Exclusive: For Mali Envoy, Ban Slates De Mistura, Who Hired His Son in Law in Iraq, African Grumbles about Italian Connection

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- After Inner City Press asked US Ambassador Susan Rice about the UN's plans for Malimidday on Wednesday, and she replied that robust counter-terrorism should be separate from a UN mission with a strong Special Representative, multiple sources exclusively told Inner City Press the person slated for this post.

  It is Staffan de Mistura, currently in the Italian government as deputy foreign minister 

but “not for long,” as one source put it.

  Previously De Mistura was the Special Representative of the Secretary General in Iraq, where as Inner City Press noted he hired Ban Ki-moon's son in law Siddarth Chatterjee.

  Later when De Mistura was given the top Afghanistan envoy job, he told Inner City Press he would push with the Karzai government for answers on their killing of UN staff member Louis Maxwell. There have still be no answers.

  But “like a bad penny” as one put it, now De Mistura is slated to return.

“What is this Italian connection?” one African delegate asking Inner City Press, pointing out that Ban's Sahel envoy is Romano Prodi, and that Ban recent gave the Deputy slot at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to an Italian, Flavia Pansieri.

  Another asked, “Why are there so few Africans heading up the UN missions in Africa?” 

  The three Western African missions are all led by Europeans. Bert Koenders of the Netherlands, head of the Cote d'Ivoire mission, was at the UN Wednesday, greeted Inner City Press on his way it's said to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions.

  There is also the American Roger Meece heading the mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An African Deputy Permanent Representative opposed to this new nomination asked, “And now De Mistura? No.”

  An ambassador who Inner City Press asked to comment on De Mistura after learning of the plan laughed and said, “They're going to raid your office again.”

  Others from the Arabic and Muslim side recalled that to the recent Arab League Summit, “not only didn't Ban Ki-moon go, he sent to representative Jeff Feltman, before the US face in the region. What is going on here?”

  But to some the most dissonant note was De Mistura's jobs, prospectively this one, after hiring Ban Ki-moon's son in law Siddarth Chatterjee. 

  After Inner City Press' cusp of the year exclusive on Philippe Douste Blazy's hiring of Ban's daughter Hyun Hee Ban

, there were some calls to make this type of hiring illegal. 

  But as Staffan De Mistura might say, if it's legal and it works, why not do it? Watch this site.

On Minova Rapes, As Its April 1 Deadline Passes, UN Silent, #Ladsous2013

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 -- While the UN claims to take rape, particularly by its partners like the Congolese Army, seriously it has let another of its supposed deadlines pass with no action, no announcement.

For four months UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous refused to answer Inner City Press questions about the 126 rapes committed in Minova from November 20 to 22. Click here for video of Ladsous' on camera refusals to answer on November 27, December 7 and December 18. See UN TV video of March 28. 

Video here, at Minute 4:29 and 5:53.

Also on March 28, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky answered Inner City Press that the deadline for action on the rapes by the Congolese authorities was April 1. Inner City Press asked Congolese foreign minister Tshibanda, who was dismissive of the deadline.

And for good reason, it appears. When Inner City Press asked Nesirky's deputy Eduardo Del Buey on April 1, first he said the deadline wouldn't arrive until midnight. Then he picked up a piece of paper and said that the UN, apparently Ladsous, now said they had gotten some unspecified assurances from Tshibanda. From the UN's April 1 transcript:

Inner City Press: Last Monday MONUSCO gave what was called a final ultimatum to the Congolese army to begin prosecuting the rapists of Minova, 126 rapes. The week is now expired and I am wondering what action has the UN taken.

Deputy Spokesperson Del Buey: Well, the week has not expired, it expires this evening at midnight, but I will see what we can get for you.

Inner City Press: The Foreign Minister at the stakeout said basically, we are already prosecuting, why is the UN making these threats, can you --

Deputy Spokesperson: If we have anything to say… let me see. [Picks up piece of paper.] Well, what I can tell you is that, while a number of appropriate actions have reportedly been taken by the Congolese Government, MONUSCO is still waiting to receive official notification of these actions. Assurances have been received from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tshibanda, during his visit to New York. MONUSCO has been in close contact with the Government and is expecting a response in the coming days. That’s what I have.

Inner City Press: And will you then disclose what these actions that the UN finds are sufficient on these rapes are?

Deputy Spokesperson Del Buey: Well, let’s see what they say, let’s see what they say.

