Exclusive: UN Guterres Plan To Cut Uganda Jobs Pushed By China Amid His CEFC Links Servicing FrancAfrique From Montreal

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive, 1st docs, II

UNITED NATIONS GATE, March 11 – At the UN with Antonio Guterres 27 months into his term as Secretary General, there's talk of reform but little transparency. Now that Guterres has changed his failed proposal to move UN jobs out of New York, Uganda and Geneva - now proposing the jobs go to, where else, Shenzhen in China, while Guterres covers up for convicted UN briber China Energy Fund Committee. Inner City Press, which was roughed up and banned from the UN by Guterres amid its questions about his CEFC links, has obtained an advance copy of the UN Advisory Committee on Administration and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) review of Guterres' changes; a close observer summarizes that China to the side bought off Uganda to drop or mitigate its opposition to losing so many jobs. 

Meanwhile even the ACABQ has problems with putting the French language, FrancAfrique serving center in Montreal, many time zones away. From the advance ACABQ, which Inner City Press is exclusively putting online in full: Upon enquiry, the Advisory Committee was informed that since the inception of RSCE, approximately $7.71 million has been invested in RSCE office space, in addition to $9.77 million invested in training and technology facilities which are not related to the scope of the global service delivery model. The Advisory Committee expects the Secretary-General to provide further information to the General Assembly, at the time of its consideration of this report, on the investments made in RSCE. Considering the significant number of proposed abolishments, the investments made in RSCE to date, the request of the General Assembly in resolution 72/266 B, and its key regional role, the Advisory Committee trusts that the Secretary-General will ensure the optimal use of RSCE’s capacity and the implementation of mitigation measures for its affected staff.  The Committee recommends that the General Assembly request the Secretary-General to provide more information on this matter." Then again, Guterres might just get China to buy off or strong-arm those who have questions, for the jobs and Organization he is giving them while concealing his own financial links with CEFC China Energy.

