Inner City Press

Saturday, April 12, 2008

On Deby's Chad Evictions, France Offers then Amends Defense, Claims No Deal on Zoe's Ark

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1francechad041008.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 10 -- France's relations with Chad and Idriss Deby were on display Wednesday at the UN, both in what how its Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert answered on-the-record questions from Inner City Press about mass evictions in N'Djamena and the pardon and release of the Zoe's Ark staff members following their conviction for abducting 103 children, and in how its mission (mis) transcribed Ripert's remarks. The exchange began with Inner City Press asking about reports of evictions after Deby was "almost overthrown in February." Amb. Ripert immediately took issue with this phrasing, saying, "You mean in February when rebels tried to cease power by force against Deby, the elected President of Chad?" Of course, Deby himself took power the same way that the rebels tries.

But on the evictions, Ripert said, "whatever happens in the operations done in N'Djamena, he should do that in respecting the rule of law and the legislation of Chad. if you known N'Djamena, you how it is a very small city and it is difficult to accommodate everyone so the question is not is he allowed to do that, the question is how is it done concretely for the people living these difficult times in Chad." Video here, from Minute 5:44.

The "it" in Ripert's phrase, from the question, signifies evictions. Why isn't it a question of whether he can do it? How is this different from Robert Mugabe's Operation Murambatsvina / Take Out the Trash in Zimbabwe, which France criticized?

The French mission's transcription of Ripert's remarks different from what's actually shown in the video, putting these words in Ripert's mouth: " whatever happens in the operations done in N'Djamena, he should do that in respecting the rule of law and the legislation of Chad. The question is not how did he allow to do that: the question is how it is done concretely for the people who are living." Click here for the French mission's full transcription as sent to media.

The omission of Ripert's statement about N'djamena being so small that not everyone can be accommodated (thereby seeming to justify evictions) and the switch from what he said -- "it is not a question of if he is can do that" -- to "the question is not how did he allow to do that" both operate, after the fact, to make Ripert's defense of Deby's evictions less apparent. Inner City Press has made similar findings in UN in-house transcripts, for example about the UN in Somlia, but until now has taken the French mission's transcripts at face value.

Inner City Press also asked about Deby's pardon and France's release of the Zoe's Ark staff convicted of kidnapping, and whether as has been reported that was any quid pro quo, for France to help defend Deby from the rebels in exchange for Deby pardoning the French citizens. Ripert denied not only a deal, but even any negotiations, even according to the transcript: " there was absolutely no negotiation, no exchange and there is no commitment of the French Government to pay any kind of money that those people hold from the families of those victims."
This was later clarified to mean, France might collect the money for Chad, but it would be coming from the social workers -- perhaps, it was suggested, from the advance and royalties Eric Breteau is said to be receiving for a book about the case. Breteau has alleged that the French government knew what he and his colleagues, including the good doctor Philippe Van Winkelberg, were doing. We'll see.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1francechad041008.html

Banning the Olympics, To Skip Beijing Games, UN's Ban Cites "Scheduling Issues"

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/ban1olympics041008.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 10 -- Ban Ki-moon is not "in a position to attend this important event," the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing, "due to scheduling issues," his Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe answered Inner City Press' question on Thursday. Video here, from Minute 8:45. She declined to answer follow-up questions on what these "scheduling issues" might be, and on when Ban received a formal invitation to attend from the Chinese government.

On April 9, Inner City Press asked Ms. Okabe at the UN's noon briefing, "has the Secretary-General been invited to attend the Beijing Olympics and, if so, what's his response?" Ms. Okabe said, "Yes, he has been invited, but I have nothing to announce today on his travel plans. " Click here for transcript, here for video, from Minute 13:38, and here for yesterday's Inner City Press story.

Inner City Press had been told that China, to counter Ban's position that he would not attend, had issued a formal invitation, with the idea that this would force Ban's hand. Later on Thursday, a South Korean source in the UN indicated that following the noon briefing question, the odds of Ban attending had gone up.

Whereas a visit by Ban to Beijing in connection with the G-8 Summit in Japan on July 7-9 was being floated as the reason not to return to the Far East for the Olympics opening ceremony on August 8, as of Thursday afternoon consideration was being given to scrapping the July side-trips to Beijing and Seoul, and to grant China's wish of Ban's presence at the sure-to-be-contentious Olympic Games.

Other South Korean sources bemoaned that Olympics politics, in this scenario, might preclude Ban's long-awaited visit to Seoul as Secretary-General. Now, with the surprising announcement that Ban will not travel to China for the Olympics, but that according to Ms. Okabe other visits to China are planned, the G-8 Summit trip to Japan may once again be combined with both China and South Korea. We'll see.

News analysis: Ms. Okabe was asked that, since some countries are discussion boycotting the Olympics opening ceremony citing such issues as Tibet, Darfur, Myanmar and China's forced return of asylum seekers from North Korea, did Mr. Ban intend his non-attendance as any type of political message? While one assumes that Ban's ultimate answer to that question will be "no" -- and even that he may reverse himself and end up attending on August 8 -- Mr. Okabe on Thursday replied that the above-quoted was all she had to say on the subject. Watch this space.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1olympics041008.html

Banning the Olympics, To Skip Beijing Games, UN's Ban Cites "Scheduling Issues"

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/ban1olympics041008.html

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1olympics041008.html

At UN, Some Call Management Reform an Oxymoron, G to P Barriers and Breakaway UNDP, Ban Soldiers On

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1mgmtreform040808.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 8 -- "Get the Secretariat out of the information Stone Age and into a modern one," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon intoned Tuesday to a chamber full of Ambassadors and the his most senior officials. The topic was Management Reform, and what was called a debate consisted of the serial reading-out of speeches, many of them at cross purposes. The Group of 77 and China spoke of the need to make UN procurement more diverse -- that is, to stop favoring European and American companies with the largest contracts. The European Union, who spoke immediately after, did not even mention procurement as a reform issue. If you're getting the contracts, why would you complain?

Ban spoke of equality, saying he has "proposals to introduce one UN contract under one set of Staff Rules." The trend however in the UN system in the past year, in which the UN Development Program was allowed to exempt itself from the UN's Ethics system and its ostensible whistleblower protections, has gone in the opposite direction. And Ban does not, it seem, propose to abolish the wall between so-called General Service and Professional staff, a divide that few get promoted over, thereby wasting the talents of many UN workers. Some say that Kofi Annan, who as a long-time UN staffer understood the G to P wall, should have been the one to break it down, but didn't. Will Ban come to understand and do it, as a reverse Nixon goes to China?

