UN's Central African Republic Probers Cited MINUSCA & Sangaris, But Human Rights Watch Cites Only African Union Force for Abuse: Selective Vision?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 29, more here -- On Central African Republic, today's report by Human Rights Watch tries to limit abuses to the African Union force and not the UN force of French Sangaris - but the UN's own Commission of Inquiry recited complaints against all three.  HRW says:

"Some AU peacekeepers, while providing important civilian protection during their deployment, also committed serious human rights abuses, although according to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, those facing allegations were not integrated into MINUSCA."

  This is going soft on the UN and its head of Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous, who as noted undermined the UN's stated "human rights due diligence policy."

Back on January 21 when Philip Alston and Fatimata M'Baye, two of the three members of the UN Commission of Inquiry into the Central African Republic, took questions, Inner City Press asked about alleged abuses in CAR by the MISCA / MINUSCA peacekeepers and French soldiers in Sangaris.

   The report says that complaints were received against all of these, but only MISCA (the African Union force) was looked into. It describes allegations in PK12, Baoli and Bossangoa and proposes that the UN Security Council set up a mechanism. 

  But what about prosecution, Inner City Press asked, and why weren't the allegations against Sangaris and the current MINUSCA even looked into? Report here, Para 542.

   Alston, whom Inner City Press has previously asked about Sri Lanka, for example, emphasized that it may not be realistic or productive to speak of referring these to the International Criminal Court, but that the mechanism proposal is new. (It is; we'll have more on it.)

  Inner City Press asked if this mechanism proposal would apply, for example, to the UN bringing cholera to Haiti. Alston said that problem has “plagued” the UN; in the case of individual peacekeepers, he said, there should be accountability.

And how about this?With UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic guarding prisons, Ladsous on December 9 refused to answer a simple Press question about the practice. Video here, and embedded below.
  

  Ladsous had told the Security Council that "inmates inside the Bangui central prison seized weapons and shot and threw hand grenades at UN peacekeepers providing static guard duty outside the prison. Three UN troops and one UN police officer were injured in the incident."

  But should UN peacekeepers be functioning as prison guards? When Ladsous left the Security Council -- unlike his predecessors Alain Le Roy and Jean-Marie Guehenno Ladsous does not to question and answer stakeouts on UNTV -- Inner City Press asked him, Does the UN guard prisons in the Central African Republic?

  Ladsous indicated, as he has before, I do not answer your questions, Mister, and walked to the elevator. But he is paid both to run DPKO and to explain it to the public, including answering questions.

   

As UN's Central African Republic Probers Propose Mechanism for Peacekeepers' Abuse, Inner City Press Asks Philip Alston, For Haiti Cholera Too?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 21, more here -- When Philip Alston and Fatimata M'Baye, two of the three members of the UN Commission of Inquiry into the Central African Republic, took questions on January 21, Inner City Press asked about alleged abuses in CAR by the MISCA / MINUSCA peacekeepers and French soldiers in Sangaris.

   The report says that complaints were received against all of these, but only MISCA (the African Union force) was looked into. It describes allegations in PK12, Baoli and Bossangoa and proposes that the UN Security Council set up a mechanism. 

  But what about prosecution, Inner City Press asked, and why weren't the allegations against Sangaris and the current MINUSCA even looked into? Report here, Para 542.

   Alston, whom Inner City Press has previously asked about Sri Lanka, for example, emphasized that it may not be realistic or productive to speak of referring these to the International Criminal Court, but that the mechanism proposal is new. (It is; we'll have more on it.)

  Inner City Press asked if this mechanism proposal would apply, for example, to the UN bringing cholera to Haiti. Alston said that problem has “plagued” the UN; in the case of individual peacekeepers, he said, there should be accountability.

And how about this?With UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic guarding prisons, Ladsous on December 9 refused to answer a simple Press question about the practice. Video here, and embedded below.
  

