As UN Won't Answer on Protests in Sri Lanka, Testimony of UNprotected Staff

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, March 5 -- On February 19, Inner City Press was thrown out of the UN, on two hours notice, after having put critical questions to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

On March 3 Dujarric's Deputy Farhan Haq refused for a second day to comment on a protest of the ouster, held at the UN Compound in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka. English; English II; Tamil; UN Q&A Video. That is today's UN: UNaccountable.

Now the UN won't even allow the question to be asked - and speaks for USg Jeffrey Feltman, that he will have no comment on how this thuggish behavior by the UN in New York plays in Sri Lanka, which the UN purports to care about. March 2 video here and embedded below.

 Meanwhile Inner City Press has received more evidence of how UNprotected the UN left Sri Lankans, including its own UN staff in Sri Lanka. Inner City Press is exclusively publishing here a Witness Statement for the OISL, in which a staff member of UN OCHA describes being kidnapped in one of the notorious white vans and tortured by burning.

The witness also describes the horrendous conditions at the camps that Ban Ki-moon himself visited in May 2009. We'll have more on this.

  Triggered by UN Under Secretary General Cristina Gallach's no due process order, and use of UN Security to oust Inner City Press, Inner City Press has as when the UN Correspondents Association under Giampaolo Pioli did in 2012 begun to receive threats. Many, even most, of the same UNCA board members aware of the 2012 threats remain in place now.

The Northern Provincial Council letter to Ban Ki-moon on which Ban's Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq refused to answer Inner City Press on March 4 also noted that Inner City Press has "exposed the dealing between certain UN Press Corps officials and the Sri Lankan diplomats" - we'll have more on this too.

Ironically, one of the UN Security officials who in 2012 was providing assurances to Innr City Press - was among those who Banned Inner City Press from UN premises now in 2016. In which direction is the UN moving?

UN Sri Lanka Staff Member Testimony on Torture, White Vans, UNprotected by Matthew Russell Lee

On March 4, Inner City Press changed tacks and asked Ban's spokesperson Haq about a letter, video here,


UN transcript here:

Inner City Press:  I want to ask about Sri Lanka, and I'm asking about a letter, physical letter, that was addressed to the Secretary-General from the Northern Provincial Council, which is a body that Mr. [Jeffrey] Feltman, for example, has met with in the north.  The letter says that Inner City Press has been critical of UN-affiliated personalities who are alleged of sidelining or siding with genocidal commanders involved in war crimes against the Tamil people.  And finally, it says, we are shocked to learn that, on 19 February, the Under-Secretary-General of DPI (Department of Public Information), Cristina Gallach, signed a letter giving two hours to Mr. Lee, summarily expelling him from the premises, revoking his press pass…

Deputy Spokesman:  Matthew, Matthew, you're not expelled from the premises.  We are in the premises right now.  [cross talk]

Inner City Press:  Right.  Right. [What about office and Resident Correspondent pass?]

Deputy Spokesman:  I see you in front of me.  [cross talk]

Inner City Press: I know that you like that point.  The end of the sentence is revoking his UN resident correspondent pass and access to his office.  And so I am asking you, as a response to a letter from the Northern Provincial Council of Sri Lanka, what is your response to the letter?  They also say there was no due process...  the combination of the two, the lack of coverage of, for example, Mr. [Vijay] Nambiar's dealings in the white flag killings, Mr. Shavendra Silva being a senior peacekeeping adviser to Ban Ki-moon, followed by this act without due process, unprecedented and totally disproportionate penalty...  So I'm asking you, what's the response to the letter?

Deputy Spokesman:  I have no response to the letter, and I have no comment on this.  As you're well aware, the concerns that we have about the peace process in Sri Lanka, the… and the end of the fighting are a separate matter from your particular issues with the Department of Public Information, on which I would have no comment.

[cross talk]

Inner City Press:  And what's your concern of a journalist being in this room…  That's what I'd like to know.  What is so extreme about a journalist being in this room and saying, when DSS (Department of Safety and Security) asked me to leave, I'll leave that justifies the things that are described in this letter?  Can you explain?

Deputy Spokesman:  Matthew, I am not going to get into why you have a problem with your accreditation with the Department of Public information.  You have an issue… [cross talk]

Inner City Press:  Well, they've asked Ban Ki-moon.  You speak for Ban Ki-moon.  Is Ban Ki-moon going to answer the letter?  [cross talk]

Deputy Spokesman:  The decision on your accreditation is a decision taken by the Department of Public Information.  [cross talk] It's based on actions, having to do with actions that you took, indeed, in this very room, that were hindering…  [cross talk]

Inner City Press:  In a meeting that wasn't listed as closed, not in the UN Journal of anywhere else as closed.  I'm just asking.  Should they write to Cristina Gallach?  They've written to the wrong person…  [cross talk]

Deputy Spokesman:  You can say whatever you want, but it's not my place to argue with you about the decision…

Inner City Press:  It's a letter to Ban Ki-moon.  You speak for Ban Ki-moon.  So I'm asking you for a response to the letter.

Sri Lanka NPC Letter to Ban Ki-moon Protesting USG Gallach Stripping ICP Of Resident Correspondent Accredit... by Matthew Russell Lee

Deputy Spokesman:  This is a decision taken… you can talk over me as much as you want but it doesn't preclude the reality of it.

