On
M23, Ban Spoke
with Kagame
But No Answer
On or From
Kabila
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 18 --
Amid reports
that the
Congolese army
attacked
then fled in
the face of
the advance of
the M23
rebels, UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
Saturday spoke
by telephone
with the
president
of neighboring
Rwanda, Paul
Kagame, but
only the
foreign
minister of
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo,
Raymond
Tshibanda.
This
was first
announced by
Ban's head of
UN
Peacekeeping Herve
Ladsous,
who then
proceeded to
refuse to
answer any
Press
questions.
There
seemed an
obvious
absence in
Ban's list of
call: DRC
President
Joseph
Kabila.
Inner
City Press
tried to ask
Ladsous two
questions, but
Ladsous had
directed his Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations
spokesman
to make
UN staff keep
even the boom
microphone
away from the
Press.
It
has been
confirmed to
Inner City
Press that the
order
was to not let
the boom
microphone
anywhere near
Inner City
Press. This is
not
the first time,
nor for Ladsous
to move for
censorship on
UN Television,
see here.
Nevertheless
once
Ladsous
finished his
prepared
statement,
which a UN
diplomat
later called
"pure
propaganda,"
Inner City
Press clearly
asked "Who
broke the
ceasefire?" Video
here, from
Minte
3:47 to 3:57.
On
Sunday, when a
the press
representative
of the DRC
embassy in
Brussels
tweeted at
Inner City
Press an
insult of the
M23, Inner
City
Press replied,
"As rep of
#DRC in
Brussels can
YOU say why
Kabila didn't
speak with Ban
Ki-moon?"
The
DRC press
representative
responded,
that his
foreign
minister
"Tshibanda
spoke with Ban
Ki-moon
yesterday! A
call with
Kabila
was scheduled
today."
After
replying,
Inner City
Press put the
question to
Ban's top
three
spokespeople:
Saturday
at
the Security
Council
stakeout USG
Ladsous said
SG Ban spoke
with
DRC MFA
Tshibanda then
Rwandan
President Paul
Kagame about
M23. Since
USG Ladsous
refused,
unlike
Security
Council
President
Hardeep Singh
Puri and
French
Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud,
to answer or
even respond
to either of
the two
questions I
asked him, I
am asking
you at least
this, on
deadline:
1)
Why didn't Ban
Ki-moon speak
with DRC
President
Kabila
yesterday,
since he spoke
with Rwandan
President
Kagame about
the DRC?
2)
What is
MONUSCO's and
Ladsous'
knowledge of
the facts
alleged by
M23,
that FARDC
violated the
ceasefire on
November 9?
3)
Please
describe, on
this November
9 and
thereafter,
the military
engagement of
MONUSCO,
including any
impact on
civilians,
which FARDC
units MONUSCO
has supported,
directly or
indirectly
including with
air support,
and whether
these units
were subjected
to and passed
the
Human Rights
Due Diligence
Policy that
ASG Simonovic
has publicly
described.
Five
hours later,
while the UN
had still not
answered these
questions or
issued any
notice or
readout of a
Ban Ki-moon
phone
conversation
with
Kabila,
following
Ban's talk
with Paul
Kagame, the UN
put out a
statement
by Ban's
spokesperson
about the
Congo.
Did
this mean that
even a day
after Ban
spoke with
Kagame, he
could not
speak with
Kabila?
Ladsous
wouldn't
answer not
only about the
ceasefire but
also whether
his
Peacekeepers
provided any
protection
at all to
Pinga when the
non M23 rebels
of the Mai Mai
attacked, and
now not would
the wider UN.
Significantly,
Ladsous
was France's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
at the UN in
1994 during
the Rwanda
genocide.
While there
are many
witnesses from
this period,
for now we
will link to a
report Ladsous
submitted on
August 4, 1994
to
the Security
Council at
this time, here,
UN
document
S/1994/933.
We'll have
more on this.
As
the saying
going, a fish
rots from the
head. Watch
this site.
, 
