
contributing
to the
violence,
whether that’s
by directing
violence,
whether that’s
by funding it,
fueling it,
contributing
arms, can be a
subject of
designation in
the future.
And I’ll leave
it to my State
Department
colleague to
answer the
second
question.
SENIOR
ADMINISTRATION
OFFICIAL TWO:
Yeah. On the
question about
the regional
force and on
UNMISS, we –
it is
something that
conversations
and
discussions
are ongoing
between
countries of
IGAD, with New
York, with
ourselves and
others on how
best to create
this
additional
force presence
that we are
working very
much with
UNMISS and see
this as part
of the same
effort. But we
do think it’s
very important
that the
regional
forces are
able to join
this effort in
larger numbers
and appreciate
the efforts
of,
particularly,
the
governments of
Ethiopia and
Kenya, who are
leading the
mediation and
who are
seeking to
work with
UNMISS in this
regard.
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