Myanmar Human Rights Rapporteur Post Slated for Yanghee Lee, As UN Invites "Peacekeepers"

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 4 -- While the UN is now inviting Myanmar to contribute "peacekeepers" to its missions, as Inner City Press reported five days ago, a change of the guard for U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar is about to take place.

   Nominated to replace Tomas Ojea Quintana, by Baudelaire Ndong Ella as President of the Human Rights Council, is Ms. Yanghee Lee of South Korea. If there is no objection by the close of business (in Geneva) on March 7, she's got the post.

  But what about the issues? Even as Myanmar denies the rights of the Rohingya, Karen and Kachin and other people, the UN is inviting it to contribute troops to UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous, it was confirmed to Inner City Press on February 27.

   Earlier this month, Inner City Press asked the UN about the exclusion of "Rohingya" from upcoming UN-assisted census. On February 26, Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: I've been meaning to ask about Myanmar, there is a report that Vijay Nambiar, when he was there, met with a defence services commander-in-chief and, the quote goes, said that Myanmar could contribute to United Nations peacekeeping operations, if interested. He essentially either solicited or left the door open for Myanmar to contribute UN peacekeepers. Since many people remain concerned, including Mr. [Tomas] Ojea Quintana, about a lack of rule of law and some abuses by the army and there is still [a United States] arms embargo on the country, is it possible to know whether Mr. Nambiar said that or maybe some variation on that and what the UN’s position is on Myanmar contributing troops?

Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: Well, troop contributing is a conversation that would be had with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. So, I would need to check with them, and also with Mr. Nambiar on precisely what was said with that, in that meeting unless, bear in mind, that Mr. Nambiar on his trip had any number of troops with different officials.

 Twenty four hours later, Nesirky and DPKO had provided no answer. So, even limited two a mere two questions -- no Sri Lanka -- by Nesirky, Inner City Press on February 27 asked again about Myanmar. 

   Along with asking again if Nambiar invited Myanmar "peacekeepers," Inner City Press asked about president

"Thein Sein expressed his support on Thursday for four controversial laws on religion due to be considered by the country's parliament, including one that restricts interfaith marriages for Buddhists, a parliamentary official said. In a letter to lawmakers, Thein Sein urged the lower house to pass the bills aimed at protecting Buddhism, the predominant religion among Myanmar's estimated 60 million population, a lower house spokesman said. The interfaith marriage bill, if enacted, would mean a non-Buddhist man who wants to marry a Buddhist must convert to her faith, or face a 10-year jail sentence. The text would not apply restrictions to marriages between Buddhist men and non-Buddhist women. The draft laws could be presented to parliament for a vote as early as next month, sources said."

   Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Nesirky said he wouldn't comment even this law while it is pending. Next month? After peacekeepers?

  Later on February 27, Nesirky's office sent this to Inner City Press: 

Subject: On your question on Myanmar.
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 2:59 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

"During his recent meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s Defence Services, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the question of Myanmar’s cooperation with the UN on peacekeeping was discussed. The Special Adviser explained that, like any Member State, Myanmar was invited to discuss its interest in specific terms with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations which would consider such a request in accordance with its regular parameters."

   Under Ban and Ladsous, UN Peacekeeping has been advised by controversial Sri Lanka military figure Shavendra Silva; Ladsous has accepted a child soldier recruiter and user into "his" mission in Mali. Myanmar may be next.

   Is the UN still in denial about the exclusionary census it is supporting in Myanmar? Back on January 24, Inner City Press asked UN spokesperson Farhan Haq:

Inner City Press: another Myanmar question. There is a census coming up. It seems that the United Nations system is involved in funding and maybe even participating in it. Both Kachin and Rohingya groups have expressed a lot of concerns. One, there is no box in the census thus far to check Rohingya, meaning… implying that they are not citizens. Also, Kachin, they have other complaints. I wanted to know: is UN aware of these? What steps are they taking, and will they fund a census that many groups think makes things worse rather than better?

Acting Deputy Spokesperson Haq: Well, we will look into what we are doing on that question. We need some details about that.

  It was 19 days later, on February 12, that the UN Spokesperson's Office finally sent this response:

Subject: In response to your question on the Myanmar census.
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 5:02 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is the focal UN agency for providing technical and programmatic assistance to the Government for the census. It says that everyone in Myanmar will be counted in the census. UNFPA is supporting the Government to ensure that the census is fully inclusive and conducted according to international standards. Respondents will be asked to identify their ethnicity, with the option of selecting one of the categories used in the 1983 census or selecting "other" and writing in the name of another group. All of the responses will be coded and tabulated.