In fact, on the same day of this debate, the Secretariat's problems with the Staff Union became again apparent. To the new four-member internal justice advisory body, Ban appointed two consummate management insiders, the current and past directors of the General Legal Division of the UN Office of Legal Affairs, OLA. In terms of reform and transparency, the current head of OLA did not include in his public financial disclosure the fact that he was receiving at least $10,000 a month of his government, Switzerland, to pay for his housing. There have been no repercussions for this, but Ban's speech said that "accountability is not just a management word, it means taking responsibility."

Ban said that in the new system for the administration of justice, "if it is found that an improper decision has been made, the individual manager should be held accountable." Does this mean for example that UNDP's Kemal Dervis or Ad Melkert would be held accountable for Ban's Ethics Office's finding that UNDP committed prima facie retaliation against a whistleblower? Will there be accountability for the managers who left UNHCR workers in Algiers, at the time of the deadly December 11 bombing, outside of the coverage of the UN's Malicious Acts Insurance Policy?

Ban complained that "the way it stands now, some of my Special Representatives in the field earn less and serve under less favorable conditions that those coming from within the system, in particular from a Fund or Program" -- like the UN Development Program.

At Tuesday's noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson, "Can we get more information on what he meant, in terms of what Special Representatives of the Secretary-General are paid and who in UNDP or any program he’s comparing it to? Are all Special Representatives of the Secretary-General paid the same amount?"

The spokesperson responded, "we can get that information for you from the Management Office. I don’t have it with me now." But by the end of the day, a single unrelated link about "conditions of service" had been provided. Ah, responsiveness and transparency. But how much do the SRSGs get paid? And what about accountability for the SRSG now accused of having accepted favors and even land from Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe? Click here for that, and watch this space.

Footnote: at the highest levels, the problems even the internal justice advisory panel picks were known. Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar wrote to the staff union, urging them, as the Department of Management's Alicia Barcena previously did, to buckle under to the Staff-Management Coordination Committee. The Staff Union insists that not the vehicle to be making these appointments. Ms. Barcena, who was on the Management Reform podium all day and nothing but polite in the hallway outside, is still widely said to be leaving; one of her rumored replacements, Joachim Ruecker, is reported to have told his interviewers that "we don't work at the UN for money." Tell that to Nicolas Michel...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1mgmtreform040808.html

UN Refugee Agency Workers Impacted by Algiers Bombing Were Uninsured, Funds Diverted, Sources Say

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un3unhcr040708.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 -- Of the seventeen UN victims of the bombing on December 11 of the UN premises in Algiers, four were UN system contractors for whom the UN had not bought any insurance, according to Inner City Press' sources and as partially confirmed by the UN's Deputy Communications Director. While payments are being made to victims, in the case of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, this is coming out of the operating budgets, insiders say -- that is, from funds meant to be helping the poor and refugees. Specifically, UNHCR sources describe internal documents in which $1.5 million is set aside for uninsured workers for UNHCR, and say that since this cannot be paid out of the administrative budget, it must come out of operations, funded intended for refugees.

Among the uninsured UNHCR victims according to colleagues were Mouloud Bouledroua, who was killed; Zaidi Hasina, broken foot and several injuries, Zeccar Yasine, broken feet and several injuries; Boutaiba Sofiane, several injuries; Zeccar Yasine, broken feet and several injuries, and Kamel Housnia, both legs amputated. How $1.5 million will be split between them is unclear. The UN's Deputy Communications Director Stephane Dujarric, in an April 7 e-mail to Inner City Press, put UNHCR's fatalities at two, and noted that one fatality each at the World Food Program and the International Labor Organization were outside of the coverage of the UN system's Malicious Acts Insurance Policy.

While the majority of those killed were Algeria, other UN system workers who got killed came from Senegal, the Philippines and Denmark; higher-level UN officials focused on this last Danish case, noting the tragedy that since he had only recently arrived in Algeria, he was not covered by insurance. But UNHCR, and it is believed WFP and ILO, routinely leave their national staff uninsured. No one Inner City Press spoke to in preparing this story suggested that the UN does not owe these people. Most, in fact, felt that the UN pays too little. Rather, many questioned UNHCR's use of uninsured contracts, the lack of accountability for the decisions make in the run-up to December 11, and the UN's lack of transparency.

Twelve days ago, Inner City Press asked the UN refugee agency UNHCR and the UN Development Program about the insurance coverage. UNHCR said answers would be provided March 27, but none arrived. On March 26, the UNDP's Christina Lonigro, to whom Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson's office referred Inner City Press, said she was getting right on the information request. On March 27, she said she was soon have answers from UNDP's Arab States bureau, except they were out at a meeting. She added, " if you are you insinuating that I am purposefully not answering your questions, I assure you that is not the case." A UN staffer in the Office of the Spokesperson of the Secretary-General supported the delay, arguing that the UN provides responses more quickly than Wal-Mart (whose employment practices UNHCR seems to be emulating, in the lack of insurance coverage).

On April 2, UNDP's Lonigro changed course and said "on your questions regarding compensation for the Algiers bombing, due to the ongoing processing of claims and the Brahimi investigation, I have no information to give you at this time." A spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon echoed that "UNDP is the lead" on this issue and that "claims are still being reviewed." Ultimately, and to his credit, Deputy Communications Director Stephane Dujarric agreed to provide a response, and Inner City Press agree to wait an additional five days to get it.

It was worth it. Mr. Dujarric confirmed that several UN agencies, including UNHCR, ILO and WFP, are outside of the UN's Malicious Acts Insurance Policy. He told Inner City Press:
Thirteen out of the seventeen staff members or SSA contractors killed in Algiers are covered by the UN's Malicious Acts Insurance Policy. Their claims are being processed by insurers. Disability claims will be identified on completion of medical process. The additional staff/SSA that belonged to non-participatory agencies is having their claims processed by their 'home' agencies. [UNHCR (2), ILO (1) and WFP (1)].

In addition, claims for payments for killed and injured staff/SSA contractors on official duty are being handled under the internal self-insured scheme called Appendix D of the Staff Rules which leads to payments for injured staff members or to recognized dependants in case of death... So far, 13 claims have been received by the UN. There is internal system in place for reviewing these claims by a board consisting of representatives of staff and management.

