Inner City Press Asks UN OCHA's O'Brien of Yarmouk Camp in Syria No Longer Called Besieged, But When Accessed?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 28 -- Why would the UN declassify the Yarmouk camp in Syria from being "besieged," after calling it just that in April? On July 24 Inner City Press asked at the UN noon briefing and was told that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs remains concerned about Yarmouk.Video here.

  So on July 28 when OCHA chief Stephen O'Brien took questions about Syria, Inner City Press asked him about OCHA saying that Yarmouk is no longer besieged. Video here.

  O'Brien said that aid has been getting into three neighboring areas, including which those from Yarmouk are able to go back and forth.  Responding to the question was appreciated - but the UN Spokesperson's Office seemed to tell Inner City Press that even the surrounding areas had not been accessed since June 7. One month, three weeks. That's not besieged?

 According to IRIN, "The final decision on the status of the camp, however, is made not by UNRWA but by the UN secretary-general on the advice of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs." We aim to have more on this.

 Back on April 6 amid news that ISIS has taken over most of the UN's Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees in Syria, the UN Security Council scheduled an urgent meeting on April 6 at 11:30 am, to get a briefing by video from Pierre Krähenbühl, the Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA.

   Inner City Press arrived early, and saw going into the Council the UN's head of Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman. The State of Palestine's Permanent Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour spoke outside the Security Council, saying “we are concerned about the safety and well-being of our people,  About 2000 were able to run to safety away from the camp on their own. We hope that the Security Council will adopt a position to secure a safety passage through UN agencies to save and protect the 16,000 now in the refugee camp and we hope that all countries will help in securing this objective of safety passage, security passage and for the refugees to be safe.”

  Inner City Press asked Mansour whether he expects a Security Council resolution on the question of Palestine this month. He answered -- video here -- always ready, but that the key is the political will to implement such a resolution. He said that the independence of Palestine would eliminate sixty to seventy percent of extremist recruitment in the Middle East.

  Later, Inner City Press asked UNRWA's Krähenbühl if UNRWA is in contact with ISIS (no) and who he thinks might influence them. His reply -- video here -- cited the “broad spectrum” including of religious leaders. 

 Inner City Press asked where the displaced refugees have gone. He said there are an additional 44,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, not all from Yarmouk. Overall, he said that of 560,000 Palestinians in Syria before, now 460 to 470,000 remain, with half of them having been displaced.

  The Security Council agreed to what's called “Elements to the Press,” which the Council's president for April Dina Kawar of Jordan read out; here's the hard copy, which Inner City Press tweeted in real time:

"The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern regarding the grave situation in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria.

The members condemned in the strongest terms the grave crimes committed by Daesh and Jabhet al Nusra against 18,000 civilians in the camp and emphasized the need that such crimes do not go unpunished.

The members called for the protection of civilians in the camp, for ensuring humanitarian access to the area including by providing life-saving assistance, and ensure safe passage and evacuation of the civilians.

The members welcomed UNRWA's efforts in protecting and assisting Palestinian refugees and the need for providing UNRWA with the necessary resources to carry out its mandate in Syria, provide providing the necessary life-saving assistance and evacuate civilians.

 The members reminded all parties of their obligations to work toward the safety, security and protections of the civilians in the camp.

The members called on all parties to immediately implement the relevant Security Council resolutions including SCRs 2139, 2165 and 2191 and in line with the international humanitarian law.

The members recalled SCR 2139 which inter alia calls upon all parties to lift the siege of populated areas, demands all parties allow delivery of humanitarian access and enable rapid, safe and unhindered evacuation of civilians.

The members will look into further measures that can be taken to help in providing the necessary protection and assistance."