  Ladsous had told the Security Council that "inmates inside the Bangui central prison seized weapons and shot and threw hand grenades at UN peacekeepers providing static guard duty outside the prison. Three UN troops and one UN police officer were injured in the incident."

  But should UN peacekeepers be functioning as prison guards? When Ladsous left the Security Council -- unlike his predecessors Alain Le Roy and Jean-Marie Guehenno Ladsous does not to question and answer stakeouts on UNTV -- Inner City Press asked him, Does the UN guard prisons in the Central African Republic?

  Ladsous indicated, as he has before, I do not answer your questions, Mister, and walked to the elevator. But he is paid both to run DPKO and to explain it to the public, including answering questions.

   

In New Central African Republic Mission, Ban Ki-moon's "UN Standards" Include DR Congo Army, Child Soldier Recruiter, & Sri Lanka, Under UN Probe

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 14, more here -- As UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous took over the mission in Central African Republic on September 15, at 7 pm in New York -- midnight in Bangui -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon put out a statement claiming "a seamless transfer of authority, including the re-hatting of as many MISCA contingents as possible, in accordance with United Nations standards."

   But what has happened to UN standards, under Ladsous and Ban, that the new mission in CAR includes not only the DR Congo Army, which is on the UN's own list of child soldier recruiters, but even helicopters from Sri Lanka's army?

   Sri Lanka is being investigated by a panel formed by vote by the UN Human Rights Council for abuses in 2009, when tens of thousands of civilians were killed. But it has been accepted by Ladsous and Ban to provide helicopters to his mission in former French colony CAR.

  Tellingly, Ladsous refuses to answer Press questions (video compilation here, UK coverage here); the UN's Censorship Alliance threatened the Press not only to stop covering connections from Sri Lanka and its war crimes but also Ladsous.  This is what the UN is becoming; the new Free UN Coalition for Access opposes it.

   Last month after French "peacekeepers" reported shot and killed five people in the PK5 neighborhood of Bangui in the Central African Republic, Inner City Press asked Dujarric about it on August 21, video here. Dujarric essentially said Inner City Press should have asked the UN's chief in CAR about the shootings... before they happened. From the transcript:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask you about in the Central African Republic there are reports of fighting between the residents of PK-5 neighbourhood of Bangui and the French peacekeepers or soldiers, five killed, 40 injured, and I’m wondering, does the mission there, are they monitoring that, are they looking into how it happened?  What…

Spokesman Dujarric:  I’m trying to get some information from the mission.  As soon as I have it, I will share it with you.

Inner City Press:  And also, the reason, if you could ask them because there have been previous, I’m not saying that is the case in this case but there have been previous encounters which residents said that they were shot and the aggressors were the, “peacekeepers”, and each time it was said that the mission would be looking into this.  But I have yet to hear any kind of report on those, I can name the incidents or you can go back and there has been at least three and whatever happened to those?

Spokesman Dujarric:  Did you have a chance to ask General Gaye?

Inner City Press:  No.  I asked him about DRC soldiers.

Spokesman Dujarric:  Great.  I will get the Under-Secretary-General

   When Gaye took questions -- to his credit, unlike his boss Herve Ladsous -- these PK5 killings by the French soldiers hadn't yet taken place. To be fair, perhaps Dujarric was referring not to the new killings, but the older ones. But nine hours after the briefing, no further information had been provided. It may be that the problem is not (only) with the Office of the Spokesperson, but more fundamentally with UN Peacekeeping as Ladsous has been allowed to run it.

  The "DRC soldiers" question was why UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous would accept into the forthcoming UN mission in CAR, MINUSCA, the DRC Army which is still listed on the UN's child soldier recruitment list and provided impunity for 130 rapes by its soldiers in Minova, Eastern Congo in November 2012, conviction only two. Click here for that.

  Back on July 17 when 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. Video here.

  So on July 17, Inner City Press put the same question to UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq: what does the UN know, and what has it done about, allegations of killing by MISCA peacekeepers, proposed to be "re-hatted" in September?