This Appendix D is derided as being out of date, specifying low set payments for example for the loss of a limb. Those confined to this internal UN justice system contrast their situation with that of "outsiders" who alleged negligence by the UN, for example in the aftermath of the flying glass at the Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad in 2003. There is talk of large settlements to certain outsides, while some trapped in the UN system's justice system have cases pending in the UN Administrative Tribunal since 2003.

But even some long-time UN watchers expressed shocked when informed today that UNHCR, and perhaps WFP and ILO, are outside of the UN's Malicious Acts Insurance Policy. One source indicated WFP had at least tried to get insurance for its contractors. But it would seem that the Executive Boards and governing bodies of each of these agencies -- and applicable national governments -- should demand answers from management, and make the answers public.

Many view the Lakhdar Brahimi inquiry -- Brahimi himself said not to call it an investigation -- as not conducive to finding the truth about and assigning some responsibility for, or even learning lessons from, the run-up to and aftermath of the December 11 Algiers bombings. Brahimi has said he will focus on why people target the UN; it is highly unlikely he will report on whether those impacted had insurance. Nor has the UN said if his report will be made public. The first UN report, by the Department of Safety and Security, is being withheld. One of its lines, though, is known: "care has been taken not to apportion blame or responsibility." And so it goes, for now, at the UN.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un3unhcr040708.html

From Comoros to Yacht Taken by Somalia Pirates, France Looms Large in African Seas, UN Not in Sight

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN

www.innercitypress.com/un1comoros040808.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 8 -- France's role in the seas off Africa is in the news, but not at the UN. Inner City Press on Tuesday asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson if the UN has any involvement in trying to free from the French yacht off Somalia's coast the crew, not only French but Ukrainian and reportedly Filipino. No, the spokesperson said, "the UN has no involvement in this."

So who beyond France does? Inner City Press asked French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert if his country is coordinating with, for example, the Philippines or Ukraine. Ripert answered that France maintains contacts with many countries, particularly in this case with the government of Somalia. That would be the Transitional Federal Government, the one opposed by the insurgents, the Islamic Courts formations and, separately, by the pirates.

Nor did the UN get involved in the conflict about the breakaway Comorian island of Anjuan. The African Union, under Tanzania's leadership, went in guns blazing. (Insiders tell Inner City Press that South Africa, for one, was urging further negotiation). France was accused of harboring lead rebel Mohammed Bacar, first on Mayotte and now on the island of Reunion. French mission sources scoff at these accusations, countering that it was France which transported the African Union troops to retake Anjuan. Zut alors! As some have noted, "since independence in 1975, Comoros has had 19 coups and attempted coups."
AU in Anjuan, France not shown (but present)

It is also said that the Zoe's Ark six, recently pardoned for kidnapping 103 children from Chad and Sudan, face some unspecified further investigation in France.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1comoros040808.html

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

At UN's Rwanda Genocide Commemoration, Questions of Ex-Interhamwe FDLR, Darfur and UNDP's Callixte Mbarushimana

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1rwanda040708.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 -- While the 14th anniversary of the start of the genocide in Rwanda was commemorated Monday at UN headquarters, the issues raised are not over. In Eastern Congo, the ex-Interhamwe FDLRs are being encouraged by the UN to disarm and return to Rwanda. At Monday's UN event, Inner City Press asked Rwanda's Ambassador to the UN Joseph Nsengimana what will happen with the FDLR fighters who return. They must come back without arms, he said. Then they will be treated like any Rwandan citizen. Does this mean that a form of amnesty is being granted, even to those who participated in the genocide?

Tanzania's Ambassador Augustine Mahiga spoke at the event, on behalf of the African Union, and said that in Liberia, too, he had seen "massacres go unpunished and uninvestigated." He spoke of seeing Rwandan genocidaires never separated out in the refugee camps in Bukavu in what he called, even Monday night, "eastern Zaire." By that stage, humanitarian and justice-seeking imperatives were deemed to be in conflict, needing to paralysis.

The UN's role in Rwanda in 1994 is not only one of inaction. UN Development Program staffer Callixte Mbarushimana "lent vehicles and satellite telephones of the UNDP to military officers, that he also used the UNDP vehicles to facilitate his own contribution to the killings," as stated in an article on the UN's own DR Congo website. Another UN documents recites his role in "the death of UNDP’s National Personnel Officer, Ms. Florence Ngirumpatse, and a number of refugees in the residence where they had taken refuge."

After the 100 days of killing, Mbarushimana was allowed to continue working for the UN for seven more years, for example (as recited in the course of the UN's process leading to an additional payment of $35,000 to Mbarushimana) "from December 1996 to December 1999, he was with UNDP-Luanda, Angola." As noted in a more detailed account, Mbarushimana wan't even language-qualified for this UNDP post. We hope to have more on this.

Inner City Press asked Rwandan Ambassador Nsengimana about Mbarushimana's case. "The UN's awareness came very late," he said. In fact, the UN has yet to answer when it knew what it came to know about Mbarushimana, and what actions if any it took on what it knew. Now after repeated extradition requests from Rwanda, Mbarushimana is under investigation in France.

There did not appear to be an French representation at Monday's Rwanda genocide memorial, held in the two-storied Delegates' Entrance lobby. Sudan's Ambassador was present, and took umbrage when the final speaker linked Rwanda's genocide with more recent events in Darfur. Afterwards, he told Inner City Press, Rwandan Ambassador Nsengimana apologized to him for the comments. Never again?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1rwanda040708.html

UN Bans Interns from its Bar, Pictures on Facebook and Long Lines for Beer Led Two Delegations to Complain

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1dellounge040508.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 5 -- The UN negotiates with dictators in North Korea and Uzbekistan and with indicted war criminals in Uganda. But faced with noise, mess and long lines for beer caused by its own interns' presence once a week in the UN Delegates' Lounge, rather than talk and seek a solution, the UN has simply banned all interns from the bar.

The new policy was in place on April 4, and the Lounge was at best half as crowded as usual. Bar sales declined by slightly less, thirty-five percent, with some using this as evidence that interns had brought in their own liquor. Several Ambassadors complained to Inner City Press, with one delegate prominent in climate change debates saying that while he rarely spoke with the interns, he now missed their presence, their "energy." This is the UN, he said. Couldn't they have been negotiated with and some compromise reached?

By far the majority of those Inner City Press spoke with in the bar on Friday night after interviewing Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic were opposed to the new absolutist policy of barring the interns. In further inquiry with Ban Ki-moon administration sources, two countries' delegations to the UN were identified as having lodged complaints that operated as "the straw that broke the camel's back," as one source put it, winking and saying this phrase was a clue to which regional group both complainants are from.

