From DRC to Central African Republic, UN Won't Answer on Leaders Flight or Selection

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- UN Peacekeeping, what it knows and how its decisions are made, remains shrouded in mystery as questions mount. 

  On April 22 at noon Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric three questions: to confirm that ADF-NALU's leader Jamil Mukulu has left Eastern Congo, and to describe how a replacement of the leader of the Force Intervention Brigade in DRC, and of the forthcoming MINUSCA mission in the Central African Republic, will be chosen. Video here.

  By six pm on April 22, none of these questions had been answered. In fact, Dujarric said he would have to check if the FIB leader James Mwakibolwa is leaving -- MONUSCO already emailed the media that picture -- and didn't answer an Inner City Press question on South Sudan, that the Ghana battalion is still not in Bentiu, either.

   A week after Inner City Press exclusively reported from well-placed sources that the head of the UN Department of Field Service Ameerah Haq will leave this Peacekeeping job in October, for the UN mission in Central African Republic MINUSCA to begin on September 15 an issue has arisen.

   Congo-Brazzaville's Ambassador to the UN Raymond Serge Bale tweeted that the neighboring African countries of the CEEAC should be represented in the leadership of MINUSCA.

  French Ambassador Gerard Araud, taking a break from vituperatively denying blocking human rights monitoring in Western Sahara, tweeted that the contingents of the CEEAC should be integrated into MINUSCA on a priority basis.

  But the word was leadership - into the leadership, not just as soldiers or contingents to serve under other leadership. Inner City Press pointed this out in reply, and this:

   A problem here is the UN Peacekeeping has been ruled four times in a row now by a Frenchman, most recently long-time French diplomat Herve Ladsous.

  Now Ladsous' co-equal in DFS from South Asia stands to be replaced.

Among the candidates to take over the position, ostensibly co-equal with Ladsous, include American Jane Holl Lute and the current head of the UN Office of Human Resources Management, Catherine Pollard.

  What about an African? Several UN sources muses this would be a perfect time for Ladsous to leave. "Better him than Haq," as one source put it.

  But the alternate theory has Secretary General Ban Ki-moon throwing geographical and ideological balance to the wind in UN Peacekeeping. In this theory, the US would have to give up the Department of Safety & Security -- "he's only an Acting USG," the proponent pointed out -- so as to not have too too many American Under Secretaries General. 

  The shame would be, Kevin Kennedy is one of the better and more accessible USGs, by contrast to Ladsous who refuses Press questions about rapes and UN Peacekeeping from the Congo to Mali, and about theHutu FDLR, click here for video.

  It was back in October 2013 that Inner City Press reported that Ladsous was trying to get Haq out, to assert more control. On October 7, 2013 Inner City Press reported, "While an earlier Ban Ki-moon reform involved splitting Peacekeeping into two separate components, DPKO and DFS, now Ladsous wants to dominate both of them, by pushing Haq out of DFS and installing a person of his own choosing. More on that in a future story." This, is that story. And there will be more, including in connection with MINUSCA and with Araud, at least until he leaves, slated for July. Watch this site.

   

UN Didn't Respond on Its Role in DRC Fighting, Then Chides Inner City Press, Ends Briefing, No Follow Up

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 29 -- If the UN tells the press it is not involved in a military action, when that changes and a member of the UN's Force Intervention Brigade gets killed, shouldn't the UN be expected to provide an update?

  On October 29, UN Spokesperson Martin Nesirky ended the noon briefing by telling Inner City Press to "be careful" about reporting he'd said the UN was not involved in the fighting -- he'd only said not involved "at that time," on October 25.

  Inner City Press asked to be allowed a follow-up question, but Nesirky ended the briefing. Video here and embedded below.

  But the reality is, when what Nesirky said on October 25 about the UN not being involved seemed to no longer be true, when a FIB member was killed, Inner City Press on Sunday, October 27 wrote to Nesirky and his acting deputy and asked them to explain.

They never answered that e-mail. Monday's noon briefing was canceled in favor of two songs on a piano in the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium. Still no answer from Nesirky's office.

Then when asked to explain at Tuesday's noon briefing, Nesirky criticized Inner City Press, saying "be careful" about reporting he'd said the UN was not involved in the fighting -- he'd only said not involved "at that time," on October 25. But why no update? Why no answers?