Question:  No, I see you trying to move… if you'll just stay stationary, I'll be quiet.

Deputy Spokesman:  Okay.  Yes.  Nabil?

  On March 3 Inner City Press again endeavored to ask Sri Lanka questions, including about the UN's role in killings there. Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Farhan Haq tried to PRE cut off the questions. Video here,from the UN transcript:

Inner City Press:  I want to ask about Yemen, DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations] and Sri Lanka.  On…

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  Sri Lanka or you?  Is it really about Sri Lanka?

Inner City Press:  Well, why don't we just wait and see, you know?  Because I thought actually people can ask questions in here.

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  You're perfectly entitled to.  It's just that you have this adorable way of saying what your subject titles are for your questions, and they seem to not match what the actual questions are.

Question:  There was a protest in Jaffna.  That's actually not what I was going to ask about.  You could easily take a look at it.  And I think it's outrageous that you didn't answer it.  But, I have another question on Sri Lanka. ...

Inner City Press:  Here's a Sri Lanka question you seem to have tried to stop in advance, but…

Deputy Spokesman:  I wasn't stopping in advance.  I just don't like false advertising.

Inner City Press:  If the UN is protested in Sri Lanka, I think it is a Sri Lanka question.  And I actually think you do answer about protests of the UN elsewhere.

Deputy Spokesman:  Sure.

Inner City Press:  And, in fact, if VICE News…

Deputy Spokesman:  Is this a protest having to do with Sri Lanka, or is it about you?

Inner City Press:  If VICE News asks you about Turkey locking up VICE News journalists in Turkey, do you say, don't ask about VICE News?  I'm just asking you.  So, if the UN does something that people protest, you don't answer?  But, here's my question.  There's a letter from a group called the Tamil Relief Fund, and it is saying the following… it is saying that not 40,000, as reported in Mr. Ban's report, but 70,000 civilians were killed in 2009.  And it says that the UN has not conducted any credible investigation in it and that, therefore, a number of parties, including the UN, should not invest in… with the Government who had just committed, they say, a genocide.  And I'd like to know the UN side of this letter, how do you respond?  Does the UN feel that it conducted an inquiry, a sufficient inquiry, into the number of people killed and that there's been accountability, and how does the UN justify its now more accommodative stance given the facts alleged in this letter?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, you'll have seen what we've been saying about the [Maithripala] Sirisena Government and its efforts to investigate.  We're trying to encourage an effort to get to the bottom of what happened in the end of the conflict with the Tamils.  And we want to make sure that there's an actual good-faith effort by the Government of Sri Lanka to do that, and we'll keep pressing on that.

Inner City Press:  According to the UN, how many people were killed?

Deputy Spokesman:  Hold on.  Yeah, yes?

UNCA / ex-Reuters:  Just a housekeeping question.  Are there transcripts available of press conferences in… oh, sorry.

Deputy Spokesman:  Yeah, please use that.

UNCA / ex-Reuters:  Thanks.  Just a housekeeping question:  Are there transcripts available of press conferences in Geneva like Jan Egeland this morning, and do I have to listen to it live again?

Deputy Spokesman:  Yeah, the press conferences that they have, the UN Office in Geneva transcribes those.  So, hopefully, they'll be out on the website later.

Inner City Press:  According to the UN, after all this time and all this interest, according to the UN, what, approximately, as close as you can make it, was… was the approximate number of civilians killed in 2008 and 2009?  And also, has the matter of Mr. Vijay Nambiar, close senior adviser of Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and his role in communicating with surrendering individuals at end of the conflict who ended up being killed with a white flag in their hand, has this matter been resolved within the UN system to the satisfaction of Ban Ki-moon?  Because it's not to the satisfaction of people in Jaffna.

Deputy Spokesman:  We have already said where we stand on the question of how Mr. Nambiar handled that.  I'd refer you back to what we said several years back.  Regarding the death tolls, ultimately, that's… the figures had been developed and… and have… are in the hands of, I believe, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, so you should ask them.  All right.  Have a good afternoon.

  This is a new low for the UN. From the March 2 UN transcript:

Inner City Press: Yesterday, I'd asked you about a protest that took place at the UN compound in Jaffna.  And you'd said you had no comment on it. There's video of it.  Many people have said it seems strange, and they've looked at other comments your office has made on other protests.  The question is…

Deputy Spokesman:  And I… I continue…  Matthew, I continue… You called…

Inner City Press:  Right, what I'm asking is, when do you respond to a protest…?

Deputy Spokesman:  Matthew, Matthew, Matthew.  You called this a question about Sri Lanka.  This is actually a question about yourself.  I have nothing to say about you and your particular thing.

Inner City Press:  It took place in Jaffna.  Have you seen it?  Mr. [Jeffrey] Feltman has seen it.  How does it relate to the work of the UN in Sri Lanka?

Deputy Spokesman:  It's a question for which neither I nor Mr. Feltman, by the way, have any comment.  Have a good day.

  This is a new low - including for Feltman. There is a video of the protest - of which senior UN officials have been made aware. Now what?

In a letter that gave Inner City Press only two hours, Ban's Under Secretary General for Public Information Cristina Gallach told Inner City Press to surrender the key to its long-time shared office.

