On Darfur, US Concerned at Violence in Jebal Marra, Ladsous' UNAMID Silent

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 18 -- Even the UN's audit unit finds that its joint peacekeeping mission in Darfur, UNAMID, is unsatisfactory. This was the rating in a UN Office of Internal Oversight Services audit that Inner City Press has uploaded on November 4, 2015 here. 

 Nor surprisingly, UNAMID's unsatisfactory performance resulted in loss of confidence in it by local populations, in the UN's parlance, and in IDPs taking to protecting themselves. 

Now on February 18, the US has issued this:

"The United States is deeply concerned about the increased violence against civilians and the grave humanitarian situation in and around Jebel Marra, Darfur.  Initial attacks by the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid opposition group on Sudanese armed forces prompted a response by Sudan’s military that included aerial bombardments despite the UN Security Council demand that Sudan cease offensive military flights over Darfur.  These attacks have forced 73,000 people to flee their homes, and thousands more are trapped in the conflict zone of Jebel Marra without access to aid.

The United States calls on both the Government of Sudan and the armed movements of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) to re-commit to their cessation of hostilities declarations for Darfur and in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.  We welcome the recent absence of major offensive action in South Kordofan and urge all parties to show the same restraint in Darfur and also in Blue Nile state, where government and opposition forces each carried out attacks last month.

There is no military solution to Sudan’s internal conflicts.  We call on the Government of Sudan and the SRF to de-escalate the violence and work with the African Union and others to agree to a comprehensive cessation of hostilities agreement that will allow immediate and unfettered humanitarian access for Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile.  We also urge the government to create an environment conducive to the participation of armed movements and other political opposition parties in a comprehensive and inclusive national dialogue that addresses systemic governance issues in Sudan. "

Back on November 9, 2015, Inner City Press asked the UN about other reports of under-performance by UNAMID under Herve Ladsous. From the UN transcript:

Inner City Press: The Tabit [rape question] is very simple.  You may have seen the Independent article.

Spokesman:  I did, but I have nothing to add to what we've said on Tabit.

Question:  And the underlying report they're reporting on by the NGO [non-governmental organization] in the U.K. makes various recommendations that UNAMID (United Nations-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur) have community liaisons that they don't leave West Darfur.  If there's… is there a DPKO (Department of Peacekeeping Operations) response?

Spokesman:  I do not have one with me.

  How surprising. Inner City Press is informed of belated discussions among Permanent Five members of the Security Council of Ladous being a liability, whether he can even stay to the end of Ban Ki-moon's term. Watch this site.

Back in late September during the UN General Assembly frenzy week in New York, in Darfur another UN Peacekeepers was killed and four wounded. Meanwhile Sudan said that its Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour will meet with the State Department on UNGA's margins.

  The UN's Herve Ladsous met with Omar al Bashir; more recently on September 11, 2015, Ladsous linked Peackeepers' rapes with "R&R." When will this be addressed and acted on?

That human rights abuses continue in Darfur with cover-ups by the Peacekeeping mission UNAMID should be shouted from the rooftops. Instead, Human Rights Watch on September 9 the issue behind closed doors with the UN's Censorship Alliance.

   That was at 11 am. But at the UN noon briefing, no one from UNCA asked any questions about Darfur, or Sudan, to the UN. Inner City Press asked this:

Inner City Press: the press inside Sudan is carrying a lot of the coverage of President [Omar al] Bashir saying that he's going to end, you know, by force if necessary or by force certainly all rebellions within Sudan in 2016.  This is viewed as a kind of a… an end of the discussion process and the beginning of a purely military process.  Is… is the… the joint Special Representative aware of it?  Is there any response by the UN to this statement by the President?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, we would take seriously any threats to continue or to exacerbate the conflicts on the ground in Sudan.  You… you've seen the efforts we've made on the ground diplomatically and through our peacekeeping and humanitarian offices to deal with the situation, and we do not want to see any further deterioration of a conflict which, as you know, has been running for many, many years already.  [Video here.]

  What was the point of doing this briefing about Darfur, where the UNAMID mission is covering up, not in the UN briefing room - where on September 10 another NGO holds a briefing, sponsored by Canada -- but in the Censors' Club?

