By Matthew Russell Lee, SG exclusive; video
UNITED NATIONS, October 12 -- The UN's failure and duplicity in Myanmar is now fully on display. Just after Secretary General for the second time defended long discredited UN Resident Coordinator Renata Lok-Dessalien, who is accused on the record of retaliating against UN staff for raising the plight of the Rohingya, the UN with less fanfare has said she will belatedly leave the country by the end of October. As if to cover up this failure, Guterres' spokesman in New York Stephane Dujarric late on October 11 announced that lame duck Department of Political Affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman will visit Myanmar for five days starting October 13. The goal it seems is to get Myanmar's government to agree to an Assistant Secretary General replacing Lok-Dessalien, or at least to agree to a new Resident Coordinator. Inner City Press opines, maybe Myanmar can get Sid Chatterjee from Kenya, where Sid was given the Resident Coordinator job by his own father in law Ban Ki-moon and has supported the government even as it stole an election, and interfered in South Sudanese politics. We'll have more on this.
The UN's failure amid Myanmar's murder and displacement of the Rohingya, on display today, was also pronounced under 2007-2016 Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his “Special Advisor” on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar. (Guterres' holdover spokesman Dujarric, we note, defended all of this failure.) Once Ban Ki-moon, whose brother Ban Ki-Ho's mining in Myanmar Inner City Press exposed while getting evicted from the UN under Ban, gave the Myanmar post to Nambiar, Ban refused to listen to anyone else on the issue. And Nambiar, in turn, allowed his eyes and ears on the ground to be one Marianne Hagen. She failed totally on the Rohingya issue, obsessed for example with the Kachin Independence Army. But there has been no accountability. [Inside UN headquarters, this is similar in structure to the lack of accountability of Ban Ki-moon for corruption, and smaller scale but related his head of DPI Cristina Gallach for censorship, and DPI long termers like Darren Farrant, Hua Jiang and Maher Nasser - except that they're still here, controlling access.] We'll have more on this.When belatedly the UN Security Council heard of Myanmar and the Rohingya, before the meeting Inner City Press asked the representatives of the UK, Sweden and France about the UN Country Team's performance, or under-performance, under Renata Lok-Dessalien. Video here. On October 5, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric more about Dessalien. From the UN transcript: Inner City Press: again about Ms. [Renata] Lok-Dessallien, in this case, saying that she suppressed a report about the UN's role in Rakhine State. And it has, again, quotes from people that work for the UN, saying that… that the… the Human Rights Up Front, which was announced with some fanfare by your previous Secretary-General you spoke for, has not been implemented. So I wanted to ask, just factually, does the report exist? Did she suppress it? and his statement that he, the SG, stood behind her, while… while, obviously, a good thing to stand behind your officials, seems to have sent a message to staff that, even if you speak up and say my supervisor retaliated against me for raising human rights in an internal UN meeting, that the Secretary-General will, out of hand, reject your claims and side with your boss. How would you respond to that? Spokesman: Okay. So, let's take the granular first. I don't agree at all with your analysis. If people have grievances, there are all sorts of internal systems they can go through. They can also… there's a very strong whistleblower protection that's available to every staff member of this organisation. The Secretary-General does stand by Renata Lok-Dessallien, the Resident Coordinator and the team that she leads in Myanmar. There was a report. It was not spiked in any way. It was presented to the UN country team in April, and I think, far from suppressing information or censoring ourselves, I think, in our dialogues with the Myanmar authorities, the UN system has consistently urged the leaders of Myanmar, whether the military or civilian leadership, to uphold their responsibilities. I think, if you look at the public statements from the Secretary-General, if you look at the public statements earlier this year from the Resident Coordinator, and from the team, I think they have been clear and to the point. We engage with the authorities of Myanmar as we engage with the authorities in any country. We engage constructively with them. Engagement does not mean that we lose our principles. On the contrary, I think we stand strong on our principles. I think the Secretary-General, in his statement to the Security Council, whether by letter or in present to the security… excuse me, in his statement that he did in person to the Security Council, was extremely clear about his message to the Myanmar authorities. And we will continue to be clear both in our public statements and in our private conversations with the authorities. Inner City Press: So just… thanks. The Guardian quotes a UN official in Yangon, quote, “Human Rights Up Front isn't being implemented. It just isn't. They can say that they are ticking some boxes, but, in terms of actions that lead to results, we're seeing nothing.” And the other… I just wanted to… because there is a perception. You're saying that, if staff go internally, then the Secretary-General won't automatically side with their supervisor. But, if they go public…? Spokesman: This is not… this is… the statements that I'm making I've… have to do with the attacks that the Resident Coordinator has been subject to, the attacks that the UN team in Myanmar has been subject to. Let's not forget where responsibility lies in terms of protecting people. It lies with the Government. That's where the responsibility lies. Any assessment of our public statements in the last year, in the last few months, have been clear in us raising our concern about the situation, the human rights situation, in Rakhine State, about the lack of humanitarian access. I think we have been very clear. Now, current, past staff members, people talk to the press. That's their business. I think we've said what we have to say." On September 29, after a BBC report which featured Lok-Dessalien's former chief of staff saying staff were retaliated against for raising human rights, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' spokesman