  Compare this belated Pollyanna answer by the UN and UNFPA to what the Myanmar government Minister for Immigration and Population U Khin Yi openly says:

"They say that their race is Rohingya. When a person says that his race is “B”, because he doesn’t want to mention his race as “A”, that means that race “A” no longer exists, but the race “B” is a new race. Since race “B” is a new race, there will be questions, such as “how did the race enter (the country)?” or “are they encroaching here?” When things become radical, I worry that it could harm peace and stability...We will record what the person says. If he says “A” then we will fill the form as “A”. The result will be, like I said before, that even if that term “A” is Rohingya, we will not recognize Rohingya as one of the 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar."

So this is "fully inclusive and conducted according to international standards"? The UN is at best in denial. Watch this site.

Footnote: It appears that on-again, off-again UN official Charles Petrie is about to set sail from Myanmar. He was quoted earlier this year: "In terms of MPSI we want to make sure whatever we do adds value, and there’s a clear sense that if there isn’t we won’t continue." Watch this site.

   

Myanmar Invited for UN Peacekeeping by Vijay Nambiar, Ban Ki-moon No Comment on Anti-Muslim Marriage Law

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 27 -- Even as Myanmar denies the rights of the Rohingya, Karen and Kachin and other people, the UN is inviting it to contribute troops to UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous, it was confirmed to Inner City Press on February 27.

   Earlier this month, Inner City Press asked the UN about the exclusion of "Rohingya" from upcoming UN-assisted census. On February 26, Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: I've been meaning to ask about Myanmar, there is a report that Vijay Nambiar, when he was there, met with a defence services commander-in-chief and, the quote goes, said that Myanmar could contribute to United Nations peacekeeping operations, if interested. He essentially either solicited or left the door open for Myanmar to contribute UN peacekeepers. Since many people remain concerned, including Mr. [Tomas] Ojea Quintana, about a lack of rule of law and some abuses by the army and there is still [a United States] arms embargo on the country, is it possible to know whether Mr. Nambiar said that or maybe some variation on that and what the UN’s position is on Myanmar contributing troops?

Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: Well, troop contributing is a conversation that would be had with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. So, I would need to check with them, and also with Mr. Nambiar on precisely what was said with that, in that meeting unless, bear in mind, that Mr. Nambiar on his trip had any number of troops with different officials.

 Twenty four hours later, Nesirky and DPKO had provided no answer. So, even limited two a mere two questions -- no Sri Lanka -- by Nesirky, Inner City Press on February 27 asked again about Myanmar. 

   Along with asking again if Nambiar invited Myanmar "peacekeepers," Inner City Press asked about president

"Thein Sein expressed his support on Thursday for four controversial laws on religion due to be considered by the country's parliament, including one that restricts interfaith marriages for Buddhists, a parliamentary official said. In a letter to lawmakers, Thein Sein urged the lower house to pass the bills aimed at protecting Buddhism, the predominant religion among Myanmar's estimated 60 million population, a lower house spokesman said. The interfaith marriage bill, if enacted, would mean a non-Buddhist man who wants to marry a Buddhist must convert to her faith, or face a 10-year jail sentence. The text would not apply restrictions to marriages between Buddhist men and non-Buddhist women. The draft laws could be presented to parliament for a vote as early as next month, sources said."

   Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Nesirky said he wouldn't comment even this law while it is pending. Next month? After peacekeepers?

  Later on February 27, Nesirky's office sent this to Inner City Press: 

Subject: On your question on Myanmar.
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 2:59 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

"During his recent meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s Defence Services, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the question of Myanmar’s cooperation with the UN on peacekeeping was discussed. The Special Adviser explained that, like any Member State, Myanmar was invited to discuss its interest in specific terms with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations which would consider such a request in accordance with its regular parameters."

   Under Ban and Ladsous, UN Peacekeeping has been advised by controversial Sri Lanka military figure Shavendra Silva; Ladsous has accepted a child soldier recruiter and user into "his" mission in Mali. Myanmar may be next.

   Is the UN still in denial about the exclusionary census it is supporting in Myanmar? Back on January 24, Inner City Press asked UN spokesperson Farhan Haq:

Inner City Press: another Myanmar question. There is a census coming up. It seems that the United Nations system is involved in funding and maybe even participating in it. Both Kachin and Rohingya groups have expressed a lot of concerns. One, there is no box in the census thus far to check Rohingya, meaning… implying that they are not citizens. Also, Kachin, they have other complaints. I wanted to know: is UN aware of these? What steps are they taking, and will they fund a census that many groups think makes things worse rather than better?