  Neither organization has offered any criticism of UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, as he sought to cover up rapes in the Central African Republic (and Darfur and DRC before), and openly refuses to answer Press questions about it.

 As to Darfur, Ladsous met with Sudan's ICC-indicted Omar al Bashir, something HRW was notably silent about as on the cover up of the French troops' rapes in Central African Republic by Ladsous - as reflected in UN Dispute Tribunal rulings.

  Wouldn't one want to ask the UN about its (in)action on Darfur? Otherwise, why do the press "in" the UN?

  To hold a press conference in the UN's actual Press Briefing Room requires only the sponsorship of a single member state; then the event is on UN Webcast and journalists who decline to support the UN's Censorship Alliance participation. But this is HRW's choice, just as they refused to provide even a summary of the issues they raised when granted a meeting with Ban Ki-moon -- contrary to the approach of other human rights groups.

  In terms of holding accessible press conferences in the UN, not going behind closed doors and off UN Webcast with the UN Censorship Alliance, consider in the same week, on September 10 at 10:30, a press conference in the UN Press Briefing Room on the plight of children in the Central African Republic; we'll cover it.

  The past and present head of UNCA, back after a long vacation, has yet to ask any questions of the UN. Previously, he sought to censor coverage of his renting one of his apartment to Sri Lanka's then Ambassador Palitha Kohona. (Running a letter he could write about when he rented the apartment, and its relations or not to UNCA's screening of the Sri Lankan government's war crimes denial film Lies Agreed To, was not enough: he demanded all coverage be removed from the Internet: censorship.) These are HRW's partners? We'll have more on this. This event, in any case, conflicts with a Security Council meeting about Syria. So it goes.

Background:  In February 2015 with UN Peacekeeping underLadsous still providing few to no updates on its UNAMID mission's November 9 covering up of rapes in Darfur, just as Ladsous stonewalled about mass rapes in Minova in the DR Congo, here, some soft on the UN try to raise the issue without blaming those responsible for the cover-up.

  The report put out by Human Rights Watch had 48 pages, but does not mention UN Peacekeeping boss Ladsous once, nor his similar cover up of rapes in Minova in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, video here. What kind of report is this?

 Tellingly, in trying to "launch" this soft-on-Ladsous report inside the UN, Human Rights Watch instead of holding a regular press conference in the UN Press Briefing Room as other NGOs do has chosen to partner with the UN Censorship Alliance, a group whose board has tried to get investigative Press thrown out of the UN, including for its reporting on Ladsous. 

 On February 11, added to the UN's "Media Alert" is a meeting between Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and this Sudanese government official: "Ibrahim Ghandour, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chairman of the National Congress, Republic of Sudan."

  So will Ban be demanded access -- second access, after Ladsous' initial cover up -- to Tabit?

  While some claim that Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping is trying to get back to Tabit, on Feburary 10 a Sudanese diplomat told Inner City Press he had met with Ladsous on February 9 and "it was nice." How's that, for Ladsous' supposed commitment to get to the bottom of rapes and rights abuses?

 Instead, in order to NOT move against the FDLR militia, Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping is now claiming to care too much for human rights to support the Congolese Army's supposed offensive against the FDLR -- which, the UN belatedly acknowledged to Inner City Press, has not even begun.

  But on the Tabit rapes, that the Sudanese diplomat without irony described his February 9 meeting with Ladsous has "nice" is telling.

  It is easy and appropriate, of course, to blame Sudan, as it was and is to blame the Congolese Army and government for the rapes in Minova. But there is a pattern, and until UN Peacekeeping's senior leadership's cover up of these incidents - and even silence on dead peacekeepers for more than a week -- nothing will improve.

  So why is Human Rights Watch, which alongside its detailed work goes out of its way not to criticize the UN and especially Ladsous, for example on Central African Republic, as Inner City Press reported here, partnering to hold a privatized event on Tabit, not in the UN Press Briefing Room but among friends, as they say?

 Why have HRW and its hosts said nothing about posts in UN Peacekeeping under Ladsous being sold for money, exclusively exposedby Inner City Press on February 7, asked about February 9, and partially answered by the UN on February 10, here? 