  Haq told Inner City Press to "ask MISCA." So the UN has no role, and will automatically put UN "blue helmets" on these troops?

  Inner City Press also asked about media reports in Nepal that Ladsous will visit that country on July 11, ostensibly to "acquire information on the latest political situation [and] the progress made in terms of constitution writing."

  But do Ladsous and DPKO have any mandate to review constitutions? Shouldn't Ladsous if there review cholera screening, in light of bringing the disease to Haiti? Ladsous did not answer, and neither did Haq.

   On July 16 at the Security Council stakeout, first Ladsous 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. Video here.

   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.

   

DR Congo Army, On UN's Child Soldier Recruiters List, To "Initially" Stay in Central African Republic Mission of Herve Ladsous: Human Rights Due Diligence?

By Matthew Russell Lee, Follow up on Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, August 19, more here -- What would it take for an army to be deemed to fail the supposed Human Rights Due Diligence Policy of UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous?

  The question is raised by the impending inclusion of units from the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country with a large UN Peacekeeping mission, in the UN Peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic, MINUSCA. On its face, it strikes some as absurd.

  But the DRC army is also on the UN's list of child soldier recruiters. Shouldn't that by itself -- leaving aside the near total impunity for that army's 130 rapes in Minova in November 2012 - disqualify them from MINUSMA?

    UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous refused Press questions for months about the Minova rapes, video here. On the issue of the DRC Army being on the child soldier recruitment list, Inner City Press has been informed of concern in the Security Council, including from the chair of the Children and Armed Conflict Committee.

  But when Inner City Press asked Deputy Permanent Representative Peter Wilson of the UK, the Council's president for August, about the issue, he said that UN envoy -- and former UN force commander in the DRC -- Babacar Gaye had spoken about training for all troops joining MINUSMA.

   To Gaye himself, Inner City Press asked about the child soldier recruitment list. Gaye added the issue, also raised in the Council, of DRC hosting publicly-funded peacekeepers while sending its own soldiers to CAR. But, Gaye said, it is an "opportunity," they will "initially" be included.

  Gaye, ever genial, also answered a Press question about the territorial integrity of CAR. Tellingly, he concluded by saying that "our boss, Mr. Ladsous" wants helicopters flying on September 15. Beyond the obvious joke about drones, it reflects that Ladsous, as boss, is responsible once again for failing to implement or explain the supposed UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy.

  What will NGOs which have also raised this issue say? About Ladsous's tenure at UN Peacekeeping, about those who put him there? We'll have more on this. 

  Ladsous' extraordinary refusal to answer Inner City Press questions, noted as far away as the UK's New Statesman, here, and evidenced on CAR as well, here, is intended to make more difficult Press reporting on UN Peacekeeping - and it does. Not impossible, however. This reporting will continue.

Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about the human rights due diligence policy again on August 19 - and he said that MINUSCA chief Babacar Gaye will be expecting the question from the Press at 5 pm.  Video here.

  Inner City Press asked Dujarric if in Human Rights Watch's Ken Roth's meeting with Ban Ki-moon on August 18, this issue arose. Dujarric wouldn't say, not even what countries were discussed. Haiti cholera? No answer -- including from HRW's top two spokespeople. We will continue to have more on this as well. Watch this site.

   

On Central African Republic, Mia Farrow on Ethnic Cleansing, Cites Danger of “Re-Hatting” Being Like Darfur's UNAMID

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 22 -- In the Central African Republic, the planned UN mission MINUSCA is not slated to take over until September 15. 

  Until then, when Inner City Press has asked questions about killings and disappearances by the current MISCA force, the UN has either refused to answer, or has said, “Ask MISCA.”

  But for the most part, MISCA will be “re-hatted” as the UN mission on September 15. On July 22 Inner City Press asked Mia Farrow, back from her recent trip to the Central African Republic as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, about the “UN” mission MINUSCA being mostly MISCA, re-hatted.