Acting Deputy Spokesperson Haq: Well, we will look into what we are doing on that question. We need some details about that.

  It was 19 days later, on February 12, that the UN Spokesperson's Office finally sent this response:

Subject: In response to your question on the Myanmar census.
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 5:02 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is the focal UN agency for providing technical and programmatic assistance to the Government for the census. It says that everyone in Myanmar will be counted in the census. UNFPA is supporting the Government to ensure that the census is fully inclusive and conducted according to international standards. Respondents will be asked to identify their ethnicity, with the option of selecting one of the categories used in the 1983 census or selecting "other" and writing in the name of another group. All of the responses will be coded and tabulated.

  Compare this belated Pollyanna answer by the UN and UNFPA to what the Myanmar government Minister for Immigration and Population U Khin Yi openly says:

"They say that their race is Rohingya. When a person says that his race is “B”, because he doesn’t want to mention his race as “A”, that means that race “A” no longer exists, but the race “B” is a new race. Since race “B” is a new race, there will be questions, such as “how did the race enter (the country)?” or “are they encroaching here?” When things become radical, I worry that it could harm peace and stability...We will record what the person says. If he says “A” then we will fill the form as “A”. The result will be, like I said before, that even if that term “A” is Rohingya, we will not recognize Rohingya as one of the 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar."

So this is "fully inclusive and conducted according to international standards"? The UN is at best in denial. Watch this site.

Footnote: It appears that on-again, off-again UN official Charles Petrie is about to set sail from Myanmar. He was quoted earlier this year: "In terms of MPSI we want to make sure whatever we do adds value, and there’s a clear sense that if there isn’t we won’t continue." Watch this site.

   

In Myanmar, UNclear If UN Helped Trapped Kachin Villagers, UN Manages Questions, FUNCA Objects

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 25 -- Amid a chorus of praise for Myanmar at the UN, at least tempered by outgoing rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana, Vijay Nambiar of the UN was petitioned earlier this month in Kachin State to intervene for more than 50 villagers trapped by the army in Putao District's Nhka Ga.

This week, Inner City Press was contacted and told nothing had been done by the UN, and so asked the question at the October 24 noon briefing:

Inner City Press: I am told Mr. [Vijay] Nambiar met with the Kachin Baptist Convention about villagers in a far part of Kachin that are reported to be trapped by fighting and they made a plea to Mr. Nambiar for the UN to somehow get involved. What’s been done since that? It was done earlier in October before the mid-point of the month and I wanted to know what if anything has been done.

Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: I’ll check with Mr. Nambiar, who, as you know, has been in the region quite recently, so let me see about that.

Then Nesirky's office sent this:

Subject: Your question on Myanmar
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 5:32 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

During his recent visits to Kachin, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, met with a number of groups representing civil society in Kachin, including with the representatives of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC). He heard directly of the grievances between the parties and the effect of the standoff between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the military on the civilian population in the area. The Special Adviser has been in touch with the authorities, as well as with the KIO, in regard to the causes underlying this tension. He strongly advised restraint by all concerned and against any action that was liable to provoke further tension as well as for the protection of the safety and security of the civilian population in the area.

So what was done? This answer was not inserted into the UN's transcript, as certain other answers are. Now there are reports that, in fact, nothing was done: "Nambiar is reported to have responded to KBC's requests to intervene by telling the church representatives to raise the issue with the relevant Burmese officials. Despite the fact that KBC has asked on several occasions for the villagers to be allowed to leave Nhka Ga, the military has yet to allow this to take place, according to KBC officials."

So on October 25 Inner City Press went to the UN press conference by Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana. The UN had put his with two other officials on migration, one of whom spoke for ten minutes praising his own country.

Finally Inner City Press asked Ojea Quintana about the Kachin villagers in Nhka Ga, said to be pushed for the tycoon Tay Za. Inner City Press also asked if there is a two child policy in Rahkine State.

Ojea Quintana said he's told there is no "policy," but perhaps a practice. What's the difference? He did not answer on the specifics of Nhka Ga -- perhaps he will look into it -- but said that there is no recourse for people in land disputes.

More was not possible, in part because the UN insists on automatically giving the first question such press conferences to the Executive Committee of the UN Correspondents Association. 