Others argue that the identity of this complainers is less important than the new technology which made this year's intern antics more of a worry to the UN than before. Some interns were posting photographs from the Delegates' Lounge on Facebook and other social media sites. This was viewed as going too far, and rather than negotiate, the decision was made to simply prohibit entry by interns.

Some with longer memories say that the current move to ban the interns was set in motion by a breathy New York Post article in September 2007, describing the Delegates' Lounge as a singles bar with disco music. The Post's writer for that story has not been seen since in the building. Also impacted are journalists not deemed resident correspondents, and contractors, such as those running UN TV, many of who have worked in the UN for decades while the private company holding the contract has changed. (An affiliate of the current contract holder is said by sound-men or sound-persons to be near to bankruptcy.)

Recently the Delegates' Lounge has innovated in its offers, from expanding the wine list to bringing in beer on tap, including an organic brew. Since the bar is run by the same contractor as the cafeteria, Aramark -- the work force is involved in a contract dispute, quietly marked by the deployment of "UNITE HERE" union lapel pins -- often sandwiches and salads not sold during the day are given out free at night in the bar. On April 4, there was more food than people, as chef salads sat uneaten, alongside a tray-load of cold mozzarella sticks.

Aramark's flash web site to drum up outside business for its Delegates' Dining Room catering service promises "this world renowned setting where diplomats, ambassadors and world leaders dine, celebrate and arbitrate." But in this case, there was no arbitration.

Several highly-placed Ban Administration officials frequent the Delegates' Lounge on Fridays, and one wonders what this new policy, if unaltered, says about their diplomatic skills and commitment to egalitarianism. The UN is already almost laughably hierarchical, with its system of coded identification cards worn around the neck, and employment status grouped into G for General versus P for Professional, with very little mobility between the two.

A defender of the new policy told Inner City Press that there are simply "too many interns," even if they could be convinced to forego Facebook. But why not then deem one Friday for interns with last names A to L, the next for M to Z? While the situations are not comparable, would the UN stop providing services in the field because too many people lined up for them? Or would they try to come up with a workable system?

Press analysis: a lack of creative problem solving on something so simple right in UN headquarters may not be unrelated to recent diplomatic gaffes in such places as Kosovo, click here for that, and watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1dellounge040508.html

Sunday, April 6, 2008

At UN, Serbia's Vuk Jeremic Speaks of Kosovo, Says Ruecker "Doesn't Deserve" Higher UN Post

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/sc5kosovo040408.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 -- Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic met late Friday with the UN's Ban Ki-moon, then after 7 p.m. took question from the two media outlets left, a television station and Inner City Press. He spoke of Serbia asking the International Court of Justice to declare Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence, and some countries' recognition of it, as illegal. Inner City Press asked him about the European Union's announcement that so-called Pillar IV of the UN Mission in Kosovo will end in June. While Ban's Deputy Spokesperson declined to comment on this earlier on Friday, Jeremic replied that he told Ban that the UN must keep up UNMIK, under Security Council Resolution 1244. He said that Ban assured him that the UN is in fact conducting an investigation of its actions in Metrovica on March 17, when they stormed the courthouse and re-took it by force.

Back on April 1, Inner City Press had asked Ban's Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq about "reports that UNMIK in Kosovo has alleged that Serbian Interior Ministry personnel were in Mitrovica when this courthouse incident took place and that somehow they have an office there, something that Serbia rejects. Is that what UNMIK is alleging and, if so, based on what evidence?

Haq answered, "I'll have to look into that. I hadn't heard of that before."

But rather than look into it and provide an answer or evidence, while the noon briefing was still going on, Haq's colleague upstairs e-mailed Inner City Press that the question should be directed to UNMIK. But UNMIK increasingly says it is waiting for guidance from New York, meaning that the questions should be asked in New York. Ultimately, Ban Ki-moon is responsible, as Vuk Jeremic on Friday made clear.

Of the rumor inside the UN that the current head of UNMIK Joachim Ruecker might come to New York to take over the Department of Management, with a promotion to Under-Secretary-General, Vuk Jeremic said without hesitation, "He doesn't deserve it." We'll see.

Press analysis: A Balkan diplomat consulted by Inner City Press said the reason that a Swiss cantonization of Kosovo could never work is that while "Switzerland is rich," Kosovo does not have the economy to support such an arrangement. He mused that in Ban Ki-moon's upcoming trip to Russia he will attempt to render moot what he said was Russia's threat to veto any second term as Secretary-General for Mr. Ban. He predicted that Kostunica would represent Serbia at the Council's April 21 debate, and openly questioned why the UN never responded to Serbia's formal request for an emergency meeting following the events of March 17 in Mitrovica. "It's strange they didn't answer," he said. Strange indeed...

and see, www.innercitypress.com/sc5kosovo040408.html

UNICEF, Still Without Gucci's Money, Dodges German Scandal, Answers on Heroin in Sri Lanka, Does Good

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
and see,www.innercitypress.com/un3unicef040408.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 -- Two months after it lent the UN's name and North Lawn to Gucci, which claimed the event celebrated its store opening on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, and to Madonna, for a charity affiliated with the Kabbalah Center of Los Angeles, UNICEF has still not received any of the money raised by the event, according to an agency spokesman.

UNICEF still refuses to provide any answers about the prospective use by Madonna's group of funds raised using UNICEF's name and the UN's lawn, stating that it "has no relationship" with the organization. UNICEF insiders still doggedly defend the irregularities in the fundraiser as being attributable to the ostensibly independence U.S. Fund for UNICEF. But is clear that this doppelganger is closely enough linked to UNICEF to trigger reputational harm to the UN, if not legal responsibility -- since the UN system is, literally, lawless, cloaked in immunity from legal action including to elicited presumptively public information about the agency's spending in action.

In a parallel universe across the Atlantic, UNICEF Germany has now scheduled a re-election of its entire board of directors, after a scandal which found that the organization falsely claimed it did not pay commission fees to individuals who helped organize large donations. "By paying a commission of $45,000 without getting any demonstrable service in return, UNICEF Germany has violated the principle of the economical and careful use of funds," the watchdog organization Central German Institute for Social Questions, or DZI, has said.

Inner City Press had asked UNICEF's headquarters for an update on the UNICEF Germany scandal, including a copy of an audit a previous agency response said largely disproved the mounting scandal. UNICEF Headquarters then declined to provide a copy of the audit, stating that "it was the German National Committee for UNICEF that hired KPMG and that has the legal relationship with KPMG, so you will have to contact the NatCom regarding any requests for KPMG documentation." But it's UNICEF's and the UN's name that is in question.

