By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1melkraq021610.html
UNITED NATIONS, February 16 -- What does the UN's top envoy to Iraq, Ad Melkert, have to say about the acquittal and impunity for the mercenaries of Blackwater now Xe who killed Iraqi civilians? "That is a specific case," Melkert told Inner City Press on Tuesday at the UN, "we don't advise on specific cases." Video here, from Minute 11:34.
Inner City Press asked Melkert about a range of human rights issues in Iraq, from honor killings to executions to freedom of the press. Melkert said his Office, UNAMI, issues human rights reports every six months, "critical on several of the issues you mentioned." Video here, from Minute 6:03.
But how can the UN be critical if, as Melkert claimed about Blackwater, the UN "doesn't advise on specific cases?"
Melkert's main job right now is, like Kai Eide's was in Afghanistan, to try to make national elections appear credible. Inner City Press asked him about barred candidate Saleh Mutlak, who has been told he cannot run for office because he was a member of the Baath party. Mutlak says he quit in 1977, and was only goaded into saying he was still a member.
Melkert called the grounds for exclusion "legitimate," and said the UN only advocates for transparency in the application of the rules, citing Iraq's "Accountability and Justice Law of 2008." While speaking about reconciliation, Melkert said that excluding former Baath party members is similar to what happened in Europe "after the Communist regimes."
While Melkert told Inner City Press that the UN "has a permanent position against the death penalty" -- one that Ban Ki-moon backtracked on during his first day in office, on the subject of Iraq -- when Melkert was asked about the execution of former Baath party members, he replied, "I could not take your point on that, the way you formulated it, so I could not comment further."
As Melkert walked away from the microphone, Inner City Press asked him if he now agrees with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's call that senior UN system officials make some minimum public disclosure of their finances. Melkert laughed and said, "You see that I" -- then signed his name in the air. "What is good is that you don't forget."
When he was the Associate Administrator of UNDP, he came out publicly against Ban's call for financial disclosure. Video here, from Minute 37:55 through 44:41. He also said, on UN reform, "you ain't seen nothing yet." Inner City Press recounted this history for a Dutch television station tailing and filming Melkert for the day. Another correspondent criticized Melkert go along [to] get along performance in Iraq, wondering what next job he might have his eye on.
Many in the UN grumble that Melkert "chased" fellow UN official Ibrahim Gambari out of Iraq. Now it's his show, for better or worse. Watch this site.
