123
NGOs & Darfur
Experts Call
for Ladsous'
Ouster After
Cover Ups by
DPKO
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 22, more
here --
Amid the cover
up of rapes in
Darfur by UN
Peacekeeping,
whose chief
Herve Ladsous
met with
Sudan's
International
Criminal Court
- indicted
president Omar
al Bashir
without ever
explaining
why, 123
non-governmental
organizations
and human
rights experts
and activists
have called
for Ladsous to
be fired. Ladsous video here, Vine
here.
Inner City
Press has
obtained the
letter and
published it
below. This
follows UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon taking
no questions
about Darfur
or Sudan
during his
December 17
press
conference (at
which, as
noted by the Free UN Coalition for Access, Ban seemed
to have the
content of
questions in
advance.)
The letter is
copied to the
presidents /
prime
minister,
foreign
ministers and
UN ambassadors
of the US, UK
and France.
How will they
respond,
particularly
France which
installed
Ladsous atop
UN
Peacekeeping
after their
first
selection,
Jerome
Bonnafont, was
rejected at
the last
minute by the
UN? And how
might this new
outspokenness
of NGOs impact
attempts to
install Andrew
Lansley atop
the UN Office
for the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs?
The letter
saays, "The
result has
been a vastly
expensive and
discredited UN
mission, led
by Herve
Ladsous, who
consistently
and
deliberately
diminishes the
scale of the
conflict in
Darfur,
thereby
enabling
Khartoum’s
crimes to
flourish,
whilst the
international
community
congratulates
itself on
improved
circumstances
in Darfur."
The letter's
final
paragraph
begins, "At the
very least
Herve Ladsous
should not
continue his
role at the UN
DPKO."
Here is the
letter, about
which we will
have more:
Mr Ban
Ki-Moon
Secretary-General
of the United
Nations
22 December
2014
Dear
Secretary-General
Re the ICC
arrest warrant
for President
al Bashir
We are a group
of NGOs,
individuals,
representatives
of Sudanese
political
parties and
interested
partners.
We write
regarding the
announcement
by the ICC
Chief
Prosecutor
that she is
suspending new
investigations
in the cases
of President
al Bashir and
those Sudanese
officials
indicted for
genocide, war
crimes and
crimes against
humanity.
We share the
Chief
Prosecutor’s
frustration
that members
of the United
Nations
Security
Council have
demonstrated
an
insufficient
engagement
with the ICC’s
repeated
demands for
international
co-operation
in holding to
account those
indicted for
their part in
gross
violations of
human rights
in Darfur. It
is notable
that even
signatories to
the Rome
Statute have
ignored their
obligations to
bring
President al
Bashir and his
fellow
Sudanese
indictees to
justice.
However, we
fear that the
Chief
Prosecutor’s
intervention
will only
serve to
embolden the
Sudanese armed
forces and
their proxies
in their
systematic
campaign to
ethnically
cleanse Sudan
of those they
wish to
eliminate.
Fatou
Bensouda’s
attempt to
shine a
spotlight on
the UN
Security
Council,
whilst
temporarily
suspending
investigations,
has already
had the
unfortunate
consequence of
making those
responsible
for atrocities
in Sudan
believe that
they have won
the moral
battle. They
now compute
that killing,
bombing,
raping,
burning,
intimidating,
and looting
can be
continued with
impunity.
The UN
Security
Council has
had many
opportunities
to enforce
numerous
resolutions on
Darfur from
2004 onward
concerned with
pressing the
Sudanese
government to
stop bombing
and attacking
its own
unarmed
civilians.
However, the
Security
Council has
consistently
refrained from
enforcing
resolutions
giving
permission to
impose
targeted smart
sanctions and
travel bans on
the architects
of the ethnic
cleansing in
Darfur.
Consequently,
those indicted
by the ICC
have continued
to travel
without fear
of arrest;
their assets
could have
been frozen,
according to
the UNSC’s
resolutions,
and yet no
action has
been taken,
despite the
repeated
refusal of
indictees to
make good
their promises
to the UNSC
and to you
personally.
