On Sri Lanka, UN's Ban Says "Never Again" to Call for Ceasefire or Suspension

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unscsri5lanka040709.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 -- With the situation for civilians trapped between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers growing more dire by the day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on April 7 was asked if he is calling for a ceasefire. Mr. Ban's 127-word answer, while describing two phone calls to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, did not use the word ceasefire, or even Ban's previous phrases, a suspension of fighting or humanitarian pause.

Inner City Press noted, both in Monday's UN noon briefing and later to Mr. Ban himself, that "it is unclear whether you are asking actually for a ceasefire." In response, Ban expressed "hope that the Sri Lankan Government takes all necessary measures so that these civilians can move freely, without any danger, without threat, to the safety zone." Video here, from Minute 13.

By the UN's repeated admission, dozens are being killed each day. (Click here for the UN casualty estimate leaked to Inner City Press, and here for video of the UN's response.) Senior UN officials have told Inner City Press on background that in Ban's office on the UN's 38th floor, there is talk that many more civilians may be killed in further fighting in and bombing of the so-called No Fire Zone. Why then has Ban Ki-moon backtracked even on calling for a temporary cessation of the fighting, as he did when Inner City Press asked him on February 23?

President Rajapaksa has said he will not be pressured by the international community, and that the military offensive will continue until the end. After that, Ban backed away from his call for a suspension of bombing, fighting and killing. As his spokesperson clarified at Tuesday's noon briefing, the New York Times' report on April 6 that Ban had the previous day called for "an immediate cease-fire" was and is not true. Ban may ultimately wish that he had, but he has and is not.

Earlier on April 7, Ban had attended a memorial for the victims in Rwanda in 1994, where the UN is widely acknowledged as having done far too little as civilians were being killed. In fact, Ban was asked "the UN has been accused of cowardice for standing aside in Rwanda fifteen years ago... What is your reaction?"

Ban replied, "I attended a very solemn meeting this afternoon, and I again expressed my resolve, as Secretary-General, that I will do all in my power not to repeat this kind of human tragedy."

Here is the UN's own transcription of Inner City Press' question and Ban's answer on Sri Lanka:

Inner City Press: Given that there are about 100,000 civilians trapped in Sri Lanka between the Government and the Tamil Tigers, it is unclear whether you are asking actually for a ceasefire. Have you asked the Government to not try to go into the conflict zone in a way that can’t hurt the civilians? What is the UN’s thinking on Sri Lanka at this time?

S-G Ban Ki-moon: I have spoken on many occasions with President [Mahinda] Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka. As you know, I have sent OCHA [Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] Under-Secretary-General, John Holmes. Even most recently, I have spoken with President Rajapaksa on the necessity and importance of protecting the human rights of civilians who have been trapped in the fighting zones. I again hope that the Sri Lankan Government takes all necessary measures so that these civilians can move freely, without any danger, without threat, to the safety zone. At the same time, the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] must fully cooperate with the Government in allowing these civilians so that they can move freely from this war zone. These are basic human rights and basic humanitarian matters.

As several reporters noted after Ban's answer, he did not use the word ceasefire, nor even suspension of fighting. Soon Ban will travel to Laos then the ASEAN meeting in Thailand. North Korea's rocket launch will be the hottest topic. By then, what will be the situation in northern Sri Lanka? Watch this site.

Footnote: earlier on April 7, Inner City Press had asked Ban's spokesperson

Inner City Press: yesterday, there was a New York Times story -– this is also on Sri Lanka –- saying that “in his call Sunday for an immediate cease-fire, Ban Ki-moon” blah, blah, blah. Did I miss something? Was there a statement Sunday calling for an immediate ceasefire as regards Sri Lanka?

Spokesperson Montas: No. Not on Sunday.

Inner City Press: Has he called for a ceasefire?

Spokesperson: No, he has called for stopping hostilities –- a pause –- which we mentioned before.

And then even that was gone...

Click here for a new YouTube video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian deaths in Sri Lanka.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unscsri5lanka040709.html

On North Korean Missile, UN Council's Failure to Launch Called "Cautious" by China

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unsc4dprk040509.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 5 -- The Security Council meeting on North Korea broke up Sunday evening with a whisp of a press statement, and a seemingly illusory promise of "constructive consultation" on getting a Council resolution to condemn North Korea's missile launch. The most telling on-camera comment came from China's Ambassador Zhang Yesui, who said that the Council's response must be "cautious and proportionate."

Council sources tell Inner City Press that during the consultations, China said that a press statement, and nothing more, certainly not a resolution, would be the appropriate response to North Korea's launch. Inner City Press asked Council president Claude Heller of Mexico point blank to confirm that China said this. That's something to ask China, Ambassador Heller replied.

China's reasoning emerged in background interviews with other diplomats. (Zhang Yesui refused all questions at the stakeout, his spokesman saying that he had to rush to meetings with the American mission.) Japan's Ambassador Yukio Takasu offered a summary of the past decade of North Korean launches and attempted launches, in 1998, 2006 and now. China is noting that in 1998, all the Council did was issue a press statement. So there is precedent for that approach, in their view. And that is all they need.

Others argue that this present launch violates 2006's Resolution 1918, which prohibited acts related to ballistic missile technology. But, the reply argument goes, if North Korea has a right to develop space, how else can they launch their satellites? And if Resolution 1718 was intended to have the effect of barring their development of space, it should have spelled that out.

Inner City Press asked Ambassador Takasu if the issues of human rights or the Japanese abductees came up, and if China had indeed said a press statement is all that is appropriate. "That is not my position," Ambassador Takasu replied, leaning away from the microphone, leaving the questions of human rights and abductees unanswered. So too with U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice: she was already leaving the microphone as human rights as a question was posed by Inner City Press. There was no answer. But there may be answers to all this, later this week. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc4dprk040509.html

As UN Council Meets on N. Korea Missile, China With Leverage, Japan in a Box

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unsc3dprk040509.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 5, updated -- As Japan's requested Security Council meeting on North Korea's missile shot begins in New York, the expectations raised in Tokyo constrain the action and portend disappointment. Before the missile's flight, talk on the issue around the Council centered on whether Japan could obtain new sanctions in a resolution, or might have to accept a non-binding Presidential Statement. After a week of inquiries with Council diplomats, Inner City Press has preliminarily concluded that China is the winner, if there is one, from this missile launch.

China has a rationale to block a new sanctions resolution -- North Korea's claim that it was only a satellite, to which it has a right. China also prefers the Six Party Talks formula, which it can control better than it can the Security Council. (The same might be said of the United States.) So now that the missile has flown, what could convince China not a veto a resolution condemning North Korea?

Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity tell Inner City Press that China can extract explicit or implicit commitments for allowing even a watered-down resolution to get through. These might include laying off on what little pressure there has been of late on Myanmar for democratization.

Inner City Press at midnight on April 4 reported and uploaded Japan's letter to Council president Claude Heller, and Heller's spokesman's confirmation that the consultations would begin at 3. At 2:30, there was already a buzz outside the Council, and a crush of journalists, a high percentage of which represent Japanese media. Inner City Press is set up and will be posting updates on this site. Stay tuned.