   As midnight approached, Inner City Press waited. Nothing. Four and a half hours later, Inner City Press put in questions to Ban's top three spokesmen, including Nesirky who has been traveling with Ban in San Marino, Andorra and soon Monaco:

“At noon on April 1 when I asked what the UN is doing about the 126 rapes in Minova from November 20 - 22, 2012, I was told that the April 1 deadline was in fact midnight on April 1. It is now [past the deadline] and I am asking: what has the UN done about the rapes and Ban Ki-moon's stated Human Rights Due Diligence Policy?

“As I did last week (and before) and today, after DPKO's Herve Ladsous has repeatedly refused to answer Inner City Press' questions and has given (half) answers to media which didn't even ask the question, I am asked you, directly, now, for an answer.”

  But as of this writing more than two hours later, nothing. Instead, the UN's own Radio Okapi has run a piece about Tshibanda with Q&A from April 1. No questions about the Minova rapes or the UN's supposed deadline.

  Ladsous who refuses questions from the independent Press gave an interview to his own UN Radio -- North Korea style -- which appeared on Radio Okapi.

  Can they just make the rapes, and all of their previous begrudging statements, go away? Well, can the UN raid Press offices and let photographs be taken and given out anonymously? Inner City Press on April 1-2 asked the three Ban Ki-moon spokespeople about that as well. Watch this site.

Amid Mali Spat of France & Russia, Rwanda Gives a Book, Genocide Commemoration Question for #Ladsous2013, from 1994

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- The monthly UN Security Council program of work is usually decided on before or during the bilateral meetings that take place on the month's first day between the new president and each of the 14 other members.

  But not today. Inner City Press staked-out the bilateral meetings -- click here for example for an interchange with South Korea's Ambassasador Kim Sook -- and monitored one lack of decision.

  When should the briefing on Mali be held? At the day's UN noon briefing, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman Eduardo Del Buey said the Mali briefing by UN official Jeffrey Feltman would be on Tuesday, April 2. 

  In fact he dodged a question about Mali on that basis: wait until tomorrow.

   But it's not that simple. There are supposed to be four days between Council members having the documents, in all languages, and such a meeting. 

  And as even after the last two bilateral meetings, between the Rwandan delegation led by Permanent Representative Eugene-Richard Gasana and the US' Deputy Permanent Representative Rosemary DiCarlo and then Chinese Permanent Representative Li Baodong were done, April 2 was not agreed to.

  Inner City Press learned from sources that while France wanted it on April 2, as announced by Ban's deputy spokesman, Russia for example wanted it April 4, citing the rule.

  It was France which rushed a final Mali meeting in March, without the report translated. Afterward, French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud -- not seen on Monday at the Council -- told Inner City Press that whether a French “parallel force” in Mali would be under UN control was a good question, it hadn't come up in that day's meeting.

  Well, that day's meeting was rushed.

  Now in the dispute between French April 2 and Russian April 4 there's talk of a compromise: Wednesday, April 3. How very UN.

  Another UN Security Council trend, and not a bad one, is for elected members to push at least one issue during their two year term, sometimes resulting in an ongoing thematic resolution. 

  So it was for protection of journalists in armed conflict. Why not protection of medical personnel? Inner City Press asked the Australian Permanent Representative Gary Quinlan and his political coordinator; they said the issue has been raised, and that now in Syria more people are dying of secondary consequences of trauma than immediately when hit. 

  Is there a resolution coming on? Watch this site.

Footnote: when political coordinators met later Monday afternoon, each was given by Rwanda some coffee to brew, and a book about the country. This month there are a number of commemorations of the 1994 genocide, including a documentary on April 9.

  Some have wondered whether UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous will be there, given his role as France's Deputy Permanent Representative in 1994 arguing for saving the genocidaires through Operation Turquoise. Inner City Press has tried to ask Ladsous about it; the response was to simply stop answering any of Inner City Press' question.Video here.

 We'll be here all month. Watch this site.

Can UN Investigate Itself After It Let Raid Photos of Press' Bookshelf Go to BuzzFeed?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- The UN preaches the rule of law and the separation of powers. But does it practice them? A filing today by Inner City Press may answer this question.

  The UN lawlessly entered Inner City Press' office without notice or consent on March 18, went through papers, took photos and allowed others, including CBS' Pamela Falk, the president of the UN Correspondents Association to take photos. Post raid video here.

