UN
Email Says
Congo Army
Supports FDLR,
No Answer on
Ladsous' Drone
Gun-Jumping
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 28, updated
here and
see below--
The UN
continues to
stonewall on
questions
about its
actions and
inaction in
the Democratic
Republic of
Congo, from
the 126 rapes
in Minova by
its partners
in the
Congolese Army
FARDC to the
question of
why it began a
procurement
for drones
back in
November when
it had not one
of the many UN
system
approvals
needed.
Now a
leaked e-mail
from inside
the UN Mission
in the Congo,
MONUSCO,
reflects UN
awareness that
its partners
in FARDC work
with the FDLR
militia.
A
January 21
e-mail from
MONUSCO's Lt
Col Rajeev
Sharma, G3
Chief
Operation
Officer in
North Kivu, to
Hiroute Guebre
Sellassie, Gabriel
Kabore and
others, states
that the "FDLR
battalion
commanded by
Lt. Col. Ezra
Kalebu is
reported to be
operating in
the localities
of: Kishishi,
Kibirizi,
Bambo,
Mubambiro,
Sake, Kiroche,
Ishasha and
Minova. In all
these places,
the FDLR has
full FARDC
backing."
The
January 21
e-mail
continues that
FDLR "are
particularly
supported by
Brig. Gen.
Masunzu, the
commander of
the FARDC
South Kivu
military
region." The
full e-mail is
below.
So why
does MONUSCO
work with the
FARDC?
Including, it
seems, the
units presence
at Minova in
late November
during / doing
the 126 rapes?
At the
January
28 noon
briefing in
New York,
even when
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey said he
would only
take one or
two questions,
Inner City
Press asked
two about the
DRC:
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey: I
have time for
a couple of
questions.
Matthew?
Inner
City Press:
Sure, I wanted
to ask you,
they are both
about [
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo].
One is about
this fighting
in Katanga
Province,
where people
say that there
is militias [sic]
fighting the
Government;
thousands of
people are
displaced. Is
MONUSCO
(United
Nations
Organization
Stabilization
Mission in the
Democratic
Republic of
Congo) able to
do anything or
is it outside
of its base of
operations?
Then,
I wanted to
ask you about
drones. It was
said here on
Friday that
the
procurement
had been
launched by
DPKO
(Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations),
and in looking
into it, it
looks like the
procurement
began 28
November and
ran through 11
January. So,
it looks like
DPKO started
procuring
drones for
West Africa
and Central
Africa before
they had any
approval, even
this most
recent letter
from the
Security
Council. So, I
wanted to
know, on what
basis did DPKO
begin
procuring
drones, and is
it, in fact,
the case that
they intend to
use them in
West Africa,
as the
procurement
document
states?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, I will
have to find
out on both
issues for
you, Matthew.
I have nothing
to add to what
Farhan [Haq]
said Friday.
What
Haq said on
Friday, when
asked about a
January 22
letter from
Masood Khan as
Security
Council
president for
January was
that the
procurement of
drones had
been launched.
Actually, it
was launched
months before
the
"approval,"
and is already
closed.
Here is the
full MONUSCO
e-mail, hard
to ask DPKO
about it since
Ladsous has
refused all
Press
questions for
months:
MONUSCO-NKB-G3
Chief/MONUSCO/UNFIELDMISSIONS
01/21/2013
09:13
P
To
Hiroute Guebre
Sellassie/MONUSCO/UNFIELDMISSIONS@UNFIELDMISSIONS,
MONUSCO-HQ-DCOS
Ops/MONUSCO/UNFIELDMISSIONS@UNFIELDMISSIONS,
Sidibe/MONUSCO/UNFIELDMISSIONS@UNFIELDMISSIONS
/UNFIELDMISSIONS@UNFIELDMISSIONS,
MONUSCO-
cc
MONUSCO-NKB-
/MONUSCO/UNFIELDMISSIONS@UNFIELDMISSIONS,
@UNFIELDMISSIONS,
MONUSCO-NKB-JORDSF-
<Gabriel
Kabore/MONUSCO/UNFIELDMISSIONS@
Alexandre/MONUSCO/UNFIELDMISSIONS@UNFIELDMISSIONS
Subject
SPECIAL
REPORT:
CONCENTRATION
OF EX MAI-MAI
CADRES IN
KIBRIZI (17 KM
SW OF COB
RWINDI)
SPECIAL
REPORT:
CONCENTRATION
OF EX MAI-MAI
CADRES IN
KIBRIZI (17 KM
SW OF COB
RWINDI)
1.
