UN Beyonce Fest Has CNN Tying M23 & Kabila, Acapella Offerings

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 10 -- Before Beyonce finally arrived to sing an embargoed preview of her song "I Was Here" in the UN General Assembly Friday night, Anderson Cooper held his own little talk show in which he said that Congo's M23 rebels are "an offshoot of Laurent Kabila."

  Laurent Kabila is dead; his son Joseph Kabila is the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who seeks to wipe out the M23 mutineers. Later Anderson Cooper tried to correct himself and said "Laurent Nkunda."

  But even that is years behind. Nkunda was put under house arrest in Rwanda. The allegation is the Bosco Ntaganda is leading the M23. But neither his name, not that of UN "expert" Steve Hege who has written that the Hutu FDLR armed group is not really a threat to Rwanda, were mentioned.

  Nor for example was the withdrawal of the UN from North Sri Lanka in 2008 and 2009, prior to the killing of 40,000 civilians. It was claimed that the UN doesn't take side. But sometimes leaving is taking sides. Like in Rwanda in 1994. And, one wonders, in Syria in 2012?

  The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, one of Inner City Press' favorite parts of the UN, managed the evening, paying UN Television for time to interview chief Valerie Amos and Ban Ki-moon's new deputy, Jan Eliasson.

  When Eliasson took the stage, he called the event "I Was There," then corrected it. He is a long time Swedish diplomat, just as the UN considered long time Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi to replace UN retiree Kofi Annan as Syria envoy.

Aren't events like this supposed to interest a younger generation in the work of the UN? Where are they?

  This UN event was for a bigger picture crowd: The Dream, and Brooklyn's own Theophilus London. That photo, Inner City Press tweeted, noting that "Journos ask, who's that? Crooklyn."

  Then a general news reporter for a wire service which tried to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN asked, are you a fan? What's your favorite song? Why, "Morning After Pill," of course. Something of an anthem for UNFPA.

  Ultimately, Beyonce's song -- it is not clear if we are allowed to write about it -- and especially the video behind it were amazing. 

  What appeared to be the wooden slats of the GA Hall's wall flew away for a big-screen presentation of camps in Darfur -- like the one the UN didn't protect in Kassam, not mentioned in the show -- and scenes that looked Haiti.

  One wondered: why not at least acknowledge that the UN may have brought cholera to Haiti, inadvertently, and try to have some accountability?

  But, it occurred, those who MIGHT hold the UN accountable only come infrequently and suck up to it, thinking that it makes them look good. But in the case of Anderson Cooper, does it?

  There were two other songs, one with simple guitar thatinspired Inner City Press to tweet a song online, about Sri Lanka, Ban Ki-moon and more. And so it goes at the UN. Watch, or listen, to this site.

On Congo, Obasanjo On Relocating Nkunda and FDLR, Bosco "In Circulation" in Congo

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/drc2obasanjo063009.html

UNITED NATIONS, June 30 -- Amid reports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo of the FDLR rebels rampaging in the Kivus, the Lord's Resistance Army killing and kidnapping and the UN collaborating, at least indirectly, with indicted war criminal Jean-Bosco Ntaganda, the UN's envoy to the Great Lakes Olusegun Obasanjo answered a half dozen questions from Inner City Press on this topics on Tuesday.

Inner City Press asked him if he is involved in talks to relocate Bosco's former boss Laurent Nkunda from house arrest in Rwanda to a third country. Obasanjo laughed. "You seem to be leading the minds of the two leaders," he said. "You are close to what they are thinking." Video here, from Minute 12:21.

Also being considered for relocation, according to Obansanjo, are some 1500 fighters from the FDLR. Obasanjo said they could be moved further away from Rwanda. Inner City Press asked, inside the DRC? Yes, Obansanjo said. But who would take them? Who would want a known militia group? Video here from Minute 11:54. Obasanjo replied that they would not have guns. Then again, those are not necessarily difficult to find.