if these allegations of retaliation will be investigated. Apparently not - the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, insisted that Guterres stands behind Lok-Dessalien. This is NOT whistleblower protection, and discourages people from coming forward. (As does the UN Security surveillance camera above the UN media bullpen area, which Inner City Press asked about and Dujarric reformed to answer on, video here). After the briefing, Dujarric's office mailed out: "The United Nations strongly disagrees with allegations against the UN Resident Coordinator in Myanmar, Renata Lok-Dessallien. The Secretary-General has full confidence in the Resident Coordinator and her Team. The UN has consistently and strongly focused on protection of human rights and inclusive development on behalf of all the people of Myanmar, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or citizenship status. The Resident Coordinator has been a tireless advocate for human rights, conflict prevention, and humanitarian and development assistance in Rakhine State. She has drawn attention to rights abuses and called for credible investigations; advocated against incitement to violence; and supported efforts to promote inter-communal harmony. The UN in Myanmar, led by the Resident Coordinator, works with a wide array of government and non-government partners to help enhance Myanmar’s capacities to tackle root causes of conflict, to strengthen democratic institutions, to expand access to justice and to reduce poverty. Human rights stand at the center of everything the UN does, and this includes the rollout of the Human Right Up Front by her team." Right. Senior UN officials exclusively tell Inner City Press that in the prior months, Guterres repeatedly rejected detailed recommendations made directly to him by some of his officials to become more active on the crisis. The officials tell Inner City Press that Guterres responded that for the UN to become more active might create problems for "The Lady," Aung San Suu Kyi, and the military. So the UN stood by, as it did in Sri Lanka in 2008-2009 and in Rwanda before that, always with an excuse. There was even a ten point plan presented early on to Guterres, on which he never acted. On September 25, UK Deputy Ambassador Jonathan Allen in the Council said, "Burma needs to allow in humanitarian aid from the UN... The humanitarian needs inside Rakhine vastly exceed the Red Cross’s activities. Only the UN and its partners can provide life-saving aid.... There needs to be a process so that those who fled can register as refugees and return home safely, even if they don’t have documents. Burmese authorities should participate with the UN fact-finding mission. The situation in Burma strikes many of us around the table with particular poignancy… We want to see further progress to democracy, and we want Burma to thrive…this crisis now casts a deep shadow over Burma and its international reputation…Should they fail to do so, they will find themselves on the wrong side of history, and this Council will be ready to take further action." After Allen, Nikki Haley said: "We have seen images of acts no person should ever have to endure. We have seen women and children fleeing their homes with only the clothes on their backs…we’ve heard reports of men, women and children rounded up, detained, and some brutally killed…a baby who died fleeing violence in Rakhine States. I’ve also met with Burma’s national security advisor. We’ve supported regional efforts to de-escalate the violence….and still, the exodus out of Burma continues while the government refuses to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. I condemn violence against other minority communities in Rakhine. We cannot be afraid to call the actions of the Burmese authority what they appear to be: a campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority. The Burmese government claims it is battling terrorists. If this is true, let them allow media and humanitarian aid in to back up their claims.... The government has a responsibility to restore the rule of law and prevent attacks by citizens in its name. An already dire situation has been made even worse by some rhetoric coming from official channels. The time for diplomatic words has passed. We must now consider action against Burmese military figures. The Burmese military must respect human rights. Those accused should be removed from command and prosecuted. I’d like to appeal to the goodness and hope for the future that exists in the hearts of the majority of you. I know you’re sickened by the images of violence. The goal of an open, democratic Burma is still possible. Hold fast to that vision. Don’t give up on it. Every Burmese man, woman and child is a child of God." On September 18, Inner City Press asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: In Myanmar, I heard from some people that work in the Department of Political Affairs [DPA], and I wanted to get you to respond to this, the idea being that the Secretary-General has been urged for some time, in fact months, to be more vocal or be more active on the issue of the plight of the Rohingya and that, at least at an earlier stage, his analysis was that this might put Aung San Suu Kyi in a difficult decision with the military. Is that an accurate depiction? And, if so, has the plight changed so much, or does he think he might have gotten involved earlier? Spokesman: I would say it's an accurate description. I think anyone who would have read or seen the Secretary-General's statements on the situation in Myanmar over the last two weeks could only say that he's being vocal and being extremely vocal on the situation. There is a time for diplomatic engagement. There's a time for speaking out more loudly. There's a time for speaking out loudly and remaining engaged diplomatically. The Secretary-General has a number of tools in his kit, and he uses them as he sees fit. Inner City Press: And has he spoken to Aung San Suu Kyi since…Spokesman: Not since about ten days ago. We, obviously, very much are looking forward to hearing what she will have to say in the speech she's scheduled to deliver, I think it's about Tuesday in Myanmar, and I think late tonight here in New York." On September 15 Guterres spokesman arranged a background briefing for his favored correspondents, with senior UN officials we will leave UNnamed - but did not inform or invite Inner City Press, who asks him many questions, including about Myanmar. To this has the UN descended.