  Inner City Press complained. The UN admitted its entry to Inner City Press' desk area was improper -- but it refused to say who it had allowed to enter.

  The UN Department of Public Information's Stephane Dujarric said only that photographs of Inner City Press' desk and bookshelf that were sent to BuzzFeed through the anonymous e-mail account “Concerned UN Reporter” and were published on March 22 were “not ours.”

  Did that mean not DPI's? Or not the UN's more generally? Dujarric refused to say, as did Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky on March 25 and 26. Video here.

  Meanwhile while Inner City Press published an interim analysis of where the photographs may have come from, the response of Pam Falk of CBS and UNCA was to send a legal threat to not even ask the question. CBSNews despite requests has not clarified its relation to Falk's legal threat.

  Faced with such stonewalling but with more information coming in from sources, Inner City Press on April 1 asked the UN to investigate -- itself. Here is a portion of the filing, receipt of which has been confirmed:

This is a formal request for an investigation by the UN of the taking of photographs of my desk and bookshelf and the passing of these photographs, through an anonymous "Concerned UN Reporter" e-mail address, to BuzzFeed.com where they were published on March 22.

This took place during an entry into my office which was without any notice to me or my consent, and which the UN had acknowledged in writing and oral was improper. They have refused, however, to provide basic information about who they allowed into my office, who took photographs and to whom they passed these photographs.

Beyond the improper entry, this violates freedom of the press, and my privacy and freedom of thought and inquiry.

This then is a request for an investigation of the UN itself and of its staff and officials, as well as others it allowed into my office in Room L-253 on March 18, 2013.

In light of the issues raised, I ask to be kept apprised in writing of the progress and any outside referral of this investigation, at this e-mail address and via the Free UN Coalition for Access, which is a co-requester.

On March 18, 2013 while I was covering the Security Council at the press stakeout area there, I was telephoned by another reporter who informed me that my office was “full of people.”

...To jump forward, on March 22 BuzzFeed.com ran an article which included three photographs taken inside my office -- on “my side of the office,” see below -- which BuzzFeed wrote had been provided to it through an anonymous e-mail address “Concerned UN Reporter,” who also spoke with BuzzFeed, using that adopted anonymous name. See, http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/media-un-battle-one-man-blogger-rebellion

At the March 25 and March 26 UN noon briefings I asked to be informed of who had been in my office -- including as permitted without my consent by DPI -- who had taken photographs and to whom they had given them. See,http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2013/db130326.doc.htm

The spokesperson for the Secretary General said, “I know that you wrote to the Under-Secretary-General for Public Information and Communications yesterday, and that you received a reply from Stéphane Dujarric, I don’t have anything to add to that.

Inner City Press: Do you see why, I just wanted to, one follow-up on that, do you see why the reply, my question is he is saying it is not the UN’s photographs, so inevitably that makes me believe the only person I am aware that took photographs was Pamela Falk of UNCA, but she has made a legal threat that if I write that, I guess CBS News will sue. So I am asking you, it seems like, it’s just, it’s simple to clean it up; I didn’t take the photograph, the photographs were taken that day, clearly in an area that DPI invited individuals into. So I was limited to one question — who did they invite in?

Spokesperson: I don’t have anything to add beyond what I have already said.

What DPI's Stephane Dujarric has written to me is... “I personally looked at our pictures and those posted on BuzzFeed and it's clear that they are not the same photographs. Again, we recognize that you should have been called before entering your part of the shared office.

Note for purposes of this request that his phrase they are not “our pictures” leaves it unclear if he means the pictures taken by DPI or by the UN as a whole, DSS and whoever else from the UN they let in.

After Inner City Press publicly speculated that the photographs might have come from the UN or, for example, from Pamela Falk who was taking photographs, Ms. Falk told me in writing from her CBSNews.com e-mail address to “cease and desist from publishing statements which are either inaccurate or cast my actions in a false light.”

Given the relative financial size of CBS and Inner City Press, this threat has the effect of discouraging further inquiry. Hence, this formal request to the UN.

I am concerned about asking DSS to investigate... DSS, and then give the report to DPI, which is the entity which improperly entered and let others into my office. Just as New York State and others have “outside counsels,” and the New York City Police Department has a CIVILIAN Complaint Review Board, I am asking for a similar avoidance on conflicts of interest in the requested investigation, and I ask to be informed of all UN procedures and policies in this regard.