  That evening eight UN Security guards under Deputy Chief Michael McNulty physically threw Inner City Press and its laptop out onto First Avenue in below freezing weather, without a coat. Audio here; video as UN Security turns off Inner City Press' Periscope livestream, here.

   On February 22, UN Security official Matthew Sullivan told Inner City Press it could not even be signed into UN headquarters as a guest, it was Banned from all UN premises. Audio here.

  Since then Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta urged Gallach to reverse her decision, taken without one speaking to Inner City Press concerning its January 29 attempt to cover, to pursue its series on UN corruption under Ban, an event the UN Correspondents Association held in the UN Press Brief Room. Video of that event - used against Inner City Press with no opportunity to be heard.

  Business Insider was told, by an unnamed Gallach spokesperson, that it was fine to throw out a 10-year journalist at the UN without any opportunity to be heard, article here, and on Yahoo Finance.

A petition to restore Inner City Press to access to the UN, and to its office under its long-time but stripped Resident Correspondent accreditation, is here, with 675 signatures as February 29 and comments.

The DC-based Government Accountability Project, which defends UN and other whistleblowers, has written that the ouster of Inner City Press is “retaliatory in response to independent, critical journalism.” (Dujarric, who previously “lent” the UN Press Briefing Room to his native France's President Francois Hollande, said he disagrees with GAP.)

  Ban Ki-moon, whose “victory tour” of blood-soaked northern Sri Lanka Inner City Press covered and was never forgiven for by Ban's UN, was the target of a demonstration in Jaffa for the ouster of Inner City Press.

Handwritten signs at the Jaffna protest cited back to questions about Ban accepting a Sri Lanka war crimes suspect Shavendra Silva as one of his Senior Advisers on Peacekeeping, and another suspect Palitha Kohona's involvements with the UN including the White Flag Killings with Ban's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar.

  Inner City Press reported how Kohona got UNCA under current president Giampaoli Pioli to screen a war crimes denial film in the UN; Pioli has been Kohona's landlord but did not recuse himself or consult other UNCA member members including, at that time, Inner City Press (which quit and co-founded the Free UN Coalition for Access.)

  See photo here from the demonstration outside the UN compound in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.  There's video. An anonymous troll Twitter account which counts among its few followers Cristina Gallach, Stephane Dujarric, UNCA board members and Reuters' Lou Charbonneau says darkly this was not a spontaneous protest - whatever that means. The UN's Censorship Alliance. Haq on March 2:

On March 1 Inner City Press asked Ban's Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: on Sri Lanka, I wanted to ask you, there was a protest overnight, whatever the time difference is, at the UN compound in Jaffna by Tamils.  And I have to say, the protest was to restore full credentials to Inner City Press and open press.  You can find it, it was reported in Uthayan, which is a publication that was burned down repeatedly by the Government that's been spoken of from this podium.  So, I know that Stéphane [Dujarric] yesterday said he doesn't agree with the Government Accountability Project.  What is the UN's response to a protest at its compound in Jaffna on this topic of free press?

Spokesman Haq:  Matthew, I'm not going to comment on your personal case.

Inner City Press:  I'm asking about a protest of the UN.

Spokesman Haq:  I know that you're dealing with DPI [Department of Public Information].  While you’re…

Inner City Press:  I'm not dealing with the DPI.  They never spoke to me before they did it, and I'm asking you about a protest.  Do you have a comment?

Spokesman Haq:  I would have no comment on this, no.  Thanks.  And let's get to our guest.

But what does Ban care? He is, as usual, out of New York, on a trip in Spain where neither the King nor President is meeting with him. Ban will not even visit the headquarters of "his" MINURSO mission in El Aaiun since Morocco's King won't be there or let him.

  Beyond Ban's troubling ambivalence about war crimes, most recently for example in Yemen (which he has a pro-Saudi envoy) and Burundi (where his Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous is embroiled with the military, as it commits child rape as part of the UN mission in Central African Republic), a corruption scandal which Inner City Press is pursuing threatened to undermine Ban's plan to run for President of South Korea.

   Macao-based business man Ng Lap Seng, now under house arrest, bought a photo op with Ban, giving tens of thousands of dollars to the UN Correspondents Association, though South South News. (This is why Inner City Press sought to cover the January 29 event in the UN Press Briefing Room, openly Periscoping an event that was nowhere listed as Closed.)

Indicted Frank Lorenzo got South South News into the UNTV archives. Spokesman Dujarric has twice refused to explain this, despite being in charge of UNTV at the time.

   The UN's response has been to order an audit by its own Office of Internal Oversight Services into all UN deals with Ng's Sun Kian Ip Foundation and also-indicted Sheri Yan's Global Sustainability Foundation.

 Inner City Press has shown: Ban's wife and his adviser Vijay Nambiar, of Sri Lanka “fame,” were at the FOUNDING of this corrupt Global Sustainability Foundation. And Inner City Press after reporting this is thrown out of the UN?

   Even with Ban's UN, through Gallach's no due process decision, hindering its reporting, Inner City Press will have more on all this. 