Inner City Press also reiterated its request, pending since the run-up to the Gucci - UNICEF event more than two months ago, for an opportunity to put questions to UNICEF executive director Ann Veneman, who told the UN's Management chief Alicia Barcena to give the North Lawn to Gucci and Madonna. On this last, UNICEF replied that "within the last two months, the Executive Director has found time to give three press conferences, in Haiti, in Sierra Leone and in Liberia" -- that is, in places other than the New York headquarters where the Gucci fiasco occurred, or in Germany where the UNICEF scandal continues to grow. UNICEF's response continues, "Should we decide to hold a press conference at UNHQ we will inform you through the usual channels." We'll be waiting.

In the interim, Inner City Press has been given this UNICEF response to questions raised about a UNICEF worker who arrived recently in Sri Lanka and nearly immediately overdosed on heroin. UNICEF declines to provide the individual's name but states that

UNICEF confirms that on 17 March 2008 a consultant, newly contracted by UNICEF Sri Lanka, was placed under arrest by the police. The consultant arrived in Colombo on 5 March 2008 to commence a 4-month contract with UNICEF, based in Colombo. On 12 March she was hospitalized, and on 17 March was placed under arrest while still in hospital... On 25 March she was brought before a magistrate, and pled guilty. Subsequently the contract between the consultant and UNICEF was terminated by mutual agreement, and she has now left the country. Beyond that, UNICEF considers the resolved by the relevant national authorities and the individual concerned. For this reason, UNICEF will not release or confirm the former consultant's name.

For your information, in the case of short-term individual contractors UNICEF does not require a full medical examination prior to entering into a contract. However prospective contractors are required to provide a medical certificate from his or her doctor certifying that the person is medically fit for service. In this instance, I am advised that the certification was provided.

We will soon have more on the topic of the use of contractors by UN funds and programs such as UNICEF, UNHCR and the UN Development Program. While UNICEF's answers are appreciated, questions about the reported beating of a Somali member of parliament by UNICEF guards in Baidoa, and about the failure to return at least six of the 103 children kidnapped by French NGO Zoe's Ark, remain pending, as does a request for UNICEF's comment on the pardon by Chad and release by France of those who kidnapped the children. A late generic denunciation of impunity is perhaps to be expected.

About the veracity of the child soldier memoir which Ann Veneman has promoted seemingly at every opportunity, Inner City Press has been told that "UNICEF has not fact-checked Mr. Beah's book, 'Long Way Gone.' However it is our view that the book is a credible account of the tragedy of recruitment of children into armed groups, told by one who undoubtedly experienced this abuse first hand. It is an abuse that is still suffered by tens of thousands of children around the world."

For the record, about half of the money raised on the UN's North Lawn, it "will go to Schools for Africa, a joint campaign founded by UNICEF and the Nelson Mandela Foundation in 2004 to promote education for all children in Africa." Good. So, half the money raised in the UN's name is accounted for. UNICEF has also told Inner City Press

The US Fund [for UNICEF] advises that its arrangement with Gucci states that the donation will be paid within 60 days of the event. This means that the US Fund should receive the donation on 6 April (or 7 April, since the 6th is a Sunday). I am advised that this timeframe is standard for events and corporate partner donations, as it takes time for payments from attendees, live auction winners, and pledge donors to be collected. As previously advised, UNICEF has no relationship with Raising Malawi.

No relationship except giving Madonna's Raising Malawi and Gucci access to the UN's North Lawn, and use of UNICEF's name and logo, to raise money... We will continue to follow these issues.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un3unicef040408.html

UN Assembly's President Is Employed By Media Group, Refuses to Disclose Payments, Stepping To Reform

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
and see, www.innercitypress.com/un3pgafunding040308.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- The President of the UN General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim, is still under contract to his previous private sector employer, the WAZ media group, but the amount WAZ is paying him is called "confidential" by Kerim's spokesman. In mid-March, Inner City Press asked President Kerim about how he is paid. In response, Kerim called for a reform under which the Office of the President of the GA would be funded by the UN, since "it is the right of those who pay to ask favors." Kerim called this situation "unbearable."

In light of these statements, Inner City Press for two weeks has asked Kerim's spokesman Janos Tisovszky to with all due respect confirm or deny that Kerim is paid by WAZ, and how much. On April 3, Tisovszky wrote to Inner City Press that the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia "has made an arrangement with Dr. Kerim’s employer the WAZ media group allowing for the one year release of Dr. Kerim to take up his duties as the GA President. This agreement allows for maintaining his contractual status with the media group. Dr. Kerim has a five year contract with WAZ and the details of that contract are confidential."

Even while awaiting a reform, which Kerim to his credit has said he will push for, to have the position of PGA funded by the UN itself, it seems clear that outside payments to the sitting President of the GA, particularly from private corporations, should be disclosed. In this case, it is a media company. It has been argued to Inner City Press that the only conflict of interest would be if this media company got "scoops" about the UN's work. But if this secrecy is accepted, why couldn't future funders be military contractors, oil companies, or even armed non-state parties? While some have pointed about that previous GA presidents received funding from outside the UN, it appears that in previous cases this was only from the president's own government, and not from private corporations, which raise separate conflict of interest questions of first impression.

Indonesia's Ambassador Marty Natalegawa has told Inner City Press that the proposed reform, that the PGA be paid by the UN, should not be quickly adopted without thinking of the ramification for other UN committees that he say have similar outside-funded presiding officers. But do these allow for outside funding for corporations? In amounts that are not disclosed?

To Mr. Tisovszky's credit, certain other of Inner City Press' questions were answered, for example that "no staff member is paid out of the $280,000 budget as this is specified for only to cover official travel, official hospitality, miscellaneous staff expenditures (e.g. temporary assistance, compensatory time off, overtime) and other expenditures, if applicable (e.g. phone charges, newspaper subscriptions, specialized computer software, etc)." French Ambassador Jean-Marie Lacroix had said that perhaps the $280,000 provided should be better used. But divided by 19 staff, it would mean less than $15,000 each.

Tisovszky also answered how many people work in the Office of the PGA -- nineteen -- and what countries they come from: "Brazil, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Rwanda and Slovenia as well as from the President’s own country." This last phrasing seems an attempt to avoid having to choose between the controversial "Macedonia" and the unwieldy "FYROM."

