As Ban Ki-moon Launches Book with Tom Plate, Kim Sook's Missile Joke, Sri Lanka in the Princeton Club: How the UN Works

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 12 -- The UN's story should be better told. That was the stated goal when the idea for Tom Plate's “Conversations with Ban Ki-moon” was born, in 2010, at Singapore's Mission to the UN.

   Plate had profiled Lee Kuan Yew as his first “Giant of Asia” and let it be known that he saw Ban as a future Giant in his series.

   Fifteen hours of interviewing later, a smallish 236-page book was belatedly launched Tuesday night at the Princeton Club in Manhattan. 

  The crowd included some press, some students from Loyola Marymount where Plate has taught for the last three years, and Permanent Representatives from the UK, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Kazakhstan and South Korea. 

  Ambassador Kim Sook, saying he's known Ban for thirty years, joked that he prefers book launches to missile launches. The word armistice, however, was not used.

  Ban said when he read the first draft of the book, it seemed to him too light hearted, like EZ-Listening music. But, he said, it might work in letting people know how the UN works.

  And how does the UN work? Earlier on Tuesday, Ban met for more than two hours with the Group of 77, mostly about “post-2015 development” but also his delayed plan for mobility, which has been opposed by staff, at least in New York. 

  Ban used the word “selfish” in referring to some of this opposition; this was followed by a Staff Union vote of No Confidence. This was not mentioned Tuesday night. But Ban's Under Secretary General for Management, Yukio Takasu of Japan, was in attendance.

   How does the UN work? Also present was the Ambassador of Sri Lanka, Palitha Kohona. The UN's failure to speak and act while 40,000 civilians were killed in Sri Lanka in 2009 is one of the UN's biggest failures under Ban, among with its unexplained dismissal of claims for bringing cholera into Haiti.

  The anti-Tamil impulse of Sri Lanka's ruling family was in fact raised by Lee Kuan Yew in Plate's first Giant of Asia book.

   But what's been done since? Ban recently accepted what's called a “whitewash” report about Sri Lanka from Japan's Ambassador Nishida, along with Bangadesh's Ambassador Monem, Kohona, the Permanent Representative of Romania and the Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria.

   The UN didn't release the report, which Ban went on to praise when asked in Geneva about Sri Lanka. And Ambassador Nishida, when Inner City Press asked for the report, said it would first be given to all member states.

   Kohona on Tuesday in the Princeton Club's lobby told Inner City Press this hand-over took place last week, but not in the UN -- in the Japanese mission. It seems timed to counteract the belated talk of accountability at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. This is how the UN works: Giants of Asia, indeed.

   Hardly mentioned Tuesday night was Africa, where most of the UN's work is. On March 5 Inner City Press asked Ban, at the Security Council stakeout, about inaction on 126 rapes in Minova by the Congolese Army, which the UN supports.

  After the rapes, under Ban's stated Human Rights Due Diligence Policy, the UN support was to have stopped. But it still hasn't.

   Two days later his Department of Peacekeeping Operations, led for the fourth time in a row by a Frenchman -- this is how the UN works -- offered belated spin to friendlier journalists about threatening two unidentified units of the Congolese Army with loss of support if they don't prosecute by an unspecified deadline.

  So has Ban allowed his Human Rights Due Diligence Policy to be less than meaningful, under France's Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous?

   Inner City Press' critique of this has given rise to a formal but undisclosed complaint against it, in a Kafka-esque system without rules. The head of the Ban's Department of Public Information was in attendance Tuesday night, and quite polite. 

  But despite requests, including from New York Civil Liberties Union then the new Free UN Coalition for Access, there are still no due process rules for journalists at the UN. We will have more on this, how the UN does not work.

   We will also have more about the book, about mobility, Sri Lanka, Africa, Asia and Haiti. Watch this site.

On Sri Lanka, UN's Ban Ki-moon Accepts “Whitewash” Report from Japan Plus 3

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, February 22, updated – While the UN says that after its inaction in Sri Lanka while 40,000 were killed in 2009 it is now studying the “lessons learned,” Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday morning met with Sri Lankan Ambassador Palitha Kohona and four other Permanent Representatives to accept a quite contrary report.

   Before Inner City Press was asked to leave the conference room, Japan's Permanent Representative Tsuneo Nishida told Ban that “Sri Lanka is an important country” and “this morning we would like to present our report.” Then the meeting was closed; in fact, no topic was ever listed for the meeting. Inner City Press was the only media there.

  See short YouTube video here, on channel of Inner City Press, embedded below. See tweeted photo of Ban & Kohona, here.

  Some wonder if Ban would hold such a meeting, for example, with Syria's Permanent Representative Bashar Ja'afari and four other supportive Permanent Representatives, who could certainly be found. The answer would appear to be “no.” So why on Sri Lanka?