ICP Asks UN OCHA's Stephen O'Brien of Yemen, South Sudan, Sri Lanka & Somaliland, Why No CERF?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 9 -- When UN Relief Chief Stephen O'Brien  came to answer questions on February 9 about the UN's new report for the World Humanitarian Summit, Inner City Press asked him about Page 17 of the report, which refers to Ban Ki-moon's “Rights Up Front,” which is to say, his failure in Sri Lanka in 2009.

   In 2008 and 2009 in Sri Lanka, OCHA which O'Brien now heads left Killinochchi, and hid reports of the number of people being killed, as Inner City Press exposed. Is it different now, Inner City Press asked O'Brien on February 9, specifically asking him about South Sudan (for example, Mudri) and Yemen: is he aware of the targeting of a UN agency in Sana'a? 

Inner City Press also asked him why his CERF gave funds to Ethiopia but not Somaliland, given FAO's finding of drought. Video here. 

  O'Brien answered that aid access in Yemen is key, and said there is no legal impediment to CERF funds for Somaliland. We'll have more on this.

Previously, Jan 17: Outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon often names “High Level Panels,” not only as today on humanitarian aid but also for example on the scandal of peacekeepers' rapes in the Central African Republic. But today's Panel is on aid, headed by one of the reported candidates to replace Ban as SG, Kristalina Georgieva of Bulgaria and the EU. The report is here.

  Inner City Press at an embargoed briefing prior to the release of the report asked Georgieva about the report's proposal for “Participation Revolution” in which the recipients of aid could hold it accountable. Inner City Press for the new Free UN Coalition for Access asked, would that include for example a UN Freedom of Information Act, so that the public could get disclosure of how money is spent?

  Georgieva, responding by video from a roomful of other journalists in Brussels, acknowledged that there is a need for standardized accounting; she did not directly response, as FUNCA will be asking all Next SG candidates to do, on the need for a UN FOIA.

 Ban Ki-moon issued a canned statement including that “In May last year I asked the panel to identify ways in which the gap between rising needs and the resources available to meet them can be closed. I am also requesting them to work on generating solutions around the issues of more timely and predictable funding, as well as ways in which resources can be used more effectively. Since they began their work the needs created by the demand for humanitarian aid have continued to rise dramatically. We are living in the age of the mega-crisis. But, as this report clearly demonstrates, the gap in funding is a solvable problem.”  We'll have more on this.

 How should the next UN Secretary General be selected, to improve the Organization? 

On December 15, after President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft as well as US Ambassador Samantha Power co-signed a letter to all states and Observer States to put forward candidates, Lykketoft took questions. 

 On January 15, Lykketoft's office put online a third nomination letter, that of Montenegro for Igor Luksic, joining FYROM's Srgjan Kerim and Croatia's Pusic. Here.

And when, we ask, might Slovakia put in a nomination for Jan Kubis? And would Czech Republic make a nomination, while its Deputy Prime Minister says "no more refugees"? 

 Earlier on January 15, Inner City Press asked Lykketoft who is paying for his trips to the United Arab Emirates, Davos and Jordan. Video here. Later Lykketoft's spokesperson replied, "The PGAs trip to Abu Dhabi is being funded by Govt of UAE and the rest of the trip by the Office of the PGA." The answer is appreciated; we'll have more on this.

 On Next SG, back on December 15 Inner City Press asked Lykketoft if the General Assembly's “dialogues” with candidates will be open -- yes -- and if he thought a candidate currently heading a UN agency should step down to run. (He did not answer this.)

  Lykketoft said so far there are two formal candidates: Croatia's foreign minister Vesna Pusic and former PGA Srgjan Kerim of FYROM. Inner City Press asked, during the press conference, how for example a person like ex-PGA Vuk Jeremic, without the support of his government at present, could run. Lykketoft said that another state could nominate him.

(An aside: if it's true that neither Pusic nor Kerim are on Twitter, what does that say about the place of technology and social media in the current Next SG race?)

  Minutes later, on Periscope (speaking of transparency), Inner City Press asked Lykketoft of a nomination from a non-state would even be processed. No, he indicated. So much for “We the Peoples.” And so much, perhaps, for Eastern Europe, if Crimea becomes a litmus test.

On December 11, Inner City Press asked the foreign ministers of both Ukraine and Lithuania, both members of the Eastern European Group, about who should be next SG.Video here. 

From the answers, it seems at least these two countries will demand a candidate which would condemn a P5 Security Council member's violation of the UN Charter. Since p5 members have a veto over the SG, maybe the post will move beyond the group. We'll be covering this, watch this site. 

F On November 18, after the UN Security Council met behind closed doors on the issue, the month's UN Security Council President Matthew Rycroft of the UK emerged and read a short Elements to the Press on “the issue of the letter that will be written shortly by the President of the Security Council and the President of the General Assembly, on the selection process for the appointment of the next secretary general, and an exchange of views on the basis of a draft letter from the UK and we agreed to do further work, both on the letter and to keep in touch with each other on the timing of that, in order to fulfill our side of the work of the security council. The General Assembly has already begun with their resolution 69/321.”