  About Uganda, from the March 8 report: "Upon enquiry, the Advisory Committee was informed that since the inception of RSCE, approximately $7.71 million has been invested in RSCE office space, in addition to $9.77 million invested in training and technology facilities which are not related to the scope of the global service delivery model. The Advisory Committee expects the Secretary-General to provide further information to the General Assembly, at the time of its consideration of this report, on the investments made in RSCE. Considering the significant number of proposed abolishments, the investments made in RSCE to date, the request of the General Assembly in resolution 72/266 B, and its key regional role, the Advisory Committee trusts that the Secretary-General will ensure the optimal use of RSCE’s capacity and the implementation of mitigation measures for its affected staff.  The Committee recommends that the General Assembly request the Secretary-General to provide more information on this matter." Waste of money, to serve China. Guterres also proposing to move jobs to Montreal in Canada, a tip of his cap to Francophonie, and again to Nairobi from Uganda. Inner City Press which has reported exclusively on Guterres' bogus reforms from the beginning, and has for its troubled been roughed up by his Security and banned from entering the UN now for 202 days and counting, will have more on each of these proposals. Significantly, the "Not for distribution" document banned Inner City Press has obtained shows that Guterres aims to cut fully 349 UN jobs in Uganda. We have put in written questions to Guterres and his spokesmen Stephane Dujarric and Farhan Haq, who have not answered this: "January 22-1: On the SG's new Global Service Delivery Mechanism proposal, please immediately state how and why the SG chose China - including in light of the CEFC China Energy UN bribery and Gulbenkian Foundation issues you have refused to answer Inner City Press on - and how Montreal was selected, and how many post Uganda would lose." Seven hours later, no answer. But Inner City Press has the document: 349 jobs to be cut in Entebbe, under Guterres' plan. And now Uganda's Sam Kutesa, implicated in Patrick Ho's bribery for CEFC China Energy, linked to Guterres, is complaining about Guterres and an unnamed consultant, urging Uganda's Parliament to support a second fight. Even banned from entering the UN by Guterres as we cover the bribery, we will cover this. On January 22 the spokesperson for UN PGA Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, Monica Grayley, said that Espinosa's predecessor Sam Kutesa the foreign minister of Uganda who took $500,000 to China Energy Fund Committee will NOT be coming to an event for former PGAs in New York - she didn't say why. We'll have more on this. Here's about Shenzhen - in connection with which, consider Guterres omission of his paid board membership on Gulbenkian Foundation which tried to sell its Partex Oil company to CEFC even after the indictment of its Patrick Ho for UN bribery: "The proposed Global Shared Service Centre in Shenzhen will consist of the Office of the Chief, as well as the Finance Section, headed by a P-5 Section Chief, and the Client Support Unit, headed by a P-4 Unit Chief, who would report to the Chief of the Global Shared Service Centre in Shenzhen. The service centre will also manage a local client support desk staffed by three General Service (Local Level) in Bangkok to provide local client support services. The local client support desk positions will be funded by general temporary assistance for a period of up to two years after implementation. 61. The proposed “Chief of Global Shared Service Centre in Shenzhen” at the D-1 level will report to the Director, Global Shared Services and would be fully accountable for the service quality and operational performance of the Global Shared Service Centre in Shenzhen, including the implementation of the performance management framework at section and individual staff levels. He or she would be responsible for the following: • Implementing the business plan of the Global Shared Service Centre in Shenzhen, whose primary objective is to efficiently and effectively provide administrative transactional services in the areas of financial transactional services; • Planning, managing and overseeing the activities of all administrative and operational components of the service centre; leading and managing the operations of the office of 195 staff (173 posts + 22 GTA positions); • Ensuring effective service delivery and achieving the operational targets and key performance indicators; • Developing and implementing quality control mechanisms in place to improve the quality and timeliness of services;  18 [A/73/706] • Cultivating a culture of client orientation and service delivery by ensuring responsiveness of service centre staff to client queries, systematically evaluating client satisfaction and making adjustments as necessary; • Leading the implementation of change management initiatives focused on process improvements, increased automation and optimization of systems and tools; • Leading the implementation of a communications strategy that provides information to all service centre’s stakeholders through open and frequent communication channels; • Leading the implementation of future service expansions in this service centre location, including expansion of client base, implementation of new services, recruitment for new service sections or units, and upgrade of office facilities and ICT infrastructure as necessary; and • Liaising with the host country as necessary and appropriate on all matters pertaining to the host country agreement. 62. The proposed P-5 post would be section chief of the Finance Section with a number of 164 staff (148 posts + 16 GTA), responsible for leading and overseeing the operations of the section, managing staff performance and resources, and coordinating activities and reports related to budget and staffing. The Finance Section consists of the Accounts Payable Unit (140 staff) and the Special Global Operations Unit (23 staff), which will initially include processes related to bank reconciliation and calculation of travel and shipping lump-sum payments. 63. The seven proposed posts at the P-4 level include the following: • One post would be unit chief of the Client Support Unit (19 staff in the centre + 3 staff in the local client support desk in Bangkok), responsible for the management and operations of the unit to ensure standardized and efficient client support. • One post would be Administrative Officer in the Office of the Chief, responsible for the overall coordination of human resources management, budget preparation and financial management (including funding and cost recovery) for the service centre. • Four posts would be Finance Officers in the Accounts Payable Unit of the Finance Section, responsible for overseeing service delivery and assist the section chief in managing staff performance in the unit. • One post would be Finance Officer in the Special Global Operations Unit, responsible for overseeing service delivery and assist the section chief in managing staff performance in the unit. 64. The ten proposed posts at the P-3 level would include the following: • One Human Resources Officer, a Finance Officer and an Information Systems Officer located in the Office of the Chief, responsible for assisting in the coordination of human resources management, budget preparation, financial management and information technology support for the service centre. • Six Finance Officers assisting the P-4 Finance Officer in overseeing service delivery in the Accounts Payable Unit and the Special Global Operations Unit of the Finance Section. • One Administrative Officer assisting the Chief of the Client Support Unit in overseeing the daily operations of the unit. 65. The proposed P-2 post would be Associate Finance Officer in the Accounts Payable Unit of the Finance Section to assist in ensuring the delivery of transactional services. 66. The proposed fifteen General Service (Principal Level) posts would be responsible for assisting the professional officers in the supervision of larger teams of General Service (Local Level) staff in the 19 [A/73/706] Finance Section (13 PL) and the Client Support Unit (2 PL), as well as carrying out more complex transactions. The 138 General Service (Local level) posts would be responsible for carrying out administrative transactional services in the Finance Section (122 OL), as well as providing client support services in the Client Support Unit (13 OL) and administrative support in the Office of the Chief (3 OL)." On 1 July 2018 there was a claim that the peacekeeping budgets tied to the supposed reforms had been "approved," with no open meeting of the Budget Committee and with Inner City Press which covers it still banned from entering the building on the weekends or evenings when the Committee had consultations, having been ousted June 22 by Guterres' gun-toting guards who refused to give their names. Video here, story here, new petition here.