Inner City Press asked Obasanjo about the UN ending the Lord's Resistance Army mandate of former president of Mozambique Chissano. Obansanjo appeared surprised that it is ending, and said that all mandates can be renewed. Video here from Minute 9:16. But this one seems over: Chissano has moved on. And what plan does the UN have?

Obasanjo acknowledged that Bosco is "not out of circulation." Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Michele Montas, in light of a damning op-ed in the Washington Post, what the UN is doing to ensure that it does not work even indirectly with the indicted war criminal, and even helps apprehend him. That is the job of the Congolese authorities, Ms. Montas said. Over whom the UN, after spending billions of dollars, have no say?

Footnote: Obasanjo referred to a joint Rwandan - Congolese methane gas project in Lake Kivu. As Inner City Press previously reported, contracting issues have dogged Obasanjo since his tenure in Nigeria. But we can return to that topic in the future. On Tuesday, he spoke more clearly about the Congo than anyone else at the UN.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/drc2obasanjo063009.html

In Congo, UN Blocked from Civilian Protection, Bosco in the Mix, UK Hears Nothing

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/drc1bosco012109.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 21 -- The joint Rwandan and Congolese offensive on Hutu rebels in the Eastern Congo has involved barring access to UN peacekeepers and to the press, and appears to have involved indicted war criminal Bosco Ntaganda. At the UN on Wednesday, Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador John Sawers about the blocking of Indian peacekeepers and Red Cross workers from areas in which civilians are in danger. "I haven't heard that report," Ambassador Sawers said, while saying of the operation that "taken as a whole... it is good." Video here, from Minute 5:59.

Apparently the Security Council or at least Ambassador Sawers is so focused on the conflict in Gaza that events more directly implicating the UN are being ignored. Minutes later on Wednesday, Inner City Press asked the head of UN Peacekeeping, Alain Le Roy, about event in the Congo. Le Roy confirmed that peacekeepers had been blocked. Has this not been conveyed to the Council or UK Mission to the UN?

Previously, Ambassador Sawers said he wasn't aware of the involvement of South Sudan in the offensive against the Lord's Resistance Army elsewhere in the Congo. That botched operation has left in its wake more that 600 civilians killed. What will be the body count in the parts of North Kivu from which UN peacekeepers are being barred?

As to the involvement of Bosco Ntaganda, indicted by the International Criminal Court, UN spokesperson Michele Montas on Wednesday told Inner City Press that "whether Bosco participates in it is not of our concern." Video here, from Minute 23:45.

Not only is the ICC connected to the UN -- its State Parties are meeting in the UN Headquarters basement this week to elect judges -- but the UN and Ban Ki-moon are on record as opposing impunity, and for the enforcement of ICC warrants, for example in Sudan. The UN Secretariat, too, has been entirely consumed by Gaza.

Ms. Montas had read out a statement from the UN's Alan Doss that his mission, MONUC, has not be involved in the offensive which is a "bilateral" arrangement between the governments of Rwanda and the Congo. But Congolese legislators in Kinshasa now say they were not consulted, just as they were not consulted on President Joseph Kabila's $9 billion mineral arrangement with the Chinese. Inner City Press asked Ms. Montas if Doss' formal statement implied that the UN views the agreement with Rwanda as effectively approved by all necessary Congolese authorities. No, Ms. Montas said, MONUC "has nothing to say about that." Video here, from Minute 23:03.

Inner City Press asked the Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to UN, Atoki Ileka, about Bosco and the legislator's protest. Ileka called the former "murky," and pointed out of the legislator that "he comes from the area, he has to say that." People, including the Ambassadors on the UN Security Council, seem to want to close their eyes and hope the offensive against the FDLR works out, certainly better than the one on the Lord's Restistance Army. But what about civilians?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/drc1bosco012109.html

ABN-AMRO and ING Are Facilitators of Congo Sanctions Violations, ICC Disclosure Not Solved

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/drc1stearns121208.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 12 -- "We're not supposed to talk about UN reform or accountability in peacekeeping operations," the head of the UN's Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo Jason Stearns told the Press on Friday. Inner City Press asked if Stearns' Group had at least investigated the reports of top UN peacekeeper and Indian colonel praising rebel Laurent Nkunda, now accused of killed more than 100 civilians in Kiwanja. No, Stearns said, his Group's priority had been to focus on the main supporters of Nkunda's group, the CNDP. Video here, from Minute 28:18.