  But less than an hour before, Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin had told the press that “I’m sure the President of the Council is going to speak. And what I proposed, half-jokingly I must admit, that we should set a working group which will have weekly meetings until the end of next year on a draft letter by the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council. In fact, if we stick to the resolution of the General Assembly, it says that they are asking for a joint letter, which is going to describe the process and invite candidates. The process is described in the Charter and inviting candidates is saying yes please, submit your candidates. But if you try to turn it into a lengthy negotiation, some kind of a fancy document, then it will take 12 months for us to achieve this draft letter. So my pitch, which was shared by some colleagues, let’s not over-complicate things. Come on. And if we don’t over-complicated things, then I think it can be done.

   France 24 asked Churkin, You have a candidate? Churkin replied there are seven or eight candidates from Eastern Europe, but France 24 insisted, “From Russia?”

  Churkin explained that Permanent members of the Security Council don't submit UNSG candidates. And so it goes. We note that at the increasingly corrupt UN Correspondents Association, there are no term limits and this year, all six officers are running without opposition, headed by Giampaolo Pioli who previously rented one of his apartments to Sri Lanka's ambassador then screened his war crimes denial film, and now sells seats with Ban Ki-moon for $6,000. Let's hope this process can lead to an SG who can clear the UN up.

 On September 22, after the Permanent Representatives of Estonia and Costa Rica announced a high level meeting on the topic on September 26; Estonia's Sven Jürgenson said his priority is the best candidate, not necessarily from the Eastern European group. 

   Inner City Press asked if this same push for transparency applies to the current murky process of selecting the new High Commissioner for Refugees, of which it is said Ban Ki-moon alone choose (Danish UNGA President Mogens Lykketoft told Inner City Press he “favors” the Danish ex-Prime Minister but plays no role.)

  Costa Rica's Juan Carlos Mendoza Garcia told Inner City Press that reforms in Secretary General selection could help reform other selections in the UN system. Inner City Press - and the Free UN Coalition for Access -- ask, isn't the refugee top post something of a test case?

  Tellingly, the old UN Correspondents Association demanded to ask - and largely waste - the first question, the time of meritless hierarchy that is precisely what's wrong with the UN. We'll have more on this, and on the September 26 high level meeting.

  Back on July 22 the subject was discussed behind closed doors by the UN Security Council. Afterward UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft emerged and described the meeting as a first step, adding that the UK intends to convene a so-called Arria formula meeting of the Council once candidates come forward.

  Inner City Press asked Rycroft if the issue of regional rotation - that is, the the Next SG post belongs to the Eastern European Group -- came up. He said that it did, adding among other things that the UK does not think that is the most important factor. Periscope video here, for now.

  It was argued to Inner City Press that while the UN Charter in English assumes that the Secretary General is male, that is not the case in the Chinese (or Russian) versions - for what it's worth.

Update: as to Russian, an astute reader notes that

Within Chapter XV of the Charter (“The Secretariat”), in the third sentence of Article 97, where the English version of the Charter says of the Secretary-General, “He shall . . .”, the Russian version instead uses the name “TheSecretary-General shall . . .”, thus avoiding specifying the SG’s gender.  But in Article 99, where the English says, “The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten . . .”, the Russian also uses, “. . . in his opinion”.

h/t/ SC Procedure

Статья 97

Секретариат состоит из Генерального Секретаря и такого персонала, который может потребоваться для Организации. Генеральный Секретарь назначается Генеральной Ассамблеей по рекомендации Совета Безопасности. Генеральный Секретарь является главным административным должностным лицом Организации.

Статья 98

Генеральный Секретарь действует в этом качестве на всех заседаниях Генеральной Ассамблеи, Совета Безопасности, Экономического и Социального Совета и Совета по Опеке и выполняет такие другие функции, какие возлагаются на него этими органами. Генеральный Секретарь представляет Генеральной Ассамблее ежегодный отчет о работе Организации.

Статья 99

Генеральный Секретарь имеет право доводить до сведения Совета Безопасности о любых вопросах, которые, по его мнению, могут угрожать поддержанию международного мира и безопасности. 

Background: on June 30, UN Conference Room 11 was full to discuss the Next SG question, in an event organized by the 27 member states (so far) making up ACT (Accountability, Coherence, Transparency). 

  Surprising to some, on the panel was UK Permanent Representative Matthew Rycroft, who said among other things that the Next SG should not necessarily be from the Eastern European Group.

  The room was full -- Inner City Press stood by the door,broadcasting by Periscope and live-tweeting with laptop in hand -- but with a notable contingent of Eastern European representatives. One question identified herself as such: a woman, and Eastern European. Just saying.

   William Pace of WFM reminisced how Boutros Boutros Ghali's second term was vetoed in a deal between the (Bill) Clinton adminstration and then-Senator Jesse Helms, to release dues payments to the UN. 

 The proposal now is for a single seven year term. Mary Robinson says she knows of another P5 country, beyond the UK, which is open to a single seven year term.

  When it was open for questions, Inner City Press (also on behalf of the new Free UN Coalition for Access, which unlike the older correspondents grouping actually fights for more transparency by the UN) asked why not have a debate among prospective candidates? 

  Why not require disclosure of how much is spend on each candidates campaign, including banning or requiring the disclosure of spending of the funds of UN Programmes (UNDP) or Organizations (UNESCO) for their chiefs to campaign to replace Ban Ki-moon?