France's Francois Hollande Day Two, No Formal Exclusion, Just Set-Aside Softball Questions, "Why Not Bomb Syria," No Central African Republic or Mali

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- The day after the entourage of French President Francois Hollande repeatedly ordered the UN accredited Press to leave the UN's Press Briefing Room, on September 24 Hollande held an "open" press conference.

  But after he focused on the French hostage killed in Algeria, the first question was set aside for the old UN Correspondents Association, which not only said nothing about the previous day's abuse of power by the French delegation, but subserviently complied with the order to leave the UN briefing room.

  This time, the head of UNCA was the only flack allowed on the first row (at the other end was a French military man) and asked why France isn't bombing Syria as well as Iraq, other than "you can't do everything." There was some groaning. The difference is obvious: the Iraqi government ASKED for bombing its territory, the government in Syria has not. But still the question: why aren't you bombing Syria?

  Hollande was asked by the second questioner if France is subservient. He rattled on several "firsts," including first to send weapons. They did it in Libya too, air-dropping weapons into the Nafusa mountain that may well still be killing civilians in Syria. Plus ca change.

   A second UNCA insider was called on, the one who had subserviently left the briefing room on September 23, but no one would hear the question.

   A sharp question ended it -- what did France try to do for the hostage -- but Hollande encouraged less reporting, for the family. 

  Inner City Press, hand raised throughout, wanted to asked about Central African Republic. But no. No questions on FrancAfrique, the former French colonies France also sends armed men into.

  France has offered asylum for Christians chased out of Iraq, rightly so. But why not to Muslims it has allowed to be changed out of Bangui? The question wasn't taken. This is how it works, or doesn't.

  On September 23 a briefing by Hollande had been scheduled for 11 am, then was canceled. But at 10:55 am as a previous briefing about climate change was ending, Inner City Press was told to leave the room.

  The question, On whose orders? was not answered. Instead a woman in the French delegation said the room was "reserved." 

   This is not a restaurant, Inner City Press replied, now on behalf of the new Free UN Coalition for Access, which advocates for the rights of journalists and for a Freedom of Information Act covering the UN.

  Another member of the French delegation said loudly, "They'll take away his accreditation." It was not necessarily an idle threat: the UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had looked into the room as this happened. 

   Inner City Press said, if UN Media Accreditation -- or UN Security -- tell me to leave, I will. But not before. Video here.

  Meanwhile the representative of the old UN Correspondents Alliance meekly left; previously, UNCA did nothing when previous French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud in this room told a Lebanese reporter, "You are not a journalist, you are an agent."

  After a time, the woman from Hollande's entourage said that the chief of UN Media Accreditation, whom she made a point of saying she knows well, was not answering the phone. A French security guard told Inner City Press to leave. But this is not their role, in the UN briefing room.

  Finally the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and the new Permanent Representative to the UN came and sat in the front room with Inner City Press and FUNCA.  Hollande appeared from the doorway Spokesman Dujarric had looked out of.

  Hollande said he had come mostly about climate change, but that a French citizen had been taken hostage in Algeria by a group linked with ISIL or "Da'ech," as he called the group. He said arms deliveries would continue; he noted the previous night's air strikes, by others, on Syria.

  Hollande said he would meet in the afternoon with the Syrian Opposition Coalition's Hadi al Bahra, who he called the only legitimate leader of Syria. Then he left without taking questions.

  The day before, UNCA hosted al Bahra (as they had his predecessor Ahmad Jarba) in the clubhouse the UN gives this group, publicized only to those which pay it dues. Given that UNCA did nothing when Araud told the Lebanese reporter "you are not a journalist, you are an agent," why didn't Hollande hold his press conference in the club of UNCA, the UN's Censorship Alliance?

   

On Central African Republic, Ladsous & Araud Spin AFP Praise of Sri Lanka, FrancAfrique

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 16 --At the UN, how does colonialism work? 

  Let's consider the consecutive "press availabilities" on Central African Republic by Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row atop UN Peacekeeping, and outgoing French Ambassador Gerard Araud, then the resulting "reporting" of Agence France Presse.

