On Iraq, UN's Melkert Silent on Blackwater and Black Balling of Baath Candidates

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1melkraq021610.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 16 -- What does the UN's top envoy to Iraq, Ad Melkert, have to say about the acquittal and impunity for the mercenaries of Blackwater now Xe who killed Iraqi civilians? "That is a specific case," Melkert told Inner City Press on Tuesday at the UN, "we don't advise on specific cases." Video here, from Minute 11:34.

Inner City Press asked Melkert about a range of human rights issues in Iraq, from honor killings to executions to freedom of the press. Melkert said his Office, UNAMI, issues human rights reports every six months, "critical on several of the issues you mentioned." Video here, from Minute 6:03.

But how can the UN be critical if, as Melkert claimed about Blackwater, the UN "doesn't advise on specific cases?"

Melkert's main job right now is, like Kai Eide's was in Afghanistan, to try to make national elections appear credible. Inner City Press asked him about barred candidate Saleh Mutlak, who has been told he cannot run for office because he was a member of the Baath party. Mutlak says he quit in 1977, and was only goaded into saying he was still a member.

Melkert called the grounds for exclusion "legitimate," and said the UN only advocates for transparency in the application of the rules, citing Iraq's "Accountability and Justice Law of 2008." While speaking about reconciliation, Melkert said that excluding former Baath party members is similar to what happened in Europe "after the Communist regimes."

While Melkert told Inner City Press that the UN "has a permanent position against the death penalty" -- one that Ban Ki-moon backtracked on during his first day in office, on the subject of Iraq -- when Melkert was asked about the execution of former Baath party members, he replied, "I could not take your point on that, the way you formulated it, so I could not comment further."

As Melkert walked away from the microphone, Inner City Press asked him if he now agrees with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's call that senior UN system officials make some minimum public disclosure of their finances. Melkert laughed and said, "You see that I" -- then signed his name in the air. "What is good is that you don't forget."

When he was the Associate Administrator of UNDP, he came out publicly against Ban's call for financial disclosure. Video here, from Minute 37:55 through 44:41. He also said, on UN reform, "you ain't seen nothing yet." Inner City Press recounted this history for a Dutch television station tailing and filming Melkert for the day. Another correspondent criticized Melkert go along [to] get along performance in Iraq, wondering what next job he might have his eye on.

Many in the UN grumble that Melkert "chased" fellow UN official Ibrahim Gambari out of Iraq. Now it's his show, for better or worse. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1melkraq021610.html

At UN, CPJ on Pariah States N. Korea and on Sri Lanka, Buying Tickets, Iran's Eye

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1cpj021610.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 16 -- The Committee to Protect Journalists on February 16 called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to be more forceful about the importance of press freedom. Inner City Press asked CPJ's Asia expert Bob Deitz about what Mr. Ban and CPJ have done as the Sri Lankan government of Mahinda Rajapaksa has closed down opposition newspapers, reporters have been killed and websites blocked. Video here, from Minute 40:08.

Deitz said that "no one knows how to handle the direction in which the [Sri Lankan] government is going, which is not friendly to the media." He said it might join the "pariah states" of Myanmar, "Burma, North Korea and Zimbabwe," but for feisty journalists who put themselves at risk.

But as to what CPJ does, Weitz said "right now we are hanging back with a lot of people," trying to figure out whether to "come down hard or engage in quiet advocacy."

Afterwards, Inner City Press asked Deitz for more specifics about this "quiet" approach, which the UN seems to share, in the most benign interpretation of Ban's visit in May 2009 after what even the UN called the "bloodbath on the beach" and since.

Even the UN's Children and Armed Conflict mandate, which belatedly sent Patrick Cammaert to Sri Lanka in December, never had him brief the Press afterwards. Radhika Coomaraswamy, when Inner City Press asked her about this silence last week, said that Cammaert went to Europe to get married after his trip, then it was "too late" to brief the press about his visit.