  "If that's what it morphs into," Mia Farrow said, "that would be like Darfur, [UNAMID]... it's never going to be the answer."

  Recently in Darfur, the UNAMID mission has been exposed for withholding information about the level of killing. MISCA / MINUSCA seems already headed down that road.

  Inner City Press also asked Mia Farrow if during her time in CAR, her fourth trip to the country, she had seen any visible work there by the UN Peacekeeping Commission “configuration,” in the UN jargon. No, she said. And that too is telling.

  Mia Farrow was asked an open ended question about what she would like the Security Council to do for CAR and other countries. 

  She said she'd prefer to keep her July 22 briefing focused on the too-often ignored and forgotten Central African Republic, but that UN improvements are needed. We agree - that is what the new Free UN Coalition for Access is working for. Watch that site, and this.

  

Stonewalling on Killings in Central African Republic by Ladsous, Protected at International Peace Institute

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 17 -- When UN Peacekeeping chief Herve 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. Video here.

   The next day July 17, Ladsous was to appear on a panel about peacekeeping and the European Union at the International Peace Institute. Inner City Press went, to ask this simple question there. But when the time came for questions, the IPI moderator said Ladsous had to leave early, he would choose three or four questions for him.

   Inner City Press' hand was raised the whole time, while no other hands were raised. But the IPI moderator called on a European mission, then a publication funded by EU countries, and an NGO about "traumatic stress."

  These were all the questions that Ladsous would take, even as his UN Peacekeeping is under question for cover-up in Darfur, and has yet to respond to Rwanda's June 26 complaint that Ladsous sought a waiver for, and flew within the DRC, the leader of the FDLR militia.

  There was a lot of talk about deferrin to Africans on peacekeeping, and even specifically about Rwanda -- but Ladsous has refused to answer that Mission's complaint for three weeks, and appears protected by IPI. We'll have more on this.

  Inner City Press also asked the UN about media reports in Nepal that Ladsous will visit that country on July 11, ostensibly to "acquire information on the latest political situation [and] the progress made in terms of constitution writing."

  But do Ladsous and DPKO have any mandate to review constitutions? Shouldn't Ladsous if there review cholera screening, in light of bringing the disease to Haiti? Ladsous did not answer, and neither did Haq.

   On July 16 at the Security Council stakeout, first Ladsous 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. Video here.

   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 awayso 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 CAR, US Samantha Power on Replacing Chad, FM on SOFA, France's Gerard Araud Stonewalls

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 10 -- After the UN Security Council adopted itsCentral African Republic peacekeeping mission resolution 15-0 on April 10, Inner City Press put questions to US Ambassador Samantha Power, French Ambassador Gerard Araud and CAR's foreign minister Toussaint Kongo Doudou.

   Since France "has the pen" on CAR, as it does on Burundi, Araud went first. Inner City Press asked him what the plans are to replace the 850 peacekeepers Chad is withdrawing after being charged with killing 30 civilians in Bangui.

  Araud said, "Ask Chad's Ambassador." (Inner City Press did ask him questions on March 7, below, but he did not come to the stakeout on April 10.)

  When Ambassador Power came out, as well as a question on Burundi which we'll separately report, Inner City Press asked her the same question, about plans now that the Chadians are pulling out.

  Ambassador Power acknowledged that the Chadian troops had given "solace" to the remaining Muslims in CAR. She said troops from Cameroon and France - imagine that - are trying to replace them, but that others will have to be recruited. We will link to her full response when it goes online.

  Foreign Minister Toussaint Kongo Doudou spoke in English, saying security must be restored. Inner City Press raised what Navi Pillay answered on April 8, that 80% of Muslims in CAR have been forcibly displaced (video here) and asked if the government will try to guarantee that the Muslims chased out of the country can return. Yes, he said, CAR is their country, but first security must be restored.

  Inner City Press asked him if CAR has jurisdiction over the Chadian unit charged with killing 30 civilians. He said they were part of the African Union MISCA force. But, Inner City Press asked, other say they were Special Forces there to help evacuate Muslims. Was there a Status of Forces Agreement between them and CAR? 