But if the UN does detailed investigation, shouldn't it include review of whether it or its peacekeepers are part of the problem? Apparently not.

Stearns nevertheless provided one of the more informative UN briefings in recent memory. His Group's report names the wife of Laurent Nkunda, and three banks which transferred money to her: ING, ABN-AMRO and KBC. Inner City Press asked if Stearns thought the financial transfers of these banks were appropriate. "Nkunda's wife is not on the sanctions list," Stearns said.

The same legal hair-splitting obtained when Inner City Press asked whether the interviews Stearns' Group has done will be provided to the Office of the International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo. Most of it is public record, Stearns answered. But what about the interviews granted on condition of anonymity?

If shared with Ocampo, it seems they will have to be shared with any defense attorneys, as reflected by the ICC judges' freezing of the Congo case against Thomas Lubanga. That's up to to the ICC, Stearns said. Which makes it appear at the UN system is still in disarray in terms of how confidentiality can be promised to witnesses for information that may be shared with the ICC, requiring disclosure to defendants. Doctor, heal thyself...

Footnote: The appearance by Stearns, previously of the International Crisis Group, was a break from the usual invisibility and lack of accountability of UN Experts Groups. The Somalia Group, for example, issued a report alleging the Somalis were being trained in Lebanon, but never came to explain it. Likewise, those who came before Stearns on the DRC implied that Congolese uranium was leaking out, which others linked to Iran. Stearns disclaimed that, and criticized the BCC for implying this Group was wiretapping. Hey, Bush did it...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/drc1stearns121208.html

UN's Rwanda Prosecutor Says He Cleared Karenzi, Contra Navi Pillay, No News On Nepali Generals

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2karenzi121208.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 12 -- The UN system's approach to Rwanda was shown this week to be in disarray. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda, Hassan B. Jallow, told the Press on Friday that his Office had been asked about the service with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur by Rwandan General Karenzi Karake, indicted for war crimes by a judge in Spain. Jallow said his answer had been that he had no case against Karenzi, who as a consequence is still in his UN job.

But on December 9 in the same room, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay had told the Press that her Office had raised issues of war crimes by Karenzi Karake while with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RFP), well as getting several Nepali generals removed from peacekeeping missions due to their involvement in disappearances. Inner City Press had asked Ms. Pillay what the UN does about abuses among its peacekeepers, and was told on December 10 that further information was being sought from Ms. Pillay, which two days later has not been provided.

So the UN system's top human rights official is taking credit for raising war crimes issues about a top UN peacekeeping general, while a top UN system prosecutor first says he doesn't recognize the general's name, then says he cleared him.

Meanwhile, the UN's Congo sanctions committee has issued a report linking the RPF-successor Rwandan government with the rebels in Congo led by Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda, while saying on the other hand that the Congolese government army is in league with the Hutu FDLR rebels.

News analysis: Could the ICTR's refusal to prosecute any RFP abusers, and UN Peacekeeping's failure to heed what the UN Human Rights Commissioner says she raised about RFP general Karenzi, have played a role in creating the atmosphere in which the Rwandan support of Nkunda described in the report takes place? The UN doesn't report on itself, at least not on issues like this. But it should.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2karenzi121208.html

Stealth Chinese Resource Deals Link UN's Obasanjo to Congo and Kabila, Conflict of Interest Alleged

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/drc1obasanjo112408.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 24 -- The UN's envoy to the Congo, former Nigerian president Olesegun Obasanjo, appears to have a conflict of interest. One of rebel general Laurent Nkunda's main critiques of the Congolese government of Joseph Kabila is the $9 billion resource deal Kabila signed recently with China. On Monday at the UN, Inner City Press asked Mr. Obasanjo about Nkunda's claim.