 Attending the meeting for the UN, along with Ban, were Department of Political Affairs officials Oscar Fernandez Taranco and Hitoki Den.

  Accompanying Sri Lanka's Kohona and Japan's Nishida were Permanent Representatives Abulkalam Abdul Momen of Bangladesh and Simona Mirela Miculescu of Romania and Usman Sarka, Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria. There was also a non-diplomat from Colombia University regarding whom we will have more.

Monem was one of the Asia Group Permanent Representatives who expressed concern about Sri Lankan general Shavendra Silva being put on Ban's Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations. But then, after pressure, he and some others changed their positions.

Now Ban accepts what's called a “whitewash” report, the month before Sri Lanka is again considered in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Will there be a read-out?

Update -- after Inner City Press published this story and then asked at Friday's noon briefing for a read-out of the meeting and about still missing journalist Prageeth (video here from Minute 20), the following was issued by the UN:

"The Secretary-General today met with H.E. Mr. Tsuneo Nishida, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, together with other representatives (Bangladesh, Nigeria, Romania, Sri Lanka and Columbia University) who participated in a Observation Project visit to Sri Lanka in December 2012.

"As the Chairman of the delegation, Ambassador Nishida presented the report of the Observation Project, which included an assessment of the progress undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka on post-war issues, including on the implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

The Secretary-General recognised the important steps taken by the Government of Sri Lanka since the end of the conflict and strongly underlined the need to address the remaining challenges, particularly on issues relating to reconciliation and accountability.  He highlighted the important need for the Government to work constructively with the international community toward that end."

 Then why does Ban, nearly four years on, still insist on a "national" process that clear has not worked?

   Inner City Press last asked the UN about Sri Lanka on February 20. As news of the summary execution of a 12 year old boy by the Sri Lankan Army in May 2009 spreads worldwide, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman about it, citing Ban's “two reports and a third one still ongoing.

 Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky began with a correction, saying that this third report “is an internal task force looking at how recommendations will be carried out in the UN... it's not to do with looking into the actual events in Sri Lanka.”

 But Ban was willing to accept a counter report on Sri Lanka two days later, with former UN official Palitha Kohona grinningly present.

  Some wonder how the UN can fully assess its inaction in Sri Lanka without taking into account new evidence of war crimes, including the murder of children in the days the UN was playing middleman for surrenders which ended in summary executions.

  Nesirky went on to say “we are aware of the video footage and reports about it,” but he had “no specific comment” beyond Ban's general statement on the “importance of accountability.” 

   He again referred to a “national process,” when it is clear to many that has not and will not happen in the run-up to the UN Human Rights Council session in March. 

   In Sri Lanka, the release of e-mails from Stratfor, the privately owned intelligence company, has sparked a controversy regarding  Reuters' bureau chief there, Bryson Hull.

   One 2010 e-mail depicts Hull promoting his “ace-in-the-hole analyst, Reva Bhalla of Stratfor... a consummate information dealer... we had a very successful relationship during the end of the war in Sri Lanka.”

   Groundviews has been asking Hull to explain the e-mail. (Inner City Press has learned from some Hull reports in the past, for example in 2012 on the Maldives.) Hull has replied, among other things, that Reva Bhalla "was quoted by name in a Reuters story.”

   That would be far better than Reuters' UN bureau, whose chief Louis Charbonneau in 2012 played a leading role in a campaign to try to oust Inner City Press first from the UN Correspondents Association then from the UN as a whole.

   Triggering the campaign was a story Inner City Press wrote about Sri Lanka, war crimes and conflicts of interest -click here for the account of the UK-based Sri Lanka campaign, chaired by Kofi Annan's former communications chief Edward Mortimer.

   Most troubling, when the UNCA proceeding Reuters' Charbonneau was pushing led to Inner City Press receiving death threats from extremist supporters of Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa government, Charbonneau refused to stop or even suspend the proceedings. “Go to the New York Police Department,” he said dismissively.

  The campaign only stopped when Inner City Press requested then obtained documents from Voice of America, which reflected among other things Reuters support for VOA's June 20 request to the UN to “review” Inner City Press' accreditation, and Reuters contemplating a (SLAPP) lawsuit against Inner City Press.

Inner City Press wrote several times to the top editors at Reuters, Stephen J. Adler, Walden Siew, and Paul Ingrassia, trying to make them aware of the death threats that were triggered by the actions of their UN bureau chief. 

   But as reflected in the documents obtained from VOA under FOIA, Reuters had adopted and apparently continues a policy of not responding to any issue raised by Inner City Press -- including the receipt of death threats.

   On October 2012, Charbonneau was asked in writing to explain some of the documents obtained under FOIA; he made no response.