  Toussaint Kongo Doudou repeated that the Chadians were part of a "framework." We'll see.

Thirty days but many news cycles ago on March 7 when Chad's Permanent Representative to the UN Mahamat Zene Cherif came to the Security Council stakeout, beyond asking him about child soldiers Inner City Press asked him about those who have had to flee Central African Republic into Chad. Shouldn't they be able to return to CAR? Video hereand embedded below

Mahamat Zene Cherif said while Chad will not force anyone back, they should be able to return. He said that eighty percent of the Muslims have been chased out of the CAR.

How can elections be held this way, he asked.

Inner City Press asked if perhaps those displaced could vote even while in Chad. Mahamat Zene Cherif said the UN could check the feasibility, but that Chad would hope the displaced could return to CAR.

  The day before, Inner City Press tried to ask French Ambassador Gerard Araud about a statement or report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that the French Sangaris force first disarming the ex-Seleka had left Muslim community vulnerable to attack by Christian anti-Balaka militias.

  Araud refused to take the question while at the microphone, then from the wings insisted there is no Navi Pillay report. Click here for that.

  What forces allowed 80% of the Muslims in CAR to be chased out? And what responsibility do they bear? Watch this site.

   

In CAR, Chad Soldiers Killed 30 Civilians, Unprovoked, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Says; Ladsous Has Them in Mali

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 -- The day after Chad announced it will pull its troops out of the Central African Republic after being accused of abuse and even murder there, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a damning report. 

  The shooting up of a market in Bangui was unprovoked and killed 30. The full text is below.

  When Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq once again on April 3 about the Chadian "peacekeepers," he referred all questions to the African Union / MISCA -- despite Ban's public statements about CAR.

Inner City Press asked, "Chadians soldiers reportedly killed somewhere between 8 and 30 civilians: Has the UN found out at all whether these Chadian soldiers were part of MISCA or were they part of some other force?"

Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq replied, "it’s up to MISCA to follow up in terms of whether their troops were involved, so you would need to ask the African Union."

  It must be noted that Ban's (or France's) chief of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous decided to include Chadian soldiers in the UN Mission in Mali MINUSMA despite Chad being on the UN's own list of child soldier recruiters. Now what?

  Here's what the OHCHR put out on April 4, 2014:

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Rupert Colville

Subject: Central African Republic

We have received more detailed information on the incident involving Chadian soldiers in Bangui on March 29, following an initial investigation carried out by a human rights team on the ground.

Earlier this week, the team from the Human Rights and Justice Section of BINUCA visited two medical centers (the Hopital Communautaire, and the Hopital General) where most of the survivors are being treated and also visited the site where the shooting took place at PK 12, in the North of Bangui.

According to the information they have collected so far, on March 29, Chadian national army soldiers in a convoy consisting of several military pick-ups entered Bangui, and went to the neighborhood known as PK 12. Several sources told the investigating team that they believed the Chadian force had entered Bangui to extract remaining Chadians and other Muslim inhabitants, in order to save them from further attacks by anti-Balaka.

As soon as the convoy reached the market area in PK 12, around 3:00 p.m., it reportedly opened fire on the population without any provocation. At the time, the market was full of people, including many girls and women buying and selling produce. As panic-stricken people fled in all directions, the soldiers allegedly continued firing indiscriminately.

According to information the human rights team has gathered so far, it seems the Chadian force’s action was totally disproportionate as they were shooting in a crowded market full of unarmed civilians.

According to the team’s preliminary findings, around 30 people were killed as a result of the shooting and over 300 were seriously injured, including children, people with disabilities, pregnant women and elderly people, as they were less able to run for their lives.

  On March 31, then UNSC President Sylvie Lucas told Inner City Press that she had read the reports, and understood that the Chadians were part of a team to evacuate other Chadians. 

  We aim to have more on this. Watch this site.