   Watch this site.

After Hurricane Sandy, UN Left Staff In Water-Logged Chairs in Basement, No Printers, While Raiding Press Office Overground

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- In a sign of UN management's dysfunction, and staff resiliency, after Hurricane Sandy work continued without proper ventilation or even chairs in the UN's third sub basement (3B) by the Logistics Unit of the Office of Information and Communications Technology.

  As recounted by staff in e-mails exclusively obtained by Inner City Press, OICT higher-up did not provide them with toner or a printer, but told them to return to water-logged chairs in 3B.

  After the UN's insurance company seized damaged goods to assess the UN's claims, the Logistics Unit organized its own fundraiser for such basics as chairs and toner.

  Meanwhile from the floor of a Staff Union meeting, above ground, a resolution expressing “no confidence” in Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was passed. Ban now is in San Marino then Andorra, then finally to a meeting of the UN system's Chief Executives Board.

While the gap between these high-fliers and the staff doing their own fundraisers to continue to do the UN's work, water-logged and underground, be discussed there?

  There is a final sub-irony: while the UN as a post-hoc pretext for its March 18 raid on Inner City Press' office used the concept of safety, and allowed the taking of photographs which were then given to BuzzFeed and published on March 22, it was on the same March 18 that the e-mail below was sent out.

One difference: while the UN allowed the taking and then anonymous distribution to BuzzFeed of photographs of Inner City Press' office, desk and bookshelf -- and has refused to say who it let in, and who distributed -- Inner City Press is NOT here publishing the damning 3B photographs.

But here is the e-mail:

Subject: Fund Raiser for Logistics Unit
Date: 18/03/2013 12:02 PM

Dear All! Welcome to our first fund raiser for the Logistics Unit!!

When Sandy hit at the end of October 2012 we lost all of our desks, working tables, shelves, supplies, tools, power, air, LAN, etc., etc. Well, you get the idea...

However, we had to stay and do our work since it was SOOOOO IMPORTANT that all the losses be properly recorded lest the Organization not get reimbursed by the evil insurance companies, bla bla bla.

So, our job was done to the complete satisfaction of all concerned; in fact, we were asked for far more than what we were responsible for because, and I quote, "...You can be trusted to do things right... ...You guys care... You know what you are doing...", and other such BS.

Meanwhile, we got tired of the lack of power and air and phones so we managed to get space in a copier room in 2B. Of course, being a copier room, it was small, had no air and was/is used by many to print their documents. So we had to go back to 3B.

In the last 4 weeks; however, and through the help of individuals, (very few), in a private capacity, the Logistics Unit room in 3B has reached several milestones:

1. The air conditioning sausage has been extended so now we actually have air inside the room. Imagine that.

2. We have ONE electrical circuit, (15 amps I was told), that is used to power everything. We have daily contests to see what we will power that particular day without blowing out the fuse.

3. We have LAN and telephones!!! Woohoo!!!

4. We have 4 small tables that we use as desks and had, until last Friday, chairs to sit on.

BUT THOSE CHAIRS ARE GONE!!! They have been taken by the evil insurance companies!! (No kidding).

Before you ask, yes, we did request, (through the proper channels and procedures), 4 USED desks, 6 USED chairs and 6 USED work tables so that we could actually work like human beings; however, FMS said NO. Why? I'm glad you asked. Apparently it has something to do with us, (Logistics), not having a "Project Manager", (whatever THAT is), and/or no one wanting to be liable if we get sick or who knows...

Bottom line: NO CHAIRS. Oh, yes, the same people that took our chairs gave us a set that is in even worse condition than the stuff they took. I dare any of you to sit on them day in and day out.

Which is why we are having this fund raiser. Wait you say! Why not ask OICT?? Well, maybe because we asked for toner, (really, toner, for the loaner printers), 4 weeks ago and we are still waiting. We requested for our use a Managed Printer, (or whatever that nonsense is called), 2 weeks ago and we are still waiting. So what did we do? One of our guys found a discarded scanner; brought it back to life, connected it to "our" LAN and to a little network printer and voila! We now have a scanner and a network printer.

So, if you find it in your heart please contribute generously so we can go to the nearest Salvation Army thrift shop and get what we need.

Incidentally, the attached photos are real...

See above. And, watch this site.