Update of 3:09 p.m. -- as Ambassadors push through the press scrum, some stop for short statements on camera at the stakeout. France's Ripert says they're seeking unanimity. Japan's Takasu said "Thank God" actual physical damage wasn't done. U.S. Ambassador Rice takes no questions, the UK's Karen Pierce rushes straight into the chamber. China is off-stage, holding the cards...

A Western diplomat tells Inner City Press that no resolution is possible today, because they'd have to check with capitals. At most, a non-binding statement, and perhaps not even that.

For more updates, see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc3dprk040509.html

On Sri Lanka, UN's Ban Drops Call for Suspension of Fighting, Vague on Aerial Bombing

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unscsri4lanka040309.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- Weeks after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for a suspension of fighting in Sri Lanka, his Office's follow-up statement on April 3 omitted the request. Rather, apparently implementing the UN's new strategy of putting more pressure on the Tamil Tiger rebels than the government, Ban's Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq read out a statement that the Tamil Tigers are violating international humanitarian law, while the government is merely "reminded of its obligations."

Inner City Press asked, what happened to the call for a suspension of fighting? Video here, from Minute 15:45. Mr. Haq pointed to the statement he had just read out, which did not refer to a suspension of cessation of fighting, much less to a ceasefire. When Inner City Press first asked Ban about the killing in Sri Lanka, Ban said he could not call for a ceasefire because Sri Lanka was not on the Security Council's agenda.

After then-President of the Council Yukio Takasu told Inner City Press that Ban's statement is not what the UN Charter says, Ban called for a suspension of fighting. But Sri Lanka's president has said he will not give in to international pressure and that the fighting will continue. Inner City Press asked for a reply from Ban, but none was given. Then on April 3 there issued a prepared statement omitting any call for a suspension of fighting.

Ironically, Haq then read out a statement by the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs which described "aerial bombing of the No-Fire Zone" in northern Sri Lanka. Particularly given the reports that the Tamil Tigers' rag-tag air force has been destroyed, to say "aerial bombing" is to say "Sri Lankan government," but to omit saying those words. Why? To jibe with Ban's new strategy of accusing the Tigers of law-breaking and merely reminding the government of obligations?

A senior UN official has told Inner City Press that this is the UN's strategy, since the government of Sri Lanka has so openly ignored Ban's calls: to pressure instead the Tamil Tigers and their supporters overseas, threatening prosecutions, and to "lay off" the government. Given the number of deaths that have been caused by shelling and aerial bombing by the government, to "lay off" is to be complicit.

Click here for a new YouTube video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian deaths in Sri Lanka.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unscsri4lanka040309.html

Does UNRWA Break (Law) with Commercial Bank of Syria, Ging Answers for Ban

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/gaza1cbs040309.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was on Capitol Hill on March 11, he was asked if the UN Relief and Works Agency has accounts with the Commercial Bank of Syria, which is on US anti-money laundering lists. Inner City Press asked Ban's head of Peacekeeping, Alain Le Roy, to confirm that the issue arose in Ban's meeting with the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It was asked, Le Roy confirmed, and Ban said he would look into it. Inner City Press asked Ban's Deputy Spokesperson about it again on March 17, and she read out a prepared answer:

UNRWA maintains its primary banking relationships -– and all donor contributions –- with reputable international banks, including JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas and Bank Austria Vienna. The Agency distributes on a weekly basis to field offices operationally required funds to banks in the relevant area of operations. In this context, UNRWA uses the Arab Bank for transactions in the West Bank and the Commercial Bank of Syria, which until recently held a State monopoly on all banking operations in Syria and remains the only bank to provide the full extent of services throughout the country, for local transactions, such as the payment of staff salary.

Thus, the UN said it was still using Commercial Bank of Syria, and said it was the only bank it could use.

On April 3, UNRWA's chief of Gaza operations John Ging held a press conference in New York. On this, Inner City Press asked if it is appropriate for UNRWA to be using a bank on US anti-money laundering lists. Ging answered that the question was "above his pay grade," but went on to say that UNRWA would never do anything illegal, and that the issue "is established" with the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury. Video here, from Minute 1:06:52.

From this, most concluded that the allegations about CBS were wrong, that dealing with it was legal and would continue. But in fact, Ging the previous day in Washington had said that

"UNRWA has stopped using the Commercial Bank of Syria for financial transactions, which the United States says has been used by terrorists to transfer funds. He said the agency used the institution because it had a "massive network of offices," but has conferred with U.S. State and Treasury department officials in recent weeks and is now looking for a different bank."

So on this the question is, is it that UNRWA would never do anything illegal, or would stop once it was spotlighted, but after the UN reflexively defended the practice?

Footnote: Ging stayed after Friday's briefing and answered more questions. Inner City Press asked about reports that Fatah is blocking the release of Gaza patients needing treatment outside the Strip. Ging to his credit agreed that this was happening, and said UNRWA is trying to solve the problem by accompanying patients. He also committed to provide information about UNRWA's request for cash to get into the Gaza strip, to pay a long list of pending bill that can apparently only be paid in cash. The information will be reviewed and reported upon receipt.

Click here for a new YouTube video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian deaths in Sri Lanka.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/gaza1cbs040309.html

Nkunda and UN's Expulsion of NGO Not Considered by Rights Committee

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/hrun1rwanda040309.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- The UN Human Rights Committee, which has held most of its just-concluded session in New York in meetings closed to the press and public, emerged Friday to speak at length in what was called a press conference on three countries -- Rwanda, Australia and Sweden -- leaving less than ten minutes for questions.

Inner City Press asked if the Committee's consideration of Rwanda included support given to militia leader Laurent Nkunda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, separately, the issue of criminalizing the use of the names of ethnic group, Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa.

Committee member Ruth Wedgwood, who had spoken at length about Rwanda and Sweden, said that support of Nkunda has not been considered, adding "the ICC has a case on him, if I recall." But International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has not indicted Nkunda, but only his deputy Bosco, who now apparently works, like the UN, with the DRC's army.

Ms. Wedgwood said the situation of the Batwa had been discussed -- "with the Ambassador, who's here," she said, pointing. Rwanda's Permanent Representative Joseph Nsengimana was sitting in the press briefing room, taking notes. Often, diplomats are barred from the briefing room unless their Mission sponsored the presentation. Despite Ambassador Nsengimana's always pleasant demeanor, whether the general limitation to attendance to the press should be violated to let in representatives of the countries being reported on is something the UN should consider.

Inner City Press also asked the panel, which had twice mentioned receiving information from non-governmental organizations or NGOs, if they were aware that the UN's Committee on NGOs recently disbarred at least for a year the human rights NGO Arab Commission on Human Rights. As Inner City Press covered exclusively, Algeria complained that ACHR in Geneva had let a person speak who was, Algeria said, a terrorist. The group was disbarred. Inner City Press asked if the Human Rights Committee monitors the expulsion of some human rights groups from the UN. No, Ms. Wedgwood said, I am not aware of their hearing process. It seems like something the Committee should be concerned about.