One disturbing
aspect of the
UNSC’s
reluctance to
press the
government of
Sudan to obey
international
treaties and
conventions it
has signed has
been the
failure to
demand that
the Khartoum
regime
investigate
the deaths of
UNAMID
personnel and
to bring to
justice those
responsible.
Nothing has
been done to
follow up
expressions of
concern
following the
killing of the
UN’s own staff
by proxies
closely
associated
with the
Sudanese
regime. The
signal this
sends the
Sudanese
regime is one
of only a
token gesture.
Unsurprisingly
those indicted
by the ICC
have concluded
they can
ignore these
statements and
continue
perpetrating
atrocities
with no
accountability.
Another
consequence of
the UN lack of
consistent and
meaningful
pressure on
the government
of Sudan is
that UNAMID
has been
rendered
impotent.
While its
personnel know
they cannot
count on
support from
New York when
they are
prevented from
performing
their duties
by Sudanese
officials,
they will be
unwilling to
risk their
lives by
trying to
fulfil their
mandate to
protect
civilians and
report on
suspected
human rights
abuses. The
result has
been a vastly
expensive and
discredited UN
mission, led
by Herve
Ladsous, who
consistently
and
deliberately
diminishes the
scale of the
conflict in
Darfur,
thereby
enabling
Khartoum’s
crimes to
flourish,
whilst the
international
community
congratulates
itself on
improved
circumstances
in Darfur.
It is against
this
background
that President
al Bashir has
felt at ease
traveling the
world,
breaking his
promises to
the UNSC, and
making fools
of the
international
community. The
Sudanese
leader has
perceived
weakness,
indifference
and
insincerity,
and has
pressed on
with his
policy of
ethnic
cleansing the
minorities of
Sudan.
At the very
least Herve
Ladsous should
not continue
his role at
the UN DPKO.
Moreover, if
the UNSC is to
have any
credibility in
future it must
begin to
enforce the
smart targeted
sanctions,
asset freezes
and travel
bans on those
indicted by
the ICC. If
member states
refuse to
co-operate,
they should
face penalties
accordingly.
This is a
wake-up call
to the UNSC
and to your
office
personally: to
redeem
credibility,
it is time to
apply
sustained and
genuine
pressure on
those indicted
by the ICC. We
have long
since appealed
to the UN to
help save the
lives of
millions at
risk in
Darfur. This
plea has so
far gone
unanswered.
Hence we hope
a direct
request to you
and your
office, the
UNSC and the
head of the UN
DPKO will
command the
attention it
deserves.
Yours
sincerely
1. Waging
Peace, Olivia
Warham MBE,
Director (UK)
2. Voice for
Nyala, Elena
Ghizzo,
Coordinator
(UK)
3. Darfur
Development
Agenda,
Saifeldin
Nemir (YEMEN)
4. Article 1,
Madeleine
Crowther,
Research,
Refugee &
Campaigns
Assistant (UK)
5. Darfur Bar
Association,
Abdelrahman
Mohamed Gasim
, Protection
and External
Relations
6.
Humanitarian
Aid Relief
Trust (HART),
Baroness Cox
House of Lords
and CEO (UK)
7.
Humanitarian
Aid Relief
Trust (HART),
Alice
Robinson,
Advocacy and
Communications
Manager
8. Zarga
Organization
for Rural
Development,
Mustafa Adam
Ahmed,
Director (UK)
9. Darfur
Victims
Organization
for
Rehabilitation
and Relief
(DVORR), Ishag
Mekki, Chair
(UK)
10. Eric
Reeves,
Professor,
Smith College
& Sudan
Expert (USA)
11. The
Elsa-Gopa
Trust, Nell
Okie, Director
(USA)
12. Congolese
Genocide
Awareness
(CGA), Anthony
Kasongo,
Executive
Director (USA)
13. Religious
Liberty
Program and
Church
Alliance for a
New Sudan,
Faith J. H.