   Araud never spoke on camera, instead standing in an area called the "Turkish Lounge" speaking to French reporters. Ladsous came to the camera, but hand-picked four questions, three in French.

  AFP quoted Araud that CAR will be getting helicopter patrols from the Sri Lankan army -- but neither AFP not Araud apparently mentioned the UN Human Rights Council probe into war crimes by Sri Lanka's army.

  In fact, AFP's story doesn't mention the slaughter of Muslims in CAR, and the French Serval force's alleged role in it. Instead, its single mention of Muslim links their actions to their own slaughter: "CAR has been in crisis since the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in a March 2013 coup." 

  This is how colonialism and propaganda work at the UN. It's ironic because it was Araud who on April 15 told a Lebanese reporter, "You are not a journalist, you are an agent."

   When UN Peacekeeping's Ladsous said he would take questions about peacekeeping in the Central African Republic, Inner City Press arrived early to ask about reports the current MISCA peacekeepers have killed civilians, for example in Bozoum, here.

  Ladsous however refused to answer the question. First he sought out a softball question in French; then when the Press question about MISCA in Bozoum was asked, he shook his head and said, “I give the floor to Madame.”

  Earlier in the afternoon at the same UN Television stakeout, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Rwanda had answered Inner City Press' question by stating that Ladsous' Department of Peacekeeping Operations not only flew a sanctioned FDLR militia leader in the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- Ladsous has also refused to answer Rwanda's formal June 26 complaint.

   So Inner City Press asked that question, politely but audibly. Again Ladsous refused to answer, looking desperately around for a friendly question.

 Ladsous has adopted this position -- video compilation here-- since Inner City Press asked him about his history during the Rwanda genocide in 1994, as France's Deputy Permanent Representative in the Security Council arguing for the escape of genocidaires into Eastern Congo, sample memo here.

  It was and is a straightforward question, the type public officials answer every day. But Ladsous has refused, and has gone further.

   Because Ladsous is protected -- was nominated -- by the French government which has controlled UN Peacekeeping four times in a row now, this anamoly is allowed to go on inside the UN. 

  Here's how it look from outside, in the UK New Statesman. And here is a video of Ladsous ordering his spokesperson to take the microphone away so that questions about rapes by his partners in the DRC Army could not be asked. 

  Here is a video of Ladsous taking the friendly scribes atop the UN Correspondents Association into the hall for a private briefing. To this has the UN descended.

  More seriously, UN Peacekeeping by most accounts brought cholera to Haiti, which has killed over 8,000 people. Inner City Press asked Ladsous, loud and clear (but nothing but polite) if his DPKO now belatedly screens peacekeepers from cholera hot spots before deployment. 

  Ladsous refused to answer. To this has the UN descended. The new Free UN Coalition for Access has formally proposed that UN Under Secretaries General not be allowed to take this approach. Watch this site.

   

On Boko Haram, France's Hollande Says Goodluck Jonathan Asked Him to Lead -- But Why? Of FrancAfrique and Colonial Echoes

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 17 -- On Boko Haram and the abducted and enslaved school girls in Nigeria, French president Francois Hollande on May 17 said his Nigerian counterpart Goodluck Jonathan had asked France to take the lead.

  If that is true, why would it be? Even Hollande said France would not directly act, only provide training, intelligence and drones, as the US and UK are doing.

  Inner City Press would note that Nigeria fought of British colonialism, and so would turn elsewhere in Europe for a sponsor, at least of such a conference.

  The colonial card was repeatedly raised by Hollande, who bragged on May 17 about intervention in Mali -- saying France has "only" one thousand troops left there, amid new fighting in Kidal, and the Central African Republic.

  Ironically Hollande said Boka Haram gets weapons from Libya -- where France air dropped in weapons into the Nafusa mountains. If as Hollande claims there was not enough follow up, whose fault is that?

  So as Hollande popularity collapses in France itself, is FrancAfrique growing? 

   Hollande made claims of commitment to freedom of information. But his outgoing ambassador at the UN Gerard Araud has refused to answer critical Press questions about French Serval and Sangaris forces actions in Mali and CAR. Herve Ladsous the fourth Frenchman in a row to run UN Peacekeeping outright and repeatedly refuses Press questions, based on his own role in the Rwanda genocide in 1994, Ladsous memo here.

  Meanwhile a recently-circulated UN report on Children and Armed Conflict has two pages on Boko Haram and Nigeria, as a “situation not on the agenda of the Security Council” (although Nigeria is an elected member of the Security Council for 2014-15).