News analysis: Since this name dispute led to a Greek veto and a FYROM walk-out from this week's NATO meeting in Bucharest, circumlocution is understandable. What is not acceptable is for the self-described highest official in the UN to be receiving payments from a private corporation and to refuse to disclose their volume.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un3pgafunding040308.html

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UN Development Program "Launders Money" in Latin America, Chart and Sources Say

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
and see, www.innercitypress.com/undp1latam040208.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 -- The UN Development Program expends significantly more in relatively affluent Latin America than in Africa, a continent-wide analysis obtained by Inner City Press reveals. In 2006, over 90% of UNDP's $1.3 billion in expenditures in Latin America were so-called "cost sharing," in which governments give UNDP money in order to do procurement or pay salaries to people already in the government's employ.

While being little more than a bookkeeper -- or money launderer, as several inside UNDP sources put it -- UNDP collects a fee for all funds it processes, and books it as income. The model has become attractive to UNDP's offices throughout Latin America, leading to UNDP tarnishing the UN's name by becoming involved in procurement scandals such as a current one in Venezuela. A week ago, Inner City Press asked UNDP a series of question which have still not been answered. On Wednesday, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General's comment on how UNDP under Kemal Dervis and Ad Melkert is making the UN appear.

Just last month, the head of the UN-affiliated World Bank, when asked about UNDP's attempt to attribute its greater expenditure in Latin America than in Africa to its supposed "processing" of World Bank loans, expressed skepticism. The answer for UNDP's disparity, the attached chart now shows, is UNDP's "cost sharing" programs.

UNDP's questionable work in Latin America is not limited to countries like Venezuela, where in 2006 UNDP reported $34 million in "cost sharing." In Argentina in 2006, while spending less than $1 million in "regular resources" to promote development, UNDP processed over $268 million for the government. UNDP's Argentina web site, under the heading Acquisitions, vaguely lists much of its work as "NEX" -- the so-called national execution modality that got the agency into trouble in North Korea. There are also acquisitions of servers from CISCO, a supplier that UNDP sources say is not chosen competitively, but rather is actively promoted and favored by UNDP's country offices on instructions from UNDP Headquarters.

In Brazil in 2006, while again spending less than $1 million in "regular resources" to promote development, UNDP processed over $227 million for the government. UNDP's Brazil web site was soliciting bids, for example, up to March 28 for 100 hotel rooms for a conference to take place April 7-8, 2008 (#758).

Inner City Press is informed by Brazilian sources that the size of UNDP's cost-sharing was revealed in that country when people UNDP paid, with government pass-through money, to work for the government argued that they should not have to pay taxes, claiming they were international civil servants. A dispute ensued, and the full size of UNDP's Brazilian program, which dwarfs African programs, became known. "UNDP is renting out the UN's powers for a fee, it is engaged in essence in money laundering," a UNDP source told Inner City Press on condition of anonymity, given UNDP's known penchant for retaliation, noted not only by the Washington-based Government Accountability Project but also, at least on a prima facie basis, by the UN Ethics Office. The analogy is that governments pay the fee to UNDP in order to work around procurement and other rules -- UNDP does not have to be transparent, and does not have to follow local rules.

While UNDP in Cuba in 2006 reported $7 million in cost-sharing, the UNDP figure in Guatemala was $92 million. In Bolivia it was $31 million, in Chile $23 million, Colombia $82 million, Dominican Republic $5 million, Ecuador $30 million, El Salvador $13 million, Paraguay $32 million, Uruguay $10 million.

From poor Haiti, UNDP took in $16 million in cost-sharing, versus only $14 million in Mexico.

UNDP's response to the controversy around a contract of less than $3 million in Venezuela with Setronix has been to direct Inner City Press to UNDP's online rebuttal. But while UNDP claims that the documents it links to show competitive bidding, the documents in fact refer to " excepcion a un proceso competitivo" - exception to a competitive process. In any case, this is just the tip of the iceberg of UNDP's $1.1 billion of "cost-sharing" in Latin America (compared to UNDP's less than $600 million in annual spending in Africa.)

In Honduras, UNDP's cost-sharing in 2006 was a whopping $103 million. The web site refers, in Spanish, to the modalidad de Ejecucion Nacional (NEX -- national execution "modality," saying that it guarantees that national authorities keep control of the program and of the final responsibility for how the funds are used. UNDP, it seems, just takes a fee, and repeatedly further tarnishes the UN's name in the process.

and see, www.innercitypress.com/undp1latam040208.html

At UN Refugee Agency, Labor Power Plays and No Comment on Safety or Zoe's Ark Pardons

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
and see, www.innercitypress.com/un2unhcr040108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- The work of the UN's refugee agency threatens to be undermined by the doling out of jobs and contracts, staff dissention and management retaliation, as reflected by a recent letter of resignation of those assigned to conduct an agency staff union election. In a March 28 letter to agency chief Antonio Gutteres, the members of the UNHCR Polling Board expressed "serious concern" about Mr. Gutteres' office's attempts to influence the ostensibly free and independent election of staff representatives. Gutteres' deputy, Craig Johnstone, is said to have responded to Staff Council testimony March 17 at a High Level Committee on Management meeting in Rome about UNHCR's doling out of contracts and senior posts by, on March 18, backing an alternative slate of four, who are currently representing the Management on one or more of the joint staff-management bodies and now seeking tardy entry into the Staff Council elections.

While the UN espouses workers' rights to organize under the International Labor Organization's principles, at UNHCR senior management attempts to impact the results of elections, to retaliate against its own critics. How this impacts the refugees the agency is supposed to serve remains to be seen. What is so far known is that UNHCR, which did not timely answer questions about the underlying jobs and contracting complaint, has now for more than a week declined to answer simple questions on safety. The wider UN has for the two days since Chadian president Deby pardoned the staff of Zoe's Ark who kidnapped over 100 children declined comment twice, including on impunity. As is often said, rot starts at the head, and impunity begins at home: the aforementioned Craig Johnstone is not listed as participating in any way in the UN's public financial disclosure program.

UNHCR sources tell Inner City Press that it has been too obvious especially during the past four months that Deputy High Commissioner Johnstone was trying to dislodge the current Staff Council at any cost. Preparations were therefore made by Johnstone to mobilize certain staff to stand for election to the new Staff Council. On 15 January 2008, the Polling Board announced that the deadline for applications was close-of-business on 28 February 2008, allowing six weeks to apply. The election date at Headquarters was supposed to be mid April. Johnstone managed during those six weeks to mobilize about nine or ten people. But when the applications were opened at the closing date at the end of the work day on February 28, it became apparent that there are about ten other people who had applied and who are not necessarily Management-oriented, thus making a total of 20 candidates standing for election to the Council's 11 posts. The proposed "Management / Johnstone team" was not assured of victory.