   

UN Poised To UNfund IRIN Aid News, Which Suspended Video on Central African Republic for "Balance"

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 -- Campaigns have begun to save, or save the UN funding of, the Integrated Regional Information Network. On April 3, Inner City Press asked UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq about it:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask about the IRIN [Integrated Regional Information Network] news service. There’s been a lot of talk, some people have been saying that the UN is either closing it down or defunding it, so there’s a petition to try to keep it afloat. Others are saying it’s just being spun off. Can you say, what’s the UN’s logic on this long-time humanitarian reporting service, either defunding it or ceasing it from operating?

Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq: Well, at this stage, I don’t think that there is any hard and fast decision made. As you are aware, there are many times when we’ve had to deal with different problems regarding our various budgets. For example, those of you who want transcripts for the briefing have noticed that at different times it’s come a bit slower, partly because there are far fewer people than there used to be to do these sorts of press releases. So we are looking at what kind of facilities we have and how we can keep our functions going. That’s as much as I have to say on that for now.

Inner City Press: But, I mean, isn’t it, with the IRIN service, isn’t one of the stated functions of it is sort of to raise the profile of the humanitarian disasters that the UN is trying to funds for?

Deputy Spokesman: Certainly; and all of our various functions are designed to do something important that the Member States want. At the same time, of course, the Member States have given us less funding. And we have to see what we can do with that. And it’s based on that we sometimes have to make different decisions. But as far as I know there is no final decision made on that.

   After Inner City Press tweeted this exchange, an IRIN humanitarian reporter from Asia replied that IRIN is two percent of OCHA's 2014 budget. So is the issue really just money?

  The new chief of OCHA's communications, Kieran Dwyer, was until recently the spokesperson for taciturn UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who implemented and defended Ladsous' refusal to answer Press questions. See video here, UK coverage here.

  Back on March 17 Inner City Press reported: that there was a video put on the UN-affiliated IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) website about the plight of Muslims in CAR, entitled "Bangui's Ghettos." 

   But then it was taken down, with the notification that it was "temporarily suspended." 

  Inner City Press asked UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric why the video was taken down, and he said he would ask his colleagues. Video here. 

  Later on March 17, the spokesperson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Amanda Pitt asked Inner City Press what it wanted to know. Inner City Press replied:

"At today's noon briefing I asked why the IRIN video "Bangui's Ghettoes" is now listed as "temporarily suspended" -- http://www.irinnews.org/report/99776/new-irin-film-bangui-s-ghettos Some are troubled by this. Please explain."

  OCHA spokesperson Amanda Pitt sent this answer:

"I would imagine our IRIN and OCHA communications colleagues have been reviewing the CAR content and are perhaps just adjusting it... As you know IRIN is part of OCHA so it's really important that we are able to balance the content we put out and make sure it supports all the work we are doing in country and in the region."

  But it's already unbalanced in CAR... [The video was restored afterward.]

Back on March 7 when Chad's Permanent Representative to the UN Mahamat Zene Cherif came to the Security Council stakeout on March 7, beyond asking him about child soldiers Inner City Press asked him about those who have had to flee Central African Republic into Chad. Shouldn't they be able to return to CAR? Video here and embedded below

Mahamat Zene Cherif said while Chad will not force anyone back, they should be able to return. He said that eighty percent of the Muslims have been chased out of the CAR.

How can elections be held this way, he asked.

Inner City Press asked if perhaps those displaced could vote even while in Chad. Mahamat Zene Cherif said the UN could check the feasibility, but that Chad would hope the displaced could return to CAR.

  The day before, Inner City Press tried to ask French Ambassador Gerard Araud about a statement or report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that the French Sangaris force first disarming the ex-Seleka had left Muslim community vulnerable to attack by Christian anti-Balaka militias.

  Araud refused to take the question while at the microphone, then from the wings insisted there is no Navi Pillay report. Click here for that.

  What forces allowed 80% of the Muslims in CAR to be chased out? And what responsibility do they bear? Watch this site.