Obasanjo said that when Nkunda spoke of economics, the Chinese contract was one of the particular issues he raised. Obasanjo added that "I raised it to Joseph Kabila, who said 'all that passed through the National Assembly.'" Video here, from Minute 18:15.

But, Inner City Press asked "with all due respect," isn't that controversy similar to the one embroiling Obasanjo in Nigeria, about his $8 billion railroad contract with China? Couldn't that be a conflict of interest? Obasanjo said no, it has no bearing, "the railroad was fully disclosed and approved." He said that the "present administration is not saying it is not going with the railroad," only that it is looking for additional funds.

Nigerian sources tell Inner City Press that this is not the case, the allegation in Lagos is that, like Kabila, Obasanjo did not tell his legislature about his Chinese deal.

Directly contrary to Obasanjo's statement Monday at the UN, a recent Nigerian headline has it that the Federal Government "may revoke $8bn rail contract." The article states that

"The Chief Economic Adviser to President Umaru Yar’Adua, Mr. Tanimu Yakubu, who gave the hint during the Abuja Business and Investment Roundtable on Thursday, described the contract as illegal. Yakubu claimed that since Obasanjo did not present the project and its budget to the National Assembly, the current administration would not condone it because of its stand on rule of law. 'For an administration that prides itself in the rule of law, I don’t see how an illegality will be strictly adhered to in the name of continuity,' he said. The $8bn contract was awarded to Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company in 2006 as a turnkey package entailing the design, construction and maintenance of about 1,315 kilometres of standard gauge double track railway line from Lagos to Kano."

The similarity to the critique, including by Nkunda, of Kabila's Congo contract is striking. How can Obasanjo, given the allegations against him, be seen as non-conflicted on the similar issue in Congo? Why didn't the Ban Ki-moon administration vet this obvious potential conflict before deploying Obansanjo to the Congo?

Separately, Inner City Press on Monday asked Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas about reports that UN Peacekeepers in Goma allowed Kabila's army to seize rebels from UN custody. Ms. Montas replied that one peacekeeper was injured, but that it was "settled without further injury or complication," that the rebels continued with the convoy. Video here, from Minute 13:47. But the UN's own Congo spokesman Lt.-Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich has been quoted that

"there were 10 surrendered rebels among the 23 and that they were to have been turned over to the military Monday. 'But because of this incident, it was agreed on the spot to hand them over.' On Monday, Dietrich said he did not know where those detained had been taken."

This is at odd with that the UN in New York said on Monday, that the rebels were not handed over, but rather continued on with the UN peacekeepers. Which is it?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/drc1obasanjo112408.html

As UN Charges Indian Peacekeeper of Consorting With Congo Rebels, Discipline Is Questioned

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1bosco071608.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 16, updated July 17 -- In the eastern Congo, a UN peacekeeper from India has been caught on tape praising and bonding with rebel fighters led by Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda and Jean Bosco Ntaganda, charged for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. The peacekeeper, identified as Colonel Chand Saroha, was told by Nkunda, "You have helped us a great deal." He in turn gushed, "Officially we are not allowed to meet you. But your good conduct... made us feel we were associated with proud people. We are like brothers."

When faced with evidence that other peacekeepers, also from India, had given weapons to Congolese rebels in exchange for gold, the UN denied and, according to the UN auditor initially on the case, whitewashed the evidence. But since the taped talk with Nkunda is harder to controvert, the UN Mission in the Congo has briefed the government in Kinshasa. MONUC Spokesman Kemal Saiki, slated to shift to perhaps an even more difficult job in Darfur, stated "We have launched an investigation. If confirmed ... this would be personal conduct unbecoming a peacekeeper and is a dereliction of duty."

