By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- Even with the Than Shwe government saying publicly that UN official Vijay Nambiar, the chief of staff to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, is going this weekend to Myanmar, in New York on Friday Ban's spokesman Farhan Haq declined to confirm the trip.
In lieu of the UN's usually noon briefing, which was canceled, Inner City Press asked among other questions for Haq to “please confirm or deny that Vijay Nambiar is going to Myanmar this weekend, and unless deny, please state his program of work. Separately, please respond to the criticism 'Win Tin expressed extreme disappointment that Ban’s 2010 report to the UN General Assembly on Burma’s human rights situation failed to seriously address violations against ethnic minorities.'”
Haq replied, “I don't have a confirmation concerning Mr Nambiar. I can tell you that we are still working out a program for the Special Adviser. I have no comment on the SG's human rights report, which speaks for itself.”
Ban's “human rights” report also did not even mention the recommendation by the UN's Special Rapporteur that Ban set up an international panel of inquiry into war crimes in Myanmar.
In a November 22 speech at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, Ban bragged that
“Two years ago, when Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, the government was initially reluctant to open its door to international relief. It was impossible, for me, to stand by and see politics get in the way of saving lives. We pressed the government quite hard. Eventually we got a breakthrough. Aid began to flow. Many thousands of lives were saved. We did the same in Darfur.”
There are skeptics as to both statements, on Myanmar and Darfur. Watch this site.
