UNITED
NATIONS, May
29 -- Can a UN
Under
Secretary
General on
camera refuse
to answer
questions
about
providing
military
support to
Army units
charged with
rape, and
about procuring
drones without
required
approvals,
by saying “I
do not respond
to you”?
On May
29 in the UN
Press Briefing
Room, Herve
Ladsous the
head of UN
Peacekeeping
did just that,
telling Inner
City Press on
questions of
rape and
drones, “You
know I do not
respond to
you, Mister.”
Video
here and
embedded
below.
Ladsous
did
it flanked by
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric. He
did it with no
complaint or
reaction from
the similar
head of the
old UN
Correspondents
Association Pam Falk,
who though
arriving 15
minutes late
was called on
by Dujarric to
lob a softball
question
before Inner
City Press.
Agence
France Presse
was called on
-- AFP
invoked the
UNCA machinery
against an
article
Inner City
Press published
showing that
Ladsous was
not Ban's
first choice
for the job.
UNCA's board
demanded outright
censorship
of an article
about its
president's
conflict of
interest,
renting an
apartment to a
UN Ambassador
(there's
more real
estate
shenanigans
to come, June
7).
Inner City
Press quit
UNCA and
co-founded the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
which opposes
Ladsous'
picking which
media to
answer, and
UNCA insiders
for accepting
this.
Afterward
on
May 29 Inner
City Press
asked Dujarric
how this was
acceptable.
The question
about Ladsous
not applying
Ban's supposed
Human Rights
Due Diligence
Policy after
only two
Congolese
soldiers were
convicted of
130 rapes in
Minova in
November 2012,
Inner City
Press has
asked Dujarric
for weeks. He
has still
provided no
answer, nor on
Ladsous'
drone
procurement.
Dujarric
pointed
to a separate
answer by USG
Ameerah Haq,
not on the
rapes or
drones but
logistics in
South Sudan.
This was
appreciated
and may be
separately
reported. But
Ladsous is
bringing all
of UN
Peacekeeping
down, not only
other
officials but
the troops
working in the
field. We'll
have more on
this.
, 