After the closing date for application had expired, four more staff members submitted applications but were eventually rejected as being too late. There were two or three others staff members whose applications were also rejected for the same or other reasons. But this group-of-four late applicants pushed the Polling Board, composed of seven elected Polling Officers, to accept their late applications. The Polling Board reconsidered its decision and was divided on the issue. It eventually decided by a vote, 4 against 3, not to make an exception to the deadline and the four candidates were so advised, around March 4.

Johnstone was in Rome on March 17 and 18 to participate in the High Level Committee on Management. On March 17, he heard a speech which singled out UNHCR for violation of the UN Charter by committing percentages of jobs and contracts to donor countries. The very next day, Johnstone's Executive Assistant Ms. Preeta Law said that Johnstone had given his authorization for the group of four late applicants to send a personal message to all 6400 staff members through UNHCR official distribution system, contrary to UNHCR's written policy on mass distribution of messages through the "UNHCR Broadcast" e-mail system. The distribution of the message was followed by an orchestrated campaign involving senior Officers and Deputy Directors who asked staff to send messages urging the Polling Board to change their position about the deadline and to allow late applications. Some 80 of the UNHCR's 6400 staff members reportedly sent such messages. On March 20, the Polling Board announced that it was prepared to accept late application received up to midnight on 28 February, instead of close of business, but not those received on 29 February 29 or after. The Polling Board also said that they were given to understand that the distribution of the message was authorized by "the Executive Office," meaning High Commissioner Gutteres.

Gutteres, it seems, was being questioned about whether he had authorized the mass distribution of the message of March 18. Gutteres has reportedly denied involvement and claimed that he would not take action that would interfere with the work of the Polling Board. When the Polling Board heard this, on March 28, they submitted their resignations.

Sources predict it will take a few weeks for the situation to fully unfold. In principle, if a new UNHCR Staff Council is not elected according to Chapter 8 of UN Staff Rules, the joint staff - management bodies including those responsible for making recommendations on appointments and promotions cannot be constituted after the tenures of the current ones expire, thus leaving in limbo UNHCR, its staff and most importantly the refugees who are supposed to be served.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2unhcr040108.html

Swiss Won't Disclose Amount Paid to Nicolas Michel, Top UN Lawyer, Transparency Questioned

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
and see, www.innercitypress.com/un5subsidymichel033108.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- Two weeks after it emerged that the UN's legal chief Nicolas Michel took housing subsidies from the Swiss government from 2004 into 2007, the Swiss mission to the UN has refused to disclose the value of the subsidies, monthly, annually or in total. As reported, Mr. Michel's own public financial disclosure form for 2006 did not mention the subsidies, and he has since declined to answer direct questions. On March 29, Swiss Mission spokesman Johann Aeschlimann wrote, "Dear Mr. Lee, I am not - and I will not be - providing details and figures. I indicated to you that the contribution was in the order of what is usual for Swiss diplomats, and I would like to leave it at that."

Aeschlimann had previously responded, when asked about the omission of the subsidies from Nicolas Michel's public financial disclosure form, that "this is an internal UN matter and not for us to comment." On the amount of the subsidy, he had said "the contribution started at the beginning of Mr. Michel's UN contract and it ended at the end of his contract under the previous administration (end of February 2007). The contribution was in the order of what is usual for Swiss diplomats." Inner City Press asked either for the amount, or for information on "what is usual for Swiss diplomats." Even that was not answered - but will be, it would seem, in the future.

Switzerland's Ambassador to the UN Peter Maurer earlier this year pointed out Inner City Press that "the U.S. Freedom of Information Act does not govern this organization." He spoke outside a UN Development Program Executive Board meeting, which had on its agenda a UNDP proposal to prohibit Board members from making photocopies of audits of the spending of the money they contribute. "There are different levels of sensitivity," Amb. Maurer said, "about what kind of information should be available to what kind of public. To believe that this organization is going to adopt U.S. procedures is probably illusionary."

For now, we can only peruse the Compact that Mr. Michel signed with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on February 4, 2008. The document refers to declaring conflicts of interest (page 5 of 7) and, on page 3, to "openness and transparency." Apparently, none of this extends to providing details and figures. It is, as one observer has called it, a belated, begrudging and superficial transparency.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un5subsidymichel033108.html

Russia Has "Tough Questions" for UN on Kosovo, for Georgia on Abkhazia

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
and see, www.innercitypress.com/un1churkin033108.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- "I haven't heard of any proposal for a division of Kosovo," Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told the press on Monday. "If such proposal are being entertained, it is between Serbians and Albanians, if they want to involve UNMIK," the UN Mission in Kosovo.

Inner City Press asked UN Spokesperson Michele Montas if a partition proposal has been made to UNMIK. Yes, she said, the proposal was made to UNMIK's deputy Larry Rossin. Rossin had previously been accused of improperly leaking a diplomatic proposal that had been made to him in confidence. But now it's no longer a matter of leaking: the UN's spokesperson confirms that the proposal has been made.

Asked about reports of the U.S. moving to arm the Pristina government, Ambassador Churkin called this provocative and said that, if true, the international military presence should confiscate such weapons. Amb. Churkin said "we have tough questions to ask" about UNMIK's move earlier this month to re-take the courthouse in Mitrovica. Ukraine, too, has had questions, about the rules of engagement under which one of its peacekeepers was killed. The Ukrainian interior minister, Yuriy Lutsenko, has claimed that these rules were, don't shoot until you've suffered the first injury. The head of UN peacekeeping denies that. Perhaps this will be among the "tough questions" that will be asked in the Security Council.

Inner City Press asked Amb. Churkin about the status of Georgia's request that the UN's Abkhazia peacekeeping and observer mission be reconsidered. Churkin said that the Council has repeatedly praised the Russian peacekeepers, and that, in his view, Georgia's request is a distraction from needed negotiations with the Abkhaz. "The problem is they have been doing things, like sending military into the Upper Kodori Valley," Churkin said, rather than offering socio-economic progress. In the run-up to the NATO meetings in Bucharest, Georgia has made an Abkhazia proposal, which its de facto leaders have rejected.