On October 25, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Martin Nesirky if the Tanzanian component of the UN's "Force Intervention Brigade" was involved in the Congolese Army's fighting with the M23:

Inner City Press: I wanted to know whether MONUSCO can say who began this fighting. There is also a DRC citizen, Catherine Gihombo, who was shot by FARDC and is now being treated in hospital, and I wanted to know if MONUSCO was aware of any civilian casualties caused by the DRC army, and also it is said that theTanzanian artillery of the Force Intervention Brigade has become part of it in some way, I am asking you whether they can confirm or deny that.

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, on the last, as we have said, the Mission is monitoring what is going on; it is not actively involved at the moment. With regard to the other two questions, I will check on the civilian casualties, whether there is any further update for the Mission on that. And with regard to the very first question about who started it, at this point, I do not have clear information on that. I think the Mission is still looking into it, and obviously what is most important is stopping it at this point.

In the days afterward, the UN provided no information on civilian casualties, and no update to the public statement that the Force Intervention Brigade was not involved.

In fact, the UN and various envoys on the Great Lakes issues calls for restraint.

Then it emerged that a Tanzanian soldier in the FIB had been killed in Kiwanja. Inner City Press asked for an explanation, in writing, of the October 25 statement that the FIB was not involved, and this new announcement:

"On Friday I asked if UN Force Intervention Brigade was involved in fighting between FARDC and M23 and was told 'no.' Now I hear that a Tanzanian soldier in the FIB was killed in fighting in Kiwanja. Please confirm (or deny) this, and describe UN and Force Intervention Brigade in fighting between FARDC and M23."

This question was not answered for two days. Inner City Press asked at the October 29 briefing and was told to be careful about reported what Nesirky said on October 25. But despite the direct request, he never updated what he had said. We will have more on this. Watch this site.

Footnote: We note that the pattern of refusal to answer questions (and now, no follow up) began with Herve Ladsous, video here, UK coverage here. But it ill serves UN Peacekeepers, and the UN.

   

At UN, France's Araud Declares "Military End" of M23, Dead Rwandans Added to Statement

By Matthew Russell Lee, With exclusive audio

UNITED NATIONS, October 28 -- After the Security Council met about Eastern Congo at France's request on Monday afternoon, the first announcement came from French Ambassador Gerard Araud.

  He said the M23 has met its "military end." Others noted that while M23 left towns it had controlled, it was not wiped out, a la Sri Lanka (no matter how much it seems France would have liked that.)

   The meeting was called by France on the death of a Tanzanian member of the UN's Force Intervention Brigade or FIB. Inner City Press asked Araud of the UN's role in the military "finishing" of M23.

  Araud, more detailed than in the morning (see below) said that the Tanzanian soldier had his helmet on, but was shot in the neck. 

  Inner City Press understands that in the consultations, the 21 shells into Rwanda from the DRC were raised, leading to the death of two civilians and injuring of ten. Araud told Inner City Press, that is in the press statement. 

    On Friday the UN Security Council expressed concern about renewed hostilities in Eastern Congo, called for "maximum restraint and de-escalation" and for a political solution. Video here.

   Inner City Press asked if the UN Mission MONUSCO was involved in the fighting and was told, by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spokesperson, no.

  On Sunday UN envoy Martin Kobler announced that a member of MONUSCO's Force Intervention Brigade or "FIB" had been killed -- how that happened without being involved remains UNclear. Then Kobler toured land re-taken by the Congolese Army which the UN supports, even in the face of mass rape.

  On Monday in front of the Security Council, French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud told the Press about the weekend's developments in the Eastern Congo, "What is happening is great. It is the collapse of the rebels... The DRC army is restoring the sovereignty of the country. It is exactly what we were hoping for."  Exclusive audio here.

  How is this consistent with the Security Council's calls, agreed to and actually drafted by France which "hold the pen" for the Council on the DRC, for "restraint" and for a political solution through the Kampala talks?

  Or some now ask, were those calls just lies or a diversion, at least for some that agreed to or issued them?

  When the Security Council traveled recently to Eastern Congo, France was allowed to hand-pick which media could go on the UN plane and cover the trip. These scribes, predictably, are not raising or reporting these questions.

  Inner City Press asked Araud, on Monday, if MONUSCO and its FIB had in fact been involved despite the statements that it was not.