 The head, Pamela Falk of CBS, goes and asks questions many of the answers to which she never reports. Then the second questioner, also from the UNCA Executive Committee, solicited a ten minute answer praising her own country. This is UNCA. This is why it works so well the the UN. During the briefing, the Free UN Coalition for Accessput an objection on the record. Video here, from Minute 40:14. We'll have more on this.

   

After Ojea Quintana Mobbed in Myanmar, UN's Belated Soft Statement, As Navi Pillay to Sri Lanka

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 23 -- So how much does the UN protect affiliated human rights officials when they visit countries the UN has taken to praising?

  This question is not only about the Sri Lanka sojourn of High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay next week. Inner City Press asked it this week about Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana getting "mobbed" in Myanmar.

  As he left Myanmar on August 21 Ojea Quintana spoke of "being left totally unprotected by the nearby police, gave me an insight into the fear residents would have felt when being chased down by violent mobs during the violence last March." 

  He said he had be forced to cancel a visit to a camp for hundreds of displaced Muslims in Meiktila over security fears.

  So where was the UN? At the August 21 UN noon briefing in New York, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesperson Eduardo Del Buey:

Inner City Press: in Myanmar, the Special Rapporteur has complained that his vehicle was attacked by “Buddhist mobs in Meiktila” when he went to investigate, and he said that the Government has a duty to protect special rapporteurs, so does the Secretariat or Mr. Nambiar have any comment on the Government’s failure to protect this Special Rapporteur of the UN system?

Deputy Spokesperson Eduardo Del Buey: Well, I don’t have anything with me, but we can check with Mr. Nambiar’s office for you.

  For 48 hours, nothing -- even as the Myanmar government disagreed with and even mocked Ojea Quintana, saying he had "misunderstood." Then on Friday afternoon, this:

Subject: Answers to questions on Myanmar
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Fri, Aug 23, 2013 at 1:09 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

On Myanmar: While we recognise the rights of all individuals to demonstrate or express their views on such issues, it would be legitimate to expect that this would be done without recourse to any form of intimidation or violence.

  That's all? "It would be legitimate to expect"?

  Next week Navi Pillay goes to Sri Lanka, and we will be covering the trip (despite continued failure to respond by Pillay's Spokesperson's office in Geneva). Watch this site.

   

UN Stonewalls on Syria Chemical Weapons Mandate & Extremist Threats, Myanmar, DRC Jail Death & UNSC Stakeout Ban

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 21 -- On chemical weapons, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says his Swedish envoy Ake "Sellstrom is in discussions with the Syrian Government," Sellstrom's team's mandate is only to determine IF chemical weapons were used, not by whom.

  Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesperson Eduardo Del Buey on Wednesday about this problem, and to explain Sellstrom's statements to Swedish news agency TT -- does this supersede his office's note that "the team will not be speaking to the media"?

  Del Buey replied no, all questions should be through his office -- apparently unless you are Swedish media, or TT -- and that if the mandate changed, he'd tell Inner City Press.Video here and embedded below.

  But what to make of the emergency Security Council meeting set for 3 pm, if Sellstrom can't say who used weapons? Or would Sellstrom tell TT his opinions?

  Inner City Press asked Del Buey about the ISIS rebels telling humanitarian aid agencies to leave northern Syria. Del Buey said he hadn't heard of it. The Free UN Coalition for Access had already asked, but now Inner City Press has sent these questions to OCHA in Geneva as well:

1) Is OCHA aware of this? 2) Does OCHA, ideally Baroness Amos, have a comment on it?

3) Does OCHA have a plan, or taking some action?

Also, on Somalia, is there any plan to continuing running the health care facilities which MSF is leaving? Separately, any OCHA comment on MSF's now further explained reasons for leaving, including lack of support from the Somali government?

Like Del Buey said, when we have an answer we'll tell you.

  Inner City Press asked when ex-US now-UN envoy Jeffrey Feltman's trip to Egypt was put together. (Inner City Press previously showed, with audio, it was before the August 14 killing of protesters, though the UN by spoon-feeding the announcement to Reuters got a misleading report making it look responsive).

  Del Buey said when we have an answer, we'll tell you. But it's a simple question to answer. Maybe they'll tell another media?

  Inner City Press asked Del Buey about the death in Congolese custody of Tjostolv Moland, and the continued custody of Norwegian - British citizen Joshua French. Del Buey said the UN is aware but has no comment. Why not?