  Any country can sponsor such a briefing in the UN Press Briefing Room. But HRW hides behind and in the clubhouse of the UN Censorship Alliance, Board members of which in the past have ordered changes to articles about Ladsous - and about Sri Lanka, more here. Human rights? Hardly.  Look how Human Rights Watch's selectively distributed invitation whitewashes UN Peacekeeping's and Ladsous' role:

"Between October 30 and November 1, 2014, Sudanese government forces entered Tabit, North Darfur, and carried out massive abuses against the town’s residents, including a mass rape of women and girls. Sudan responded by denying the abuses and has refused to allow international peacekeepers and other independent monitors to investigate the crimes."

  This is misleading - Ladsous' UNAMID was in Tabit on November 9, and put out a press release whitewashing the rapes and saying the people there like the government's security forces. This was shameful.

 More publicly, Inner City Press on January 26 asked Security Council ambassadors Mark Lyall Grant of the UK and Raimonda Murmokaite of Lithuania, "what happened with UNAMID going back for real investigation of rapes in Tabit?"

  Lyall Grant replied, "We continue to press DPKO to encourage UNAMID to revert on the Tabit allegations."

   Murmokaite added, "have been raising the issue at consultations, will continue."

 And so Inner City Press at the January 26 UN noon briefing asked Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, video here:

Inner City Press: two of the Security Council ambassadors this morning said they continued to ask DPKO to ensure that the Tabit site of alleged mass rapes is revisited. I want to know has any action been taken on that? Has there been any move by UNAMID?

Spokesman Dujarric: The request to visit Tabit stands. There's nothing to report.

 Nothing to report? Back on January 8 Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, video here:

Inner City Press: what has the UN system done in order to get access again to Thabit in Darfur, where there were allegedly 200 rapes, and then the Government didn’t allow any inspectors. What have you done since we last spoke on it? 

SG Ban: As for the first part of the question, as you know, we tried to have a thorough investigation. This report might not have been sufficient because of the lack of full cooperation of the authorities on the ground. That has really hampered our authorities to go into the field and get a thorough investigation. It is important that we have to have a thorough investigation and as a matter of principle, there should be a clear accountability process and justice. I am firm about this matter. And we will, in the course of time, have better information on this matter. 

  While appreciated, it is widely recognized that the more time goes by, the more difficult a credible rape investigation becomes. So why did UNAMID issue a cover-up November 9 press release? 

In Darfur, UN Staff Cited Code Cables Frozen by Mindaouduo, Ladsous Promoted, No Answer from DPKO

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive series

UNITED NATIONS, July 6-- When discussion turns to cover ups in Darfur, the role most covered up is that of the UN itself. Inner City Press has reported in detail how the mass rape in Tabit in November 2014 was covered up by UNAMID, run for the UN by Herve Ladsous, who has met with Omar Bashir while refusing Press questions about that and his role in covering up rapes in the Central African Republic.

 On June 30 Inner City Press exclusively reported on the UN's attempt to cover up a senior P5 staff member's complaint against high official Aichatou Mindaouduo at UNAMID, before she was promoted by Herve Ladsous to head his mission in former French colony Cote d'Ivoire. (Inner City Press asked Aichatou Mindaouduo questions, which she declined to answer on UN microphone, while still better than Ladsous.)

  The P5 staff member is Oriano Micaletti. In Darfur, he was head of the UNAMID Humanitarian Protection Strategy, as which he reported for example that "approximately 400,000 people are displaced in Jebel Marra area. They have received very limited assistance during the last few years and are in urgent need of humanitarian aid."

  Amid the UN's near-systemic cover up in Darfur, Micaletti filed a complaint about higher UNAMID official Mindaouduo. Now Inner City Press begins publishing portions of that complaint, for example that Mindaouduo began demanding that all reports of his Sections "be cleared with her Office. Consequently any Code Cable or report prepared by my Sections once transmitted to her Office have been frozen."

 This is precisely the type of cover up of attacks on civilians that are the pattern in UNAMID and more generally throughout UN Peacekeeping under Ladsous.

  The question we have as we review the detailed complaint(s) against Mindaouduo is why Ladsous promoted her up, to SRSG in Cote d'Ivoire. On this, we'll have more.

  After on June 30 publishing the exclusive report, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq about it on July 1:

Inner City Press:  I have three questions, and they are questions.  One has to do with a self-described whistleblower of UNAMID [United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur], a Mr. Oriano Micaletti, who says that he's being investigated after he filed the complaint against Ms. Mindaoudou, who's now the head…

Deputy Spokesman:  Mindaoudou.  Aichatou Mindaoudou.

