By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 27 --
Two days ago we asked,
when a French
Ambassador in
the United
States is
quoted calling
Morocco
France's
"mistress" in
the context of
Western
Sahara, what
happens?
Since then,
Spanish actor
and activist
Javier Bardem
(and Le Monde)
have clarified
that the
reference is
to Gerard
Araud,
France's
Ambassador to
the UN. And
Araud, as
he has at
least one
before at the
UN, has
threatened to
sue. Here
for the record
is that.
Readers may
remember that
French
president
Francois
Hollande only
recently said
he would not
sue a
publication,
since he
himself is
immune from
litigation.
Araud
apparently
doesn't see or
take seriously
that double
standard.
(There's talk
of even
Hollande
calling not
only Mohammed
VI but also
Araud, though
since Araud
won't answer
questions this
is not
possible to
confirm or
deny.)
L'affaire
Araud had
made it even
into the press
notes of
MINURSO, one
of the few UN
Peacekeeping
missions that
does not have
a human rights
monitoring
mandate.
The head of UN
Peacekeeping,
of course, is
Herve Ladsous,
the fourth
Frenchman in a
row to hold
the post. And
lo and behold,
on February 25
Ladsous
appeared in
the French
media (via
Maghreb Arab
Press)
praising
Morocco for
its
peacekeepers
-- trying to
keep the
peace, one wag
remarked, if
only for his
own country.
Araud's previous
threat to sue
was made in
January at the
Security
Council
stakeout,
about an
article his
own Mission
spokespeople
had refused
requests to
comment on.
The goal seems
to be to
discourage
through
litigation
threats and
retaliatory
exclusion
stories that
are critical
or comparative
-- between a
French
diplomat now
serving as
consul in San
Francisco to
the Indian
diplomat
Khobragade,
who cannot
re-enter the
US without
being
arrested.
This type of
intimidation
and censorship
is opposed,
including by
the new Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
which also
with regard to
Western Sahara
questioned the
banning from
the stakeout
microphone of
the Polisario
Front, a party
to a UN
mediated
process. If as
the quote has
it Morocco is
France's
mistress, what
is Western
Sahara? The
word abuse
comes to mind.
Another play
on words:
while Araud
threatens a
legal suit,
through
intimidation
and apathy
recent
coverage of
Araud at the
UN has focused
on, what else,
his suit, that
is, his
tailor. What
about what the
UN's Navi
Pillay said on
January 20,
about French
forces leaving
Muslims at
risk of attack
in Central
African
Republic? More
on that to
follow.
Initially
all but one
account said
the ambassador
in question
was France's
ambassador in
Washington
Francois
Delattre; no
less than Le
Monde put
the "mistress"
words in the
mouth of
France's Ambassador
to the UN
Gerard Araud,
click here for
that.
The
Le
Monde
story was
ironic, both
because at the
UN in
September
Laurent Fabius
told a
reporter who
asked about
French killing
in Algeria
that he would
prefer to get
a question
from a "real"
journalists,
and because of
Araud's recent
statements on
responsible
and
"micro-tabloid"
journalism.
Meanwhile
in
Paris,
Moroccan
diplomat
Abdellatif
Hammouchi was
served with
legal papers
relating to
alleged
torture in the
Temara
detention
center. If
that
relationship
seems to be
unraveling,
others ask: if
Morocco is
France's
mistress, what
are Mali and
the Central
African
Republic, or
even more
attenuated,
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo?
Morocco
loudly
criticized
the group
behind the
torture legal
papers, ACAT,
and that they
were served on
the
ambassador's
residence.
France seems
to have a
different
approach to claiming
immunity for
its diplomats
abroad,
including in
the United
States,
and others'
diplomats in
France. Click
here for Araud
on this.
Even
before this
flap, there
were reports
from
Washington of
Delattre
leaving, and
renewed
speculation
about Araud
joining
another EU
counterpart in
a move (200
miles) south
to DC. On
Amtrak's Acela
express train
service, when
working, it's
fast.
For Araud, it
might be time:
he seems to
have caught
the Herve
Ladsous
syndrome,
of citing
articles he
doesn't like
and refusing
to answer
critical
questions.
Will the
Morocco as
France's
mistress quote
speed the
spinning of
the wheel?
Watch this
site.
, 
