UNITED
NATIONS, April
11 -- Now that
the more than
100 rapes by
Congolese
soldiers in
Minova back in
November have
been more
widely exposed
last night by
the BBC, the
commanders who
should be held
to account
include not
only those in
the Congolese
Army, but the
UN's Herve
Ladsous.
Ladsous
openly
refused to
answer Press
questions
about the
rapes on November
27, December
7 and December 18, when he went so far
as to direct
his
spokesman to
seize the UN
Television
microphone to
try to avoid
an
Inner City
Press question
about the
Minova rapes.
Click here for
that.
Now,
BBC Newsnight
has run a long
form piece
about the
rapes,
narrated by
Anne Mawathe.
Rapists are
interviewed,
bragging with
their faces
obscured,
saying their
commander or
Colonel
ordered them
to rape and
participated
in the rapes.
Yet
with only
three lower
level soldiers
arrested,
Ladsous waived
the
supposed April
1 deadline for
Congolese
action. The
two battalions
given the
deadline have
still not been
named.
After
Inner City
Press asked
Ladsous on
March 8, as he
walked into
the
Security
Council, to
name the rape
battalions,
Tim Witcher of
Agence
France Presse
filed a false
complaint with
UN Security
saying that
Inner City
Press started
shouting and
“abusing”
Ladsous, and
that
Ladsous did
not respond.
This
was a lie.
Inner City
Press asked
which
battalions,
and Ladsous
responded that
he was going
to the Council
to talk about
Syria.
In
any event, it
is disgusting
that AFP has
sunk so low as
to file a
complaint with
UN Security
leading off
with how
another more
investigative
media asked a
question about
these rapes of
Herve
Ladsous, the
fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head UN
Peacekeeping.
As
to why Ladsous
waived the
deadline,
especially now
when BBC
reports
only three
soldiers have
been arrested,
Inner City
Press once
again
on April 11
asked:
Inner
City Press: I
wanted to ask
you about,
again about
these rapes in
Minova in, in
November.
There is an
article in the
Guardian in
the
United Kingdom
today saying
that so, that
only three
individuals
have
been arrested
by the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo, and
I know
that Mr.
Ladsous has
said an
ultimatum was
given by 1
April and that
some
undisclosed
assurances
were given,
but given that
now it is
reported in
some detail
that only
three people
have been
arrested for
a 126 rapes, I
am asking,
what are the
assurances
that the UN
after
having
publicly set a
deadline,
dropped the
deadline. What
assurances
are there?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey: Matthew,
I have said
everything we
are going to
say on that
subject for
the time
being. If we
have
anything else,
we’ll let you
know.
Inner
City Press: my
question is
Ms. Bangura,
who publicly
announced that
she had signed
an agreement
with the
Government of
the DRC, is
that
agreement
public? Can
the document
be seen?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
I’ll have to
check with her
office.
Inner
City Press: is
it related in
any to the
dropping of
the ultimatum,
because, you
are saying you
have nothing
to say, but,
yes or no,is
it
the UN’s
understanding
that only
three people
have been
arrested,
and did they
drop their
ultimatum on
that basis? Is
that the
position?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Matthew, I’ll
have to check;
I don’t have
the
number of
people who
were arrested
in that
particular
case. We’ll
have to check
and get back
to you on
that.
It
is unclear if
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesperson's
office check
with
Bangura's. By
close of
business
Thursday,
Inner City
Press had
heard
nothing back
from Ban's
spokesperson's
office, and
nothing was
inserted into
the transcript.
Inner
City Press
reached out to
Bangura's
office, was
directed to a
communique
that does not
mention Minova
and finally
was told that
Ladsous' DPKO
would answer.
Inner City
Press
explained that
this has
not happened,
then was told
to expect
something
tomorrow.
Does
that mean via
another
end-around
reach out by
Ladsous'
office to,
say, Agence
France Presse
which filed a
UN Security
complaint
against
Inner City
Press for him?
Or the reading
out of some
canned
statement at
the noon
briefing?
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
It
is now
announced that
the next of
the Department
of Public
Information's
appreciated
brown bag
session will
involved
Bangura.
The session
are one of the
few
improvements
or reforms by
the new
DPI:
meanwhile, twelve
simple reforms
proposed by
the Free UN
Coalition for
Access
have not been
replied to,
much less
implemented.
Was
stopping any
reform the
goal of DPI's
March 18 raid
on Inner City
Press' office,
or of the leaking (via
an anonymous
“Concerned UN
Reporter”
e-mail
account) to
BuzzFeed of
photographs
taken during
the raid?
What
is the UN
coming to? How
it deal not
only with the
rapes, but
with Ladsous
and those
pressed into
his service,
will be a
litmus
test. Watch
this site.
, 