There was only one other questioner, about the just-announced appointment of Richard Goldstone as part of the Gaza investigation by the Human Rights Council. (The Council is made up of governments, the Committee by "independent experts.") Panelist Nigel Rodley replied drily that the Committee does not cover current events. Committee head Yuji Iwasawa, however, did say that drafting of a General Comment on Article 19, freedom of expression, has begun. One wonders how it might related to the Council's recent resolution against the "defamation of religion." On that, Inner City Press asked earlier if Ban Ki-moon had any comment. He did not.

There was no time on Friday to ask Australia questions, and only one on Sweden: an extradition threatened in 2008 back to Eritrea, which the UN's own Committee on Torture complained about (and stopped, or delayed). The Human Rights Committee, in considering Sweden's implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, apparently did not consider this case. Given the number of closed meetings that they had, one wonders what they do.

Footnote: A fourth country, Chad, was let off the hook because its delegation arrived late and nothing could be scheduled. They will re-appear in Geneva in July. So who paid for the failed trip to New York, and what did the Chadian delegation do?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/hrun1rwanda040309.html

Cash Demanded by UNA-USA from UN Job Seekers, UNA-USA Asked of $1.6 Billion

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/una1usajobs040209.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 -- How much is getting a job at the UN worth? The question is raised tonight by an event at the UN Association of New York, in which $10 admission is being charged to hear to UN officials speak. The flier says, "Are you intrigued by how to get a job at the United Nations... Join for a $25 introductory membership and attend for free." Otherwise, admission is $10.

Inner City Press has written to both the UN Association of New York and to the larger UN Association of the USA (UNA-USA) of which it is a part, asking on deadline how this does not violate General Assembly Resolution 92(I), which provides that

"Members of the United Nations should take such legislative or other appropriate measures as are necessary to prevent the use, without authorization by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and in particular for commercial purposes by means of trademarks or commercial labels, of the emblem, the official seal and the name of the United Nations, and of abbreviations of that name through the use of its initial letters"

To charge admission to hear UN officials tell how to get UN jobs clearly seems to a commercial purpose.

The two UN officials, Nelly Keita and John Ericson, are part of the Office of Human Resources Management, which in turn is part of the Department of Management, headed by Angela Kane. Ms. Kane has previously said that she does not have time to answer such questions, to ask them at the UN's noon briefing.

At a recent noon briefing, UN spokesperson Michele Montas was asked the basis for the use by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his officials of a figure of $1.6 billion as how much the U.S. owes to the UN. Ms. Montas told the reporter that she had the information upstairs, then from there said to ask UNA-USA.

So Inner City Press, along with the request on deadline to explain the $10 (or $25) charge to hear UN officials, has asked for support for and details about the $1.6 billion figure. It was used as Ban called the U.S. the "biggest deadbeat" while reading from talking points prepared, Inner City Press has been told, by the UN Information Center in Washington.

When answers are provided, they will be published on this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/una1usajobs040209.html

Cash Demanded from UN Job Seekers by UNA-USA, UN Speaker Has No Comment

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- “Never pay money to try to get a UN job,” the man from the UN told a ballroom of job seekers ten blocks from the UN on Thursday night.

To get in to hear the man from the UN Office of Human Resources Management speak, each attendee had to pay either $10 or, in a package deal, $25 to also join the UN Association - USA. It was apparent, then, that contrary to what the man from the UN said -- as well as in seeming violation of a UN General Assembly resolution -- money was being charged to hear how to try to get a UN job.

Earlier on Thursday, a person lured to the event by a flier from UNA-USA sent the flier to Inner City Press, calling the demand for money to hear from the UN “disgusting." While that seemed a bit strong to Inner City Press -- $10 is not a huge amount of money -- it seemed surprising that an organization as intertwined with the UN as USA-USA would use the UN in this way. The flier says, "Are you intrigued by how to get a job at the United Nations... Join for a $25 introductory membership and attend for free." Otherwise, admission was listed at $10.

Inner City Press sent a question on deadline to both UNA-USA and its New York branch, asking if the charge didn't violation a UNGA resolution, 92(I). Having received no answer even after deadline, Inner City Press walked ten block to check out the event, held in the basement ballroom of Hungary's mission to the UN.

The two people manning the door demanded ten dollars from Inner City Press. Another person going in paid $25, for entrance and a membership in UNA-USA. He paid cash, as did Inner City Press, to which no receipt was offered, and no contact information taken.

Inside, two UN speakers painted a rosy picture of four month maternity leave, four week paternity leave, extra pay for language posts and “automatic” promotion from the P-2 to P-3 grade. When the question and answer period arrive, Inner City Press sought to ask a question.

General Assembly Resolution 92(I) provides that

"Members of the United Nations should take such legislative or other appropriate measures as are necessary to prevent the use, without authorization by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and in particular for commercial purposes by means of trademarks or commercial labels, of the emblem, the official seal and the name of the United Nations, and of abbreviations of that name through the use of its initial letters"

To charge admission to hear UN officials tell how to get UN jobs clearly seems to be a commercial purpose.

A representative of UNA-USA, which had not answered the written question earlier in the day about the appropriateness of charging money to those seeking UN jobs, sought not to hand the microphone to Inner City Press. But eventually it could not be avoided.

Inner City Press asked the UN speaker if it was appropriate that money had been charged to hear his presentation, and about those who work for the UN for eleven months and then face enforced lay-offs, so like at Wal-Mart they never attain full rights.

The UN speaker -- John Ericson -- said, “That's really a question for UNA-USA,” whose representative proceeded to take the microphone from Inner City Press and say, more to the crowd, that none of this money went to the UN. But that was not the point: UNA-USA was charging money to those wanting UN jobs, and the UN was speaking about jobs in an event people had to pay to attend.

In fact, another UN source tells Inner City Press that the two OHRM staffers did not know, prior to the event, that UNA-USA was charging money. Let us say, then, that the UN will agree that it was inappropriate. What next? UNA-USA should at a minimum offer refunds to those whom they inappropriately charged money. But how? Inner City Press bears witness that cash was accepted without receipts being given or contact information taken. Perhaps UNA-USA should publish a legal notice in a newspaper offering the refunds that should be required.

As Mexico Heads UN Council, Sri Lanka Discussed, "Nightmare" May Be Closer

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/unscsri3lanka040209.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 -- As the UN Security Council's president is taken over by Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller for April, Heller on April 2 told the Press that he is open to additional briefings on the "important" situation in Sri Lanka. Inner City Press asked why, despite what the UN counts as 100,000 civilians still trapped between the government's soldiers and the Tamil Tiger rebels, Sri Lanka did not formally appear on the Council's program of work for April, distributed Thursday at noon.

"You know very well in the Security Council there are different criteria on Sri Lanka," Ambassador Heller answered. Some countries say it is "not part of the agenda... others, we have maintained, it is important." He called the Council's two briefings to date of "great value," and said "I don't exclude us doing more on the same track." Video here, from Minute 19:23.

Ambassador Heller noted that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has "taken the initiative to talk" with President Rajapaksa, and that the UN's top humanitarian John Holmes has visited some of the country, but not the conflict zone. [Click here for footage of Holmes' March 26 answers on Sri Lanka.] He might have added the just-begun staged visit of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kaelin, on which we hope to report.