Summarizing his month as president of the Council, Churkin ran through the numbers: 16 official meetings, 13 consultations, five resolutions, seven press statements -- and, he pointed out, no official Presidential Statements, which require unanimity. Russia has table "elements" for such a Statement about Kosovo, but it seems unlikely they will pass. So too any Statement on Myanmar. Churkin said "we are not an elections board." But when the leader of the opposition is not allowed to run in an election, where is the elections board to condemn this?

South African's Dumisani Kumalo takes on the Council presidency for April, with thematic debates scheduled on regional cooperation (expect an appearance from African Union officials) and perhaps on small arms. There's been talk of the UK tabling a resolution on Somalia. Monday morning outside the Council, French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters, "I have to go to Somalia," referring to a meeting on the subject. "Bon voyage," one journalist quipped. "Mais c'est un beau pays," Ripert said. It's a pretty country. Yes, it is, despite everything.

Footnote: Given the questions about UNMIK one wonders what Russia -- to say nothing of Serbia -- would say if UNMIK chief Joaquim Rucker were in fact to be put forward for an Under Secretary General post such as in the Department of Management. The current holder of the post wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, blaming the ever-expanding UN budget on the member states. But only $31 million in new money was approved on March 28, according to the GA's spokesman, compared to the $1.1 billion proposal previously reported on. Days after the vote, the actual resolution was still not available. Only at the UN. To be continued.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1churkin033108.html

Bronxites Are Excluded from Metro-North Trains, As Congestion Pricing Looms

Byline: Matthew R. Lee of Inner City Press in the Bronx
and see, www.innercitypress.com/ic1mtamnrr033008.html

BRONX, N.Y., March 30 -- As New York government officials consider imposing a tax for driving into lower Manhattan, many of the Metro-North Railroad trains which stop to let off suburban riders in the Bronx refuse to take Bronx passengers on board for the last leg of the trip into Grand Central Station. When these trains stop at the Fordham Road station in the Bronx, the public address system announces that they are "discharge only" and that anyone who insists on getting on will be charged the highest possible fare. Among those excluded or over-charged are Bronxites who have paid over $140 for a monthly pass from Fordham to Grand Central.

This longstanding policy was questioned on March 26 at a public hearing of the Metro-North Railroad president Peter Cannito. Along with questions about allowing more bicycles on the MNRR trains and better policing late-night drunken riders, Inner City Press asked Mr. Cannito to explain why the company he runs, at least until later this year, denies its services to pre-paid customers in the Bronx. While several of the other MNRR board members present seem surprised that this takes place, Cannito said it is a product of an operating agreement between the states of Connecticut and New York. He said that since Connecticut pays 65% of the New Haven line's costs, they have requested that no passengers be allowed on the New Haven lines trains which stop to discharge passengers in the Bronx.

When Inner City Press questioned the social, racial and environmental justice logic of keeping paying customers from The Bronx from riding the suburban commuter trains even when they have paid, Cannito said, even if "you don't accept it," he had explained it. Another board member interjected that what Inner City Press had raised showed the "regionality of service" which is "something we are keenly aware of and working toward."

Further inquiry by Inner City Press has revealed as an explanation of the exclusion of Bronxites that the Connecticut and New York lines of the Metro-North system don't have in place a system to invoice each other for riders like Bronxites riding New Haven line trains south into Manhattan. The bureaucratic fix appears simple, unless an implicit selling-point of the New Haven line is the exclusion of more "urban" riders. While some intrepid Bronxites have found a way around the MNRR's policy of exclusion -- by buying a holding a ticket from Westchester to Grand Central, as if they had gotten on further north -- these games are not accessible to everyone, cost more and should not be necessary, particularly with congestion pricing looming.

Cannito offered a single, illusory concession. He said that MNRR is considering whether having a middle platform at the Fordham station would allow additional express trains from White Plains to stop at Fordham. But a cursory visit to the station shows that there is no room for a middle platform, and little chance of expanding the station outward, either into Fordham University where a dorm is being constructed, or out onto Webster Avenue.

Also at the hearing, a bicycle enthusiast derided late night drunken riders who, he said, often vomit in the cars. Just as a designated quiet car had been proposed, he suggested what he called a "designated pukers car."

The evening's final witness said she had observed phone sex and, to be diplomatic, onanism on a recent late night ride. (She specified that the caller sprawled out across three seats and while touching his groin with one hand, cell phone in the other.) She said that "as a woman of color," it made her feel unsafe. One wag in the back of the MTA meeting room muttered, "And everyone else likes it?" What Metro-North will do about any of these issues remains to be seen.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ic1mtamnrr033008.html

Inner City Press

Saturday, April 12, 2008

On Deby's Chad Evictions, France Offers then Amends Defense, Claims No Deal on Zoe's Ark

Top Post in UN Women's Agency Slated for Spain in "Donor-Driven Process," $700 Million Echoes

Banning the Olympics, To Skip Beijing Games, UN's Ban Cites "Scheduling Issues"

Banning the Olympics, To Skip Beijing Games, UN's Ban Cites "Scheduling Issues"

At UN, Some Call Management Reform an Oxymoron, G to P Barriers and Breakaway UNDP, Ban Soldiers On

UN Refugee Agency Workers Impacted by Algiers Bombing Were Uninsured, Funds Diverted, Sources Say

From Comoros to Yacht Taken by Somalia Pirates, France Looms Large in African Seas, UN Not in Sight

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

At UN's Rwanda Genocide Commemoration, Questions of Ex-Interhamwe FDLR, Darfur and UNDP's Callixte Mbarushimana

UN Bans Interns from its Bar, Pictures on Facebook and Long Lines for Beer Led Two Delegations to Complain

Sunday, April 6, 2008

At UN, Serbia's Vuk Jeremic Speaks of Kosovo, Says Ruecker "Doesn't Deserve" Higher UN Post

UNICEF, Still Without Gucci's Money, Dodges German Scandal, Answers on Heroin in Sri Lanka, Does Good

UN Assembly's President Is Employed By Media Group, Refuses to Disclose Payments, Stepping To Reform

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

UN Development Program "Launders Money" in Latin America, Chart and Sources Say

At UN Refugee Agency, Labor Power Plays and No Comment on Safety or Zoe's Ark Pardons

Swiss Won't Disclose Amount Paid to Nicolas Michel, Top UN Lawyer, Transparency Questioned

Russia Has "Tough Questions" for UN on Kosovo, for Georgia on Abkhazia

Bronxites Are Excluded from Metro-North Trains, As Congestion Pricing Looms

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