By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 7 --
French
soldiers in
the Central
African
Republic
allegedly
sexually
abused
children, as
exposed in a
UN report
leaked by
staffer Anders
Kompass. After
more than nine
months, no
action has
been taken --
no interviews
of victims or
alleged perpetrators
were done --
other than the
UN suspending
Kompass for
the leak. On
May 7, Inner
City Press
asked the UN
more questions
about this.
UN
Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric,
contrary to
what French
prosecutor
Francois
Molins is
saying -- that
the UN refusing
to lift
immunity
delayed even
the French investigation
-- said that
the UN is cooperating.
Inner City
Press asked for
the second
time about the
UN Dispute
Tribunal
decision which
says clearly,
in Paragraph
9, that UN Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous urged
the leaker to
resign.
Dujarric
said he
doesn't accept
that statement
in the UNDT
decision as
true (it is UNclear
if the UN is
appealing.).
But, Inner
City Press said,
there is a
simple way to
resolve this:
just asked
Ladsous if he
urged Kompass'
resignation,
and if so,
why.
Dujarric, who
speaks for the
UN
Secretariat,
did not answer
that, only
repeating he
does not
accept the
UNDT document
as true. He
was scheduled
for a closed
door briefing
of the UN Security
Council,
including on
CAR, later on
May 7. We will
be there. Is
Ladsous taking
the Fifth?
SRSG Bangura
told Inner
City Press
that the UN
Office of the
High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights (and
UNICEF) did
not share with
her Office
their report
about alleged
child rape by
French
soldiers in
CAR.
First, Ms.
Bangura told
Inner City
Press her
Office has no
jurisdiction
because it is
"DPKO," the UN
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations.
But the UN has
been trying to
distance
itself from
the scandal by
saying it had
nothing to do
with DPKO.
(The
UN still
refuses to
explain or
answer why
DPKO chief
Herve Ladsous,
a long time
French
diplomat,
appears in the
UN Dispute
Tribunal order
reinstating
the leaker as
having urged
that the
leaker
"resign" or be
fired. Ladsous
will brief the
Security
Council, including
on CAR, later
on May 7 -
we'll have
more on this.)
Inner City
Press told
Bangura, this
is not DPKO,
these are
French
soldiers in
the Central
African
Republic. Same
answer: no
jurisdiction.
The UN
Spokesman
seemed to say,
it's in the
mandate.
We'll check -
but if so, if
this UN Office
on Sexual
Violence and
Conflict does
not cover
French
soldiers
demanding sex
from children
for food, that
what good is
the Office?
We'll have
more on
this.
(Bangura also
spoke,
movingly,
about the
plight of
women and
children in
the Islamic
State area,
including the
inability to
get birth
documents
which she said
is a problem
through the
region.)
The UN Dispute
Tribunal has
issued an
order
reinstating
Kompass to his
position.
(Inner City
Press has
put the full
Order online
here;
Guardian
coverage here.)
Tellingly, the
order says in
Paragraph 9
that the
request that
Kompass resign
for having
leaked and
made public
pedophilia by
French solder
was "made by
the
Under-Secretary-General
for the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations."
, 