   Charbonneau remains in 2013 the first vice president of UNCA, which in connected to several anonymous social media accounts which have said without any basis that Inner City Press is funded by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers. 

 Reuters' record of using, even stoking, extremism in Sri Lanka goes well beyond the Wikileaked email of Bryson Hull about Stratfor. But who will answer for it? Watch this site.

Exclusive: On DPRK, China's Li Baodong Tells ICP No Resolution, Rice "Went Too Far," New Transparency

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, December 12 -- Eight hours after North Korea's launch triggered closed door consultations of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Chinese Permanent Representative Li Baodong told Inner City Press exclusively of some of the diplomatic points which had arisen.

  On the substance, Li told Inner City Press "our position is, we do not think a resolution can serve the purpose... Already we have two resolution."

  He told Inner City Press, "there's no agreement on the nature of the launching yet. We can have a conversation, what's the nature of this." He added, "DPRK this time has shown some degree of transparency. They are going to delay, they have problems, they recognize they have problems."

  On the process and atmosphere inside the Security Council, Li Baodong Inner City Press that US Ambassador Rice "used very aggressive language... I told her, I cannot accept that kind of language. You can disagree with my position, but you cannot use that kind of language."

  Li Baodong said, "I was representing my government... It went too far. I had to make that response. You have to show respect."

  Referring to the "elements to the press" that were ultimately issued on Wednesday, Li said "later on, she shows up with compromise." But will that now be all that the West gets? 

   Later on Wednesday, Inner City Press spoke with Japan's Permanent Representative Nishida. He expressed frustration at the current make-up of the Council, even asked -- in jest, one must assume -- the Press to "talk with Baodong." 

   These are big issues, but individual personalities negotiate them. What was served by the run-in between Susan Rice and Li Baodong on Wednesday? We'll see.

  On the difference, ignored by many, between a UNSC Press Statement and mere "elements to the press," it has been reliably explained to Inner City Press that unlike a Press Statement, elements to the press (1) do not go on the UNSC's web site, (2) are not translated, and (3) are not circulated. They are significantly weaker, an active Security Council expert exclusively detailed to inner City Press. Watch this site.

UN GA Removes Proposal Telling Ban Not to Undermine ICC, Sudan Still Objects

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 31, 2012 -- Even modest reforms die a quiet death in today's UN. This week's victim is a paragraph in a General Assembly resolution adopted about the International Criminal Court.

 The UN in Sudan has twice flown International Criminal Court indictee Ahmed Haroun into Abyei, and envoy Ibrahim Gambari earlier took photos with ICC indictee Omar al Bashir at a wedding reception for Idriss Deby and the daughter of Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal. (Inner City Press published the photos as found without notice of copyright on the Internet but has removed them after a complaint by a wire service that never wrote of their significance."

  Back on February 27, Inner City Press wrote a then-exclusive story about a paragraph in the draft ICC resolution directing Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to "refrain from... undermin[ing]" the ICC.

This was in Paragraph 5bis of the draft GA resolution on the ICC agreed by all 120 ICC state parties and obtained by Inner City Press. The languages, sources told Inner City Press, was put forward by Switzerland; the draft resolution was being facilitated by Japan.

The paragraph in late February read:

"5bis. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure, consistent with the existing UN policies and pursuant to the Relationship Agreement, that United Nations field presences and representatives, especially peacekeeping operations, special political missions, special envoys, special representatives and mediators, refrain from any action, including the use of resources, that could undermine the efforts of the International Criminal Court, and requests the Secretary-General to submit a report on the application of such policies for the consideration of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session;"

    Then the process went underground. There were closed door meetings in the UN's North Lawn building; delegates told Inner City Pres of pushback and problems.

   When finally the resolution was adopted on May 29, the paragraph was done.  On his way up to the General Assembly Hall, passing the Security Council, Japanese Permanent Representative Nishida told Inner City Press there were still "small steps' forward in the resolution.

  Upstairs in the GA, Nishida emphasized instead paragraphs 6 and 11, which read in relevant part

6. Recalls article 3 of the Relationship Agreement according to which, with a view to facilitating the effective discharge of their respective responsibilities, the United Nations and the Court shall cooperate closely, whenever appropriate, with each other and consult each other on matters of mutual interest pursuant to the provisions of the Agreement and in conformity with the respective provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and the Rome Statute as well as the need to respect each other’s status and mandate, and requests the Secretary-General to include information relevant to the implementation of article 3 of the Relationship Agreement in his report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph 11 of the present resolution...

11. Emphasizes the importance of the full implementation of all aspects of the Relationship Agreement, which forms a framework for close cooperation between the two organizations and for consultation on matters of mutual interest pursuant to the provisions of that Agreement and in conformity with the respective provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and the Rome Statute...