The report shows the state of knowledge of Boko Haram's attacks on children and students well before the most recent kidnappings. The report at Paragraph 182 expresses particular concern at “targeted attacks on schools by Boko Haram, which were on the increase in Yobe and Borno States since October 2012 and throughout 2013, resulting in the killing of at least 100 children and 70 teachers.”

And what was done?

The UN report continues, “in March 2013, at least 11 schools in Borno State were attacked resulting in the killing of at least seven teachers and three children. In June, two secondary schools were attacked in Yobe and Borno States, resulting in the killing of seven school children and two teachers in Yobe and eight boys and two girls in Borno. In July, a Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, publicly stated that they would burn schools and kill teachers and the group claimed responsibility for an attack on 6 July on a secondary school in Mamudo, Yobe State, killing at least 29 1 children and one teacher, some of them burned alive.”

The “1” after the figure 29 does not lead to any footnote.

These advance copies have been known to be changed before "final" release, in a process for which a description, and then proposals for reform, were provided here and then here.

   

As Chad Eyes Sudan Deal, It Got 300 French Troops to Watch Libya, From Burkina Faso to Francophonie - or , FrancAfrique

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 8 -- While Sudan and its president Omar al Bashir, indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court, are being criticized by the US if not Herve Ladsous' UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, they're said on the brink of another deal with Chad.

  The Gazette de N'djamena today reports that Chad's President Deby is so upset with Cameroon for hosting former Central African Republic president Bozize that he intends to shift his and Chad's business over to Port Sudan.

  Meanwhile a buzz in the UN is that French bought the acquiescence of Chad, with its two-year Security Council seat, to a UN mission in CAR by committing to send 300 French special forces to Northern Chad to help keep out trouble from Libya. 

  The deal is said to have been cut when Deby last dropped in on Francois Hollande in the Elysee Palace -- it's like a Mafi social club in New Jersey, in the iconic teledrama The Sopranos.

 Meanwhile another French ally under fire, in Burkina Faso, is said to be vying to a soft landing atop La Francophonie. But the current occupant of the position would have to agree. Tony Soprano -- excuse us, France -- can make that happen.

  On Darfur, amid attacks on civilians in late February, and the blocking of African Union - UN peacekeepers of UNAMID from accessing the sites, the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations under Herve Ladsous in New York had said little.

   Back in July 2013 Ladsous met with Sudan's president Omar al Bashir, indicted for genocide in Darfur by the International Criminal Court, but has refused to say why, despite critiques from some human rights groups, the Press and implicitly Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor of the ICC.  This is Ladsous: film & UK.

  On the morning of March 8 US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki issued this statement:

We are deeply concerned by the recent escalation of violence by the Sudanese Government-supported Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Darfur. The United States strongly condemns attacks on civilians and calls upon the Government of Sudan to prevent further violence and to cease its own campaign of aerial bombardments.

On February 27th, the RSF, with media reports of support from the Sudanese Air Force, burned homes and attacked civilians outside of Nyala, resulting in multiple casualties and thousands of displaced civilians in Darfur. On February 23rd members of the RSF attacked and robbed internally displaced persons from the Kalma Camp in South Darfur, according to media reports. The Government of Sudan has refused to allow UNAMID peacekeepers access to the area to investigate these incidents.

We urge the Government of Sudan to uphold its commitments and allow UNAMID peacekeepers unhindered and immediate access to these areas, as mandated by the African Union and the United Nations.

The people of Darfur have suffered insecurity, violence and atrocities for far too long. Together with the international community, we urge the Government of Sudan and the armed movements active in Darfur to begin an inclusive and comprehensive political dialogue to achieve a peaceful resolution to the conflicts in Sudan and reestablish the rule of law.

   But where is Ladsous' DPKO? 

  Back on February 4, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's lead spokesperson Martin Nesirkyabout a full-on critique of UN Peacekeeping's Darfur mission by its former spokesperson, Aicha Elbasri:

Inner City Press: On Darfur, maybe you have something on the Government ordering the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) to suspend operations. And I also wanted to know if there’s any response from the UN to former UNAMID [African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur] spokesperson Aicha Elbasri. She’s gone public, saying basically that, while serving as spokesperson of UNAMID, she wasn’t given information; that the Mission under-reports abuses of civilians and other developments in Darfur. I wanted to know, what’s the response of the UN to that?