  After UN special rapporteur Quintana was attacked by Buddhist extremists in Myanmar and said the government did not offer protection, Inner City Press asked Del Buey what the UN thought. He said he would asked envoy Vijay Nambiar. We'll see.

  Finally, in advance of the 3 pm emergency Security Council meeting on Syria, Inner City Press asked what FUNCA had the day before: why are journalists being banned from the part of the Council stakeout between the entrance steps and the so-called Turkish Lounge? 

  Was this an ad hoc Department of Public Information restriction or a new policy, perhaps agreed to with their partner, as their anti-free speech, no sign but UNCA policywas?

  Del Buey said he would check, or try. Frankly, DPI should have answered FUNCA yesterday. Watch this site.

   

Myanmar Blocks IDP Expert As UN Focuses on Progress, Ojea Quintana Soft on Rohingya?

By Matthew Russell Lee

 

UNITED NATIONS, October 25 -- Even on a day when in Myanmar 56 Rohingya are reported to have been killed, a thousand homes burned down, at the UN their plight is largely downplayed.

  In the online report of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the Rohingya appear twice, in Paragraphs 71 and 72 (in the first, they are misspelled.)

  Inner City Press asked Ojea Quintana what he or other human rights officials in the UN system do for the Rohinga who have been chased in Bangladesh. He replied that his mandate is focused on the territory of Myanmar. He said he has visited Thailand and Malaysia, but did not mention Bangladesh.

  On October 24 Inner City Press asked Special Rapporteur on Internally Displaced Persons Beyani about the Rohingya IDPs. He said he has asked to visit Myanmar, but has been told this is not possible in 2013.

 

Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky if Ban or his former chief of staff and now Myanmar "Good Offices" envoy to Myanmar Vijay Nambiar "believe, as part of the progress they have praised in Myanmar, that it should involve extending invitations or accepting requests to visit by mandate-holders like Mr. Beyani."

 

Nesirky replied, "I think the short answer is that, yes, it should. The longer answer is that this is a work in progress, and I think you will see, and you will have seen, some movements, positive movements in this particular area, and we would anticipate that that will continue."

 

Positive movements? The next day it was reported that 1000 homes had been burned, and 56 Rohingya killed. What's being done?

 

After Ojea Quintana presented his report in the Third Committee of the General Assembly, Myanmar's representative said his government is trying to stop the violence. Here's an idea: don't leave the Rohingya, who Beyani notes have long been in the country, stateless. Watch this site.

On Myanmar's Military Election, UN Is Silent on Observers, War Crimes, Cyclone Giri

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 6 -- In the run up to Myanmar's military dominated election, the degree of capitulation by the UN and Western permanent members of the Security Council became painfully clear.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who declined to even mention the recommendation of UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana for a war crimes investigation in his “Report on Human Rights in Myanmar,” said that he “expects” the election to be free and fair.

Ban never appointed a more than interim replacement to fill the General Assembly mandated Good Offices on Myanmar post, and he has allowed its staff time to be reallocated within the UN Department of Political Affairs.

The UN Security Council met on November 5, and afterward the Permanent Representatives of France and the UK came out to speak to the press. Neither mentioned Myanmar; the UK did not even take questions.

The UK is president of the Council this month and makes much of “getting Myanmar in the footnotes of the program of work.” But why wait until after a scam election to have a meeting about it?

The UN Development Program, meanwhile, two days before the election released a Human Development Report stating that Myanmar jumped up six places in global development between 2005 and 2010. Even UNDP affiliated economist Amartya Sen, when questioned by Inner City Press, said the Myanmar data (and UNDP's report on it) are not credible.

When Cyclone Giri hit Myanmar, Inner City Press asked if the UN thought the election should be postponed or modified in the hardest hit areas. We have to do an assessment first, was the answer. Since then, nothing has been said.

At the UN noon briefing on November 5, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky:

Inner City Press: I have some Sudan questions, but I wanted to ask about Myanmar first because of the upcoming election on Sunday. It’s been reported that the Government there is extending an invitation to diplomats and UN representatives to tour polling stations on Sunday. It’s also… that some diplomats have said that they won’t go on the tour, but will make their own arrangements to make some observation. I wanted to know, since the Government there forbid outside election observers, but said it would ask the diplomatic community, including the UN, to do it, what’s the UN intending to do on election day in Myanmar?

Spokesperson: Let me find out.

Question: Maybe hopefully before the day, is that possible?

Spokesperson: It wouldn’t be a bad idea, yeah. Okay?

Twenty four hours later, right before the polling began, still no answer from the UN. Watch this site.