Heller did not, however, address the statement by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa after Holmes' visit and Ban Ki-moon's phone calls that "we will not cave into pressures from any international quarters, locally and internationally, and will not stop until the war is completely over."

If Sri Lanka were on the Council's agenda, as countries like Haiti and Guinea-Bissau are, along with Sudan, Somalia and Georgia, statements like President Rajapaksa's would be subject to formal discussion by Council members. Even Colombia, which bristles when raised in the Council, is along with Sri Lanka listed in Annex II of the reports of the Council's Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, which Heller has chaired since January.

Inner City Press asked Heller about his work as chair of the Group. Heller replied, among other things, that a meeting is soon needed, and that Sri Lanka, along with Myanmar, will be raised at it. Heller said that human rights issues in Sri Lanka, some countries feel, should not come up in the Security Council but "elsewhere in the UN." But where?

Sri Lanka's government, meanwhile, accuses those who raise the issue of the plight of civilians at the UN Human Rights Council, which the US now wants to join, as being "LTTE supporters." This is similar to Israel saying that all those who called for a ceasefire in Gaza are supporters of Hamas, or saying that those concerned about Darfurians must be supporters of the Justice and Equality Movement rebels, themselves like the LTTE documented to have recruited child soldiers.

With the Security Council presidency passing from Libya, which opposed any discussion of Sri Lanka, to Mexico which was the first to request Council meetings on the topic, as Inner City Press exclusively reported on February 5, it seems inevitable that the issue is more likely to be addressed in April.

But how much more likely, and addressed how? UN officials speaking to Inner City Press on background have already described their "nightmare scenario" of tens of thousands of civilians being killed in a final stand-off. A March 9 UN document has emerged in which the UN predicts just such a fight to the finish. As the civilian death toll rises, culpability will be apportioned.

Click here for a new YouTube video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian deaths in Sri Lanka.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unscsri3lanka040209.html

Subprime Survivors Wells, BofA and JPM Chase More Disparate By Race in US in 2008, Study During G-20 Meeting Finds

www.innercitypress.com/ffw2data040209.html

NEW YORK, April 2 -- In the first study of the just-released 2008 mortgage lending data, Fair Finance Watch has found that the seeming survivors of the banking meltdown, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, had worse disparities by race and ethnicity in denials and higher-cost lending than the banks they acquired, Wachovia and Countrywide. Mortgage lending in the U.S. will become more and not less disparate because of the emergency mergers and bailouts engineered by the regulators, the FFW study predicts.

Fair Finance Watch notes that JPMorgan Chase's massive closing of branches of Washington Mutual will also make credit harder to come by, especially in poor neighborhoods. 2008 is the fifth year in which the data distinguishes which loans are higher cost, over the federally-defined rate spread of 3 percent over the yield on Treasury securities of comparable duration on first lien loans, 5 percent on subordinate liens.

Wells Fargo Bank in 2008 confined African Americans to higher-cost loans above this rate spread 2.18 times more frequently than whites, according to Fair Finance Watch. Wachovia Mortgage FSB, the largest lender of Wachovia which Wells Fargo acquired, had a lower disparity, at 1.46.

Bank of America NA in 2008 confined Latinos to higher-cost loans above the rate spread 1.51 times more frequently than whites, the data show. Countrywide Bank, which B of A acquired, had a lower disparity, at 1.22.

JPMorgan Chase was even more disparate to Latinos, confined them to higher-cost loans 2.10 times more frequently than whites, almost as pronounced as its disparity between African-Americans and whites, 2.26. Citigroup, perhaps due to its shrinking, some say dying, business had disparities of 1.90 for African Americans and 1.23 for Latinos. For US Bancorp, the disparity for African Americans was 1.55 and for Latinos, 1.35.

"The banks the regulators favored in 2008, allowing emergency takeovers like JPMorgan Chase's of Washington Mutual, Bank of America's of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, and Wells Fargo's of Wachovia, were the most racial disparate lenders," states the Fair Finance Watch report. "The regulators did not put any conditions on the mergers or Troubled Assets Relief Program bailouts, for example allowing Chase to close dozens of Washington Mutual branches. As things are going, it will be worse and more disparate in 2009. The new administration in Washington has yet to make any substantive change to this, and global predatory lending is hardly being discussed at the G-20 meeting in London."

Several lenders had worse denial rate disparities in 2008 between Latinos and whites then between African American and whites, a change from previous years. Bank of America NA, for example, denied applications by African Americans 1.44 times more frequently than whites, while denying Latinos fully 1.57 times more frequently than whites. Atlanta-based SunTrust in 2008 denied applications by African Americans 1.37 times more frequently than whites, while denying Latinos fully 1.78 times more frequently than whites.

The law required that the 2008 data be provided by April 1, following March 1 requests by Inner City Press. Some lenders did not provide their data by the deadline. Regions Financial provided its data at the deadline but only in paper format, on over 2000 pages, so that it could not yet be computer-analyzed. Further studies will follow.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ffw2data040209.html

As US Moves to Join UN Human Rights Council, Kenyan Activists Threatened, No Witness Protection

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/hrc1obamaky033109.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- The day before the Obama administration announced it will seek a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, a practical flaw in the Council's work was raised at the UN in New York. In Nairobi, dozens of human rights activists who spoke with UN special rapporteur Philip Alston's report to the HRC on killings by Kenyan police are in hiding, their lives threatened for their cooperation with the UN's human rights machinery.

At the UN's March 30 noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Michele Montas if the UN is aware of the activists' plight and if it is providing or arranging for any protection for them.

"The Human Rights Council does not have its own security services," Ms. Montas said, "if that’s what you’re asking." Video here.

And that was it: the UN and its HRC apparently provide no protection to witnesses or cooperators. Worse, when HRC special rapporteur Thomas Ojeda visited Myanmar, he flew around in a military helicopter. Little wonder he didn't hear from those whose rights are most violated by Than Shwe's regime, the Rohingya and Karen people, and had nothing to say when lengthy prison terms for dissidents were announced just after his trip.

Another recent controversy at the HRC was the passage last week of a resolution opposing “defamation of religion.” Inner City Press asked Ms. Montas if Ban Ki-moon had any comment on the resolutions relation to the freedom of information enshrined in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. No, Ms. Montas said, he has no comment. While the US State Department is on record opposing such limitations on free speech, what is their position and plan on the HRC's lack of witness protection, and the plight of human rights activists in Kenya and elsewhere? We'll see.

The March 30 Q&A:

Inner City Press Question: Okay. I wanted to ask about two issues about Kenya. One is that there are these reports following up on Philip Alston’s report about police killings in Kenya that some 30 human rights activist and lawyers have gone into hiding because they think they’re going to be killed because they cooperated with the UN on the report. Is the UN aware of it, and what’s the UN going to do for people that actually worked with the UN on this report?

Spokesperson Montas: This report was made to the Human Rights Council and it is a matter for the Human Rights Council to take decisions on.

Inner City Press Question: But if it’s true what these people say that they’re in fear of their life because they cooperate with the UN, does the Human Rights Council have any safety or security service? What’s the procedure?

