Ladsous
Links Rapes to
"R&R,"
Lake Fired
Macke For This
in 1995, What
Now?
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 11
-- When
peacekeepers
from France
allegedly
raped children
in the Central
African
Republic and
the UN learned
about it more
than a year
ago, the UN
and UNICEF did
nothing,
until French
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous asked
to fire the
whistleblower
Anders Kompass
in March of
this year, as
stated in two
UN
Dispute
Tribunal
rulings.
On
September 11,
refusing to
answer on
this, Ladsous
instead linked
the rapes to
soldiers' lack
of
"distraction"
and saying
rapes could be
avoided by
some
"relatively
cheap R&R."
Video
here.
Back in
1995 for
similar
comments, US
Admiral
Richard C.
Macke was
fired, as
reported in
the LA
Times and
the New
York Times,
which said
Macke
"apologized
after members
of Congress
and Japanese
officials
complained,
but it was too
late.... A
senior White
House official
said tonight
that Anthony
Lake, the
national
security
adviser, had
heard of
Admiral
Macke's
remarks and
told the
Defense
Department
that the
statements
were 'not
acceptable.'"
Anthony
Lake is now in
the UN system,
as the head of
UNICEF
- does he
think UN
Peacekeeping
chief Ladsous'
similar
comments in
2015 are
acceptable? Or
does he,
apparently
like his and
some other
major member
states, hope
no one notices
what Ladsous
says and,
worse, does?
UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon has
yet to act.
Nor have
Ladsous'
French
sponsors, who
dumped
him on the UN
after he'd
previously
been rejected
for the post
by Ban's
predecessor
Kofi Annan,
said anything.
When
Inner City
Press started
asking about
this, Ladsous
took to saying
"I
don't respond
to you,
Mister," right
on UNTV.
Instead he
summoned
Agence France
Presse,
Reuters and
others to
private
briefings, as
here
in the hall.
These media
didn't report
Ladsous'
antics -- nor
despite being
present at
Ladsous'
September 11
press
conference did
they report
his linkage of
soldiers'
rapes to their
lack of
"comfort" or
R&R. This
is today's UN.
It was
Senegalese
Babacar Gaye,
the head of
the CAR
mission, and
not overall
Peacekeeping
chief Ladsous
who was fired
by UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon; Inner
City Press
obtained and
put Gaye's
letter online
here (credited
here and here) citing
systemic
problems.
Before
Ladsous'
carefully
controlled
four day visit
to the country
- no questions
on the
peacekeeper
rapes,
colonial
photographs
sent out - UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric told
Inner City
Press, which
asked, that
Ladsous would
take questions
when he
returned,
including
about
peacekeepers'
sexual abuse.
But when
Ladsous
appeared at
the September
11 UN noon
briefing, UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric for
the second
time did not
allow Inner
City Press to
ask Ladsous a
single
question.
Dujarric gave
the first
question to
the UN
Correspondents
Association,
which after a
perfunctory
questions
about the
number of
sexual abuse
cases said its
“real”
question was
if Ladsous
will meet
Obama. (Yes,
apparently,
and
inappropriately,
see below). Video here.
Inner
City Press
prepared to
ask Ladsous an
obvious
question: what
is his
response to
appearing in
at least two
UN Dispute
Tribunal
rulings as
having tried
to get the
whistleblower
Kompass fired?
But Dujarric
gave the
second
question to a
Reuters
reporter
who has
previously
channeled
Ladsous, then
to Agence
France Presse,
whose UN
reporter in
2011 asked
UNCA's board
to act on
Inner City
Press'
reporting on
Ladsous.
Even with the
questions
allowed,
Ladsous'
answers should
get him fired.
First,
speaking of
sexual abuse,
he said he
didn't want to
“deflower”
the subject.
Vine here.
Then
explaining the
peacekeepers'
rapes he said
that a
solution would
be to get them
more
“recreation”
(translating
back and forth
with Dujarric,
Ladsous began
to say “R and
R”).
Ladsous
was asked,
what do you
mean? He said
that Asian
countries are
good at this.
We'll have
more, but on
top of his
role in covering
up rapes in DR
Congo, Darfur
and now CAR,
this should
get Ladsous
fired. More here.
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