By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 17 --
Does UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous do
telephone
eavesdropping?
Inner City
Press asked on
November 17
including,
under what
authority? The
answer was
UNclear. Video
here.
The last time
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous
himself was
scheduled to
take questions
from the
press, instead
he lunged
forward and
blocked the
Press' camera,
then canceled
his Q&A
stakeout on
Mali. Vine
here.
Since
then more
peacekeepers
have been
killed and
injured but
Ladsous,
unlike his
also-French
predecessors
Alain Le Roy
and Jean-Marie
Guehenno, has
not done a
stakeout to
speak up for
those put
under his
command.
Instead,
Ladsous
now tried to
do softball
interviews
with
hand-picked
correspondents.
Even that
works out
badly --
perhaps very
badly.
In
a recent
“interview,”
in which for
example UN
Peacekeeping
bringing
cholera to
Haiti is
vaguely
mentioned but
not followed
up on, it slips
out that
Ladsous is
expanding
“signal
intelligence,
using
high-tech
surveillance
of
communications
such as
telephone
eavesdropping.”
How
can it be that
at the same
time that the
UN General
Assembly is
considering a
Brazilian and
German drafted
resolution on
Privacy in the
Digital Age,
Ladsous is
expanding
eavesdropping
and
wire-tapping?
On whose
authority?
So at the
November 17 UN
noon briefing,
Inner City
Press asked UN
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq,
per the UN's
transcript
(video
here) --
Inner
City Press: On
peacekeeping,
Under-Secretary-General
[Hervé]
Ladsous was
interviewed
earlier this
month, and the
resulting
story says
that "Mr.
Ladsous seeks
to expand
signal
intelligence
using high
tech
communications
such as
telephone
eavesdropping,"
unquote.
And I wanted
to know:
Is it the case
that UN
peacekeeping
uses
eavesdropping?
And if so,
under what
authority or
mandate?
And how is it
consistent
with the
General
Assembly
pending
resolution on
privacy in the
digital age?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq:
We're trying
to expand our
abilities to
deal with the
sort of
threats that
the UN faces,
including in
its
peacekeeping.
As you know,
we're also
doing a
peacekeeping
review, which
hopefully will
address some
of these
issues.
I don't have
anything at
this stage to
report on
signals
intelligence,
though.
Inner City
Press: I
guess what I'm
saying, since
this is a
published
report and you
said last week
that unlike
the World
Health
Organisation
that
blacklists
media, that
you simply
seek
corrections.
Is this the
case?
This is
reporting that
it's currently
eavesdropping
on
telephones.
I want to know
under what
legal
authority?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq: I
think that's a
characterization
of something
that is not
precisely what
he said.
That's your
characterization
of it.
Inner City
Press:
Okay, I'll be
clear.
Does MINUSMA
in Mali use
surveillance
and
intercepted…
communications
intercepted by
the Dutch
Intelligence
Service that
serves the
mission?
And if so,
under what
legal
authority?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq: I
believe
MINUSMA is
working… I
believe one of
your
colleagues
asked about a
fusion cell
there. I
believe the
fusion cell
does try to
get enhanced
information,
including from
collaboration
with Member
States.
Inner City
Press:
But can the UN
intercept or
use
intercepted
communications;
and if so,
under what
legal
authority?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq:
We're not
talking about
the UN doing
any such
intercept.
Inner City
Press:
Using.
If the Dutch
intercepts…?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq:
Different
Member States
share
information
with the
United Nations
related to our
peacekeeping
objectives.
Inner City
Press:
Are there any
limitations on
what the UN
accepts and
uses?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq:
That's a
theoretical
question.
At this stage,
what I can say
is different
Member States
can sometimes
try to help
with UN
peacekeeping
by providing
additional
information to
us, and we use
that as
needed.
The
Ladous quote
was from a
softball
interview,
which didn't
mention that
in 1994
Ladsous
supported and
pushed for the
escape of genocidaires from
Rwanda into
Eastern Congo
where he now
uses the Force
Intervention
Brigade as, in
his words, a
“useful tool.”
Nor does the
interview
mention
Western
Sahara, much
less the problematic
light thrown
on Ladsous by
recently
leaked cables.
More
recently,
Ladsous was
asked not only
about UN
Peacekeeping
bringing
cholera to
Haiti --
Ladsous
insisted that
it hasn't been
proved -- but
also about
proceeding
with drones
without C-34
member states'
approval, and
about the
expanding rape
scandals. On
these, Ladsous
claimed he is
setting up
reviews.
But
Ladsous for
months refused
Press
questions
about, and
covered up,
the 130 rapes
by the DR
Congo Army in
Minova. Video
compilation
here.
Is it
any wonder
that his
UNAMID in
Darfur tried
to quickly
deny that mass
rapes took
place in Tabit
in Darfur?
Is
this
performance
acceptable? To
whom? Watch
this site.
, 
