Tuesday, September 27, 2016

After Ban Ki-moon Promoted Son in Law, No Answer As Violates UN Rules For Aide


By Matthew Russell Lee, Follow Up on Exclusives
UNITED NATIONS, September 26 -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in late August awarded the top UN job in Kenya to his own son in law, Siddharth Chatterjee, and did not even recuse himself.

 Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric has refused to provide basic information about the promotion, and about Chatterjee's military activities in Sri Lanka. Nor has he responded to Inner City Press' written request for information or to interview Chatterjee, a UN official who blocks Inner City Press on Twitter.
  But Ban's increasing lawlessness is not limited to his son in law, nor to his mentor Han Seung-soo, who despite MOONlighting as a UN official and board member of Standard Chartered Bank and Doosan, this week dodged Inner City Press' questions unlike Jacob Zuma and Sheikh Hasina, here.
  Inner City Press is informed by whistleblowing UN staff that Ban is now attempting, contrary even to a new feather-bedding rule his issued to place his staff wherever they want in the UN system, to place his longtime personal / appointments secretary Eun Ha (Isabelle) Kim as a P-3 Professional in the UN Office of Protocol.
On September 26, Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, UN transcript here: 
Inner City Press: I'll try to do this delicately.  I wanted to know, is it your understanding that, for a General Service staff of the UN to become a, quote, Professional staff, the only way through is this G… is G to P test for a successor?  And the reason I ask is that received a number of complaints that a member of the team of Ban Ki-moon upstairs that's a G level staff is being attempted to be put into a P level position in protocol.  And I just wanted… maybe I'm missing something.  Is there some… is there… does there remain this kind of firewall between the two?  Not that it's a right wall, but if it applies to others…

Deputy Spokesman:  No, I don't think there's a firewall.  I've seen other G staff become Professional staff, including in our very own office.  So there are different ways…

ICP Question:  Sure.  You take a test.  Right?

Deputy Spokesman:  There's a G to P test.  That's one avenue.  I believe there are other avenues besides that.  There's… it's a complicated system, but I'm well aware even from my own office, I've seen several different Gs… G staff become Professional staff over the years.

ICP:  I may have something more on this
   Ms. Kim, we note, was with Ban (and Han Seung-soo and others) up to fifteen years ago, when Han was President of the General Assembly and Ban, his chief of staff. 
Also on that dream team: current South Korean ambassador to the UN and Ban promoted Oh Joon, former Ban promotee Yoon Yeocheol, Kim Bong-hyun who previously told Inner City Press to cover Ban more positively, and others - click here for the list, still online for now.
  Exposing or even inquiring into the ever increase irregularities in the Ban Ki-moon administration give rise, as Inner City Press found earlier this year and during this General Assembly debate week, to retaliation. 
Inner City Press was ordered to leave the UN on February 19 on two hours notice by Ban's chief of "public information," Cristina Gallach - for seeking to cover an event in the UN Press Briefing Room which was nowhere listed as Closed.
Ban and Gallach are giving Inner City Press' long time work space to an Egyptian state media, Akhbar Al Yom, whose representative Sanaa Youssef rarely comes to the UN -- contrary to the stated requirement for resident correspondent accreditation, which has been stripped from Inner City Press -- and never asks any questions. 
This week, Inner City Press could only cover a meeting on Yemen ifaccompanied by a minder  (Gallach was asked about this, on camera)who asked who Inner City Press wanted to interview; it was locked out of the media "bullpen" then urged, mid-edit, to leave the small "focus booth" it's been reduced to using. Team Ban has been informed of all of this, responding that "time" will somehow solve it. How?
 On September 23 Ban's and France's head of peacekeeping Herve Ladsous said openly, "I never answer your questions, Mister" when asked about rapes; Ladsous' UN spokesman got Ban's UNTV to keep the microphone away from Inner City Press. Video here. This is Ban Ki-moon's (and Gallach's) censorship.
After being told that Ban's son in law is in New York, Inner City Press has asked Ban's spokespeople, fully four of them:
"This is a request to interview the UN's Resident Coordinator in Kenya Siddarth Chatterjee, appointed to the job by his father in law Ban Ki-moon, in light of [him saying / Tweeting to another of his father in law's officials,] “Look forward to seeing you at UNGA." It seems he has appeared at the Princeton Club in NY.
"Since the OSSG has declined to answer several questions about Resident Coordinator Chatterjee, this is a request for the interview. Please advise asap."
 So far, nothing. Chatterjee, as we've noted, blocks Inner City Press on Twitter - strange, for a UN Resident Coordinator. 
Instead of answering the earlier questions, Team Ban arranged for Chatterjee's military commander Dalvir Singh to slam in Huffington Post Inner City Press' “accusations of human rights violations against Chatterjee. Major Chatterjee was a star member of my battalion, the 10th Para Special Forces, and at no time was my battalion or any member of my unit ever involved in any form of human rights violation.” 
 Really? What about the Jaffna Hospital Massacre?  Inner City Press exposing Ban's nepotism has been covered in Sri Lanka, here - and nowin South Korea, here (translated) where Ban hopes to run for president. Here's a machine translation: 
"Ban last month, his son-in-law sit da-Kenya resident coordinator of the United Nations whether the chatter in the decision to appoint. The United Nations Office of the resident coordinator as the national diplomatic missions to individual countries hit greets. Chapman, Mr. ban's youngest daughter, popping Hyun-Hee's husband. Hyun-hee and Chae was elected Secretary General of the UN ban popping were married in 2006. Hyun-Hee Mr. currently UNICEF Kenya Office is known to be being worked on. 
 This has never been a textbook case of ' human resources ' Office, saying the issue would be raised by the professional journalist Matthew Lee of inner city press, the media. Lee shunned the press ban this personnel (recusal) not to apply points to criticize. He said, "would call into question the qualities of chatter, nor at the UN for a long time, one of those who deny that. But he is considering ban evasion law that might have the application lies, "he said.
 India is a special forces work on the chatter when the matter was a Huffington Post Moon vir Singh retired warden contributed from popping "always was a priority public than himself," and Office personnel are raised allegations of the accused journalists. He was working as a journalist for the "qualification (credential)-RI, suspicious and ethics awareness as the UN's bloggers" and not "evil?" is appealed
 Not on the basis of the human rights abuses of false attacks ".  Lee, the reporter himself the last few years, a series of critical reports about the ban were taken with them, and because of this, the UN resident journalists deprived of his or her eligibility status.”
On September 17, as Inner City Press covered the UN Security Council meeting on Syria, under Ban's eviction order it was first locked out of the UNSC stakeout, then told to leave the UN by a UN Security officer. This is Ban's UN. We'll have more on this.
On September 15, Inner City Press again asked Ban's spokesman about Chatterjee's record in Sri Lanka -- no answer - and the panel that "recommended" him to Ban. Vine here, UN transcript here, with the UN using many more "inaudibles" than on other questions: 
Inner City Press: the last you answered about promotion of the Secretary-General’s son-in-law into the top post in Kenya was that you hoped that at least the agencies or some information about this inter-agency panel could be provided, and I think it should be.  So I wanted to know do you have now any information on that…?  [inaudible]