Village chief,
Kibrizi
informed COB,
Rwindi that
Col Mukalai
and Lt Col
Kambale
Celemon from 8
MR, FARDC had
been
sensitising
the youth in
the general
area Kibrizi
(17 km SW of
COB Rwindi)
for the past
one week to
refrain from
joining
negative
forces. They
are constantly
in touch with
the
surrendered
cadres,
residing in
the general
area Kibrizi,
and are
motivating
them to
integrate into
the National
Army of FARDC.
2. The
village chief
also informed
that approx
several ex Mai
Mai Cadres
(600-650 from
general area
Pinga and
250-300 from
general area
Kibrizi) have
gathered in
Kibrizi on 20
Jan 2013 for
integration
into FARDC.
Out of the
above, 390-450
cadres have
been
accommodated
in an adhoc
camp
established
near FOMAC Bn,
located at
Kibrizi, while
the rest of
the cadres are
staying with
the villagers.
3. On
contacting 2IC
FOMAC, he
confirmed the
input and
stated that
necessary
steps are
being taken
for their
reintegration.
4.
There appear
to be a large
scale
integration
and alliance
of
FDLR/Mai-Mai/APCL
into FARDC in
North
Kivu/South
Kivu and Ituri
which is a
cause of
concern.
5.
NORTH KIVU
Lt.
Col. Ezra
Kalebu:
FDLR
presence in
North Kivu
provincial
capital, Goma,
in the blanket
cover of the
41st Battalion
of FARDC.
Including
other
locations
like: Mudja,
Rusayo and
Kanyati.
FDLR
battalion
commanded by
Lt. Col. Ezra
Kalebu is
reported to be
operating in
the localities
of: Kishishi,
Kibirizi,
Bambo,
Mubambiro,
Sake, Kiroche,
Ishasha and
Minova. In all
these places,
the FDLR has
full FARDC
backing.
6.
SOUTH KIVU:
Brig.
Gen. Masunzu,
FDLR
and
dependents, in
South Kivu
have been
noticed on the
move to safer
places by help
of FARDC.
Deadly clashes
with one of
the local
Congolese
Mai-Mai
Raïa
Mutomboki
group, opposed
to the FDLR
criminal
activities
against
innocent
Congolese,
caused this
movement. The
FDLR are
fleeing from:
Raïa
Mutomboki in
Shabunda and
Kalehe. (FDLR)
are
particularly
supported by
Brig. Gen.
Masunzu, the
commander of
the FARDC
South Kivu
military
region.
7.
Action by
MONUSCO.
MONUSCO Plans
for receipt of
UAV (Unmanned
Aerial
Vehicles) /
drones for
surveillance
in Eastern DRC
should be
expedited to
continuously
monitor this.
The situation
is being
closely
monitored in
the AOR. An
ADP is being
launched on 22
Jan 13 to
corroborate
the input,
ascertain
further
details and
ensure
security in
the area.
With
Warm Regards,
Lt Col
Rajeev Sharma
G3 Chief
Operation
Officer
North
Kivu Bde
MONUSCO
Update
of June 30: Inner
City Press on
January 29
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey about the
document. The
question was
put
to him because
DPKO chief
Herve Ladsous
has said
openly and on
camera
that he will
not answer any
Inner City
Press
questions.