   The UK's Rycroft said that prohibitions are not the answer -- agreed -- but did not answer on requiring financial disclosures. (He said we don't want massive spending, one isn't running for president. Which raises another question: what about some form of matching funds for candidates from lower income countries?)

  While much of the focus seems to be on arranging letters from the President of the Security Council to the President of the General Assembly, as Inner City Press asked at the ACT event and asked the new PGA Mogens Lykketoft himself, twice (video), can't the PGA call a high level meeting and invite candidates to present themselves? In this way, the wider world outside the UN could get engaged, and put on some pressure. The anonymous polling of which candidates are “discouraged” by the P5 members should not, FUNCA contends, be repeated.

  Costa Rica's Permanent Representative Juan Carlos Mendoza-García wrapped up, and the event was over. It was promising, but moves for reform and opening up should begin as soon as possible. Watch this site.

  Back on June 1, after several press conference on the topic and a closed door General Assembly session on April 27, the ACT group of 27 states (Accountability, Coherence and Transparency) submitted their page and a half set of proposals to the Presidents of the Security Council and of the General Assembly. 

  Here is a photo, re-tweeted from the Swiss by the Free UN Coalition for Access.

  Even before these proposals are debated, candidates are edging for an advantage; dark horses are positioning themselves for it the post slips away from the Eastern European Group. Inner City Press has mentioned Helen Clark, using the UN Development Program post to campaign (staff who cross her on Twitter are reprimanded, as Inner City Press reported here.)

 Another "dark horse" candidate, Inner City Press is told, is Swedish foreign minister and former UN official Margot Wallstrom. We'd like to hear from her what she thnks of the UN's handling of allegations of sexual abuse by French "peacekeepers" in the Central African Republic, including the role of another reputed dark horse candidate, Susana Malcorra. And what did Ban know, and when did he know it?

  The Free UN Coalition for Access agrees, there should be formal candidacies, platforms -- and adds, why not debates?

 How to pick the next UNSG: that was the question on the afternoon of April 27 in what was called a "closed" meeting in the Trusteeship Council Chamber. The meeting being labeled closed, and not on UN webcast, is a bad beginning, the Free UN Coalition for Access believes.

 To counter-act this Inner City Press did its reporting about the meeting, from India urging that there be more than one - a panel - of candidates proposed, to Moldova emphasizing that the next SG should come from Eastern Europe.

 Canada said regional rotation should inform but not determine the selection. The UK to its credit released a copy of the speech by new Permanent Representative Matthew Rycroft - but how to square its proposals with David Cameron nominating Andrew Lansley to replace Valerie Amos as Emergency Relief Coordinator, then insisting that the UK should have the post, now in the person of Stephen O'Brien.

Update: With only a few dozen states choosing to speak, the chair decided to try to finish them all -- five states in twelve minutes? -- to end the debate on April 27. This too may not be the right spirit.

Update II: And when the rushed session ended, the next one was announced for May 12, on the "institutional memory" of the Office of the President of the General Assembly.

  Earlier in a 10 am press conference by the campaign called "1 for 7 Billion: Find the Best UN Leader."

  At the April 27 UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesperson for Ban's views on needed reforms. Apparently there are none: it is up to member states, he said, adding that selecting a women would be good. What about pay to play?

  Inner City Press asked the panel if, as happened last time, increase trade and aid funding by a candidates' country should at least be disclosed, if not prohibited. William Pace of WFM replied not only about countries spending hundreds of million of Euros, but also about the heads of international agencies using their posts to campaign.

  Since UNDP's Helen Clark is known to have told associates and underlings she would like to be the next SG, Inner City Press asked the panel for comment. They were diplomatic, including on the UK, said to be a reformer on the SG post, having insisted it retain the Emergency Relief Coordinator positioon, albeit in the person of Stephen O'Brien and not Cameron's first nominee (and National Health Service destroyer) Andrew Lansley.

  Natalie Samarasinghe of UNA-UK said the campaign around (well, against) Lansley was a positive step forward; she said that social media makes secret processes less possible. (But see the replacement at Yemen envoy of Jamal Benomar by a Mauritanian official who has not made public financial disclosure).

  Yvonne Terlingen, now Senior Policy Adviser at WFM,  also cited the OCHA process or campaign. WFM's Pace seemed to conflate the entire UN press corps with the UN Correspondents Association, a group that for example tried to censor Press coverage of how Under Secretary General Herve Ladsous got the job, then tried to get the Press thrown out.

  The new Free UN Coalition for Access seeks to open the UN and these processes - watch this site.

On Syria, OCHA's O'Brien Speaks on Madaya, ICP Asked Diplomats about Yemen's Sa'ada

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 11 -- When the UN Security Council held closed door consultations with OCHA chief Stephen O'Brien on January 11, it was supposed to be on both Madaya in Syria and aid issues in Yemen. Here was O'Brien's statement when he emerged, fast transcribed by InnerCityPro.com:

"We’ve seen, as I’m sure you have, the harrowing images  recent days of adults and children suffering. These are wholly credible reports which are emerging, and we’ve had today, as people have been able to get in, confirmation of these harrowing scenes are real, very real on the ground. I’m pleased to be able to report that the United Nations and its partners including the ICRC and the SARC have worked tirelessly to try and negotiate this access to bring life-saving assistance to te people in need in the besieged nd hard to reach areas and these communities across Syria. Madaya is but one, as I know you are aware.