Spokesman:  I don’t have an update, but if I have something, I will share it with you.

ICP Question:  And I’d asked you in writing about… it goes back some time but about the son-in-law’s activities in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian peacekeeping force.  And since he’s gotten his commander to write an op-ed saying that questions about this are unreasonable… [inaudible]

Spokesman:  Whatever words I’ve had to say about… on this issue, I have used.  I really have nothing else to add… [inaudible]

ICP Question:  Right, but you said… the last thing you said was you would look into the inter-agency panel… [inaudible]

Spokesman:  I have nothing… [inaudible]  Yes, that I said.  On the rest, I have nothing else to add. 
 Meanwhile Ban's son in law is using the first place his military commander dumped his piece to run propaganda interviews linking himself to the SDGs.
Singh's / Team Ban's piece from its first version to its second picked up links to Team Ban's raid on Inner City Press' office, and material from the UN Censorship Alliance. These suggestions came from within Ban's UNHQ.
  Dalvir Singh wrote “To attack the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who happens to be Chatterjee’s father-in-law, using his service in Sri Lanka is not only absurd but deserves to be condemned in the strongest possible terms.” And then the threats began. This is a new low.
Ban's promotion of his son in law is contrary to the ICSC Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service on "Familial dealings" --
In Ban's cases, these "familial dealing" include not only the son in law promoted without recusal or transparency, now lashing out at the Press by proxy, but also the nephew, "Dennis Bahn," with a company managing UN real estate, during the name of the UN and his uncle to drum up more business, see below. 
Now there is a scandal and conviction in South Korea with Ban's - and his nephew Bahn's -- fingerprints all over it. "South Gyeongsang Governor Hong Joon-pyo was found guilty Thursday of taking money from the late businessman and politician Sung Wan-jong and sentenced to 18 months in prison, ending his presidential ambitions. Hong, 62, stood trial on charges that he accepted 100 million won ($91,601) from the late Sung, former chairman of the Keangnam Enterprises."
  Ban's brother Ban Ki-sang was a consultant to Keangnam for seven years; Ban's nephew Dennis "Bahn Joo-hyun said to a contact at Keangnam that he would invite his high-profile uncle to a social gathering, where members of the Qatar Investment Authority would be present." 
Ban's UN scandals also include others close to Ban such as Han Seung-soo, allowed by UN to be a UN official and on the board of directors of South Korea's Doosan, and of UN bank Standard Chartered.
For alleged violation of of the ICSC Standards, UN system whistleblowers such as Moncef Kateb of WIPO have been fired. But Ban does it openly: something about a fish and from the head, see also below.
The response to Inner City Press' questioning has been, as happened in 2012, threats. To this has the UN descended under Ban. 
After Inner City Press asked about the textbook case of nepotism of Ban and his son in law, video here, Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarricreplied that an inter-agency advisory panel had been involved, before Ban signed the letter appointing his own son in law to the post. But Dujarric has refused to say who was on the panel, or who the other candidates were. Nor has he provided any information about Chatterjee's activities in Sri Lanka. 
This is a new low for Ban Ki-moon's UN, widely viewed as having failed in Sri Lanka in 2009, and on Yemen and Burundi and elsewhere in 2016. 

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