By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 5 -- In front of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his and France's chief of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous on Tuesday, Democratic Republic of Congo ambassador Ignace Gata Mavita called the M23 rebels “terrorists.” No one responded, at least in the open meeting.
Inner City Press is putting the DRC speech online, here.
Despite even Ladsous admitting that the DRC Army was responsible for at least 126 rapes in Minova from November 22 to 22, Ignace Gata Matava urged the Security Council to think about Congolese women being raped -- with no mention of his government's army's role, or failure to complete investigation in now three and a half months.
The UN says it will not take any action under its supposed Human Rights Due Diligence Policy, which requires suspending assistance to those engaged in abuses like rape, until the Congolese investigation is finished. But Ignace Gata Mavita did not mention Minova, much less any investigation.
Nevertheless the call was made to authorize and fund an intervention brigade, with what Ignace Gata Mavita called “sophisticated equipment” -- that would be Ladsous' drones -- to fight negative forces, of which Ignace Gata Matava's only example was M23, not the FDLR or APCLS or Mai Mai.
Some wonder, if you call your enemies terrorists, and you have drones, what's the next step? Watch this site.