Spokesperson Nesirky: I’d have to check with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations on both of those.

  So, respecting that, Inner City Press waited. The answers weren't directly provided by e-mail as the UN does with other, but read out at the noon briefing, apparently to see if anyone else might report more positively on them (no one did)

"we were asked about reporting by the African Union–UN Mission on developments in Darfur. UNAMID notes that it reports verified information on the situation in Darfur to the United Nations and to the African Union on a daily basis. This information is then made public in the Secretary-General’s quarterly reports to the Security Council and, as the situation warrants, in press statements."

  To a casual or ill-informed listener, it sounded like a legitimate answer. But as the UN and its Department of Peacekeeping Operations under Herve Ladsous know, this is part of Aicha Elbasri's critique:

"On 24 April I resigned from UNAMID and wrote my end-of-mission report requesting the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to look into UNAMID’s violations of the UN Public Information policy which calls for open, transparent and honest information-sharing with the media. I didn't receive any response. On past August, I requested the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services to open an investigation into the matter. The information I shared with them should have made anyone who cares about the people of Darfur and the UN values and policies jump, call me and take a quick action. What I received so far is a deafening silence. And I can no longer wait, because every day that goes by, more men, women and children die in Darfur in total impunity and invisibility. So today I will break the UN code of conduct and share with you some confidential photos and information that show the African Union, the United Nations and UNAMID’ conspiracy of silence."

  Surely Ladsous' DPKO (and Carman Lapointe's OIOS) know what Aicha Elbasri submitted. But the public response was as set forth above.

  Ban Ki-moon tried to send his former speechwriter Michael Meyer to Sudan as communications chief of UNAMID; it never happened. Now Meyer is in Nairobi, "dean of the graduate school of media and communications at Aga Khan University." On the ICRC, Inner City Press checked and has found that inquiry was made - by the ICRC, not the UN -- with Sudan's "HAC." We'll have more on all this. Watch this site.

   

In Mali, Kidal was UNheard in Mopti by UNSC, After Killings, Gang Rapes UNresolved, Servile like Serval

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 2 -- With UN Security Council members in Mali, it is one thing that they did not visit the north due to safety concerns. But given the centrality of Kidal to the split in the country, how could their meeting in Mopti with "civil society" from the north not include Kidal? 

  It is confirmed, by French-selected scribes: the Council met with it "civil society from Timbuktu, Gao and Mopti" - and NOT from Kidal. But the scribes, typically, did not question the omission, much less disparities in description of killings in Kidal or the lack of transparency by the UN about gang rapes by its peacekeepers, despite claims of "zero tolerance."

  On February 3, France's Operation Serval is set to make a presentation. While the Security Council has so far remained silent about France's Operation Sangaris' killings in Central African Republic, and taking sides and leaving some at risk as even Navi Pillay noted, more should be expected in person in Mali.

MaliActu, a publication on which the government in Bamako has previously cracked down and threatened, reported that Kidal was notrepresented in the meeting: "Les émissaires de l’ONU ont rencontré les représentants de la société civile -chefs religieux ou traditionnels, fonctionnaires- de Mopti, Gao, et Tombouctou, mais pas de Kidal."  

  It and the below are important issues, but are not addressed in the tweetsand facebook-ed statements of the Council members on the trip, much less in MINUSMA's upbeat photos of Bert Koenders and France's Gerard Araud inspecting the troops. 

   Did the Security Council, led by France and Chad, meet with leaders from Kidal or not? Especially given the dipute, below, about killings in Kidal?

  So far, the way France arranges this trips like the one to the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year, there is too little media coverage, at least online, about the trip. 

   The MINUSMA mission, which is releasing interesting photographs,directed its promotions to only one media: Radio France Internationale. And RFI has now published a piece calling French Ambassador Gerard Araud statement "a la fois tres nuancee et tres claire" -- at once nuanced and clear. Hmm.

   Alongside a growing with of tweets (beginning with UK, Lithuania, US,now joined by Luxembourg, Bert Koenders and Araud inspecting the troops),, the Council members have returned to Bamako. Not yet mentioned: the UNresolved charges of gang rape by the UN peacekeepers from Chad.

  If the UN's and Security Council's stated policies on sexual violence and conflict and "Zero Tolerance" mean anything, the issue will have to be addressed, and publicly, during the two day trip.