   

On Central African Republic, After UN Suspends Video of Muslims' Plight, Tells Inner City Press It Was Done for "Balance"

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 17 -- While in the Central African Republic the UN large defers to the French Sangaris force, despite the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay having found that France put Muslim communities at risk, now some say the UN is engaged in censorship.

   There was a video put on the UN-affiliated IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) website about the plight of Muslims in CAR, entitled "Bangui's Ghettos." 

   But then it was taken down, with the notification that it was "temporarily suspended." 

  Inner City Press asked UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric why the video was taken down, and he said he would ask his colleagues. Video here. 

  Later on March 17, the spokesperson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Amanda Pitt asked Inner City Press what it wanted to know. Inner City Press replied:

"At today's noon briefing I asked why the IRIN video "Bangui's Ghettoes" is now listed as "temporarily suspended" -- http://www.irinnews.org/report/99776/new-irin-film-bangui-s-ghettos Some are troubled by this. Please explain."

  OCHA spokesperson Amanda Pitt sent this answer:

"I would imagine our IRIN and OCHA communications colleagues have been reviewing the CAR content and are perhaps just adjusting it... As you know IRIN is part of OCHA so it's really important that we are able to balance the content we put out and make sure it supports all the work we are doing in country and in the region."

  But it's already unbalanced in CAR... 

  We are compelled to note that while Ms. Pitt has always been polite, the new head of OCHA Communications is Kieran Dwyer, previously the spokesperson for UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who has refused to answer basic Press questions including about the CAR. 

  We are also compelled to note that not only was Ladsous France's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN during the Rwanda genocide, arguing for the escape of genocidaires into Eastern Congo, but he is also the fourth Frenchman in a row to head UN Peacekeeping. Doubts grow as he refuses to answer questions, particularly about Mali and CAR given France's history there. Video compilation, including Dwyer's statement on why questions are not answered, here.

Back on March 7 when Chad's Permanent Representative to the UN Mahamat Zene Cherif came to the Security Council stakeout on March 7, beyond asking him about child soldiers Inner City Press asked him about those who have had to flee Central African Republic into Chad. Shouldn't they be able to return to CAR? Video here and embedded below

Mahamat Zene Cherif said while Chad will not force anyone back, they should be able to return. He said that eighty percent of the Muslims have been chased out of the CAR.

How can elections be held this way, he asked.

Inner City Press asked if perhaps those displaced could vote even while in Chad. Mahamat Zene Cherif said the UN could check the feasibility, but that Chad would hope the displaced could return to CAR.

  The day before, Inner City Press tried to ask French Ambassador Gerard Araud about a statement or report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that the French Sangaris force first disarming the ex-Seleka had left Muslim community vulnerable to attack by Christian anti-Balaka militias.

  Araud refused to take the question while at the microphone, then from the wings insisted there is no Navi Pillay report. Click here for that.

  What forces allowed 80% of the Muslims in CAR to be chased out? And what responsibility do they bear? Watch this site.

   

Syrian Rebels' Human Rights Record Spun by UN OCHA's ReliefWeb and IRIN, Run By UK's Amos

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 13 -- Should the UN be collecting and distributing statements to downplay armed rebel groups' violations of international humanitarian law?

  For the Syrian rebels, recently accused of sarin gas use and including groups affiliated with Al Qaeda which behead their enemies, that is what the UN's IRIN has done today, here.

  The article or argument is entitled "'Sometimes you cannot apply the rules' - Syrian rebels and International Humanitarian Law." 

  Actually the acronym IHL is used. The article appears on the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' "ReliefWeb" site, where what IRIN stands for it not spelled out or explained.

  The UN's OCHA is run by Baroness Valerie Amos of the United Kingdom, a country whose David Cameron government wants to arm the Syrian rebels. 

  The UK is given OCHA, just the way France has been ceded UN Peacekeeping in the form of Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row to hold the post (video here), and the US had the Department of Political Affairs, two times in a row now, from Lynn Pascoe to Jeffrey Feltman.

