As 2
Guineans and 1
Burkinabe
Serving UN in
Mali Are
Killed, Two
Tier
Peacekeeping?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 28 --
In Northern
Mali an attack
claimed by
Ansar Dine has
killed two UN
Peacekeepers
from Guinea
and a UN
contractor
from Burkina
Faso. The UN
mission
MINUSMA and
now the
Security
Council have
condemned the
attack.
Among
the questions
that arises is
whether those
coming to Mali
to fill in for
the French --
from Germany
and Slovakia,
for example --
will serve
under the UN's
blue flag, or
separately as
the French
have in Mali,
and do in the
Central
African
Republic and
Cote d'Ivoire.
The
arrangement
has always
seemed strange
to some,
particularly
given that
France has
controlled UN
Peacekeeping
for more than
fifteen years.
(There is also
the matter of
the French
Sangaris
troops being
accused of
child rape in
CAR.)
But in Mali,
where African
troops serving
MINUSMA have
complained
about being
cannon fodder,
it is
particularly
stark: better
armed European
troops housed
separately
than the
African
peacekeepers
who are being
targeted. It's
called the
European Union
Training
Mission.
What's wrong
with serving
with UN
Peacekeeping?
Back on
October 1 when
Mali's Foreign
Minister
Abdulaye Diop
came to the UN
General
Assembly
stakeout,
Inner City
Press was
prepared to
ask him about
the
International
Criminal Court
case about the
destruction of
cultural
heritage in
Timbuktu.
But the head
of UN
Peacekeeping
Herve Ladsous,
who even
earlier on
October 1
openly refused
to answer
Inner City
Press
questions
about UN
Peacekeeping
rapes and Ladsous having linked them
to "R&R,"
here,
acted like he
owned the UN
and its
stakeout, and
not the member
state(s).
Ladsous had
his
spokesperson
order the UN
Television
boom
microphone
operator to
keep the mic
away from
Inner City
Press; he
solicited
another
questioner to
ask. Vine
here.
But does
Ladsous have
the right to
make it
impossible to
ask a question
to a member
state's
foreign
minister?
Not only are
Ladsous'
comments on
the rape an
embarrassment
to the UN and
to several
Troop
Contributing
Countries --
now Ladsous'
defensiveness
is putting the
UN Secretariat
at odds with,
essentially
censoring,
member states,
at least those
from Africa.
One observer
asked,
afterward,
would Ladsous
does this with
the Foreign
Minister of
Ukraine? Of
Slovakia? Is
Ladsous'
strange
entitlement
limited to
(Francophone)
African
countries?
We'll have
more on this.
When UN
Peacekeepers
are
determined, by
the UN itself,
to have killed
three
civilians in
Mali by using
excessive
force, what
accountability
is
there?
None - and UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous on
April 2
refused to
answer
questions
about his own
responsibility.
Video
here. Vine here.
On
June 23, Inner
City Press
asked Mali's
foreign
minister Diop
to confirm
that the UN is
going to pay
compensation
to the
families of
those its
peacekeepers
killed in Gao.
He told Inner
City Press to
"ask the UN."
And so Inner
City Press did ask, at the
June 23 noon
briefing:
Inner
City Press:
This is
something that
the Malian
Foreign
Minister said
to ask
you. So,
I want to say
that in
advance before
asking
you. And
it has to do
with whether…
I asked him
whether the UN
is in fact
going to pay
monetary
compensation
to civilians
that were
killed by
peacekeepers
in Gao in that
report that
was issued
some time
ago. And
he said:
You should ask
the UN.
So, I'm asking
you. Is
the…
Spokesman:
Okay. I
will… let me
check on what
we'd announced
at the time,
and I'll get
back to
you. [He
later added
that a
compensation
fund had been
set up by the
Department of
Field
Support.]
The
bracketed
material,
Dujarric's
Office added
to the
transcript,
after emailing
Inner City
Press this:
"Regarding
your question
on
compensation
for casualties
in Gao, Mali,
we would like
to recall that
a compensation
fund has been
set up by the
Department of
Field
Support."
Inner City
Press has been
told - NOT by
the
Spokesperson's
Office -- that
the UN is
calculating
how much to
pay each
family in
Mali. But why
has the UN
paid NOTHING
to the
families of
those killed
by the cholera
the UN brought
to Haiti?