Inner City Press:  Okay — who's now the Head of the mission in Côte d’Ivoire.  And basically, I mean, one, I wanted to… if you can confirm, one, that he filed the complaint, two, that he's under investigation, and the third thing, which I only learned this morning, is that, is he… is the investigation of what occurred in Darfur being conducted from Juba rather than from Darfur, due to a failure of the board of inquiry or the investigators to get visas?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  I don't have details about an investigation.  What I can say about Mr. Micaletti is that the abolition of his position was part of a streamlining exercise undertaken in 2014 following Security Council Resolution 2148.  As part of this exercise, UNAMID's structure has been reorganized to improve its capacity and responsiveness to the new strategic priorities endorsed by the Security Council following a review conducted in 2014.  This led to the abolishment of a total number of 1,260 posts, including that of Mr. Micaletti, which was identified following a process conducted by a work group comprised of the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support and the UN mission, UNAMID, and endorsed by the Under-Secretaries-General of Peacekeeping Operations and of Field Support, as well as the Fifth Committee and its resolution in December 2014 approving UNAMID's 2014-2015 budget.

Inner City Press:  Just one thing on that.  Because I see he's been quoted on Radio Dabanga and other places since then on, for example, displacement of people in Darfur due to Government attacks.  And so is there any… has there been any review?  I understand all the resolution numbers that you've listed.  But that the elimination of these posts doesn't end up further reducing UNAMID's reporting on impacts on civilians in Darfur?  Because that seems to have been what his job was.

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, we have been trying to make sure the key functions of UNAMID will continue.  This is why we've been in dialogue with the Government, as you know, and as part of that, we've also been in dialogue with the Security Council to make sure that the key functions of the UN mission, UNAMID, the UN-African Union Mission, will continue.

Inner City Press:  Is it possible to find out whether this board, because he says… he himself says he's under investigation, but it's being conducted from Juba and not from El Fasher or Khartoum or elsewhere within the actual countries.

Deputy Spokesman:  Sure.  I can check.  Have a good afternoon.  

  In the six days after, no information was provided. So on July 6, Inner City Press asked Haq again. He said he had no more information, but that he had asked (Ladsous) DPKO. That's the Ladsousification of the UN.

  And even if the UN Security Council directed to cut posts in UNAMID, wouldn't that begin with VACANT posts, not those few reporting on attacks on civilians? We'll have more on this. 

  As noted, amid the UN's near-systemic cover up in Darfur, Micaletti filed a complaint about higher UNAMID official Mindaouduo. That's when his problems, leading to him losing his position, began. As Micaletti set forth in a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Susana Malcorra which Inner City Press has obtained:

“In 2013, I filed a harassment complaint against Ms. Aichatou Mindaouduo. Exactly 10 days later, her Special Assistant deliberately  provoked a situation that led to an altercation and a physical confrontation. No action was taken against me because the mission was aware of the provocations that led to the incident.  Those reasons are contained in a code cable that transmitted the case to New York. That cable was suppressed by DFS. It was not forwarded to OHRM. A new transmittal was crafted a year later to refer the case to OHRM by DFS that materially misrepresented the facts.

“It was on the basis of this new transmittal that my services were eventually terminated. I brought these facts to the attention of OHRM and asked for a proper  investigation, but my concerns were totally ignored by OHRM.

“The fact that the other party provoked the incident and lied about it was not taken into account by OHRM. I even appealed the decision to continue with the disciplinary case without a proper investigation to the UNDT, but OHRM acted without bothering to wait for the court's decision on my appeal.

“In the meantime my P-5 post in UNAMID (I am a continuing appointment holder) was abolished even though at least four vacant posts and a good number of fixed term were saved.  There is no satisfactory explanation why my post was selected for abolition under these circumstances, other than the fact that the decision was made by someone in New York.

“The Aichatou case that set all this in motion was itself not investigated. When I tried to follow up more than six months later, DFS set up a low level fact finding panel that reached its conclusions without even interviewing the UNAMID JSR, the DJSR/OPERATIONS or the Chief of Staff who were privy to the pattern of harassment I had been subjected to...Mr. Ladsous had sought informal resolution of the Aichatou case after having promoted her without first resolving the harassment complaint against her.”

