By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, January 14 -- With expectations he'd confirm he'll seek a second term, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held a press conference in New York on Friday. He began by focusing on three issue, not mentioning the critiques of the UN on any of them.
Ban mentioned Haiti, but not the allegation that UN peacekeepers brought cholera to the island and then covered it up. He has been asked to remove the UN immunity of a UN staffer there for a murder inquiry, but his spokesman Martin Nesirky has refused to address Ban Ki-moon's response.
Ban mentioned Cote d'Ivoire, but not that UN peacekeepers under the command of his close ally Choi Young-jin in fact turned tail and retreated leaving a neighborhood of supporters of Alassane Ouattara to be attacked by forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo. All Ban would say is that those who comment attacks will “face accountability.”
Ban mentioned Sudan and Darfur, but did not address the the UN Mission there this week provided free transportation and logistics help to an indicted war criminal, Ahmed Haroun. What was that about accountability?
After these three points, Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky presided over a question period in which issues like the Middle East, North Korea and Ban's own statements a month ago about his Panel of Experts being able to do work in Sri Lanka were not present or allowed. As the frustration against Ban and Nesirky grew in the room, some journalists started shouting out questions.
One question was about the corruption and lack of transparency in the Ban administration alleged by former top UN investigator Inga Britt Ahlenius.
Ban, reading from notes, claimed that 99% of his officials now make public financial disclosure on the UN's web site. This figure is not true. Many officials simply file a one page form that they refuse to make any disclosure public.
Other Ban envoys, such as Alexander Downer who simultaneously works for a business consultancy Bespoke Approach, don't make financial disclosures.
Ban's expert on genocide Francis Deng is allowed, on UN time, to work on private book projects. He owns property, allegedly in the Sudanese region impacted by the referenda and stalled popular consultations. But his “public financial disclosure” doesn't even state what state of Sudan his property is in, nor how much it is worth. On UN time Deng writes books about Sudan and the referendum, but the UN refuses to say that the contents are attributable to the UN.
Questions pend for weeks in Ban's Spokesperson's Office. Spokesman Martin Nesirky says proudly that that are questions that he simply will never answer, without even explaining why. This is not transparency.
