UNresponsive
on Syria,
Ladsous' DPKO
Stonewalls on
Golan &
Geneva
Convention
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
23 -- It's one
thing if the
UN observers
in Syria now
observe only
their suites
in the Hotel
Dama Rose in
Damascus, to
which they
were confined
by UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous and
then a day
later General
Robert Mood,
who has now
left the
UNSMIS
Mission.
But
why can't or
won't Ladsous'
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations,
even in New
York where
they are out
of danger,
answer basic
questions
about Syria?
On
the morning of
July 22 amid
conflict
reports of
firing on and
from
the Tishreen
military
hospital in
Damascus, and
events in the
Golan
which would
give rise to a
formal
complaint to
the Security
Council,
Inner City
Press sent two
more Syria
questions to the
spokesman for
DPKO
under Ladsous,
who has taken
to refusing
all Inner
City Press questions,
as well as
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's top
two spokesmen:
"Has
DPKO / UNSMIS
heard of an
attack on a
hospital in
Damascus? Has
it made an
effort,
including by
talking with
its
interlocutors,
to confirm or
dissuade it?
Does / would
it violate the
Geneva
Conventions?
Is DPKO
/ the UN aware
of any other
presumptive
violations of
the Geneva
Conventions in
Syria since
July 19?
Which? What is
DPKO's comment
and action on
reported
shelling in
the Golan?"
Twenty two
hours, slower
even than on
Cote d'Ivoire,
DPKO and the
UN had not
answered the
questions,
even as a
complaint was
received by
the Security
Council and
Ban's office.
This is
Ladsous' and
ultimately
Ban's UN.
Inner
City Press has
other
submitted but
unanswered
Syria
questions:
Will
anyone be
filling in for
Babacar Gaye?
Who? I would
still on Syria
like a
description of
USG Ladsous'
role in the
June 15
notification
to the
Security
Council that
UNSMIS has
limited its
mobile
operations in
Syria as of
18:00 hours
local that
day, see http://www.innercitypress.com/icp1syriadpko061512.pdf
and an
explanation of
the steps
taken since
the S-G (and
presumably USG
Ladsous)
received
UNSMIS' report
on Houla,
where in the
UN he referred
it and why it
has not even
now been
provided to
the Security
Council,
according to
several
Council
members.
None
of these
questions have
been answered
either. While
Inner City
Press on the
evening on
July 20
reported on
Babacar Gaye
replacing
General Robert
Mood in Syria,
it had and has
not received
even notice of
that switch
from DPKO.
Again, this is
Ladsous' and
ultimately
Ban's UN.
, 
