By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May 4
-- With Herve
Ladsous the
fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head UN
Peacekeeping
set to take
over the UN's
presence and
mission in the
Central
African
Republic,
Ladsous in
Bangui on May
3 spoke of
using drones
there as he
had in the
Democratic Republic
of the Congo.
But in the DRC
he had yet to
use them to go
after or "neutralize"
the Hutu FDLR
militia. And
when he he
pushed
drone-use through
in DRC it was
supposed to be
a pilot that
had to be
reviewed and
approved before
use anywhere
else.
Since Ladsous
refuses
to answer basic
questions like
when the UN
Peacekeeping
mission in the
DRC will belatedly
go after the
FDLR, video
here, it
leads to
questions of
how drones
would be used
in CAR.
Already on January
30 UN High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights Navi Pillay
said the the
French
Sangaris force
first
disarming the
ex-Seleka
rebels put
Muslim
communities at
risk of attack
by anti
Balaka.
So how WOULD
Ladsous use
drones in CAR?
Ten days ago in
the
"Cameroonian
district" of
the PK5
neighborhood
in Bangui, Central
African
Republic,
French
soldiers
killed another
five
civilians,
according to
spokesman for
the Muslim
community in
PK5 Abakar
Moustapha.
He said the
French
soldiers' raid
on a house in
the
neighborhood
when the
Senagalese
owner was not
there led to
opposition
from
residents, to
which the
French
responded with
helicopter and
gunfire
killing five
civilians.
After a
previous
incident in
which the
French
Sangaris
troops were
reported to
have killed
civilians,
Inner City
Press asked
the UN what
its mission
there would
do. Reference
was made to an
investigation,
but no results
have been
announced.
French
Ambassador to
the UN Gerard
Araud stopped
responding to
such Press
questions.
Now the UN
mission in CAR
is set to be
taken over by
Frenchman Herve Ladsous' Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations and
no longer the
Department of
Political
Affairs. Given
the history,
will this hold
the French
forces more or
LESS to
account?
When Chad's
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Mahamat Zene
Cherif came to
the Security
Council
stakeout on
March 7,
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
here and
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.
, 