  While further answers will be sought, it must be noted that Herve Ladsous openly refuses Press questions, now abetted by the UN Spokesperson. But with all due respect to others involved in this alleged case of retaliation, these questions must be answered, not spun through scribes. Ladsous relatedly appears in a UN Dispute Tribunal ruling as urging the firing of another UN whistleblower, Anders Kompass, who did not simply sit on a report about the rape of children in the Central African Republic by French soldiers. What is the common denominator here? Watch this site.

   

In Sudan, UN Peacekeeping Preparing to Leave West Darfur Amid 130,000 IDPs, Tabit Not Mentioned

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 10, more here -- While the humanitarian side of the UN warns of 130,000 “unverified” Internally Displaced Persons in Jebel Marra in Darfur, the UN is preparing to pull out of West Darfur and close “team” sites in North and South Darfur, the UN Security Council heard on June 10.

 The Council members didn't hear this from UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who previously helped cover up raped in Tabit in Darfur as in Minova in DR Congo before. Ladsous was conveniently out of town, even as another UN Peacekeeping sex scandal broke, this time about Haiti. Rather, the Council heard from Ladsous' deputy Edmond Mulet.

  On the one hand, Mulet said  that “the exit strategy is also based on the gradual and phase withdrawal of UNAMID's force from West Darfur where there have not been any major activities by armed groups or inter-communal fighting in the past two years... This approach would reflect the Mission's effort to demonstrate flexibility and efficiency by reducing its size. As part of this, UNAMID would also close three other team sites in North and South Darfur that, in accordance with the findings of the recently concluded military capability study, are assessed to be in areas that do not necessitate the Mission's presence.”

  On the other hand, citing OCHA, Mulet said that “the second phase of the Government's military offensive, 'Operation Decisive Summer' has resulted in high numbers of newly displacced people. Humanitarian organizations estimate that at least 78,000 people have been newly displaced by conflict in Darfur this year. In addition, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs received reports of some 130,000 additional Internally Displaced Persons but was not yet able to verify. Most of these unverified IDPs are said to be in the Jebel Marra area, where the heaviest fighting has been taking place and which is mostly inaccessible for humanitarian partners.”

  After Sudan's deputy ambassador criticized Mulet's briefing inside the Security Council chamber, Inner City Press to the side of the stakeout asked him if JEM if, in the government's view, the last rebel group fighting. He nodded, then strolled down the UN's second floor hallway.Periscope video (for now) here.

Background: Amid charges that the UN in Sudan, including Herve Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping in Darfur, has colluded with the authorities in Khartoum to cover up rapes and killing, the UN in December said it would fight to keep its Resident Coordinator Ali Al Za'tari in the country.

  That was the UN's response to Za'tari being ordered to leave Sudan by January 2, Inner City Press first reported. Inner City Press similarly exclusively reported, and asked the UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about, Sudan's ouster of UNDP Country Director Yvonne Heller on December 24. 

  But did the UN follow through on its vow to push-back? No, the UN remained quiet when it ended up replacing Za'atari, as Inner City Press noticed and asked about on March 31, video here, transcript below

Inner City Press: I wanted to go back to Sudan, because remember there was that standoff about the Resident Coordinator Ali Za’atari, who has said that the UN is standing behind him and he won’t be PNG’d, and I saw an announcement that on March 21st, a new Resident Humanitarian Coordinator began work in Khartoum, Mr. Mustafa Bin Al Malih.  And so what happened?  And why didn’t the UN announce that they removed Mr. Za’atari as Resident Coordinator?

Deputy Spokesman:  We pressed for them to continue with Mr. Ali Za’atari and they continued with their objections.  Ultimately we do need to have somebody on the ground to do the work, although we do not accept that our impartial, neutral experts did not get permission to be on the ground to do their work.

Inner City Press: And has Yvonne Helle also been replaced as the representative of UNDP in the country?

Deputy Spokesman:  I believe Ms. Helle left some time ago.  She was already out of the country when they took the decision so I believe there’s a process in place to make sure that the work is done.