Spokesperson: The Human Rights Council does not have its own security services, if that’s what you’re asking.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/hrc1obamaky033109.html

In Sudan, Eight UN Armored Personnel Carriers Languish, Corruption Alleged

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN
www.innercitypress.com/unapc1darfur040109.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- In Port Sudan, eight armored personnel carriers intended to be used to protect civilians in Darfur are sitting idle, the UN confirmed on March 31. While the UN and others often affirmatively complain of the Sudanese government blocking or delaying equipment in the port, this case is more complex, and the UN said nothing about it until asked by Inner City Press.

Beyond a written answer saying that Nepalis have been sent for training to the Czech Republic, on background UN Peacekeeping sources say one problem is that "since military equipment sent to Maoist Nepal goes in but doesn't come out, it has to be directly delivered" to the UN Peacekeeping Mission where it will be used. There has to be a better way.

Inner City Press inquired at the March 31 noon briefing into the UN's delay in paying Nepal for the APCs and other gear to accompany the Nepali formed police unit in Darfur:

Inner City Press: There are reports of these Nepalese foreign police units that were sent to Darfur, have been there for five months, and none of their equipment has yet been delivered to them. There are some complaints, and a UN investigation in Nepal, about why it hasn’t reached Darfur, why the country hasn’t been paid. And someone said that the armored personnel carriers they sent are, in fact, second-hand, which is why they have not been transferred nor has the country been paid. Are you aware of that, and what’s…

Spokesperson Michele Montas: I think you should address your question to the Spokesperson of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Inner City Press: DPKO or Department of Field Support?

Spokesperson: DPKO would be the one.

Inner City Press: Okay. There’s an investigation in Nepal. That’s why I’m wondering whether there’s some knowledge…

Spokesperson: You know, it’s a DPKO issue.

Since the Office of the Spokesperson, which holds the UN's noon briefing every day, often speaks about peacekeeping issues, they seemed to be the ones to ask. But in this case, DPKO came through later on Tuesday with an answer:

Subj: Question on Nepal FPU
From: DPKO
To: Inner City Press
CC: Office of the Spokesperson
Sent: 3/31/2009 7:09:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time

Hi Matthew, regarding your question at the Noon Briefing , here's what we have for you:

There is a Nepalese formed police unit (140 strong), which has deployed to Nyala with all of its own equipment, except for eight armored personnel carriers (APCs) of Czech origin. The APCs have not been deployed from Port Sudan yet as the training package for these vehicles was not able to deploy in country due to visa restrictions on the technicians. To fix this, there's now an agreement now in place to send a Nepalese police personnel to the Czech Republic for training with these APCs.

The level of detail is appreciated. The head of the UN's Department of Field Services, Susana Malcorra, is as luck would have it in Darfur's Nyala. In Nepal, they are saying that the APCs were donated by India and repainted, that they might even be used and not new. Inner City Press has asked, as follow-up.

It is also reported in Nepal that

The reason the UN has not paid back the Nepal Police: most of the goods sent from Nepal are yet to arrive in Sudan and even the goods that have reached the African country have been found to be substandard. The goods include kitchen appliances, first aid kits, daily utilities, water tanks and cleaning and supervision equipment. As a result, the Nepal Police is losing out on the monthly U.S. $21,835 installment it gets from the U.N...

The amount of embezzlement in the whole affair is breathtaking. According to Nepal Police records, over Rs. 5.1 million was spent just in “repair and coloring” of 17 India-donated vehicles packed off to Sudan. Some high-ranking police insiders suspect the eight APCs stuck in the Sudanese port to be second-hand vehicles. Some other goods the police fund paid for -- for instance, night vision binoculars (Rs 9.1 million) and distance-measuring equipment (Rs 2.3 million) -- have not reached Sudan. Food material worth over Rs 4.6 million sent to Sudan has also been found to be substandard or rotting. Perhaps the most shocking fact is that the quoted value of almost every goods item sent is up to three times their normal market price....

The Home Ministry wrote to Nepal Police Headquarters asking it to investigate the sordid affair. The police, in response, has sent the Home Ministry a detailed report on the issue. The Home Ministry, for its part, has also set up a separate committee to probe the matter further. The Committee for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is expected to institute its own investigation in the not too distant future.

So things do not sound as hunky-dory as DPKO in New York makes them out to be. But at least they answered -- the same day, at that! We will continue to follow this, including the issues raised concerning "direct delivery" to UN Peacekeeping missions of military hardware for deployments from Nepal and other troop (and police) contributing countries.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unapc1darfur040109.html

Little Law & Order at the UN, Guinea Crimes Taint Ban's Eulogy

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unlaw1guinea040109.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- Uganda's notorious rebel movement, the Lord's Resistance Army, made a rare appearance on American network television on March 31. It was not on a news program or documentary, but rather as part of the plot of an episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. A homeless man find a Uganda girl in a vacant lot, slashed across the throat and barely alive. The show's detectives follow leads to a church in Staten Island then back to Harlem, where a former LRA child soldier lives with other refugees. He in turn leads them to “the Devil of Gulu,” now working as a janitor and described as nearly indicted by the International Criminal Court before he left the region.

In the run-up to the episode's airing, when the United Nations spokesperson twice promoted the show and the UN's role in it -- CNN covered it as the first use of the UN premises by a network TV program -- Inner City Press had guessed that it would portray LRA leader Joseph Kony, indicted by the ICC and on the run in Congo. But if Law & Order is indeed “ripped from the headlines,” this Devil of Gulu is based on a lower ranking LRA captain.

After several plot twists, the show says that the U.S. government will extradite the Devil of Gulu to the ICC in the Hague. With the U.S. still not a member of the ICC, it is not known if this would or could happen. At a UN Security Council end of presidency reception this week at Libya House, the topic arose, whether the U.S. could or would arrest and extradite to the Hague Sudan's President Omar al Bashir if he came to the U.S..

The UN itself made only slight appearances in the episode. A New York City prosecutor enters through the 46th Street gate and talks with a former law school classmate, now with UNHCR, who arranges for her to receive LRA photographs from the ICC in the Hague. The same character appears in the 42nd Street driveway, explaining that the UN would not consider a person who began as a child soldier to later be guilty of war crimes, even if he or she continued serving after hitting age 18. Finally, the detectives walk on a ramp in the visitors' lobby. That's it.

Contrary to what UN officials breathlessly projected to Inner City Press during the panel discussion at the UN about another TV show, Battlestar Galactica, there was no quote at the end of the Law & Order episode from the UN's expert on children and armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy. The UN building appeared three times, in passing; the only UN system speaker was a representative of the Geneva-based refugee agency, UNHCR. As the spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon routinely points out, the ICC is not a UN body. So was this really Law & Order, the UN edition?

Footnote: at a higher-brow level of the culture, complete with white wine and mini quiches 12 floors above the UN entrance across First Avenue, the International Peace Institute on the same night as the Law & Order episode offered a by-invitation only dualogue between outgoing New York Times bureau chief for West Africa, Lydia Polgreen and former Times reporter Warren Hogue, now IPI vice president. In the nature of a question, Hogue said among other things that IPI is studying the effect of drug trans-shipment on the stability of states in West Africa.

