By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 26 --
When Herve
Ladsous was
appointed head
of UN
Peacekeeping
by France and
UN
Peacekeeping,
Inner City
Press asked
him to address
his past as
French Deputy
Permanent
Representative
at the UN
during the
Rwanda
genocide,
arguing for
the escape
into Eastern
Congo of the genocidaires
who would
become the
FDLR.
Ladsous
refused
to answer, and
then adopted
the policy
of trying to
block Inner
City Press
questions,
going so far
as to have his
spokesman
grab
the UN
Television
microphone to
prevent a
question.
Video here,
compilation
here.
Now --
not
surprisingly
-- a scandal
has arisen,
with Rwandan
officials
exclusively
complaining to
Inner City
Press, citing
letters, about
Ladsous
granting a
travel ban
waiver for
FDLR leader
General Gaston
Iyamuremye /
Rumuli Michel
to fly from
the DR Congo
to Rome. He is
on the UN
Security
Council travel
ban list.
Earlier
this
year, Ladsous
refused to
answer Inner
City Press'
simple
question on
when UN
Peacekeeping
under his
watch might
belatedly go
after or
“neutralize”
the FDLR, video here.
Ladsous
(and see Inner
City Press
video below,
Creative
Commons)
Under
Ladsous, UN
Peacekeeping
is involved in
other
scandals, for
example not
enforcing Ban
Ki-moon's
stated “Human
Rights Due
Diligence
Policy” with
respect to the
41st and
391st
Battalions of
the Congolese
Army after
only two
convictions
for 130 rapes
in Minova in
November 2012.
The UNAMID
mission in
Darfur, Sudan,
not reporting
the killing of
civilians has
also occurred
on Ladsous'
watch, but he
refuses to
answer
questions.
We
will have more
on this.
Update:
Inner City
Press, copying
the Free UN
Coalition for
Access, has
asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric:
, 