 Back on December 25 after another inquiry by Inner City Press to Dujarric and UNDP, Dujarric sent this:

From: Stephane Dujarric [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Dec 25, 2014 at 1:31 PM
Subject: Re: Press request on Sudan PNG-ing Yvonne Helle (asked Dec 24) & now Dec 25 Ali Al-Za'tari
To: Matthew Lee [at] InnerCityPress.org
Cc: UNDP, funca [at] FUNCA.info

Matthew, The UN has filed a protest with the government of Sudan following their decision to request the departure of two senior UN officials from the country.

  So the UN filed a protest. But what about the UNFPA case in April, and aother one, in Darfur, which Inner City Press exclusively reported on in December?

On March 31, Inner City Press also asked on Myanmar:

Inner City Press: I heard your statement on behalf of or by Mr. Nambiar praising the country.  I just wanted to know:  has he or anyone else in the UN system have anything to say about the filing of criminal charges against the students who protested the national education law?  A number of… even some countries have [inaudible] this standoff in March where the peaceful demonstrators have been arrested.  Now the charges have been filed, they haven’t been released.  Is there any follow-up by the UN on that?

Deputy Spokesman:  We’ll check with Mr. Nambiar what he has to say on that.

  Six hours later and counting, nothing.

  On Sudan back on December 24, Inner City Press similarly exclusively reported and then asked the UN Spokesman about UNDP Country Director Yvonne Helle being ordered out of Sudan, citing her and Al-Za'tari's e-mails. Video here.

  A full day after that, Reuters reported on Helle's ouster -- typically, for Reuters, with no credit to the Press' prior exclusive story. (Reuters' UN bureau chief has said he has a policy of not crediting Inner City Press' exclusive, and has gone to far as to censor, Sudan-style, his "for the record" anti-Press complains to the UN, click here for that, via EFF's ChillingEffect.org).

   On December 24, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about Sudan having just similarly "PNG-ed" or declared persona non-grata the Sudan Country Director of the UN Development Program Yvonne Helle, with Za'tari barely pushing back against the government.

  Dujarric said that host countries' ordered to PNG a UN staff member are treated seriously and should be sent to, and considered and acted on by, Ban's Secretariat in New York. But Dujarric in the 18 hours after Inner City Press asked about Helle has not returned with any information or answer. Then Reuters published its story, with no credit.

Watch this site.

   

On Darfur, UN Withholds Answer on Kidnapped Aid Workers, Silent on Jebel Marra as on Haiti Cholera Legal Papers

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 23, 2014 -- The UN stands accused of a cover-up in Darfur. On June 20, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric two questions about Darfur:

Inner City Press: on Darfur, I have two questions in one location.  There seems to be an Irish aid group that says its workers have gone missing and have been taking in Darfur.  I wanted to know if UNAMID (African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur) or you know about this?  And also, there’s a call by civilians in East Jebel Marra saying that they’ve been bombed so much that there’s now unexploded ordnances all over the place, and they’ve put out a public call for these to be dealt with by UNAMID.  What’s UNAMID’s response?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I’ll… we’ll check with UNAMID on both accounts. 

  But three days later on June 23, Dujarric's office had provided no answer at all, including to other questions emailed to Dujarric and his deputy Farhan Haq on June 20.

  So at the June 23 noon briefing, Inner City Press asked again. Dujarric said he thought he had an answer in his office. And after the briefing this was emailed: "Regarding your question from Friday on missing persons in Darfur, we are aware of several missing persons from non-governmental organisations. As it has done in past cases, the United Nations is supporting efforts to locate them."

  There was nothing on ordinance in Jebel Marra. But also: why would Dujarric's office have an answer but withhold it? Why did it not answer Press questions submitted on June 20, while answering others? This last, Inner City Press asked Dujarric on June 23 -- so far without explanation. Watch this site.

Background: After whistleblower Aicha Elbasri further exposed UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous as covering up attacks in Darfur, on June 17 several Security Council members joined International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in calling for an investigation.

  Inner City Press asked UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq if an independent investigation of Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping will be done, and if not, why not? Video here.

  Haq claimed that UN Peacekeeping is already acting on Elbasri's complaints, and that it had been telling the press about it. Inner City Press asked, where have these updates been provided.
 
  Haq cited a read-out given in March, largely generic; then he said the requests made on June 17 would be studies. We'll be waiting.