Ms. Polgreen replied about the assassination of leaders in Guinea-Bissau, and the military takeover in Guinea Conakry. That followed the death by natural causes of the country's longtime dictator Lansana Conte, whose passing triggered a laudatory statement by the UN's Ban Ki-moon. Shortly thereafter, a series of confessions including by Conte's son on Guinean television made clear that the leader praised by Ban had used his position and even diplomatic pouch and privileges to traffic drugs to Europe. There has been no retraction or clarification of Ban's eulogy. Is this Law and Order?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unlaw1guinea040109.html

With Helen Clark at UNDP, Ad Melkert Is "Expected" to Leave, Dervis' Stealth Service

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/undp2clark033109.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- A game of musical chairs has begun in the UN system, starting with today's confirmation of New Zealand's former prime minister Helen Clark as the replacement for Turkey's Kemal Dervis at the top of the UN Development Program. Hours before the General Assembly meeting to cap Clark's selection, it emerged that Dervis had quietly been named a Special Adviser to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for the upcoming G-20 meeting in London.

The UN had never announced Dervis' appointment, but when Inner City Press asked about a quote from Dervis in the Turkish Press about the appointment, Ban's spokeswoman Michele Montas confirmed it. Video here, from Minute 20:26. Like the ill-fated appointment of Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler as Ban's envoy to Niger, where he and a colleague have been kidnapped, it was never announced. Inner City Press asked, are there other stealth envoys? While the answer seemed to be "no," in today's UN one never knows.

An African diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to Inner City Press Tuesday afternoon moments before the GA vote on Clark, said it was unfortunate that no expert from a developing country had been found, even to be a serious candidate for consideration by Ban Ki-moon. He added, "hopefully for the deputy post at UNDP." When Inner City Press asked if that meant current Dutch deputy Ad Melkert would be leaving, the diplomat said that is to be expected. Especially after Ban Ki-moon's still-protested ouster of Tanzanian Anna Tibaijuka from the top spot at the UN in Nairobi in favor of Achim Steiner, from now on "if the top spot goes to the developed world, the deputy should be from the developing world," he said.

While a newspaper in New Zealand put Clark's prospective pay at $500,000, by Inner City Press' calculation it is $287,000 -- the $189,000 that all Under Secretaries General make, plus a 68% "New York post adjustment" of over $98,000. There's talk of housing subsidy and “other perks,” with a reference to the former director of the UN Millennium Campaign Evelyn Herfkens, who said she couldn't live or entertain appropriately in New York on an Assistant Secretary General's salary, and so illegally took housing subsidy from the Dutch government. Exposed for violating UN rules, she left her post, only to re-surface as a consult or special envoy, still getting Daily Sustenance Allowance and other perks.

Meanwhile, UNDP still declines to state how much it pays each member of Somalia's parliament, in a purported response to precisely this question, referred to it by the UN's envoy to Somalia. Other long standing questions remain unanswered. One UNDP insider wondered if Helen Clark, whose husband has said he will not be moving to New York, will be part of the calculation of Ms. Clark's benefits. Watch this site.

Footnotes: In an "only at the UN" moment, at a reception at the Libyan mission on the eve of Clark's confirmation, excited word circulated that Clark had while prime minister criticized Israel for its (mis) use of New Zealand passports, several missions' level of support for Clark went up....

UNDP, which run democracy and voting programs, for example in Kenya, put out a press release on Tuesday saying the UN "General Assembly this morning unanimously approved Helen Clark of New Zealand as the new Administrator." Apparently UNDP jumped the gun, since the vote was held in the afternoon...

While Dervis never explained why he left UNDP -- and now resurfaces still working for the UN -- Turkish sources maintain it was “family reasons,” that his wife did not like him traveling so much. Now he has three jobs, one in Turkey, one at Brookings in Washington and, quietly, with the UN. Few ever truly leave the UN: as they say of a certain type of five cent coin, the UN musical chairs never stop.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/undp2clark033109.html

As Sri Lanka Rejects UN's Ceasefire Call, No Response from Ban, Help Mulled as Ceasefire Incentive While IMF Extends Visit

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unscsri2lanka033109.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- As Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa openly rejects UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's call for a cessation of fighting in northern Sri Lanka, on Tuesday in New York Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas had no reply to the rejection, calling it a "media report" and focusing on unrelated reports that soldiers may pull out of some of the government's controversial camps for Internally Displaced People. Video here, from Minute 14:57.

Inner City Press asked for Ban's response to President Rajapaksa's statement, on a government web site, that "We will not cave into pressures from any international quarters, locally and internationally, and will not stop until the war is completely over." This is directly at odds with the public calls by Ban and his top humanitarian official John Holmes for a suspension of fighting.

It also calls into question the UN's new strategy, enunciated to Inner City Press on Monday night by a senior official speaking on condition of anonymity, that the Sri Lankan government be offered "real help" if it suspends bombing in the areas were civilians are trapped.

"Sri Lanka could rejoined the world economy," the UN official told Inner City Press. "They have an attractive work force, for assembly, clothing." He said that the UN was thinking how to convince the Tamil Tigers, too, to let civilians go, by allow the Tigers not to "lose face." He said on Monday night, "Even a three or four day ceasefire might give rise to a political process."

The next morning, when President Rajapaksa rejected "international" even for a short pause in military action, the UN had no comment other than happy talk that "we have been getting a little bit.. of protection of civilians," referring to soldiers leaving some camps. But the government has said they will "remain at the camps for 'security reasons,'" and that freedom of movement will not be afforded to the IDP.

The UN-affiliated International Monetary Fund has extended to a second week its consultations in Sri Lanka. A legal argument is being advanced that the U.S. government would violate applicable law if it did not vote, within the IMF, again Sri Lanka's request, since it would be used for "quasi military" purposes. It has been noted that Sri Lanka has spend $1.6 billion on this offensive in the north, while it asks the IMF for $1.9 billion. Even while it does not comment, one assumes the UN system can do the math.

Footnote: on press freedom, there has still been no response from UNESCO, which committed to answer why it has spoken about assault on the media from the Philippines to Colombia, but not in Sri Lanka. These last two countries were named by African Union chief Jean Ping on Monday, as countries in which the International Criminal Court should look for war crimes cases. Mexico takes over the Presidency of the UN Security Council from Libya on April 1; Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller, pictured above with Ban, was the first requester for a Council session on Sri Lanka. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unscsri2lanka033109.html

With UN Rebuffed in Sudan & Sri Lanka, UN Law & Order Episode Covered by CNN

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/uncnn1svu033109.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- The UN increasingly moves in a dream world, and media like CNN only take notice when pop culture or a dwindling number of hot button issues are involved. How else to explain the UN's bragging that its decaying building is to appear in the background of a spin-off television crime episode tonight -- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit -- and CNN showing up at the UN for the first time in a while, to cover not politics but show?

After a panel discussion about Battlestar Galactica at the UN earlier this month, a UN official breathlessly told Inner City Press that negotiations were still ongoing if Law & Order would include a quote from Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Under Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict. On the Battlestar panel, Ms. Coomaraswamy said she'd watched not panelist Edward James Olmos' "Stand and Deliver" but moderator Whoopi Goldberg's "Sister Act" back in her native Sri Lanka, "with female friends."

