ICP
Asks Why Ban
Omitted
Peacekeeper
Rapes, Spox
Says They're
Not Deliberate
Terror
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May
26 -- How low
has the UN
fallen, in
terms of
corruption,
not stopping
rapes, and
retaliating
against the
Press that
asks the
questions? April 16 eviction here and here.
May
14 New York
Times here.
On
June 2, when
Ban Ki-moon
did not even
mention
peacekeepers'
rapes in the
French
organized
Security
Council debate
on sexual
violence in
conflict,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, video here, UN
transcript
here:
Inner
City
Press: I
wanted to ask,
listening to
the
Secretary-General's
speech on this
sexual
violence and
conflict, and
I was sort of
waiting for
some reference
to sexual
abuse by
peacekeepers
themselves or
by the
Sangaris
force.
Is there
something that
I'm missing in
kind of the
scope of the
meeting?
Why was this
important
topic on which
he actually
had some…
some, you
know,
responsibility
and can do
something, not
mentioned in
his speech…?
Spokesman:
I think the
Secretary-General
has been clear
in his outrage
when
violations are
committed by
peacekeepers
or
international
forces.
The focus of
the meeting
was on those
terror groups
and others who
are
deliberately
using… using
sexual
violence as a
tool of war,
and I don't
think in any
way, shape or
form that
applies to
peacekeeping.
Question:
Well, I mean…
no, I guess
I'm referring
to the
Sangaris, the
bestiality
allegations at
a minimum are
not… don't
seem to be of
normal… they
seem to be…
Spokesman:
I think your…
your… I don't
agree with
your
logic. I
think you're
talking about,
on one hand,
groups and
organisations
that pointedly
use sexual
violence as a
tool of
war. And
what I'm
talking about
are horrendous
acts committed
by an extreme
minority…
criminal acts
committed by a
minority of
peacekeepers
or
international…
international
forces that
doesn't…
obviously, it
doesn't
reflect the
intent of the
missions.
Question:
Sure.
And I guess
you may… I've
been meaning
to ask this
for a few
days.
The
Secretary-General's
most recent
report on
children and
armed conflict
goes through a
number of
things, but it
mentions the
attack by the
US on the
Médecins Sans
Frontières
hospital in
Kunduz, but
the US is not
listed in the
annex.
The Saudis are
listed for
similar
attacks, I
guess, which
you might call
unintentional,
in
Yemen.
How is this
determination
made to list
the… the…?
Spokesman:
There will be…
there is a
process, and
we go through
it every year,
and there will
be a formal
presentation
of the report
by the Special
Representative.
So I would ask
you to save
your questions
for that.
On May
26 amid UN
Peacekeeping
scandals
ranging from
rapes and
sexual
exploitation
to the
“protection of
civilians”
crisis
exemplified by
the failure at
Malakal in
South Sudan,
DPKO chief
Herve Ladsous
and DFS' Atule
Khare held a
press
conference.
While
Ladsous has
engaged in
censorship for
some time,
refusing to
answer Press
questions,
Khare on May
25 indicated
he would take
a question.
But apparently
the DPKO-DFS
partnership or
"brotherhood"
is not equal:
Ladsous'
predilections
won out.
Khare
spoke of
recycling in
Darfur, and of
the Tanzanian
battalion
agreeing to
paternity
tests. When
Inner City
Press asked,
quite audible,
for Ladsous to
clarify his
September 11,
2015 linking
of rapes to
"R&R," he
declined.
Nothing on
Malakal,
either. This
is Ban
Ki-moon's UN.
After Ladsous
refused these
audible
questions,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Farhan Haq
about Malakal
and, again,
about the
UNIFIL food
re-sale
scandal
exposed by El
Pais. Haq said
the
investigations
are ongoing.
This too is
Ban's UN.
This
too: on May 18
the annual
meeting
between the UN
Security
Council and
DPKO Force
Commanders
which has
always before
been open -
has gone
behind closed
doors.
This was
particularly
inappropriate
given the
Force
Commanders
present:
rape-central
MINUSCA
commander
Lieutenant
General Balla
Keïta;
Lieutenant
General Derick
Mbuyiselo
Mgwebi (South
Africa) of the
UN
Organization
Stabilization
Mission in the
DRC (MONUSCO),
Lieutenant
General
Yohannes
Gebremeskel
Tesfamariam
(Ethiopia) of
the UN Mission
in South Sudan
(UNMISS), and
Major General
Michael
Lollesgaard
(Denmark) of
the UN
Multidimensional
Integrated
Stabilization
Mission in
Mali
(MINUSMA).
Why is this
meeting
closed? Why is
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous, who
linked rapes
to R&R,
not scheduled
for a Q&A
Press
conference?
Even to
stakeout the
closed
meeting, Inner
City Press is
this year
required by
DPI's Cristina
Gallach and
ultimately Ban
Ki-moon
required to
have a UN
“minder” as it
seeks to speak
on background
with sources.
This is
censorship and
UN decay.
Still,
it seems that
at least one
member state
not on the
UNSC this year
was asked to
leave; others
wondered why
the meeting
was closed, or
at least some
part of it not
left open.
Inner City
Press said to
French
Permanent
Representative
Francois
Delattre,
apparently NOT
on the
Security
Council's
mission to
Somalia, "ca
doit etre
ouvert." He
replied,
politely, that
he wasn't
sure.
On May
17, Ban's
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
announced the
availability
of the UN's
own count of
sexual abuse
and
exploitation
allegations in
2016, 44. Of
this, 29
MINUSCA, 7
MONUSCO, 2
MINUSTAH, one
each in
UNMISS, UNOCI,
MINUSMA,
UNISFA, UNSCO
and UNSMIL
(Libya). Is it
credible? When
is the UN
Peacekeeping
Q&A?
After a bill
on UN
peacekeepers'
sexual abuse
and
exploitation
passed the US
Senate Foreign
Relations
Committee,
Inner City
Press on April
29 asked the
spokesman for
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon what
he thought of
the bill, video here, UN
transcript
here.
On
April 20,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
rapes inside
the UN's
"protection"
camps, UN
transcript
here.
On
April 12 Inner
City Press
asked Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about an April
13 hearing in
the US House
of
Representatives
about impunity
for UN rapes.
Just as the UN
skipped court
hearings on
bringing
cholera to
Haiti, Haq's
answer did not
say that the
UN would
attend the
hearing. Video
here.
Inner
City Press
live-tweeted
the House
hearing on
April 13, in
which Aicha
Elbasri
described
Herve Ladsous'
cover up in
Darfur, and
former OIOS
auditor Peter
Gallo
described how
top UN
officials just
USE the OIOS
(as they have
to de-link Ban
Ki-moon from
the Ng Lap
Seng scandal).
Brett Schaefer
said there is
a need for US
training of
other
countries'
peacekeepers.
There's truth
in that, but
one of the DRC
Army units
implicated in
the mass rapes
in Minova was
US trained.
Chairman
Chris Smith
cited the UN's
"zero
tolerance,
zero
compliance
culture;" in
the Senate
there were
strong
argument for
reducing the
UN's funding.
On
April 14,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, video here, UN
transcript
here.
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