In the other cases of peacekeeper misconduct, all the UN has done is turn over its evidence to the troop contributing country and hope. In many cases, no discipline has been administered. In this case, the UN or Mr. Saiki seem to be implying that the UN has more power, to declare an act unbecoming and a dereliction of duty, a term of arm associated with courts martial.

On July 15 at UN Headquarters, Inner City Press asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesperson Marie Okabe

Inner City Press: In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there's a story of this Indian colonel who met with the rebel leader General Nkunda, and he was videotaped saying I support you, you're my brother. It seems that the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has been quoted as saying that, if this is true, it would be personal conduct unbecoming a peacekeeper and a dereliction of duty. Does that mean that MONUC itself would remove the peacekeeper or would all they would do be to turn over this tape to the Indian Government?

Deputy Spokesperson Okabe: I’m not familiar with the report you're referring to, so I'll have to look into it after the briefing.

Video here, from Minute 15:49. Some hours later, Inner City Press was told that

"It is a clear violation of the UN's principle of impartiality. The mission contacted the national authorities to reassure them that the remarks made by the peacekeeper in no way represent an official posture. MONUC has asked OIOS to open and investigation and if the facts are proven, the peacekeeper will be sanctioned in accordance with established procedure."

But what is the "established procedure"? Even in the upheld case of peacekeepers from India illegally trading in gold in the Congo, all the UN did was refer the charges to the Indian government, and all they did was issue a warning, no discipline. So what will happen in this case?

Footnote: UNESCO is often seen of the lighter side of the UN, its liberal arts, issue statements about freedom of the press and putting monuments on the list of World Heritage Sites. UNESCO is not supposed to encourage or cause conflict between states. But UNESCO's recent approval of an application by Cambodia alone to grant the World Heritage designation to a temple on the border Cambodia shares with Thailand has caused friction. Thais note that their territory is most often crossed in order to reach the temple; Thailand has reportedly sent hundreds of troops in to Cambodia.

On Wednesday Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesperson to confirm the incursion, and why UNESCO didn't require a joint application or otherwise try to avoid foreseeable conflict. "We'll have to ask UNESCO," the spokesperson said. But twelve hours later, there is no response at all. For now we note that UNESCO blithely listed the Preah Vihear Temple at the top of their July 8 press release announcing "new cultural sites inscribed... on UNESCO's World Heritage List."

Update: 23 hours after the question was asked, this from UNESCO --

"UNESCO is not the body that took the decision to inscribe the Preah Vihear site on the World Heritage List. The decision was taken by the World Heritage Committee, an intergovernmental body composed of twenty one members representing as many countries, elected by the General Assembly of all the States that have ratified the World Heritage Convention. UNESCO, and its World Heritage Centre, only serves as the Secretariat to this Committee. The role of the World Heritage Centre during the nomination process has been to try and assist the Cambodian authorities in the technical aspects -- limited to the scientific, archeological, management, and protection issues -- of their nomination proposal."

And, "the U.N. does not monitor the border between these two countries." What was that the UN Secretariat was talking and asking for money for, "preventive diplomacy"?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1bosco071608.html

In Goma, UN Council Lands Next to the Lava, Talks Justice in Mobutu's Villa by the Lake

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press in Africa
www.innercitypress.com/unsc2goma060808.html

GOMA, June 8 -- As part of the UN Security Council jetted to Goma and its lava-covered airstrip, the head of the UN Mission in the Congo Alan Doss told the press he needs drones and other surveillance equipment to deal with violence in Eastern Congo. When Inner City Press asked about reports that the UN peacekeepers from India got orders from New Delhi to stand down, while the CNDP militia of renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda routed the Congolese Army in December, Doss acknowledged that some have criticized the UN for not getting more involved. In fact, the resounding defeat of the Congolese Army emboldened not only Nkunda's but also other militias. Most recently the Hutu FDLR killed nine people in the Rutshuru internally displaced persons camp. Malu Malu of the Amani disarmament process, also on the special UN plane, told the press that he understands that the FDLR were in retreat that day, and began shooting and killing in the IDP camp as a form of revenge.