At the March 31 noon briefing, after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Spokesperson Michele Montas read out her office's second teaser for the Law & Order episode, Inner City Press asked if Mr. Ban had any response to the president of Sri Lanka openly rejecting Ban's call for a cessation of the bombing in Northern Sri Lanka. Ms. Montas called the president's statement that the country will not give in to international pressure, placed on the government's web site, a mere "media report" to which the UN has no response. Video here at Minute 14:57.

When Inner City Press went on, tongue in cheek, to ask if Ms. Coomaraswamy's quote had made it into the Law & Order episode, video here at Minute 21:30, Ms. Montas said, may I suggest that you watch it tonight?

Media analysis: one wag quipped, of the so-called "CNN effect," that the network has devoted more focus to the TV show at the UN than to the 3000 civilians killed in the conflict in Sri Lanka this year. Another noted that with the UN now so often rebuffed "in the real world" by the leaders of Sudan, Sri Lanka, North Korea and elsewhere, and told to be quiet by the UK and World Bank, it may be comforting to parlay the UN's icon status into publicity: at least something's going right, in the world of fiction.

There's a fine line, it seems, between educating the public and deceiving oneself and others.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/uncnn1svu033109.html

At UN, Central Asian Unity on Press Crackdown and Nuclear Free Zone, Dam Fissures

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/un1cenasia033009.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 30 -- The five Central Asian nations' Ambassadors to the UN presented a united front on Monday, announcing a Nuclear-Free Zone and taking questions from the Press. This open session had some irony, since Reporters Without Border has decried trends of violence against journalists, most recently in the Kyrgrz Republic, where Syrgak Abdyldaev of "Reporter-Bishkek" was the victim of an organized stabbing earlier this month.

Inner City Press asked about his case, and about the murder of journalist Alisher Saipov in 2007 in Osh, a Kyrgyz city from which others fleeing Uzbekistan are deported or, in this case, killed.

Kyrgyz Ambassador Nurbek Jeenbaev told Inner City Press he would have no comment, the case is still under investigation and each case stands alone, there is no trend. Video here, from Minute 35:33.

Uzbek Ambassador Murad Askarov did not answer the question when Inner City Press asked it, but rather, later in the press conference, told Inner City Press “you have been asking a lot of questions,” and suggested headlines about the positive nuclear free zone or even an Uzbek transfer station connected to South Korea, “for investors.” Video here, from Minute 44:47.

Inner City Press also asked about a dispute about the countries about hydro-electric dams, and whether environmental impact studies should be required. Tajikistan says no, its Deputy energy minister Pulod Muhiddinov said: "Tajikistan will finish building the Rogun [hydroelectric dam and reservoir] no matter who opposes it." Reportedly, in January the Uzbeks halted the transit of Turkmen electricity to Tajikistan, via their national grid. Video here, from minute 39:19.

But as Monday's joint press conference, Kyrgyz Ambassador Nurbek Jeenbaev told Inner City Press that the countries' presidents met in Bishkek last year and “discussed the questions raised by you” and that everything is fine. If you say so...

On nuclear weapons themselves, Inner City Press asked for comment on North Korea's plans for early April -- Inner City Press is told by a Security Council source to expect launch this Saturday at midnight, and an emergency Council meeting Sunday at noon -- and Kazakh Ambassador Byrganym Aitimova said the comment is clear like Kazakhstan, reject nuclear weapons. Video here, from Minute 42:06. Every country is free, though, she said...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1cenasia033009.html

UN Admits $3 Million Satyam Order Was An “Error,” Ledger Evidence Disappears

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un5satyam033009.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 30 -- In the UN's contracting with the Indian Enron Satyam, a $3 million purchase order appeared and then disappeared, the UN has admitted to Inner City Press. But even the explanation raises more question. On March 23, Inner City Press asked UN Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq

Inner City Press: a Satyam question. In reviewing the website of the Procurement Division, it seems like there was a contract reached for just over $6 million in July 2008, but there were two purchase orders of $3.3 million in June and July 2008... What explains the discrepancy between what was the purchase orders and the contracts? .. the deal that runs through 2013, has all the money in fact been paid and is there any provision for it to be returned? It seems from this that the money was already actually paid out.

Associate Spokesperson Haq: Throughout the system the various bodies of the UN will wrap up the contracts. The details of that may need some fine-tuning, it may need to be worked out in the coming months. But, certainly, all the contracts are being wrapped to whatever extent that things that are already in the pipeline need to be completed, some will be completed, but it will all be shut down.

Inner City Press asked, but why would the UN apparently have paid in advance for work to be done until 2013? The question arose in the context of the UN having misspoken earlier this month about its Procurement Division's coverage of the UN-affiliated International Computing Center, and belated admission that Satyam serves the UN through ICC contracts as well.

Two days after the question was raised, a further explanation was given:

Subject: Clarification from Procurement Division
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply @un.org>
To: Inner City Press
Sent: Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:22 pm

We have the following clarification from the Procurement Division to a question that you asked earlier on Satyam:

We understand that there was a question raised by Mr. Lee of Inner City Press concerning our contract with Satyam at the noon briefing on Monday, 23 March 2009. Two (2) Purchase Orders in June and July 2008 referred to by Mr. Lee are identical. It is a duplicate of data entry inadvertently processed. The Purchase Order (P.O.) No. PS-14468 in the amount of US$3,300,500 was obligated (processed in our procurement management system and recorded in IMIS) in June 2008 but was signed in July 2008. We inadvertently picked up this P.O. twice in our reporting system.

This P.O. is what we call an internal P.O. to obligate the funds in connection with the Contract No. PD/CO102/08 with Satyam, which has the Not to Exceed (NTE) amount of US$6,025,933 effective 18 July 2008 for a term not less than five (5) years. We need to issue an internal P.O. to obligate the funds for payment purpose in IMIS since our contract document, which is produced in MS Word, has no technical interface and mechanism to record obligation in IMIS. Obligation of funds does not mean payment. A total of $3,300,500 was reserved for payment in conjunction with the contract and payment is processed only upon receipt and acceptance of services delivered. For your information, a total payment by the UN under this contract is $1,457,560 out of the contract NTE value of $6,025,933 as of today.

A duplicate entry of PS-14468 in June 2008 was removed from our Purchase Order Award in June 2008, as it is a genuine error.

For the UN to acknowledge when it makes “a genuine error” is rare, and appreciated. But experts consulted by Inner City Press since receipt of the UN's “clarification” question, among other things, how changes can be made so cavalierly to the general ledger, and how this could have happened. We will continue to pursue it.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un5satyam033009.html

On Somalia, Belated Disclosure by UNDP, Protest by UN-Funded Academic

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/unsc3somalia032909.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 29 -- In the debate about Somalia, those who matter least are actual Somalis. Dozens were for example killed by supposed peacekeepers, on the day that the new Somali president was being applauded in Ethiopia. When some media reported on the slaughter, they were castigated by the UN's envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, and told they were like Radio Milles Collines in Rwanda, hate media. Later Ould Abdallah told Inner City Press he only meant that it was unfortunate that one days of good news for Somalia, other news was also reported.