I told the Council that of course it is our first duty and wish to pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery of aid workers, drivers, those who are undertaking the work; also our UN colleagues, who often travel over many months doing delicate negotiations with people in some places which is dangerous work. So, we pay tribute.

As you’ve heard the trucks have reached their destinations today in Madaya, in Kafraya and Fuaa and have been offloading supplies. As the night has drawn on, parat of the problem there hasn’t been oil, so they’ve been having to do it under flashlight, using, where they have charge, i-phones to get the supplies off the trucks. Of course we don’t regard the mission as complete until all the drivers and all the people involved in supply have returned safely.

I’ve just been told by the humanitarian coordinator, you may have heard this, earlier, that whilst he was in the hospital in Madaya he saw around 400 people have been identified who must be evacuated immediately. We must seek to do this and put the arrangements in place as soon as at all possible for medical treatment or they are in grave peril of losing their lives and dying with either the causes being malnutrition or for complications for other medical reasons.

 I did remind the Council whilst I was briefing them that Madaya is tragically far from unique. There are about 400,000 people in Syria who are trapped in areas besieged and that’s within the 4.5 million or so who are in the overall hard to reach areas. So that gives you an idea of what we’ve just been discussing and I’m very happy to take questions."

 While a rare stakeout from O'Brien on aid access issues is welcome, what about Yemen? Another MSF-supported hospital there, in Sa'ada, was just bombed, as Inner City Press asked diplomats entering the meeting about, Periscope video here; there is of course Taizz, as Saudi TV was asking. OCHA signed an MOU with Saudi Arabia to accept its funds for Yemen which the Saudi led Coalition is bombing, including reportedly with cluster bombs. Where's O'Brien on this? Where's O'Brien on this? Inner City Press has asked.

Back on December 18 in the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, ministers Lavrov and Gentiloni, Fabius and Kerry passed through with entourages; UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon left early typically without answering any questions, as Inner City Press Periscoped andreported. Hours later, the draft resolution was agreed to, then adopted 15-0 by the UN Security Council, here.

 On December 26, the UN issued this for its envoy Staffan de Mistura:

"Further to resolution 2254 (2015) of the Security Council, unanimously adopted on 18 December 2015, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Staffan de Mistura, has intensified efforts towards convening representatives of the Syrian Government and the broadest possible spectrum of the Syrian opposition and others to engage in a political process leading towards implementation of the objectives and principles for a political solution to the Syrian conflict as contained in the Geneva Communique of 30 June 2012, and the Vienna Statements of 30 October and 14 November 2015.

"In line with the clear parameters outlined in Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), the Special Envoy intends to complete his consultations in early January, with a view to initiating intra-Syrian talks on a target date of 25 January 2016 in Geneva. He counts on full cooperation of all the relevant Syrian parties in this process. Continuing developments on the ground should not be allowed to derail it. The Special Envoy also relies on the continued crucial support of the International Syria Support Group.

The people of Syria have suffered enough. Their tragedy is now felt throughout the region and beyond. They deserve the full attention and commitment from all their Syrian representatives, who should now show leadership and vision to overcome differences for the sake of Syria."

 The day before, on December 25, on Syria UNRWA's spokesman Chris Gunness said:

"UNRWA welcomes any developments that could end the armed conflict in and around Yarmouk, and ease the inhuman conditions that Palestine refugees and other civilians are in Yarmouk continue to endure. Over the past three months, there have been persistent reports of negotiations for some form of truce or evacuation arrangement in Yarmouk.  These reports are credible and UNRWA is taking them seriously, although they have not been officially or formally confirmed, and details have been vague. There are several thousands of civilians living in deeply abject conditions in Yarmouk. As UNRWA is deeply concerned about their well-being, the Agency is seeking from the Syrian government further details of any negotiated arrangements that will affect the humanitarian situation of civilians in Yarmouk. In particular, UNRWA demands that any arrangements being negotiated in and around Yarmouk must include guarantees for a durable cessation of hostilities, for the protection of civilians, and for safe, uninterrupted humanitarian access for UNRWA and other humanitarian actors. UNRWA is redoubling its strong appeals to the Government of Syria and relevant actors to allow and facilitate humanitarian access to Yarmouk.  This is urgently needed to enable UNRWA to   deliver food, clean water, winter supplies,  healthcare,  and other humanitarian assistance and services to civilians in Yarmouk. UNRWA stands ready immediately to respond to the humanitarian needs of the entire civilian population of Yarmouk."

  Meanwhile the head of Jaysh al Islam Zahran Alloush was killed al Ghouta.

  Back on December 18 at the UN the US day ended in a bilateral meeting between Iranian minister Zarif and John Kerry -- a photo spray was canceled -- and a low key meeting on Iraq and Turkey that we asked about and reported on here.

  Kerry and Lavrov, joined by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, held this three-question press conference. Kerry said the negotiations should begin in mid to late January (in contrast to the early January in the resolution). Lavrov said only the “patriotic opposition” should be involved in negotiations. Staffan de Mistura said very little.