McDonnell,
Director,
14. Sudan
Unlimited,
Esther
Sprague,
Director (USA)
15. Never
Again
Coalition,
Lauren
Fortgang and
Diane Koosed,
Co-Chairs
(USA)
16. Hamid E.
Ali, PhD,
Associate
Professor and
Department
Chair,
Department of
Public Policy
and
17. Justice
& Equality
Movement Sudan
(JEM), Gebreil
I M Fediel,
Chairperson
18. Darfur
Humanitarian
Advocacy
Australia,
Eltayeb
Mohamed Ali
Abdelrahim,
President
19. National
Sudanese Women
Alliance in
Diaspora ,
Suhair Sharif,
Chairwoman
(UK)
20. Jews
Against
Genocide, New
York, Eileen
Weiss,
Co-Founder
(USA)
21. New York
Coalition for
Sudan, Neiki
Ullah,
Communications
Director (USA)
22. Sudan
Advocacy
Action Forum,
Dr. Eleanor
Wright,
Moderator
(USA)
23. Give Back
Project,
Waleed
Abdallah,
Project
manager (UK)
24. Beja
Congress UK ,
Mohammed
Alhalengy (UK)
25. Idaho
Darfur
Coalition,
Marcia Prasch,
Co-Founder
(USA)
26. The House
of the Lord
Churches, Rev.
Dr. Herbert
Daughtry,
National
Presiding
Minister (USA)
27. Umma
National Party
of Sudan,
Mariam Alsadig
Almahdi, Vice
President
28. Sudanese
Community
Church of
Denver, The
Rev Dr Oja B
Gafour, PhD,
Vicar (USA)
29. African
Freedom
Coalition, New
York City, Al
Sutton MD,
President
(USA)
30. Brooklyn
Coalition for
Darfur &
Marginalized
Sudan, USA,
Laura Limuli,
Coordinator
(USA)
31. Genocide
Watch, Dr
Gregory H.
Stanton,
President
&
Professor,
George Mason
University
(USA)
32. Women
Voice for
Peace in
Sudan, Mastora
Bakhiet (USA)
33. Ubuntu
Women
Institute USA,
Sunday Taabu,
Founder (USA)
34. Stop
Genocide Now,
Gabriel
Stauring,
Founder (USA)
(UK)
Institute on
Religion and
Democracy
(USA)
Administration,
The American
University in
Cairo (EGYPT)
(AUSTRALIA)
35. Ahmed H
Adam, Visiting
Fellow,
Institute for
African
Development,
Cornell
University
(USA)
36. Unite for
Darfur
Organization,
Bahar Arabie,
CEO (USA)
37. Darfur
Interfaith
Network,
Martha
Boshnick (USA)
38. Raga
Gibreel, Green
Kordofan,
Founder (UK)
39. Darfur
Australia
Network (DAN),
Guna
Subramaniam
(AUSTRALIA)
40. Women From
The Far West,
Mariam shaw,
Founder (UK)
41. Darfur
Association in
Uganda,
Mohamed Ishaq
Abdulshafi,
President
(UGANDA)
42. Sudan
Broad National
Front, Mr Ali
Mahmoud
Hassanein,
Chairman
43. Namaa
Al-Mahdi,
Member of the
National Umma
Party
Executive
Committee
(USA)
44. Darfur
Union UK &
Ireland,
Muatasim
Mahadi,
Chairman (UK)
45. Darfur
Union UK &
Ireland, Motaz
Bargo,
Secretary
General (UK)
46. Darfur
Center for
Transitional
Justice &
Peace Studies,
Dr Enas Osman
Ahmed,
Executive
Director (USA)
47. Sudan
Liberation
Movement
Second
Revolution,
Abdellatife
Ismail, Deputy
Chairman (UK)
48. SUDO,
Osman Mansour,
Coordinator
(UK)
49. Voice of
Darfur Women,
Mariam
Suliman,
Chairperson
(UK)
50. Nuba Now,
Claire Budd
(UK)
51. Georgia
Coalition to
Prevent
Genocide,
Melanie
Melkin, Chair,
(USA)
52. Pittsburgh
Darfur
Emergency
Coalition,
David
Rosenberg,
Coordinator
(USA)
53. Dear
Sudan, Love
Marin, Gerri
Miller,
Founder and
Coordinator
(USA)
54. San
Francisco Bay
Area Darfur
Coalition,
Mohamed
Suleiman,
President
(USA)
55. Commission
of Protection
of Civilians
and Promotion
of Women and
Children
Rights, SPLM
Controlled
Areas, Monim
El Jak, Vice
President
(KENYA)
56. Nuba
Mountains
Peoples
Foundation,
Elrayah Kakki,
Chief
Executive
Officer
57. SPLM-N,
Kamal Kambal
(UK)
58. World
Peace and
Reconciliation,
Adeeb Yousif
(USA)
59. Carl
Wilkens
Fellowship,
Katie-Jay
Scott, Program
Facilitator
(USA)
60. EASE Women
Group, Amal
Elsheikh (UK)
61. Sudan
Solidarity
Network, Sabir
Abu Saadia
(SOUTH AFRICA)
62. Mohammed
Hamid,
Journalist
(UK)
63. Darfur
Action Group
of South
Carolina,
Richard
Sribnick,
Chairman (USA)
64. Investors
Against
Genocide, Eric
Cohen,
Chairperson
(USA)
65. Act for
Sudan, Martina
Knee,
Co-Founder
(USA)
66.