  So France, which has appointed the last four heads of UN Peacekeeping in a row, did not directly join in the call for an investigation made by such Security Council members as Argentina and Luxembourg, Chile and Australia. 

  Then again, what did France say when Ladsous met with Sudan's Omar al Bashir, indicted for genocide by the International Criminal court, the subject of the June 17 session of the Council?

  As recently as May 29, Ladsous refused Press questions, video here,compilation here.

   Back on April 24 when Darfur as such was the topic of the UN Security Council, three major Darfur rebel groups wrote to the Council to investigate "all reports of the Peace Keeping Mission, including reports presented to the UNSC by [Under] Secretary General for Peace Keeping Mr. Ladous and the reliability of the sources he had relied on."

   But unlike his abortive stakeout on the evening of April 23 about South Sudan, video here, Ladsous did not come out to answer any questions. And at the April 24 UN noon briefing, when Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq for a response to the request for an investigation of Ladsous and his reports, there was none: not one modified or corrected report was cited.

  Instead, from the "holy seat" of the UN Correspondents Association a long time scribe followed up to say that it is not all Ladsous' fault, and to cast blame on the government. (This same dynamic was repeated at the June 17 noon briefing.) This reflexively shifting of blame from the UN to the government, whose new Permanent Representative spoke in the Council on April 24, is in this case particularly absurd: how can the government be responsible for the UN's own reports being inaccurate?

  Those requesting this investigation of DPKO and Ladsous are not the government of Omar al Bashir, which whom Ladsous met in July 2013 without any readout, but rebels Abdel Wahid Mohamed Ahmed Nur, Chairperson, Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M-A/Wahid), Gibriel Ibrahim Mohamed, Chairperson of Justice & Equality Movement Sudan (JEM) and Minni Arko Minnawi, Chairperson Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M-MM).

  Pending UN answers, again we ask: how can one write about the corruption of a UN Peacekeeping mission, at length, without naming the person in charge? Why would one airbrush that person, in this case Herve Ladsous the UN Under Secretary for Peacekeeping Operations, out?

   The former spokesperson of the UNAMID mission in Darfur quit, spoke out and finally leaked documents. Radio Dabanga as well as Foreign Policy began publishing them on April 7 (FP did not mention Dabanga, and called its back to back  Ladsous-less pieces an exclusive investigation). 

  The last piece focused on the US role, all to the good, but not only doesn't mention that the UN's Ladsous met with International Criminal Court indictee Omar al Bashir in July, without providing any read-out, but also omits France's hosting of Darfur rebels, for example.

 

 Back on March 25, 2013, Inner City Press asked the UN Spokespersonabout how the UN Peacekeeping in Darfur could have let a group of Internally Displaced People be kidnapped while they were ostensibly protected:

Inner City Press: there is this incident where IDPs were taken hostage or kidnapped by people that were in Government army uniforms, and somehow UNAMID is saying that they opposed it and they denounced the kidnapping, but some people are wondering how armed UN peacekeepers could have IDPs under their care and they could all be kidnapped. Can you clarify how it took place and how it is consistent with protection of civilians?

Spokesperson: Well, I have asked the Mission for more details on that, and I think if you were listening carefully you will have heard me read out precisely what you just said to me.

Inner City Press: But what I am asking about specifically about how it could take place?

Spokesperson: I heard what you said, and I’ve said that I’ll see if I can find out more, which is what I have already asked the Mission and Peacekeeping Operations.

  Now Radio Dabanga has published a memo by UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, from April 10, 2013, still saying he didn't know how it happened. 

  What is Ladsous doing? Then, and apparently now, he refuses Press questions about topics ranging from Sudan -- why did he meet with International Criminal Court indictee Omar al Bashir in July 2013? -- torapes in the DR Congo by UN Peacekeeping's partners in the Congolese Army.

  Dabanga to its credit says it is reporting the memos along with FP. TheFP story, at least the first one, does not mention Dabanga, nor Ladsous' meeting with Bashir. Previously an explanation was provided for not reporting on Ladsous' extraordinary and public "non-answering," noted from the UK by the New Statesman, here.

  We'll be following this. Watch this site.