As UN Starts Its Syria WMD Probe, Judith Miller Speaks at UN with Qatar's Ex-Ambassador, Iraq Echo, No Press Allowed

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- Just as the UN starts up a probe of chemical weapons in Syria, a blast from the past search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq Judith Miller spoke at the UN on Monday, in an event only partial disclosed in the day's UN Journal. Photo of sign on door, here.

The Journal entry said only

Women’s International Forum: Meeting on “Arab Spring or Islamist Winter? A journalist’s perspective of the Arab Spring now” (sponsored by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General) Monday, 1 April 2013 From 13:15 to 14:30, in Conference Room 6 (NLB).

[Delegates and Secretariat staff are invited to attend. Please click here for further information.]

The printed Journal didn't say who the guest was. But online, click took one to the home pagehttp://womensinternationalforum.org/, on which was Judith Miller's portrait, and a bio beginning, “Judith Miller is an author and a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter formerly with The New York Times.”

  You don't say. Wasn't it Judith Miller who used or was used by anonymous sources to report that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

  The website goes on, “Founded in 1975, the Women's International Forum began with a group of UN spouses who wanted to know more about UN and global issues. Today, the WIF is a highly-respected organisation with members from the diplomatic community, from the ranks of international civil servants and UN-affiliated non-governmental organizations, and women from the New York area.”

Judith Miller's talk was not open to the press (though, strangely, all delegates and Secretariat staff were invited.) The website says, "Lectures are only open to members and their guests."

  Inside was former Qatari Ambassador then President of the General Assembly, now UN official Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, who in the former two roles railed against Syria. (Qatar is supporting the armed rebels, who also stand accused of using chemical weapons.)

   Here is a photo near the end of the session, which Inner City Press exclusively staked-out.

  For the record, Inner City Press has in the past attended and reported on sessions of the Womens International Forum, invited by then Ugandan Ambassador Rugunda. 

 That was then; this is now, at today's UN. Watch this site.

At Deadline on Minova Rapes, UN Says Ladsous Got Unspecified Assurances from DRC, Stonewalls

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- Four months after the Congolese Army raped at least 126 women in Minova, and the UN belatedly set a deadline today for Congolese governmental action, at Monday's noon briefing Inner City Press asked and was told that unspecified “appropriate actions” have been taken.

   Inner City Press asked, what are these actions?

  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman Eduardo Del Buey could not or would not say.

  On March 28, Inner City Press asked UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous to name the two battalions involved in the rapes and why no action has been taken for four month.

  Ladsous simply refused to answer the question, turning away and pointing to Agence France Presse which asked an easier, “get away” question.

  But on March 28, Ban's lead spokesman Martin Nesirky said that on March 25 the MONUSCO mission set a final deadline of April 1, and that this was reiterated by Ladsous to the Congolese foreign minister Tshibanda on March 27.

  Now, with Nesirky away from UN Headquarters with Ban for a week, in San Marino then Andorra, Del Buey on Monday when Pressed said, “what I can tell you, wile a number of appropriate actions have importanty been taken by the Congolese government, MONUSCO is still waiting to receive official notification of these actions. Assurances have been received from Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Tshibanda during his visit to New York.”

  So now, we can only surmise since Ladsous refuses to answer questions, the meeting between Ladsous and Tshibanda which was portrayed as reiterating the deadline is now being spun as the meeting at which assurances were made and the problem solved, or deadline extended.

  Del Buey went on, “MONUSC has been in close contact with the government and is expecting a response in the coming days.”

  The deadline was today, pushed to midnight New York (rather than Kinshasa) time. But at the deadline, Del Buey says a response is expected “in the coming days.”

  Ban Ki-moon's Human Rights Due Diligence Policy is an April Fool's joke, it appears, made such by Ladsous. So, #Ladsous2013.

Footnote: While refusing to answer Minova rape questions from the Press, Ladsous gave an interview to the UN's own UN Radio, which then appeared on the UN's Radio Okapi. No questions about the rapes or the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy.

Banning the independent press and speaking only to your own controlled media is North Korea style. To this has the UN descended. Watch this site.

South Korea PR Hopes DPRK Is “Barking Dog, Not Biting Dog,” Would Retaliate, No UNSC Action

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- After a weekend full of threats from North Korea, Monday morning at the UN Inner City Press asked South Korea's Permanent Representative Kim Sook whether to expect a UN Security Council session or action about the threats.

“I don't think so,” Kim Sook exclusively told Inner City Press. He said that people in Seoul are not in a panic, that North Korea has “bluffed” before.