Massachusetts
Coalition for
Darfur,
William
Rosenfeld,
Director (USA)
67. Sudan
Liberation
Movement Minni
Minawi,
Abuobieda
Elkhalifa
68. Collectif
Urgence
Darfour, Dr
Jacky Mamou,
Chairman
(FRANÎ)
69. Joining
Our Voices,
Slater
Armstrong,
Founder/Director
(USA)
70. Umma
Party, USA
Chapter, Abdul
Suliman (USA)
71. Beja
Congress UK,
Dr Abu Amnas
(UK)
72. SOESA INC,
Bakri Omer,
Director
(AUSTRALIA)
73. Darfur
Call,
Abdelhadi
Abaker,
Chairman (THE
NETHERLANDS)
74. Nuba
Relief,
Rehabilitation
&
Development
Organisation,
Nagwa Musa
Konda (SUDAN)
75.
People4Sudan,
Zeinab
Blandia, Chief
Executive
(USA)
76. Nuba
Christian
Family
Mission,
George Tutu,
Founder/Director/Chairman
(USA)
77. Darfur
Union, The
Netherlands,
Eisa Mustafa,
Chairman (THE
NETHERLANDS)
78. National
Unionist Party
UK &
Europe, Amin
Hamad, Head of
the Party’s
Committee (UK)
79. Beja
Congress
Corrective,
Zeinab
Kabbashi,
Chairperson
(UK)
80. Sudan
Organisation
for
Development,
Zeinab Malik,
Chairperson
(UK)
81. DAAM
(Network for
Coordinating
Sudan
Pro-Democracy
Action
Abroad), Ali
Abdelatif,
Coordinator
(UK)
82. Norwegian
Church Aid,
Dawood Narbi
Kodi, Program
Manager
(NORWAY)
83. Rabah
Alsadiq,
Deputy
Editor-in-Chief,
Hurriyat
E-Newspaper (
SUDAN)
84. Sports
League of
Sudanese
Expatriates,
Abdel Al-Monim
Omer Osman
85. Society of
Sudanese
Journalists
Abroad, Ismael
Mohammed Ali,
General
Secretary
86. The League
of Friends of
Mahjoub
Shareif,
Mohammed
Abdel-Jalil,
Chairman
87. Sudan
Association of
Transitional
Justice, Ali
Zain Elabdein,
(SUDAN)
88. Gaafer
Ali, Community
Activist, UK
89. Mohammed
Bahari,
Activist, UK
90. Abdalla
Ahmed,
Activist, UK
91. Sam
Godolphin,
Activist, UK
92. Ahmed
Elzobier,
Human Rights
Activist, UK
93. Ahmed
Gamar,
Activist, UK
94. Hamza
Yousif,
Activist UK
95. Emmanuel
Walla, South
Sudan,
Activist
96. Mohamed El
Faki Hamilton,
Darfuri and
Human Rights
Activist
97. Zahir Moh
Musa Akasha,
Civil Society
and Human
Rights
Activist
98. Alhadi
Altrayih,
Activist, UK
99. Mohammed
Abaker,
Activist, UK
100. Ali
Rahman,
Activist, UK
101. Rasha
Ibrahim,
Activist, UK
102. Khalid
Kodi,
Activist, USA
103. Ahmed
Ballah,
Activist, UK
104. Samia
Adnan,
Activist, UK
105. Zeena
Farouk,
Activist, UK
106. Ahmed
Farouk,
Activist,
Belgium
107. Farah
Farouk,
Activist,
Vietnam
108. Abaker
Abuebashar,
Activist, UK
109. Mona
Zanoon,
Activist, UK
110. Zahir
Akasha,
Activist, UK
111. Aboud
Arosh,
Activist, UK
112. Abdulazim
Ahmed,
Activist, UK
113. Amal
Habani,
Journalist/Human
Rights
Activist,
SUDAN
114. Rasha
Ibrahim,
Activist, UK
115. Hashim
Othman Mustafa
Ibrahim,
Activist, UK
116. Reverend
Heidi
McGinness,
Activist USA
117. Mustafa
Siry Suliman,
Journalist, UK
118. Mohamed
Hamid,
Journalist, UK
119. Nasredeen
Abdulbari,
Activist, USA
120. Siddique
Al-Mouj,
Journalist,
SAUDI ARABIA
121. Samih
Elshaikh,
Blogger,