  Back on January 16 the UN Spokesperson's Office sent Inner City Press this response, which does not answer the question of accountability. But here it is, in full:

Subject: Your question on Mali
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 3:23 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

In response to your question about the follow-up to the allegations of sexual assault by United Nations peacekeepers in MINUSMA in September 2013, we have received the following information:

The Department of Peacekeeping Operations officially notified the Government of Chad of these allegations in late September. The Government of Chad officially responded, saying that it would take responsibility for the investigations. The Government of Chad has further advised the Department of Peacekeeping Operations that it has completed the national investigation, and the United Nations awaits advice on the outcome of the investigations and follow-up accountability measures as appropriate.

  The UN is waiting for "advice" -- but will it ever make it public? How else can the UN's stated Human Rights Due Diligence Policy be assessed?

  On January 17, Inner City Press asked UN acting deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq about it. From the UN's transcript, video here and embedded below:

Inner City Press: On Mali, I wanted to thank you for this written answer you gave yesterday afternoon that Mali has said that its completed its investigation of the alleged rape in Mali by the Chadian troops. And it said that the UN awaits advice on the outcome of the investigation. And what I wanted to know is whether… what part of that is going to be made public, given both the human rights due diligence policy, etcetera? I appreciate you saying that the investigation is finished, but, has… did they clear the soldiers? Were the soldiers found guilty? Where does it stand?

Acting Deputy Spokesperson Haq: As we emailed to you, the Mission does await advice on the outcome of the proceedings. We know that there have been proceedings regarding the case. You know this is a case regarding sexual assault and so, we await further information from that. We’ll try to make public what we can of the information that we receive.

Inner City Press: So, they literally just told you that it’s complete, but…no indication on what was done? I guess I wonder when --

Acting Deputy Spokesperson: The information I have in the email that was sent to you is the information we have. If we have any further updates, we’ll share it with you at that point.

  Two weeks later, nothing. So what will members of the Security Council ask, find and make public?

  One of the UN's other too-few criticisms of military action in north Mail, the shooting into a crowd of protesters in Kidal on November 28, was disputed in the Security Council on January 16.

  In a statement prepared like a defense attorney, trying raise reasonable doubt, Mali's Permanent Representative Sekou Kasse said that the UN Mission MINUSMA elements closest to the shooting were 400 meters away, precluding them from "objective" testimony. 

  The argument made was one must wait for the ballistic analysis ordered by the Malian government itself. Will that be credible? Shouldn't the Council, or less "invested" Council members, inquire into this during the two day visit?

 Again, similarly, can statements by the French Mission to the UN, about military action in its former colony Mali and related topics, be believed? If so, does that require disbelieving the UN itself, whose reports are different?

  In the run-up to the UN Security Council's January 16 meeting on Mali, both France and the UN Mission MINUSMA filed reports. It's worth comparing their accounts of the same incidents, for example on October 23, 2013 in Tessalit.

France gave a Polyanna report emphasizing its good works and downplaying death:

"On 23 October 2013, in response to an attack on a Chadian post in Tessalit by a commando made up of three armed terrorist groups using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, the Operation Serval Liaison and Support Detachment assigned to the Chadian battalion assisted MINUSMA by conducting a patrol with a Mirage 2000D jet and sending a CASA 'Nurse' medical evacuation aircraft. The end result was that six wounded Chadians were evacuated and the remaining explosives were neutralized."

  The UN by contrast recounts seven deaths including five civilians (one child) and two peacekeepers:

"On 23 October, four individuals drove and detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device into a MINUSMA checkpoint in Tessalit. Seven people were killed, including four adult civilians, a six-year-old boy and two MINUSMA peacekeepers."

  This type of disparities in reporting - misleading - would and should be delved into into during the two day Council trip. How and where will these disparities be explained?

  One might say, ask at the Security Council stakeout. But in mid JanuaryFrench Permanent Representative Gerard Araud used the stakeout to rail against publication of a New York Police Department document concerning a French diplomat -- contrasting with the case of Indian diplomat Khobragade -- an NYPD document on which Araud's French Mission to the UN had declined to comment, responding only with threats that publication would a "hostile act."

 While continuing to pursue that, particularly given developments in the Khobragade case, delving into the French report, and the roles of UN Peacekeeping, MINUSMA and their respective leadership(s), should be done - including by the Council during their two days "on the ground." Watch this site.