  The UN's argument has a first quote from "a former colonel now commanding a unit of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the northwestern governorate of Idlib, said he sees the regime's blatant disregard for human rights as all the more reason to commit himself to international norms. 'The abuses were one of the main reasons the revolution started, so of course we should respect humanitarian laws.'"

  How nice. The UN's IRIN says that "Jabhat al-Nusra (The Front for the Support of the people of Syria)... relies on a religious scholar among its commanders who provides guidelines that all the members adhere to." These include beheadings.

  As if in an infomercial, the UN's OCHA runs this quote: "'If we distribute food supplies, we go from house to house and check who is in need,' said Raed al Aliwi, the FSA commander in Hama. 'We don't ask about people's religion or political opinion.'" The article has no byline, only three sets of initials: "gk/ha/cb."

  It is helpfully noted that "the UK is also funding a programme by two consultancy firms to train rebels using an Arabic curriculum about international humanitarian law."

The problem here, not addressed in the article, is that whatever its other aspirations, IRIN is a project of the UN.ReliefWeb is run by UN OCHA, which is run by a UK official. These are problems. Watch this site.

As Sudan Expels Reporter For UNDP Quote, UNDP Denies It & Lack of Access

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 5 -- With the Sudanese government this week refusing to renew the visa and journalist permit of a freelance reporter who quoted a UN official that Sudan's eastern Kassala state is "a volcano waiting to erupt," the backstory Inner City Press has found reflects badly on the UN.

Mathieu Galtiertold Agence France Presse "the official reason is because our visa in finishing." AFP added that he

"published a controversial article in early December for IRIN, a news service of the United Nations humanitarian agency. It quoted 'a well-placed international official in Kassala' who compared the country's eastern Eritrea border region with a volcano. Within months, it could erupt into a conflict such as those already occurring in Sudan's South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, the official was quoted as saying."

Actually, Galtier's sourcing was more specific, at least in French (on Slate Afrique, no longer on IRIN it seems), to an official of the UN Development Program. Click here to view (for now?)

On January 3, two days before AFP's story on Galtier's expulsion, Inner City Press asked UNDP to respond to Sudanese state media bragging how it got the report retracted, requesting in writing that spokesman Sausan Ghosheh

"please provide UNDP response to Sudanese state media reporting: 'a Sudanese-UN legal fight that ended with a UN apology for a report on situations on eastern Sudan by a UNDP official. The report, which was published on a website, belongs to the UN, predicted escalations of the situations in eastern Sudan due to claims of lack of development projects and presence of an armed faction that prepares for launching attacks in eastern Sudan from its bases in Eritrea. Few hours after publishing the report, the UN rushed to deny it using all soft means to contain the matter.'"

Two days later, Ghosheh answered the question in this way: "UNDP has guidance on who can represent the organization with media. No UNDP designated official has spoken to the media on this issue."

Is UNDP saying that the article initially on the UN's IRIN was false, making up quotes from a UNDP official? Or is the UN again sucking up to the government, retracting criticism and even articles?

Inner City Press also asked Ghosheh:

"deny or confirm (and explain why its silence) that Sudanese authorities barred UNDP from entering Al Muglad in South Kordofan.

Separately, have there been UN system vehicles detained by military intelligence in Babanusa, and/or barred from passing to El Obeid in North Kordofan?"

After two days, Ghosheh replied "Sudanese authorities did not deny UNDP or UNDP staff access to el Muglad."

Given that UNDP in New York is disavowing -- or calling a lie -- a quote Khartoum didn't like from a UNDP official in Sudan, is UNDP supposed to be believed that Khartoum did not deny access to el Muglad, or South Kordofan, or El Obeid?

Separately, since IRIN operates under the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, how is OCHA's Valerie Amos' new deal with Khartoum regarding Kordofan and Blue Niles states supposed to be viewed? Watch this site.