BELGIUM
122. Elsadig
Adam Ismael,
Human Right
Activist,
SUDAN
123. Altahir
Ishag Eldouma,
Journalist/Writer,
SUDAN
cc
David Cameron,
UK Prime
Minister
President
Barack Obama,
President of
the United
States
Francois
Hollande,
President of
France
Philip
Hammond, UK
Foreign
Secretary
John Kerry,
Secretary of
State, USA
Laurent
Fabius,
Foreign
Minister of
France
Sir Mark Lyall
Grant, UK
Ambassador to
the UN
Samantha
Power, USA
Ambassador to
the UN
Francois
Delattre,
Ambassador,
Permanent
Representative
of France to
the United
Nations
When UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon held a
press
conference on
December 17,
there were no
questions
about UN
scandals such
as UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous
covering up
mass rape in
Darfur as he
did in Minova
in Eastern
Congo (nor
about UN
Peacekeepers
shooting
protesters in
Haiti).
In fact, as
Ban read his
answers from
prepared
noted, it
seemed to many
that Ban had
been given the
questions in
advance.
Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric set
aside the
first question
for the
outgoing head
of the UN
Correspondents
Association,
who lobbed a
softball
question on a
topic Ban has
no power over
or
responsibility
for. This is
how it works.
UNCA used Ban
to give a faux
"UN" award to
a Turkish
billionaire
only the night
before, and to
hand up a
Haiti award
with no
reference to
cholera or
shooting at
protesters.
But
the omission
of the cover
up of rapes in
Tabit in
Darfur was
particularly
egregious, and
telling. The
UNAMID mission
there under
Herve Ladsous
on November 9
issued a
statement that
"village
community
leaders
reiterated to
UNAMID that
they coexist
peacefully
with local
military
authorities in
the area" and
that no
evidence of
rape was
found.
On
December 4,
Inner City
Press asked
Ladsous, Why
did UNAMID not
say on
November 9
that it was
surrounded by
soldiers? Video here, and
embedded
below.
As is his
habit, Ladsous
did not answer
on December 4,
even with his
UN
Peacekeeping
under fire for
cover ups. It
is a pattern
with Ladsous.
He refused
Press
questions for
months about
rapes in
Eastern Congo
in Minova by
DRC Army units
his UN
Peacekeeping
supports: video compilation here; Vine
here.
On the morning
of December 4
Ladsous
claimed to the
Security
Council that
UNAMID's
findings were
"inconclusive"
due to army
presence. But
his UNAMID's
press release
whitewashed
the situation
in Tabit and
did not
mention the
army presence.
The
covering-up
continues,
with no
credibility,
as Ladsous did
on the Minova
raped by DR
Congo Army
units his UN
Peacekeeping
supports.
On
November 25, a
wide range of
groups in
Darfur
petitioned the
UN Security
Council about
UNAMID's
malfeasance.
Inner City
Press that
morning
obtained the
letter (h/t)
and put
it online in
full here,
Watch
this site.
, 
