Ladsous
Won't
Say Who'll
Disarm MNLA,
Minova Rapes,
Drone, MINURSO
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April
25 -- How
unaccountable
can the UN
get? On
Thursday after
the adoption
of the French
drafted
resolution on
Mali by the
Security
Council, Inner
City Press
asked French
ambassador
Gerard Araud
about the MNLA
separatist
group. UN
Video
here.
Araud
said that
there must be
only one army
in Mali, with
territorial
integrity. So
who will bring
it about?
Inner
City Press
asked Mali's
foreign
minister
Coulibaly what
he thought the
role of the UN
peacekeeping
force should
be, to disarm
the MNLA? He
replied, yes
they must
disarm, but he
pointedly
said, ask the
UN. UN
Video here.
So
Inner City
Press asked UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous, “Who
will disarm
the MNLA.” UNTV
edit here,
and below.
He had
just said, at
the Security
Council
stakeout
microphone,
that he would
take
questions. But
he said
nothing. Inner
City Press
asked again:
who will
disarm the
MNLA?
“I
don't respond
to you”
Ladsous said,
then pointing
to get a
question in
French. Video
here.
So,
after the
questions in
French, Inner
City Press
asked Ladsous
for an update
on the rapes
in Minova --
as it had
asked on April
24 at the UN
noon briefing
by Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky, so
far without
answer.
When
Inner City
Press asked
about the
Minova rapes,
one of the
biggest -- but
by no means
the only --
scandals
during
Ladsous'
shameless
tenure at
DPKO, it was
Dwyer who
answered or
refused the
questions,
saying that
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo was
not the topic
of the day, DPKO
or at least
Ladsous wanted
to focus on
Mali, on the
Council's
agenda that
morning.
Fine,
then. Inner
City Press
asked about
the day's two
other Security
Council
topics. On Western
Sahara,
where Ladsous'
mission which
is supposed to
run a
referendum
with
independence
as an option
has Moroccan
license plates
on its
vehicles,
Inner City
Press asked,
“On MINURSO--”
Ladsous
did
not answer. In
fact, Ladsous
began to
prepare to
flee the
stakeout,
grabbing his
papers as he
fielded a
question about
the
French-dominated
Mali
operation.
Ladsous
didn't
answer this
one either.
How much is
Ladsous paid?
Is he
returning any
of his tax
free salary?
Because it is
part of his
job to answer
questions.
We
have
previously
reported being
approached by
a range of
diplomats who
call Ladsous'
behavior on
this and other
things
“shameful,” a
new low for
the UN system,
unacceptable.
But who will
do anything?
Inner
City Press
also asked
Araud of
France --
which is
responsible
for foisting
Ladsous on the
UN -- about
Western Sahara
and the
outcome France
has in
previous years
advocated for:
the non
inclusion, of
human rights
monitoring in
the UN
mission's
mandate.
Araud
seemed to deny
advocating for
this, even in
previous years
-- as to this
year, he said
it was between
Morocco and
the US. US
Ambassador
Susan Rice did
not come to
the stakeout.
Of
those who did
come to the
stakeout
Thursday, the
Permanent
Representative
of France and
the Foreign
Minister of
Mali answered
Inner City
Press'
questions,
saying “ask
the UN.”
But the UN's
Ladsous, paid
with public
money, simply
refused to
answer.
Increasingly,
we think we
know why --
the initial
questions
about his role
and memos
during the
Rwanda
genocide.
Click here.
Should this
person be the
head of UN
Peacekeeping?
Watch this
site.