  What a representative of a Permanent member of the Security Council told Inner City Press on May 31 was the "Gambari paragraph" got taken out. Another said that this year's ICC resolution, despite what Nishida said, was hardly different that last year's. 

  Asked for comment, a UK Mission spokesperson told Inner City Press that "the UK welcomes the adoption of today’s resolution on the Report of the ICC by consensus.  The UK was one of a wide range of cosponsors that included both states parties and non-states parties, and the resolution represents strong international support for international justice."

  And even so, Sudanese Permanent Representative Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman spoke in the General Assembly and said Sudan does not consider the resolution binding on it, becuase it is not a member of the ICC and because the ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, "is not neutral or impartial" and has "politicized justice."

   So even in watered down form, the resolution still drew this statement. So dies reform.

  On the other hand, as Inner City Press first reported, now well placed African Permanent Representatives are telling Inner City Press that Gambari came to New York and said he was quitting. Inner City Press has asked Ban Ki-moon's spokespeople when it is that Gambari (of the $600,000 house in Darfur) will leave, without answer.

Earlier this year when Inner City Press for a week asked about Gambari's photographs with Bashir, and Ban's spokesman belatedly said that Gambari had been told to avoid such contacts in the future, Gambari's response was that he would do it again.

Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman about that, and was simply told that the message was conveyed. But it seems Ban's message was not heard, or perhaps was meant to be misunderstood. And now even the paragraph is done. So it goes at the UN.

In UN GA, Syria Resolution Passes Without Amendments or Non-Payers

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 16 -- As the UN General Assembly met Thursday afternoon on the Syria resolution introduced by Egypt, predictions of votes in favor ranged from 130, the minimum number the sponsors said they had commitments for, up to 145.

Syrian Permanent Representative Bashar Ja'afari on his way in told Inner City Press he would seek some clarifications. He did, questioning the agenda item the resolution was brought up under. But the presiding Vice President of the GA, Australia's Permanent Representative, said this is how it goes, and gave the floor to Egypt.

Even so, before the vote, Syria spokes again, as did Venezuela and North Korea -- to say they would vote no - and Grenada, to say they would vote yes with the understanding of no military or other intervention.

When the voting came, three countries complained it had not worked: Burundi, Kygyzstan and Comoros. Therefore as speeches continued after the voting, the "yes" vote count rose from an initial 137 up to 142 as of this writing.

Even so, proponents of the resolution whispered afterward to Inner City Press that eight more countries hadn't been able to vote due to not paying their dues, but would have voted yes. So should the count be 150?

Inner City Press at the stakeout asked UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant what he thought the vote count would have been on Russia's amendments. He said they had been rejected by the Arab sponsors, and that it wouldn't have made any difference.

When asked about the French "proposal" for humanitarian corridors inside Syria, Lyall Grant said he hasn't seen the proposal.

As French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud left the General Assembly, he was asked to come to the stakeout as Lyall Grant had. He shook his head and walked away -- headlong down, one wag said, his own personal humanitarian corridor.

Araud had come back early from the Council's trip to Haiti, as had his counterparts from Portugal, Colombia and Morocco. US Ambassador Susan Rice remained in Haiti, but issued a statement after the vote. Li Baodong is back in China, but a Chinese minister is traveling for a two day visit to Damascus.

When Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative and Egypt's Deputy PR came to the stakeout, Inner City Press asked about the status of the Arab League nominating the Jordanian businessman Al Khatib for Syria envoy. Egypt's DPR said that the Secretaries General of the UN and Arab League and in touch, and that there will be an Arab League envoy very soon, very probably a joint envoy with the UN.

Saudi's Permanent Representative was asked about Bahrain, and said he wished Assad in Syria had followed Bahrain's example of engaging with opponents. Not all would agree with that; Russia's Vitaly Churkin, for example, has more than once contrasted the US telling Bahrain's opposition not to dare use force to the "mixed messages or worse" sent to opponents in Syria.

Japan's Permanent Representative Nishida came and spoke in Japanese; in English, Inner City Press asked him how the double veto in the Security Council related to Japan's desire for Security Council reform -- that is, for a permanent seat on the Council. Ambassador Nishida called the vetoes disappointing.

In speeches after the vote, Pakistan's Permanent Representative Haroon said that some of Russia's -- and China's -- amendments should have been accepted, not only in the GA but also in the Security Council, where Pakistan also voted yes.

Serbia said it voted yes, but like the Russian amendments. Armenia abstained, with Azerbaijan voting yes. Some for some reason thought Myanmar would vote yes, as another step in its "evolution" -- but it abstained, as did Sri Lanka on which we have have another story - watch this site.