On
Drones,
Ladsous
Bypasses C-34
on Who Gets
Info, Bid Open
March 18
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 21 –
Who is
supposed to
oversee UN
Peacekeeping,
for example
its chief
Herve Ladsous'
urge to use
drones?
Last
spring Ladsous
floated the
idea of drones
in the UN's
Special
Committee on
Peacekeeping
Operations,
called C-34
even though it
now
has 148
countries as
members.
Numerous
countries came
out and
complained to
Inner City
Press about
the proposal,
including on
the
issue of who
would get the
information
from the
drones.
Ladsous
never
returned to
C-34 to seek
approval.
Rather, on
November 28,
2012
a procurement
process began
with the
solicitation
of
“Expressions
of Interest”
for drones in
West Africa
and Central
Africa.
After
the M23 rebels
took over
Goma, Ladsous
used the
opportunity to
bypass
the C-34 and
its 148 (then
147) members
and go to the
15 members of
the Security
Council.
There, he
managed to
procure a
letter on
January 22
green-lighting
a drone for
the Democratic
Republic of
Congo in
Central
Africa, on a
“case by case”
basis.
A
new
procurement
process began,
with bids to
be opened on
March 18.
Inner City
Press has
obtained and
scanned a record of
the
procurement
and puts it
online here.
PROVISION
OF
ONE (I)
UNMANNED
AERIAL SYSTEM
(UAS) FOR
THREE (3)
YEARS PLUS TWO
(2) OPTIONAL
YEARS IN
MONUSCO
(RSQN-26267)
(The document
also has
procurements
for MONUSCO
for
helicopters
and aircraft,
and for "VVIP
Transport.")
Back
in the Special
Committee on
Peacekeeping,
Inner City
Press received
complaints
this week from
delegations
who said they
and the C-34
were
being
bypassed.
One delegate
told Inner
City Press up
to 120
countries are
against or
have questions
about Ladsous'
drone
proposal. But
there was a
sense
of defeatism.
“They'll just
do what they
want anyway,”
the
delegate told
Inner City
Press.
Why?
Where is
separation and
balance of
powers in the
UN?
On
February
15, Inner
City Press asked
UN spokesman
Martin Nesirky
about
the drones:
Inner
City Press:
the Prime
Minister of
the Democratic
Republic of
the
Congo, upon
his return to
Kinshasa, has
been quoted as
saying that
the MONUSCO
[United
Nations
Organization
Stabilization
Mission in the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo]
drones may be
deployed as
early as
June. It made
some people
believe maybe
this was
conveyed to
the
Prime Minister
either in his
meeting with
the
Secretary-General
or in
some other
way. When was
it conveyed or
separately,
factually,
when
are these
drones going
to be
deployed?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
On the first
part, not to
my knowledge;
on the second
part,
as I think we
have mentioned
before, the
procurement
process is
under
way, so
plainly put,
we do not have
these Unmanned
Aerial
Vehicles at
this point, so
it is probably
premature to
talk about a
deployment.
But let me
check.
Inner
City
Press:Under-Secretary-General
Ladsous when
he gave his
press
conference
said the
information in
the first
instance would
be for
the Force
Commander of
MONUSCO, but
that he would
be willing to
share
it with the
regional
groups, ICGLR
[International
Conference on
the
Great Lakes
Region] or
SADC [Southern
African
Development
Community],
or whoever is
going to run
that force.
Now I sent it
to you in
writing as
well, but I
just wanted to
know, is it
totally in
DPKO’s
[Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations]
discretion who
they give the
information
to, because it
sounded like
he personally
would be
willing to
share it, or
did they need
some either
guidance or
approval from
the Security
Council in
terms of who
they give the
information
feed from the
UAV to?
Spokesperson:
I’ll check,
Matthew. I am
not absolutely
sure that that
particular
operational
aspect would
be under the
Security
Council,
but I need to
check.
[There's been
no answer in
the six days
since]
How
about the
C-34? Will
they step up
and do their
oversight
duty? On the
drones and
Ladsous'
failure to
implement the
UN's stated
Human Rights
Due Diligence
Policy with
respect to the
126 rapes in
Minova from
November 20 to
22, 2012 by
the Congolese
Army?
And on
Ladsous'
failure to
institute any
safeguards to
avoid
spreading
cholera as
happened in
Haiti? Watch
this site.
, 
