By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, July 4 -- After two months of negotiations and three days after the UN Budget Committee went late into the night without agreement on how much to (under) pay peacekeepers, on the morning of July 3 sources told Inner City Press the deal was reached, and before the noon briefing, Inner City Press published:
$1332 (+$10), 2nd year, $1365, 3rd yr $1410 (2017)
This was an increase to the "partner countries''" offers of $1150 then $1250, on both of which Inner City Press reported.
Both offers were much lower than the $1763. recommendation of the UN's own Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations, on whose meetings Inner City Press reported despite obstacles from the UN and its UN Censorship Alliance, UNCA.
But when on July 3 Reuters filed a phoned-in story about the process, it "reported" that "the Group of 77 developing nations and China wanted a more than 50 percent jump to $1,763, while Western donor states wanted a smaller increase, diplomats said."
Hmm, what kind of diplomats might those be?
In the General Assembly the only speeches on the new reimbursement structure were by India and Pakistan, both noting there had in essence been no raise for peacekeepers for 18 years. But Reuters didn't mention this. For whom does Reuters report?
This is the same news agency which has used censorship to get Google to ban from its Search the Reuters bureau chief's "for the record" complaint to the UN trying to get theinvestigative Press thrown out of the UN, mis-using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, here.
Defending this dissing of peacekeepers had been none other than UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row atop DPKO. He spun about cutting costs in Darfur, where he's accused of covering-up, and inHaiti where he previously supported the ouster of Aristide.
During the Budget Committee vote early on the afternoon of July 3, Ladsous sat in the front then left mid-session for a meeting with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon it was said. What on?
In the Budget or Fifth Committee, the only recorded votes were on requests in the UNIFIL (Lebanon) resolution for Israel to re-pay for the Qana attack in 1996. In the Fifth Committee, only four voted against this: the US, Canada, Israel and Palau. (This fell to three in the full General Assembly: Palau did not vote).
In the full General Assembly, after the Office of UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric had closed down for the three day July 4 weekend, Syria slammed Ban's reports on UNDOF.
India and Pakistan noted the belated raise in peacekeeper pay (Pakistan's Permanent Representative Masood Khan had spoken in the morning on command and contro). India's representative advised the partners not to come back in four years talking about another financial crisis. And then it was over.
Back on June 30, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about it:
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric: Matthew?
Inner City Press: Sure, I want to ask about troop reimbursement and also this Sunday press encounter. the Secretary-General had a Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations, which suggest… which proposed that peacekeepers get $1,700 a month. There was a survey done. And now, it seems like it’s come down to a deadline, in which rather than $1,700, the donor countries are offering $1,250. And I wanted to know, since it was the Secretary-General’s own Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping, did he think that Group is credible? Did he think the $1,700 number is a reasonable one? And does he think that $1,250 is sufficient for peacekeepers?
Spokesman Dujarric: I think, you know, those numbers… the work of the Senior Advisory Group came up with what it came up with. These discussions now are deep in the heart of the Fifth Committee, being discussed amongst Member States, and I think that’s where I will leave it for the time being.
Ah, leadership. On the evening on June 30 UN Peacekeeping's Herve Ladsous, who refuses to answer Press questions, dissembled behind closed doors to the Fifth Committee, as several representatives told Inner City Press.
Ladsous pontificated about his visit to Haiti - and said he would further cut back the mission in Darfur, where his UN Peacekeeping is already accused of covering up killings. "He's gotta go," one representative said, and others agreed. But this is the UN.
Now Inner City Press hears that Ban himself may be headed to Haiti this month - as luck would have it, to open a football (or soccer) stadium. Watch this site.