Ladsous
directed
his spokesman
to grab the
UNTV
microphone to
try to stop
Inner City
Press from
asking a
question about
the Congolese
Army and
the 126 rapes
in Minova.
Since
DPKO from the
top down will
not answer any
questions,
question are
asked at the
UN noon
briefing. Of
late, despite
"we'll look
into
it" interim
responses, no
answers come.
On
January 29
Inner City
Press asked
the UN about
"an e-mail
from
within MONUSCO
which shows
awareness by
the UN
that FARDC
Congolese army
units are in
support of
actively
helping
the movements
of the FDLR,
i.e., the
militia in
eastern Congo
that is
linked with
the genocide
in Rwanda, and
I wanted to
know what is
the
UN’s
response."
But
neither then
nor in the 23
hours since
did the UN
provide any
response. Del
Buey said,
"we’ll have to
speak with
DPKO on
that, but have
you spoken
with DPKO
yourself?"
Inner
City Press: I
have, as you
know, I have
asked Mr.
Ladsous
questions a
number of
times that he
refused to
answer.
Deputy
Spokesperson:
But, have you
spoken with
DPKO, the
media people
of
DPKO?
Inner
City Press:
Last time, my
last interface
with them was
them taking
the
microphones,
so questions
couldn’t be
asked at the
Security
Council
stakeout, so I
am asking you.
Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesman
said, "Well,
I’ll have to
find
out." But for
23 hours,
nothing.
Instead,
from
Kinshasa and
in French, the
MONUSCO
mission has
chosen to
belatedly
comment on the
document, and
attack Inner
City Press in
the
process. For
now only say,
DPKO and
Ladsous have
only
themselves to
blame.
The
extraordinary
refusal to
answer any
Press
questions,
even a
softball
question on
Abyei in
September, and
now failure to
provide
answers
through Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson's
office casts
MONUSCO's
belated
protest in a
different
light.
And what about
the 126 rapes
in Minova on
which Ladsous
had refused
questions,
even taking
friendly media
into the hall?
Video here. Did the rapes not
happen?
A fish rots
from the head.
From
the UN's
January 30,
2013
transcript in
New York:
Deputy
Spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey: I was
asked
yesterday
about a
document,
attributed to
the United
Nations
Organization
Stabilization
Mission in the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo
(MONUSCO),
which
would confirm
a cooperation
between the
Forces
démocratiques
de
libération
du Rwanda
(FDLR) and the
Forces
armées
de la
République
démocratique
du Congo
(FARDC). The
Mission says
that the
document is
a
falsification
and there is
no doubt that
the purpose of
this
venture is to
discredit the
Congolese
Armed Forces.
The UN Mission
strongly
denounces this
attempt at
misinforming
the public. We
have
a press
release with
more details
in our office.
Inner
City Press:
Thanks, I have
seen the
MONUSCO press
release and I
have
a couple of
questions. One
is a
longer-standing,
outstanding
FARDC
question,
which is about
these rapes
that happened
in Minova all
the
way back in
November. And
I am
wondering, I
have gone back
over
what, even
what Mr.
[Hervé]
Ladsous said
at the
stakeout. He
said
that, by now,
the probe
would be
finished, so
what I wanted
to know
is: where is
the probe?
What findings
were made of
which units of
the FARDC were
involved in
the rapes?
Does MONUSCO
still work
with
them, and it
is interesting
that they
respond so
quickly to
defend
the FARDC, but
where is their
finding about
the rapes that
they
acknowledge
took place
when the FARDC
controlled
Minova?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey:
Well, Matthew,
I think you
will
understand
there is a
slight
difference in
the amount of
time it takes
to
investigate a
major crime
and the amount
of time it
takes to
investigate a
paper that has
been
falsified.
When I have
the
information on
that, I will
get back to
you.
Since
November,
we've been
waiting. Watch
this site.
, 
