Pulling Copters Out of Central African Republic, France Uses Antonov, Grounded in Nigeria

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 8 -- When despite the continuing crisis in the Central African Republic France wanted to pull out its Gazelle helicopters and other equipment, to a base of its in Chad, how did it do it?

  With a Russian cargo plane, it emerges, one that when it landed in Kano was grounded by Nigerian authorities. Eventually they were released, and the pull-out from CAR continued. How did the copters get to CAR in the first place?

  Ironically, France got a contract from the UN to run and got paid for airfield services in northern Mali. Now this.

  Meanwhile, since UN Peacekeeping's Herve Ladsous left unanswered the Press question raised about his reported desire to eavesdrop in Mali, MaliActu picked it up, here.

  Back on October 4, more than twenty four hours after French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian came to the UN on October 3 and met the UN'sBan Ki-moon and former French diplomat Herve Ladsous, the UN had provided no read-out.

  Earlier on October 3 Le Drian had met with (soon outgoing) US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and Hagel said they discussed if France will join the US in airstrikes in Syria. Did Le Drian discuss this with Ban and Ladsous as well?

 Even France 24 reported what Hagel said. To extrapolate to the UN is not a stretch - except, apparently, for big wigs or grands fromages in the UN press corps. At NPR, Michele Kelemen interviewed Le Drian who said France is very "transparent" about its positions on Syria. So why no read-out?

 There emerges a photo of Le Drian and Ladsous, marking some agreement, here. Ostensibly it's for the French troops in Sangaris to cooperate with Ladsous' MINUSCA mission in the Central African Republic. But with reports of French troops killing in CAR, most recently in Bambari, would UN Peacekeeping under former French diplomat Herve Ladsous really look into this? He does not answer Press questions.

   As regards Syria, Ladsous ordered peacekeepers from Fiji and the Philippines to surrender to the Jabhat al Nusra rebels, or terrorists, in the Golan Heights.

  Now the UN vehicles Nusra took have been used for suicide bombings in Daraa. Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric on December 8 when UN Peacekeeping had done to try to get the vehicles back, and how many Nusra had, and has - without receiving any substantive answer.

  When Inner City Press tried to asked Ladsous questions on September 26, Ladsous refused to answer. On September 27, as Inner City Press filmed from the entirely legal UN General Assembly stakeout area, Ladsous came over and blocked Inner City Press' camera and demanded, what do you want with this?

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric has been asked twice about what Ladsous did, for the Free UN Coalition for Access, but has yet to respond substantively.

  We repeat, now also on behalf of FUNCA: For a meeting like Ban's with Le Drian, there should be a a read-out. Watch this site.   
   

At UN, Jose Ramos Horta's Panel Must Balance UNSC Mandate Concerns with Darfur Cover-Ups, Haiti Cholera

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 20 -- The review of UN Peace Operations chaired by Jose Ramos Horta of Timor Leste kicked off with a press conference then an interactive dialogue with the Security Council on November 20.

In the press conference, Ramos Horta was asked of scandals facing UN Peacekeeping, from cover-ups in Darfur of attacks and now 200 rapes in Thabit, to a lack of accountability for cholera in Haiti to the use of private military contractors and even “eavesdropping.”

  Inner City Press asked Ramos Horta about UNAMID's pro-government press release of November 9 denying theThabit rapes, and about Haiti cholera, which Ramos Horta vowed to raise to his fellow panel members.

  Some of these members spoke with the Security Council later on November 20, and a smaller subset with Inner City Press after the meeting. From that and what some Council members said, it appears that the Security Council's vision of the panel's mandate is far narrower and more bureaucratic, on such issues of how mandates should be drafted.

  That's all well and good for the pen-holding countries in the Security Council, some of which contribute few to no peacekeepers to UN missions. But what about the people ostensibly served by those mission? Those in Haiti, impacted by cholera? Those in Darfur, under-protected, now criticizing UNAMID and the ultimately the Department of Peacekeeping Operations run by Herve Ladsous?

  One outgoing Security Council member, Rwanda, said it had raised the cases in which UN Peacekeeping does not live up to its mandate, like letting civilians be attacked and killed mere miles from its bases. Others pointed out that while many Troop Contributing Countries question the mandates now being given, those drafting the mandates come from countries without their own soldiers in the field.

  Permanent Five countries are well represented on the panel, including former Ambassadors who served in the Security Council, former diplomats who then served the UN like B. Lynn Pascoe, long time UN-ers like Ian Martin (who, for the record, is interested in Sri Lanka but not working on it at the moment). 

  Norway's Hilde Johnson, after what some view as a controversial time at the helm of the mission in South Sudan, was present on November 20 but did not speak afterward. Others did, like Wang Xuexian of China, Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh, still the head of the Department of Field Support and Alexander Ilitchev of Russia. Radhika Coomaraswamy, named an “ex officio” member by Ramos Horta, did not appear to be present for this dialogue with the Security Council, at least not in the hallway afterward.

  Ramos Horta has vowed to listen to all constituencies, including those impacted by UN Peacekeeping. This could result in needed reforms, or at least a report publicly calling for them. Watch this site.

   

With UN's Herve Ladsous "Expanding Eavesdropping," Inner City Press Asks Of Legal Authority, UNclear

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 17 -- Does UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous do telephone eavesdropping? Inner City Press asked on November 17 including, under what authority? The answer was UNclear. Video here.

  The last time UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous himself was scheduled to take questions from the press, instead he lunged forward and blocked the Press' camera, then canceled his Q&A stakeout on Mali. Vine here.