As it turns out, Nkunda's CNDP captured many weapons from the Congolese army in December. The FDLR, Doss says, may be getting weapons in connection with the transportation and illegal trade of minerals, from the airports in Goma, Bukavu and Walicali. Doss mentioned the cell phone components coltan and casiterite, but gold is what these hills are known for. That this is what makes the acknowledged involvement of UN peacekeepers in illegal gold trading all the more outrageous was not mentioned by Mr. Doss.

Doss' plan, it seems, is to pay to buy back guns. There are safeguards: no group can get money for demobilization unless it can show that it has at least one gun per purported combatant, and that these know how to use the guns. How this test is administered was not said. Then they get a rebel I.D. card, which they can use to get their benefits. Groups have been recruiting more fighter, just to raise their payments and their leverage. Still it is more credible that in Nepal, where the Maoists claimed they had seven times as many fighters as guns.

Another part of the plan is to offer FDLR dead-enders the option of being relocated elsewhere in the Congo. It's hard to imagine a community, at least in Congo, that would welcome an influx of FDLR fighters, in a sort of witness protection program. But apparently money can solve their problems.

The UN plane to Goma was barely half full. The reason, Doss said, was that with the runway shortened by the volcanic lava that still covers a third of it, if full of people a plane cannot be full of fuel. Inner City Press asked him how much it would cost to clear the runway of lava. "Fifteen million dollars," Doss answered.

When the plane came down through the clouds, over the lake with the volcano in the distance, journalists and ambassadors marveled. "It's like Switzerland," one said. Busses whisked them through streets of wooden houses to a lakeside villa once used by Mobutu. There they met with the Governor of North Kivu Julien Paluku. Blue uniformed soldiers patrolled the lawn, one with a rocket propelled grenade launcher. At a stakeout on the lawn after the meeting, Inner City Press asked Governor Paluku if he thought the International Criminal Court could be helpful to the disarmament process. Yes, he said, impunity must end. The busses continued to the Sylvia Lodge, where soldiers stood with tear gas canisters by the lakeside. Only in the Congo...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc2goma060808.html

In Congo, UN Controls Radio Content But Will Not Show the Contract, Journalists in Danger

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
and see, www.innercitypress.com/un1mediaokapi040308.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- While espousing commitment to press independence, transparency and freedom of information, the UN has a secret memorandum of understanding with the largest radio station in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, under which disputes about content are be to be decided by the UN, not the journalists or editor at the station, Radio Okapi.

This emerged in response to questions after a screening Thursday at the UN in New York of a film about the station, Ondes de Choc. The documentary, called "Shock Waves" in English, profiles three courageous radio journalists, but does not mention the UN's financial and editorial control. Inner City Press asked if the station had ever for example put rebel general Laurent Nkunda on the air, and whether it has recently put on the air Jean-Pierre Bemba, whose life was threatened during last year's elections. "We don't have his phone number," the station's editor replied. Other questions arose about whether and how Okabi can cover sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers and reports of UN peacekeepers trading guns and gold in the Eastern Congo.

Three UN officials spoke after the screening. Inner City Press asked Kevin S. Kennedy, in charge of Africa for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, where to get a copy of the memorandum of understanding which he had described. Mr. Kennedy shook his head, saying that it is not a public document, that the UN Office of Legal Affairs would have to get involved. (The head of that Office has recently declined to answer questions following coverage of his omission from the public financial disclosure which he filed of housing subsidies paid by the Swiss government.)