  Araud said that the killed "Tanzanian was part of the Force Intervention Brigade. What I heard was the Intervention Brigade went to Kiwanja after the M23 withdrew, to protect civilians. At a roadblock, from the side of the M23, he was killed." He said Martin Kobler would brief the Council by video Monday afternoon.

  But will Kobler take and at last answer questions? Or has he fully inhabited the character of his boss Herve Ladsous, who refuses Press questions? Video here, UK coverage here.Here is Ladsous' history in the Great Lakes region, for France.

  Here is a question. Araud said, of the weekend's fighting, "It is exactly what we were hoping for. Who is the "we"? The Security Council? UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous? France? Is there any difference between the latter two? Watch this site.

   

On DR Congo, UN Security Council Legal Acrobatics About Shooting at Intervention Brigade, Are They Civilians?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 29 -- When a Tanzanian soldier in the UN's new Force Intervention Brigade in the Congo died in battle this week, the statements of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his envoy Martin Kobler did not call it a war crime. (Click here for Inner City Press story and "Rest in Peace.)

On August 29 the UN Security Council agreed to a press statement on DRC with this convoluted paragraph:

"They recalled that intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the UN, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict, constitutes a crime under international law."

So if a member of the FIB is attacking to "neutralize" armed groups, can he or she be " entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict"? The answer appears to be no.

For weeks Inner City Press has asked the UN to clarify its understanding of the applicability of the international law of armed conflict to its FIB, without success. In a UN basement conference room an expert, on camera, told Inner City Press it is not a war crime to shot at a combatant. Click here.And that is what the FIB has become. But how far does the slippage go?

Inner City Press on the August 29 noon briefing asked about Rwanda getting bombed, and how did it. Spokesperson Haq said couldn't confirm most recently bombings; then his office sent this:

From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 12:52 PM
Subject: re: question on DRC
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Regarding your question on DRC, here is our answer:

The Mission reports that it can confirm firing incidents into Rwanda territory originated by M23 positions between 22 and 29 August. The Mission further reports that it has not witnessed any FARDC firing into Rwanda territory during this period.

We'll see.

While the UN deploys attack helicopters in Eastern Congo, and bombs from inside the DRC have reportedly killed a woman in Rwanda, France has called an emergency UN Security Council session on the DRC on Thursday.

The idea is to strong-arm Rwanda on a draft press statement France proposed. Actually, Rwanda is proposing adding the fact that the "repeated mortar shells and bombs landing in Rwandan territory" come "from the DRC." How controversial. Without that change, Inner City Press has obtained the draft and puts it online here.

The modus operandi is to hand information to Reuters. 

  At last Friday's noon briefing, video here from Minute 10:15, Inner City Press asked the UN's outgoing deputy spokesperson Eduardo Del Buey about the answer, when Inner City Press and another journalist asked UN Peacekeeping acting chief Edmond Mulet Thursday if the M23 rebels had entered the security zone established around Goma.

  "No," Mulet said. "Just mortars." He went on to refer to the separate "red line" established when M23 agreed in Kampala to pull out of Goma. (The portion of that agreement that gave M23 one third of the security force at the Goma airport remains unimplemented.)

  But later on Thursday, the wire service Reuters reported "a senior U.N. official, who asked not to be named, said that on Thursday the rebels entered a security zone surrounding Goma" -- which Mulet, the acting chief of DPKO, had just denied. Inner City Press and the other journalist waited to ask Mulet again, and got the same answer.

  So who is this "senior UN official who asked not to be named"? In UN Peacekeeping, only Herve Ladsous, long absent from UN Headquarters, is senior to and could over-rule Mulet.

  Ladsous has in the past spoon-fed answers of dubious veracity to this same Reuters UN bureau bragging for example about the Congolese Army imposing accountability for the 135 rapes in Minova in November 2012.

   But with only a few arrests for the 135 rapes, Ladsous' DPKO continues supporting the 391st Battalion, even as it is now implicated in corpse desecration.

That the UN would try to use Reuters, willingly, resonates with a documented instance in June 2012 when Reuters UN bureau chief Louis Charbonneau gave to UN official Stephane Dujarric an internal UNCA anti-Press document,three minutes after saying he would not do so. Story here,audio here, document here, in which Charbonneau tells Dujarric, "You didn't get this from me."

  So is Reuters' "senior UN official who asked not to be named" someone junior to Mulet, or as another journalist suggested, no one at all? 