   

UN Police Who Fled Haiti Sex Abuse Charges Still Being Probed by Canada After 7 Months, UNPOL Co-Location in Darfur?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 21 -- For one hour on Thursday, the guests in the UN press briefing room were Stefan Feller, the UN Police Adviser, and Hester Panera, the commissioner of UN Police in Darfur.

  Inner City Press asked Feller about accountability, specifically, a UN Police officer who after being charged with sexual abuse and exploitation in Haiti fled by plane to Canada. Inner City Press asked about this past in April and was told "DPKO says that the case is still under investigation by the Canadian authorities."

  Feller on Thursday did follow through, like his Police Adviser predecessor Marie Orler, and provide a response to Inner City Press' question. 

   But the answer, through Police Division Communications Officer Zoe Mentel, is: "Regarding the case you asked the Police Adviser about this morning, we did check into this matter and it is currently under investigation with the police-contributing country."

   That's seven months after Inner City Press was given in essence the same answer. UN Peacekeeping under HerveLadsous has allowed the Congolese Army to go a full year on the 135 rapes in Minova by the 41st and 391st Battalions, to which the UN provides support. Often the excuse in DRC is lack of resources.

   But Canada? Some might wonder if the hope isn't just that the case goes away. But that is not accountability; it is not transparency or the rule of law. Given the wider UN's attempt to evade substantial charges of bringing cholera to Haiti,MINUSTAH's reputation is already in question in the country. The questions will continue.

  Of Hester Paneras, Police Commissioner for UNAMID in Darfur, Inner City Press asked about freedom of movement, particularly to Jebel Marra. 

  Hester Paneras replied that there are issues but the are being worked through, for example in an upcoming conference on November 27 involving authorities from the five states as well as from Khartoum.

  She acknowledged that there has not been access to Jebel Marra since 2011, but said that is being worked on too. She mentioned possible "co-location" with Sudanese police. There is a whole other question, about the UN getting too closely aligned, as with the Minova rapes, with questionable national forces, and becoming a party to the conflict. We'll have more on this. Watch this site.

   

In Syria, Amos Tells Inner City Press 11 UN Staff Killed, Info Withheld, On Rebels' Kidnappings, Darfur and Abyei

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 6 -- When UN Humanitarian chief Valerie Amos took press questions by video from Lebanon, Inner City Press asked her aboutthreats to aid workers by Syrian rebels including ISIS in Jarabulus, and whether the UN has any access to ISIS stronghold Al Raqqa.

  Amos' answer included the statement that there have been UN staff killed.

  Inner City Press asked, how many?

  Amos said, "Eleven." She also said that "we have not managed to get into al Raqqa. Yesterday in Damascus the president of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent informed me we now may be able to get into Raqqa."

  She said said she had not been made aware of the threats to aid groups in Jarabulus; Inner City Press has information not only of the threats, but that some including World Vision were forced to leave. We hope to have more on this.

  After Amos' briefing ended -- Syria questions only, spokesperson Farhan Haq said, despite Amos' wider duties including Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile in Sudan, the Eastern Congo, etc -- Inner City Press followed up with Haq.

  Of the 11 UN staff killed, Inner City Press asked who killed them and where. Haq could not or would not say.

  Elsewhere, the UN announces the deaths of or even threats against UN staff and also aid workers. Why not here?

  Inner City Press asked Haq if he was aware of any UN staff held hostage by armed rebel groups. He said yes, but gave only the example of the UNDOF peacekeepers taken and released by the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, which involvement from Doha, Syria says.

   Syria has repeatedly asked UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous to investigate this Qatar connection, but says Ladsous has done nothing. Ladsous is the fourth Frenchman in a row to head UN Peacekeeping.

  Inner City Press also asked Haq what UN Peacekeeping is doing about reports of Sudanese government bombing in East Jebel Marra in Darfur; Haq had no information.

  Nor did he provide an answer to yesterday's question by Inner City Press, first to Ladsous without any response, then to Haq, about where the UN's promised investigation into the killing of Abyei's Paramount Chief while supposedly protected by UN Peacekeepers. The UN's provision and withholding of information is inconsistent and, it is clear, politicized. Watch this site.

Update: after the noon briefing and publication of the above, the UN provided this, on Abyei:

Regarding your question on reported fighting in Jebal Marra, UNAMID has the following to say:

The Mission is aware of those reports and is verifying them.