Inner City
Press asked
the UN's Mali
envoy Mongi
Hamdi, who
gamely tried
to distinguish
the two cases,
focusing on
the UN
exonerating
itself in
Haiti. We'll
have more on
this.
On June 11,
the day after
an attack
against Malian
military posts
in the south
of the country
that killed
one soldier
and injured
two, MINUSMA
issued a
statement
which the Free UN Coalition for Access translates
here:
“MINUSMA
firmly
condemns the
cowardly
terrorist
attack
against posts
of the Malian
military and
security
forces in
Misseni /
Kadiolo, in
the south of
Mali. The
attack early
on the morning
of June 10
killed one
soldier and
injured two,
as well as
causing
physical
damage.
MINUSMA offers
its condolence
to the
Government and
Armed Forces
of Mali as
well as to the
soldier's
family. The
Mission wishes
a fast
recovery for
the two
wounded
soldiers.
MINUSMA again
underlines the
urgency of
advancing the
peace process
to ensure that
the Government
and the
stakeholders
can combine
their efforts
and act in
unity to put
an end to the
terrorism
which
threatens Mali
and its
people.”
That the
attack
happened in
southern and
not northern
Mali may be a
bad omen.
After
his May 16
press
conference in
Bamako,
Ladsous said
the UN's
report about
its killings
in Gao will
never be
released; follow
up question
here.
During the
press
conference,
tellingly,
Ladsous
berated
Malians for
not
sufficiently
thanking...
France and its
Force Serval.
Audio
here,
Minute
27:52.
Ladsous said,
referring to
criticism of
him and his
mission by
Mali's
president and
others at the
signing
ceremony the
day before,
"Did I hear a
single word of
thanks for
France and its
Operation
Serval? No."
(Translation
by Free
UN Coalition
for Access.)
In this use of
his UN post to
serve France,
for which he
was a (most
undiplomatic)
diplomat for
decades, this
is similar to
Ladsous' much
worse
intervention
into the
process of the
UN Office of
High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights in
trying to get
fired OHCHR
whistleblower
Anders
Kompass, who
exposed
reports of
French
Sangaris Force
soldiers
raping
children.
This appears
in the UN
Dispute
Tribunal
ruling
reinstating
Kompass, at
Paragraph 9.
It was not
contested by
OHCHR.
Ladsous,
breaking with
his striking
refusal to
answer Press
questions,
told Inner
City Press, "I
deny that." Video here.
But
Ladsous has
not explained
or answered
what he is
denying:
getting
involved in
l'affaire
Kompass at
all, or just
the wording?
Ladsous was
not asked this
question in
Bamako.
On
May 18, Inner
City Press
asked the UN's
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq who
Ladsous was
speaking for:
Inner
City Press:
Mr. [Hervé]
Ladsous of
DPKO held a
press
conference in
Bamako over
the
weekend.
There was some
criticism, by
actually the
President of
Mali, of the
mission.
But, I wanted
to ask
specifically,
in his press
conference, he
said that he
sort of
chided, he
said:
Was there even
a word of
thanks for its
operation in
Sangaris?
No.
Isn't that
curious?
And I wanted
to know, in
what capacity
was he saying
that? Is
the UN?
Does the UN
have a
position on
Malians not
being
sufficiently
grateful to
France or was
he speaking in
some other
capacity?
Deputy
Spokesman:
I don't have
any real
comment.
I would just
refer you to
the text of
his
statements.
And if you
have anything
further, you
can ask our
colleagues in
peacekeeping.
Later on May
18, a well
placed African
Permanent
Representative
said "Ladsous
should
resign."
On
May 10, two UN
Peacekeepers
were wounded
in Mopti in
Mali, see
below.
Now
Ladsous is
under fire for
appearing in a
UN Dispute
Tribunal
ruling as
urging the
firing of the
whistleblower
who exposed
rapes by
French
soldiers in
the Central
African
Republic.
Ladsous denied
it - to Inner
City Press -
but the Office
of the High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights did not
dispute it.
Accountability?
On
May 10 "around
1 pm, the
forces of
MINUSMA on
patrols hit a
mine or an
improvised
explosive
device 25
kilometers
from Tenenkou,
in the region
of Mopti,”
MISUMSA said
in a
statement.