Mr. Kennedy suggested that perhaps the counter-party to the MOU agreement, the Swiss-based Hirondelle Foundation, could show its copy. No, said the Foundation's executive director Jean-Marie Etter. He described a range of other engagements with the UN, including at least one other, in Sudan, that appears governed by an editorial Memorandum of Understanding. Etter said that the UN station, Radio Miraya, should have the right to broadcast throughout Sudan, but is being confined to the southern part of the country.

Given that the UN refers to national sovereignty whenever it wants to dodge an issue -- for example, the recent pardon in Chad and release in France of the Zoe's Ark staffers who kidnapped 103 children -- Inner City Press asked for the basis of the claim that the UN can broadcast throughout Sudan. "The Security Council," Etter said, referring to Council resolutions which set up the UNMIS mandate and mission. But if, as Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said earlier this week, the Security Council is not an Elections Board, how much less is it a media licensing body?

It cannot be emphasized enough that the front-line reporters who work for Okapi do so at great risk and with the goal of helping their country, as evidenced by the film, which despite some missing issues is well worth seeing.

Even after the panel discussion, it remained unclear how much the UN spends on Radio Okapi. A glossy hand-out in a DPKO file folder made available at the auditorium entrance listed, as "operating budget for 2008," $4.5 "million (Fondation Hirondelle's contribution)." No UN contribution was listed. During the panel discussion, a UN official said that the station's budget is $10 million a year, which would make the UN's contribution $5.5 million. Afterwards, one UN staffer put the UN's pay-out at $8 million, while another called it "incalculable," given that the UN provides premises, travel, security and other services.

An Okapi journalist was killed in Bukavu last year, Serge Maheshe, and the government's purported investigation and trial of his killers has left organizations such as Reporters without Borders skeptical, as well as noting the death of non-UN journalists such as Patrick Kikuku Wilungula, in Goma.

William Orme, who served as spokesman for the UN Development Program through 2006, praised Radio Okapi as "objected and balanced," and later added that another Hirondelle radio station is housed within the UNDP compound in Bangui in the Central African Republic. Given the refusal to provide a copy of the Okapi MOU in the Congo, it is an open question what editorial control Hirondelle is subject to in Bangui.

Press analysis: For media to be built-up in war-torn countries is important. If the UN is to be involved, it should be more honest and transparent about the control it exercises, directly and indirectly under memoranda of understanding. It should immediately make public such MOU agreements. It is not healthy to be surrouned by media which is tempted -- here, legally required -- to produce positive coverage. The antidote is critical coverage.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1mediaokapi040308.html

UN Ignores ICC Indictments of Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, Evidence Collection in Congo, Pleas for Pakistan Probe

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1lradrcpak022008.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 -- The UN Secretariat's relations with and commitment to the International Criminal Court are increasingly in question. Wednesday, Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson praised without equivocation an agreement in Uganda which appears to several human rights groups to sidestep the ICC's indictments of the leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army. When Inner City Press asked, twice, whether the Secretariat stood behind the primacy of the ICC's indictments, it was told first that a statement was coming, then that that statement could not be further explained. Video here, from Minute 11:08.

Similarly, while the UN announced findings that Congolese rebel Laurent Nkunda's forces killed dozens of civilians in the run-up to the peace deal recently reached in Goma, it remains unclear if this evidence gets forwarded to the ICC. Inner City Press on Wednesday asked just that, and was told that in the nature of a dodge that the UN mission has expressed concern. But is the evidence given to the ICC for prosecution? Apparently not.

In fact, Nkunda is already speaking dismissively of the ICC. In a recent interview, he outright denies recruiting child soldiers, of which the UN or parts of it maintains there is ample evidence. In this context, the question of whether the UN forwards the evidence it has and says it has to the competent international court is a key question, that which has yet to be answered.

Finally, on Wednesday, Inner City Press asked whether in light of the outcome of Pakistan's elections, a request by the new government for UN involvement in investigating the death of Benazir Bhutto would be favorably viewed. "The government is not constituted yet," the spokesperson said. "Our guidance on that has not changed." Great....

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1lradrcpak022008.html