  On Friday, Del Buey said he knew what Mulet had said, and has "seen other reports." He said he'd have to check. But last Friday was his last day at the UN (the Free UN Coalition for Access wished him well, video here at Minute 9:55).  So we'll see. Watch this site.

   

Media Critique: Watching or Whitewashing UN's FIB or Force Intervention Brigade, of DR Congo Bombs & Reuters Spying for UN

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 25 -- Who will watch the UN's FIB, its Force Intervention Brigade in Eastern Congo?

  When the FIB's component from Tanzania practiced raiding a medical tent clearly marked with a red cross, Al Jazeera was there to film it. When it went on-air, Inner City Press at the UN in New York (before Al Jazeera America became UNviewable there since August 20) saw it and wrote a story, dubbing this practice for violating the Geneva Conventions, here.

  In fairness we note that the reporter on the piece told Inner City Press on August 25 that he "saw it as rehearsal attack against an empty tent. Not on a medical camp."

  While some humanitarians who have contacted Inner City Press disagree, it seems a fair point, when coupled with recognition that the UN's FIB needs a hard look.

  But who will give that hard look? We have shown, just last week at the UN in New York, that wire service Reuters was willing to channel an unnamed UN official's spin that the M23 rebels had entered the no-weapons security zone, even as the acting chief of UN Peacekeeping Edmond Mulet told Inner City Press and a different, less UN-useful wire service thatthere had been no violation of the security zone.

  Compared to the re-type shop (and worse) its UN bureau has become, Reuters has relatively better reporters in Kinshasa and Cote d'Ivoire. The latter, Joe Bavier we've met and liked and so held off saying this. But to unself-consciously say that MONUSCO of course must respond to protect civilians -- "they have a clear obligation to respond" -- without mentioning that MONUSCO and UN Peacekeeping are still assisting the Congolese Army units which raped 135 women and girls in Minova, seems to require noting.

  As then does calling the "UN far and away the most credible source" or observer -- after the UN covered up and stonewalled on not only the Minova rapes, but its own role in bringing cholera to Haiti. (Al Jazeera's recent 30 minute documentary on the topic was not viewable in the UN, as protested by the new Free UN Coalition for Access,@FUNCA_info)

  Deeming the UN, from the outset, the most credible source may be a less than journalistic approach -- for purposes of this piece, in the Congo, but in Syria and elsewhere as well.

    For now on DRC this still remains outstanding: at Friday's noon briefing, video here from Minute 10:15, Inner City Press asked the UN's outgoing deputy spokesperson Eduardo Del Buey about the answer, when Inner City Press and another journalist asked UN Peacekeeping acting chief Edmond Mulet Thursday if the M23 rebels had entered the security zone established around Goma.

  "No," Mulet said. "Just mortars." He went on to refer to the separate "red line" established when M23 agreed in Kampala to pull out of Goma. (The portion of that agreement that gave M23 one third of the security force at the Goma airport remains unimplemented.)

  But later on Thursday, the wire service Reuters reported "a senior U.N. official, who asked not to be named, said that on Thursday the rebels entered a security zone surrounding Goma" -- which Mulet, the acting chief of DPKO, had just denied. Inner City Press and the other journalist waited to ask Mulet again, and got the same answer.

  So who is this "senior UN official who asked not to be named"? In UN Peacekeeping, only Herve Ladsous is senior to and could over-rule Mulet.

  Ladsous has in the past spoon-fed answers of dubious veracity to this same Reuters UN bureau bragging for example about the Congolese Army imposing accountability for the 135 rapes in Minova in November 2012.

   But with only a few arrests for the 135 rapes, Ladsous' DPKO continues supporting the 391st Battalion, even as it is now implicated in corpse desecration.

That the UN would try to use Reuters, willingly, resonates with a documented instance in June 2012 when Reuters UN bureau chief Louis Charbonneau gave to UN official Stephane Dujarric an internal UNCA anti-Press document,three minutes after saying he would not do so. Story here,audio here, document here, in which Charbonneau tells Dujarric, "You didn't get this from me."

  So is Reuters' "senior UN official who asked not to be named" someone junior to Mulet, or as another journalist suggested, no one at all? 

  On August 23, Del Buey said he knew what Mulet had said, and has "seen other reports." He said he'd have to check. But August 23 was his last day at the UN (the Free UN Coalition for Access wished him well, video here at Minute 9:55).  So we'll see. Watch this site.