Kim Sook acknowledged that the level of threats now is heightened. Let's hope, he said, that DPRK is “a barking dog, not a biting dog.” He paused and said clearly that South Korea “would retaliate.”

Perhaps explaining the lack of request for action by the 15 member Security Council, Kim Sook cited his country's joint military exercises with the United States, which has sent stealth aircraft capable of dropping nuclear weapons. DPRK too, Kim Sook noted, is in a winter military exercise.

Kim Sook had just conferred with Rwanda, which takes over the Security Council presidency for April from the Russian Federation. Watch this site.

Downplaying DRC Rapes, UN Faux Briefing Highlights Include Answers Not Given, Sri Lanka, Darfur

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- That the UN often doesn't answer questions, and that it

s chief of Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous outright refuses Press questions, is clear, includ

ing on video.

  But now the UN pretends it answered questions at its briefing, putting into its “Highlights” exchanges that never took place.

The online “Highlights” of the UN's March 28 noon briefing contain responses supposedly delivered at the briefing to questions Inner City Press had been asking all week.

 These were three questions about UN peacekeepers' failure to protect internally displaced people in Darfur, about former ruler Bozize's fleeing from the Central African Republic, and the UN's hand-over of de-mining to the Sri Lankan military.

  The “Highlights” state that “the Spokesperson said.” But he didn't, at least not at the briefing. Inner City Press was able to ask only one question, and it concerned Ladsous' stonewalling on his long delayed action on 126 rapes in Minova by the Congolese Army, which he supports.

  The question Inner City Press actually asked, and Spokesman Martin Nesirky's actual response, were barelyincluded in the “Highlights” -- in favor of responses that were not given in the briefing. This is the UN.

Here's from the UN's transcript of the March 28 noon briefing:

Inner City Press: I asked you yesterday about the rapes in Minova and what DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations] may have done. It is now reported that Mr. [Hervé] Ladsous delivered a third ultimatum to the Foreign Minister of the DRC. Is that accurate?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Not strictly, not strictly the case, but let me tell you. The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has been following up with the Congolese authorities on the matter of rapes in Minova. The UN Mission continues to press for the need for those who committed these unacceptable acts to face justice. On 25 March, so on Monday, Roger Meece, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the country, met with the Vice Prime Minister and the Minister for Defence to hand over a final letter. The letter informed the Congolese Government of the termination of all MONUSCO support to the two battalions involved in the Minova rapes should no appropriate action be taken immediately, within seven days. So, in other words, the support would terminate within seven days if no appropriate action is taken immediately.

On various occasions, UN officials have also conveyed the UN’s view on this issue. And that was the case yesterday at a meeting here in New York, when Hervé Ladsous, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, reiterated the same views to the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Inner City Press: What are the two battalions?

Spokesperson: You know what the response is there, Matthew. We need to wait until we reach that deadline, but I think you have heard what I have had to say about the deadline that has been set. Masood? Last question. [Video here, from Minute 24:56.]

   But here's from the UN's “Highlights” of the same noon briefing, with nothing on which FARDC units did the rapes in Minova, but instead responses that were not given at the briefing:

U.N. NOT INVOLVED IN TRANSPORTING FRANCOIS BOZIZE FROM CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Asked a few times this week whether the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) or the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) were involved in transporting Francois Bozizé or his family members from the Central African Republic, the Spokesperson said that the answer is no; neither were involved in transporting anyone from the Bozizé family.

Also asked about an incident in which internally displaced people (IDPs) were taken away by armed men in Darfur, and the role of the UN-African Union Mission, UNAMID, in that incident, the Spokesperson said that the matter is being investigated.

And asked about Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defense taking over demining activities in northern Sri Lanka, Nesirky said that the handing over of mine action management and activities to the Ministry of Defense is not a recent initiative. It was planned last year and the handover has always been the ultimate objective.

  There are problems which each of these answers, also e-mailed out on Thursday afternoon, which we'll try to get into this week (Nesirky will be away for the week with Ban Ki-moon in Andorra, San Marino, etc.). 

   But the biggest problem is: none of these answers in the “Highlights” of the briefing were actually GIVEN during the briefing. And a main question asked, on March 25 and 26, who the UN let into Inner City Press' office without notice or consent, who took photos and who they gave them to, has yet to be answered. Video here. This is today's UN. Watch this site.