  That Kerry's spokesman John Kirby, who ran the press conference, gave the second question to the Washington Post, and the third to Russian media, was perhaps understandable. But the first question, Kirby set aside for “Al Arabiya.”  The question quickly turned into three, after being branded for “UNCA,” now the UN Corruption Association, a group which sold seats with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for $6000 only earlier this week.

 We now add: UNCA gave one of its prizes, a free trip to Turkey, to one of its Vice Presidents, from Agence France Presse. Even Kellogg's prohibits its employees from competing for its prizes. But not UNCA, which ignoring the Iraq - Turkey meeting in the Security Council was trying to buy people with Prosecco on December 18, after selling seats with Ban for $6,000.

  Several other UN-based journalists -- not (only) this one -- complained afterward that the first question and attempted follow up were a “Saudi circus” which made the UN press corps look bad -- as did attempt to throw out certain journalists, photographers, from the front row at the beginning.

   Afterward a photo spray of a meeting between Kerry and Iran's Zarif was declared “by invitation only” and then canceled. In the Security Council, with very few journalists still at the stakeout, the US presidency began the meeting on Iraq's complaint against Turkey being in its territory. We'll have more on this.

After the vote inside the Council Lavrov said, “The unanimous adoption today on the Council has created a broad front on the basis of the UN Charter, on the basis of all of those who are pushing back against terror, including the Syrian army, [some] armed militias, parts of the Syrian opposition, and the Russian air forces, in response to the legitimate request of the Syrian government."

Inside as Nasser Judeh of Jordan spoke, UN TV cut repeatedly to Syria's Bashar Ja'afari, looking more and more skeptical. France's Fabius spoke briefly and left. Outside at the stakeout, talk turned to a Kerry press conference, open to all.

 Italy's Paolo Gentiloni, by contrast, scheduled a press availability only for Italian media. A wag from the Free UN Coalition for Access asked, Isn't Gentiloni the foreign and not interior minister? Isn't he running for a Security Council seat? We'll have more on this.

In the  hotel lobby in the late morning a Permanent Five member of the Security Council's spokesperson briefed a gaggle of journalists in the lobby amid hissed that it was “off the record.”

  There was a gingerbread model of the NY Palace hotel which, the sign said, took 300 hours to make. All that was lacking, one wag - this one - snarked on Twitter, was a little gingerbread Laurent Fabuis.

 Back that UN, the 1 pm stakeout by the EU's Mogherini was postponed and then canceled. The Security Council scheduled for 3 pm got pushed back to 4.  Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric if Ban had spoken, what would he have said? Vine here.

On December 17, the day before Syria talks resumed at the New York Palace Hotel in Manhattan, finance ministers spoke in the UN Security Council about cutting off financing for ISIS. French finance minister Michel Sapin spoke darkly of the use of pre-paid cards for the November 13 Paris attacks; Russia's Ambassador Churkin named two Turkish companies as involved in ISIS oil sale.

  Inner City Press asked Syria's Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari, who came to take questions at the Council stakeout, about ISIS' oil. He named Turkey, then want on to name Qatar and Saudi Arabia, slamming its “Sunni coalition” recently announced.

  When US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, along with Sapin and the UK's George Osborne held a short press conference in the UN briefing room, Inner City Press hoped to asked Sapin about pre-paid cards, and Lew and Osborne about Bitcoin. But the question, just four, were limited to Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, the New York and Financial Times. So it goes.

   It seems there will be no Press access at the New York Palace; Ja'afari has said he will speak, at the UN, and whatever ISSG press availability there is should be at the UN, with a 3 pm meeting on December 18 scheduled. Watch this site.

Back on December 8, Inner City Press put thee questions to  Turkey's Ambassador Cevic. Video here.   Here's fast transcript byInnerCityPro.com:
Inner City Press: On Syria, do you think the Vienna process meeting should take place in New York on the 18th? Are you satisfied with the Saudi process for choosing the opposition?

Amb Cevik: The plans, I don’t know how fixed, I mean how clear it is, but we are making our preparations for the meeting.

Inner City Press: Are there any groups invited to Saudi Arabia that you think shouldn’t be part of the opposition delegation?

Amb Cevik: I think so far, in our view, they are working on the right concept. Let’s see if they succeed. Having a coalition group that would be able to take part in the process is one of the most important things.
Inner City Press: [Russia] said the group that killed their pilot should be put on the terror list. Do you have any view on that?

Amb Cevik: If they know the specifics, I don’t know. But to our knowledge, there was no terrorist organization, no extreme Daesh, Nusra, in that area. They are the Turkomens, and we know them, they are moderate people.

  This may be an issue. Watch this site.



On Syria after coy comments by the UN's Ban Ki-moon if the next meeting would be in New York, John Kerry in Washington at the Saban Forum in Washington on December 5 said:

"the governments involved are going to meet later in this month in New York in order to continue to move this process forward.  Our goal is to facilitate a transition that all parties have stated that they support: a unified Syria...The purpose of this transition will be to establish a credible, inclusive governance within six months.  The process would include the drafting of a new constitution and arrangements for internationally supervised elections within 18 months...Meanwhile, a nationwide ceasefire will go into effect between the government and the responsible opposition, assuming they come to the table and they begin this initial process."

  But who is this "responsible opposition"? Does it include Al Qaeda affiliates? Can last-minute mergers cleanse these groups? Watch this site.