Likewise, one of the United States' most -- well, few -- expert professors on Somalia, Ken Menkhaus of North Carolina's Davidson College, has recently lashed back at media coverage of a talk he gave across the street from the UN, at the International Peace Institute. Inner City Press attended the session and asked Menkhaus two questions, to review Ould Abdallah's and the UN's performance in Somalia. Later that day, Inner City Press reported three of Menkhaus' responses, all accurately, in an article also noting that just as the UN was refusing to disclose its funding in Somalia, the head of IPI Terje Roed Larsen declined UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's call to make minimal public financial disclosure, since he is an Under Secretary General.

Menkhaus the next day wrote:

From: Menkhaus, Ken @davidson.edu>
To: Inner City Press
Cc: @ipinst.org>
Sent: Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:32 pm
Subject: IPI Somalia Story

Dear Mr. Lee,

Your Innercity article about our IPI Somalia presentation was just brought to my attention. I write to tell you, in no uncertain terms, that you badly misrepresented the nuanced points Jabril and I made... Maybe you didn’t hear us stress how incredibly dangerous Somalia is now. Jabril and I have lost close colleagues to asssassinations in the past because of this kind of irresponsibility by foreigners. You seem to fancy yourself an investigative journalist challenging the UN -- fair enough, we can use more of that. But investigative journalists need to be very careful with how they present claims and quote third parties, especially in zones of armed conflict...Please do not ask me to go through your article point by point -- I am busy.

Dr. Ken Menkhaus
Professor of Political Science
Davidson College
Davidson NC 28035

It is difficult to respond to Menkhaus if, of the mere three citations of what he said, he chooses not to contest any of them. As should be clear, a journalist does not go to a policy briefing such as those so profitably offered by IPI in order to transcribe verbatim was is said. For that, Menkhaus writes his own books.

In fact, he has: in the library of a major university in New York City, there is a book by Menkhaus, albeit a slim monograph entitled "Somalia: State Collapse and the Threat of Terrorism," circa 2004. The first page, "About the author," notes that Menkhaus "frequently serves as a consultant to the UN." With the UN, that means a paid consultant. One might infer that, while as an academic Menkhaus was necessarily critical of the UN's performance, for example of UNDP being seen to take sides with the same security forces which are engaged in killing civilians, as a past and seemingly future wanna-be recipient of UN funding, he was troubled to see what he said, online in print.

Interestingly, Menkhaus' book at page 46 says of a Somali Transitional Government that “it succeeded in netting enough aid (roughly $50 million over two years, mainly from the Gulf Arab states) to make it a worthwhile venture for some.” There is a strange resonance here with IPI and its funding sources. Without comment or critique, Menkhaus mentions that “the management of several UNICEF municipal piped water systems has been outsourced to a multi-clan consortium of businessmen, who have run the water system... as a money making venture.”

Belatedly, UNDP responded to the simple question Inner City Press posed just after Ould Abdallah and his spokeswoman referred to UNDP the issue of the UN system's funding of the Somalia government. UNDP now writes:

Subject: Responses to your queries on Djibouti Start-up Package

From: UNDP Spokesman
To: Inner City Press
Sent: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:47 am

Here is our response to your question “please describe any UNDP role in Djibouti Start-Up Package."

START

The Djibouti peace process is led by the UN political office (UNPOS) and funded by various donors, for which UNDP plays an administrative and logistical support role. As far as the start-up package is concerned, donors contributed to the project and their contributions have been channeled by UNDP in 2008 to provide some basic infrastructure support to the TFG institutions. This includes computers, office furniture, travel costs to/from Somalia and some rehabilitation of office buildings. In total, around 6.5M USD has been disbursed for this project, financed by a consortium of donors (EC, DFID, Norway, Sweden, USAID, Italy).

END

Was that so difficult? To be continued...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc3somalia032909.html

Geithner Promotes Megabanks' Monopoly, in DC as at Fed, 17 Cut to 7 on Derivatives

Byline: Matthew R. Lee of Inner City Press on Wall Street
www.innercitypress.com/bb1monopoly032809.html

NEW YORK, March 28 -- Seven megabanks' renewed grab for monopoly power in the over the counter derivatives market shows how little Wall Street's real power has changed in the transition from the Bush to Obama administrations.

The banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, are paying over $1 million to p.r. firm Prism Public Affairs to "educate" the voters weary of bonus and bailouts that those who caused the crisis should benefit from it.

Already, Congress members hungry for campaign contribution have submitted to closed door briefings by Ed Rosen of the law firm Cleary Gottlieb, who drafted the legislative language for monopoly.

The connector in this story is Timothy Geithner, under Bush the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and now Obama's Treasury Secretary. Geithner in June 2008 convened closed door meetings with 17 banks, essentially allowing them to propose and draft their own rules for the derivatives market.

This led to advocacy by the Fair Finance Watch that Geithner's meetings were in fact rule making that excluded the public in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, and by Inner City Press, as media, to get the meetings opened to journalists and the public.

The Administrative Procedures Act (5 U.S.C. Section 553) and related laws require that when the government engaged in rule-making, it must provide notice to the public, and allow and weigh public comments. The New York Fed under Geithner tried to rule-make without any involvement by the public, even the public most impacted by the subprime lending that underlies these processes. The New York Fed on June 9, 2008 met with a group of the largest banks to discuss, according to the Geithner himself

"Regulatory policy. These are the incentives and constraints designed to affect the level and concentration of risk-taking across the financial system. You can think of these as a financial analog to imposing speed limits and requiring air bags and antilock brakes in cars, or establishing building codes in earthquake zones. Regulatory structure. This is about who is responsible for setting and enforcing those rules. Crisis management. This is about when and how we intervene and about the expectations we create for official intervention in crises."

Press accounts made clear that the financial instruments and regulatory issues discussed behind closed doors are related to issues of public interest, which in fact are disproportionately impacting low- and moderate- income people and communities of color -- subprime and predatory mortgages.

The financial institutions invited, in mid 2008, were:

Bank of America, N.A. - Barclays Capital - BNP Paribas - Citigroup - Credit Suisse - Deutsche Bank AG - Dresdner Kleinwort - Goldman, Sachs & Co. - HSBC Group - JPMorgan Chase - Lehman Brothers - Merrill Lynch & Co. - Morgan Stanley - The Royal Bank of Scotland Group - Societe Generale - UBS AG - Wachovia Bank, N.A.
Buy-Side Firms: AllianceBernstein - BlueMountain Capital Management LLC - Citadel Investment Group, L.L.C.

Fast forward to March 2009, with Geithner despite tax evasion installed as Obama's Secretary of the Treasury, and with Lehman have failed and Wachovia been swallowed by Wells Fargo. Now he is promoting monopoly powers in the market for an even smaller group of banks, just seven: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank -- which despite European headquarters received billions of dollars in U.S. Troubled Assets Relief Program bailout funds through AIG.

Now the idea is to formalize the monopoly through legislation, not rule making. Industry friendly Congress people like Connecticut's Chris Dodd are supporting the monopoly for the privileged. The fig leaf policy argument is that derivatives should runs through regulated banks. The push is made now, before it is formalized that non-banks, too, are regulated. It is a pure power grab, with Timothy Geithner as the connector. And who is fighting this monopoly of the morally if not financially bankrupt? To be continued.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/bb1monopoly032809.html