  Since then more peacekeepers have been killed and injured but Ladsous, unlike his also-French predecessors Alain Le Roy and Jean-Marie Guehenno, has not done a stakeout to speak up for those put under his command.

  Instead, Ladsous now tried to do softball interviews with hand-picked correspondents. Even that works out badly -- perhaps very badly. 

 In a recent “interview,” in which for example UN Peacekeeping bringing cholera to Haiti is vaguely mentioned but not followed up on, it slips out that Ladsous is expanding “signal intelligence, using high-tech surveillance of communications such as telephone eavesdropping.”

  How can it be that at the same time that the UN General Assembly is considering a Brazilian and German drafted resolution on Privacy in the Digital Age, Ladsous is expanding eavesdropping and wire-tapping? On whose authority?

   So at the November 17 UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, per the UN's transcript (video here) --

Inner City Press: On peacekeeping, Under-Secretary-General [Hervé] Ladsous was interviewed earlier this month, and the resulting story says that "Mr. Ladsous seeks to expand signal intelligence using high tech communications such as telephone eavesdropping," unquote.  And I wanted to know:  Is it the case that UN peacekeeping uses eavesdropping?  And if so, under what authority or mandate?  And how is it consistent with the General Assembly pending resolution on privacy in the digital age?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  We're trying to expand our abilities to deal with the sort of threats that the UN faces, including in its peacekeeping.  As you know, we're also doing a peacekeeping review, which hopefully will address some of these issues.  I don't have anything at this stage to report on signals intelligence, though.

Inner City Press:  I guess what I'm saying, since this is a published report and you said last week that unlike the World Health Organisation that blacklists media, that you simply seek corrections.  Is this the case?  This is reporting that it's currently eavesdropping on telephones.  I want to know under what legal authority?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  I think that's a characterization of something that is not precisely what he said.  That's your characterization of it.

Inner City Press:  Okay, I'll be clear.  Does MINUSMA in Mali use surveillance and intercepted… communications intercepted by the Dutch Intelligence Service that serves the mission?  And if so, under what legal authority?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  I believe MINUSMA is working… I believe one of your colleagues asked about a fusion cell there.  I believe the fusion cell does try to get enhanced information, including from collaboration with Member States.

Inner City Press:  But can the UN intercept or use intercepted communications; and if so, under what legal authority?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  We're not talking about the UN doing any such intercept.

Inner City Press:  Using.  If the Dutch intercepts…?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  Different Member States share information with the United Nations related to our peacekeeping objectives.

Inner City Press:  Are there any limitations on what the UN accepts and uses?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  That's a theoretical question.  At this stage, what I can say is different Member States can sometimes try to help with UN peacekeeping by providing additional information to us, and we use that as needed.

  The Ladous quote was from a softball interview, which didn't mention that in 1994 Ladsous supported and pushed for the escape of genocidaires from Rwanda into Eastern Congo where he now uses the Force Intervention Brigade as, in his words, a “useful tool.” Nor does the interview mention Western Sahara, much less the problematic light thrown on Ladsous by recently leaked cables.

  More recently, Ladsous was asked not only about UN Peacekeeping bringing cholera to Haiti -- Ladsous insisted that it hasn't been proved -- but also about proceeding with drones without C-34 member states' approval, and about the expanding rape scandals. On these, Ladsous claimed he is setting up reviews.

  But Ladsous for months refused Press questions about, and covered up, the 130 rapes by the DR Congo Army in Minova. Video compilation here. 

Is it any wonder that his UNAMID in Darfur tried to quickly deny that mass rapes took place in Tabit in Darfur? 

 Is this performance acceptable? To whom? Watch this site.

   

At UN, Herve Ladsous In Softball Interview Says He Is "Expanding Eavesdropping," Later Claimed UN Role in Haiti Cholera Not Proved

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 15 -- The last time UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous was scheduled to take questions from the press, instead he lunged forward and blocked the Press' camera, then canceled his Q&A stakeout on Mali. Vine here.

  Since then more peacekeepers have been killed and injured but Ladsous, unlike his also-French predecessors Alain Le Roy and Jean-Marie Guehenno, has not done a stakeout to speak up for those put under his command.

  Instead, Ladsous now tried to do softball interviews with hand-picked correspondents. Even that works out badly -- perhaps very badly. 

 In a recent “interview,” in which for example UN Peacekeeping bringing cholera to Haiti is vaguely mentioned but not followed up on, it slips out that Ladsous is expanding “signal intelligence, using high-tech surveillance of communications such as telephone eavesdropping.”

  How can it be that at the same time that the UN General Assembly is considering a Brazilian and German drafted resolution on Privacy in the Digital Age, Ladsous is expanding eavesdropping and wire-tapping? On whose authority?

  This was from a softball interview, which didn't mention that in 1994 Ladsous supported and pushed for the escape of genocidaires from Rwanda into Eastern Congo where he now uses the Force Intervention Brigade as, in his words, a “useful tool.” Nor does the interview mention Western Sahara, much less the problematic light thrown on Ladsous by recently leaked cables.

  More recently, Ladsous was asked not only about UN Peacekeeping bringing cholera to Haiti -- Ladsous insisted that it hasn't been proved -- but also about proceeding with drones without C-34 member states' approval, and about the expanding rape scandals. On these, Ladsous claimed he is setting up reviews.

  But Ladsous for months refused Press questions about, and covered up, the 130 rapes by the DR Congo Army in Minova. Video compilation here. 

  Is it any wonder that his UNAMID in Darfur tried to quickly deny that mass rapes took place in Tabit in Darfur? 

 Is this performance acceptable? To whom? Watch this site.