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In
DRC
Buildup, UN Cites
M23 "Disinformation,”
No Mention of
Minova;
Hege
UNITED
NATIONS, April
24 -- When the
UN
Peacekeeping
mission in the
Congo
(MONUSCO) held
a press
conference on
Wednesday,
it mentioned
the M23
rebels twelve
times, and the
FDLR only
twice.
Significantly,
MONUSCO
did not once
mention Minova
and the 126
rapes there by
its
partners in
the Congolese
Army.
MONUSCO
and
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous
claimed they
would be
following up
on the
Congolese
claim
that 12
officer were
either
suspended or
arrested. But
apparently
not.
Instead,
the
MONUSCO read
out says that
M23 has been
holding
meetings to
oppose
deployment of
the
“Intervention
Brigade;”
MONUSCO calls
this M23's
“campaign
of
disinformation.”
This
is along the
lines of the
Congolese
statement that
the
Intervention
Brigade and
the UN are
demanding that
M23 cease to
exist as a
military or
political
movement.
Is
this the right
role for the
UN? Is
it the UN's
right?
Meanwhile
in
other
“disinformation”
on the
intervention
brigade, the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
will have a debate,
not
with the
reclusive Herve Ladsous -- who has repeatedly
refused to
answer Press
questions
about his
views of and
roles in the
region, now
and in 1994,
see memo
here --
but another
Herve, Herve
Lecoq.
But
who will Lecoq
be “debating”?
None
other than
Steven Hege,
former
coordinator of
the “Group of
Experts” on
the Democratic
Republic
of Congo. As
we've
reported, Hege
authored a
piece
dismissive of
the
FDLR militia,
which was
taken off the
Internet
as soon as
Inner City
Press linked
to it.
One
would still
like to get
Hege on the
record about
his writings
-- but
his “debate”
with DPKO's
“Other Herve,”
Lecoq, will be
on the
Chatham House
Rule -- ideas
can be quoted,
but not who
said them.
Between
Herve
and Steve, it
might be hard
to tell them
apart. The PEP
talk
will be at the
UN Foundation,
not in New
York but in
Washington,
this
Friday, April
26 at 9 am.
Watch this
site.
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