“Two blue
helmets were
seriously
injured by the
explosion and
their
evacuation to
the MINUSMA
hospital in
Timbuktu was
underway,
MINUSMA said.
“The head of
MINUSMA Mongi
Hamdi strongly
the attack
against the
peacekeepers
and emphasized
that MINUSMA
remains more
determined
than ever to
implement its
mandate in
support of
Mali and its
people.”
On
May 8, the UN
announced what
the Press
already knew,
that Mbaranga
Gasarabwe, a
Rwandan
national, is
moving from
the Department
of Safety and
Security in
New York to
become Hamdi's
deputy in
Mali. We wish
her well.
Tellingly,
Ladsous
refused an
invitation to
attend a
"protection of
civilians"
high level
event in
Rwanda in May,
click
here for that
scoop.
Back
on April 27
the MINUSMA
mission issued
a statement
that the
Platforme
group attacked
the town of
Manaka,
loosely
translated by
Inner City
Press below.
But how does
UN
Peacekeeping
killing
civilians,
then its boss
refusing to
answer or even
take questions
about it,
impact the
UN's
credibility?
Here
is our loose
translation of
the MINUSMA
press release
of April 27:
SRSG
Mongi
Hamdi called
for the armed
groups to
immediately
cease
hostilities
and return to
their
positions.
“This
resurgence of
tension puts
in jeopardy
all efforts to
restore
durable peace
in Mali,”
Hamdi said.
MINUSMA said
that on Monday
near noon the
mission
learned of an
attack
launched by
the
MAA-Platform
and GATIA
groups on the
town of
Menaka, held
by elements of
the
Coordination
of Movement of
Azawad (CMA).
MINUSMA said
it deployed
helicopters to
evaluate the
situation.
Hamdi
went to
Nouakchott on
April 26 to
meet the
representatives
of the CMA,
who reaffirmed
their
adherence to
the peace
process under
way, and
confirmed
their
intention to
initial the
agreement.
“Two
months of
intense
negotiations
involving all
of the parties
with a view to
put an end to
the Malian
crisis could
be threatened.
These actions
are a grave
violation of
the ceasefire
accords
reiterated in
the
declaration of
February 19,
2105,” Hamdi
said in his
statement.
Hamdi
also
cited the UN
Security
Council's
statement of
February 6
which
threatened the
imposition of
targeted
sanctions on
anyone who
returned to
hostilities
and violated
the ceasefire.
“I
therefore
appeal for
calm and
reason for the
benefit of all
Malians. The
only solution
to this crisis
is through the
route of
dialogue. I
remain
convinced that
all the
parties will
show wisdom
and reason and
sign this
historic peace
agreement,”
Hamdi said.
Here's what
Inner City
Press asked
the UN about
Darfur on
April 27:
Inner
City Press: on
Darfur, I saw
the
clarification
put out by
UNAMID
[African
Union-United
Nations Hybrid
Operation in
Darfur], but
the Government
of Sudan is
saying that
the UNAMID
peacekeepers
killed seven
civilians, and
I wonder,
what… beyond
just UNAMID
putting out a
press release,
some of which
in the past
have been
press releases
that the UN
has ultimately
walked away
from, is there
an intention
to do the type
of report that
was done in
Mali when
people were
killed or in
Haiti when
people… when
people were
shot at?
Deputy
Spokesman
Frahan
haq: On
that, I
actually
expect that we
will have a
statement from
the Spokesman
for the
Secretary-General
responding to
the latest
events in
Darfur.
So, I'll wait
until… until
we get that.
Inner City
Press:
But, is the
protocol if a
Member State
alleges that
UN
peacekeepers
have killed
civilians to
do such a
report, or is
there no such
protocol?
Deputy
Spokesman:
Like I said…
first of all,
I… as you
know, you're
aware of the
press release
from UNAMID,
which is their
clarification
of the
situation, and
then beyond
that, we do
expect to have
a statement
attributable
to the
Spokesperson.
But when the
statement came
it did not
even mention
the
government's
allegations.
Khartoum's
credibility
may be low -
but what about
Ladsous'?
We'll have
more on this.
, 
