As UN
Refuses
Comment on DRC
Leaks, Minova
& Airport
Readiness in
Text
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 1 --
On January 30
the UN
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations'
mission in the
Democratic
Republic of
Congo
"strongly
denounced"
Inner City
Press for
publishing a
leaked e-mail
reflecting UN
awareness that
its partners
the Congolese
Army work in
support of the
FDLR militia.
But on January
31 when Inner
City Press
asked the UN
in writing and
then at the
noon briefing
to deny or
confirm and
comment on two
more
documents, UN
deputy
spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey, replied
"Matthew, you
know for a
fact we don’t
comment on
documents that
may or may not
have been
leaked."
But how then
to get a
denial or list
of "errors"
such as
MONUSCO said
would be
provided upon
request? Inner
City Press
asked,
rhetorically
it thought,
"So I will
publish these
and they can
denounce
them."
UN spokesman
Del Buey said,
"as always,
freedom of the
press; you are
free to do
what you like
to do." Video
here, from
Minute 13:34.
Today Inner
City Press
is publishing
a document
concerning
preparations
by the UN
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
under Herve
Ladsous for
the "peace
enforcement"
force that,
it's important
to note, was
NOT agreed to
at the African
Union meeting
in Addis
Ababa.
The EGYBATT
(Egyptian
Battalion) is
referred to as
in charge of
security at
the Goma
airport -- in
which the M23
rebels, under
the agreement
reached when
they pulled
out of Goma,
were to have
had a role.
Overall
the document,
and a MONUSCO
Deputy Force
Commander's
January 28
inspection for
"readiness" of
Congolese Army
forces on Mont
Goma seem to
reflect that
conflict with
M23 may again
begin, and may
explain
shifting
positions at
the talks
being held in
Kampala.
Since DPKO's
Herve Ladsous
has three
times refused
to answer Inner
City Press quesitons
about the 126
Congolese Army
rapes in
Minova in late
November,
it is
noteworthy
that Minova
figues in this
new document
-- one in a
series -- in
sections 5(b)
and 6(b)(3).
It had been
said that the
UN would at
last complete
its
investigation
into the
Minova rapes
by the end of
January - not
least so it
could
implement its
claimed Human
Rights Due
Diligence
Policy which
prohibits
working with
army units
which commit
rape of other
abuses.
But on January
31, this
deadline
passed; now
it's said to
be a Congolese
investigation,
with no
mention of the
UN's Due
Diligence
Policy. We'll
have more on
this, and on #LADSOUS2103.
For now, here
is the new
document,
click here.
Watch this
site.
, 