Deitz said that the opposition press in Sri Lanka asks that particular journalists' cases "not be publicized," as it would only make things worse. "Just get us out of here," Deitz said such journalists ask, adding the CPJ helps with plane tickets.

Another correspondent remarked afterwards is that "quiet advocacy is what diplomats do, not journalists or their organizations."

Inner City Press asked CPJ's deputy director Robert Mahoney about the UN's own envoy to Somalia Ahmedou Ould Abdallah having called on a "moratorium" on Somali journalists reporting on the killing of civilians by the African Union peacekeepers of AMISOM.

Mahoney said it is up to journalists to make their own editorial decisions. Ironically, Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky has, at least in his first month on the job, said such things as "that's not a story."

Also on the podium was Newsweek journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari, about whom CNN's Fareed Zakaria devoted the foreword to CPJ's study. As Bahari spoke, a representative from Iran's Mission to the UN sat in the UN press hall's front row, taking notes.

The Iranian mission has invited UN correspondents -- including this one -- to a celebration of Iran's national day on February 18. Inner City Press told Bahari about the event, encouraging him to come and cover it. Watch this space.

Footnote: three hours after the CPJ press conference on its report, "Attacks on the Press in 2009," which names North Korea as the world's most censored country, Inner City Press asked Mr. Ban's senior advisor Kim Won-soo and political advisor Lynn Pascoe if they had even raised press freedom during their recent trip to Pyongyang. Video here.

No, Mr. Pascoe said. Inner City Press asked Mr. Kim to respond for Mr. Ban on CPJ's wider call to be more forceful on press freedom. While he answered about UNDP in North Korea, he did not answer on press freedom. Inner City Press has at UN noon briefings asked for Mr. Kim to come and answer questions more often. We'll see.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1cpj021610.html

Denying Corruption of Citigroup and BofA, Obiangs Cite Obama, ExxonMobil's Investment

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/banks1eguinea021510.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 15 -- Ten days after the release by the U.S. Senate of a reporting on evasion by the son of Equatorial Guinea's President for Life Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue of anti-money laundering controls by and at Citigroup, Bank of America, Wachovia / Wells Fargo and others, the Obiang regime fired back, calling the report racist and citing in its defense the election of Barack Obama.

Inner City Press is putting the Obiangs' memo online, here.

The Senate report exhaustively shows how Teodorin and his lawyers moved tens of millions of dollars through Citibank and Wachovia (owned by Wells Fargo since the financial meltdown), and used accounts at Bank of America, City National and other banks. The report described how Teodorin

"brought over $100 million into the United States using wire transfer systems at just two U.S. financial institutions, Wachovia Bank and Citibank. Neither system had been programmed to detect or block wire transfers bearing his name. In 2009... Citibank declined to take the same action due to projections that identifying, freezing, and investigating these wire transfers would generate too much work for its anti-money laundering staff...From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Obiang used accounts at three U.S. banks, Union Bank of California, Bank of America, and Citibank, often with Mr. Berger’s assistance, to deposit, transfer and spend nearly $10 million. Most of these funds were wire transferred from accounts in Equatorial Guinea held in the name of Mr. Obiang or two EG companies he controlled, Somagui Forestal and Socage."

To this, the Government of Equatorial Guinea in a communique sent to the Press on February 15, the President's Day holiday in the U.S., argues that

"According to Equatoguinean legislation, as occurs exactly in the most of the world, the natural and legal persons, as occurs in this case with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, are perfectly authorized to do business and maintain other types of jobs at the margin of their Ministerial obligations."

Teodorin's "marginal" business includes a $30 million mansion in Malibu, a jet and recording studio, among other things. Previously he and his president for life father Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo moved their money, like Pinochet, into the U.S. through Riggs Bank.

Inner City Press and its Fair Finance Watch dug into these connections, including to Spain's Santander Bank and HSBC, when the Obiang disgraced Riggs was being sold to PNC Bank. Click here for coverage in Le Monde, in French.

The U.S. Federal Reserve did little at that time. With the major banks it regulates now implicated again in corrupt money laundering, what will the supposedly chastened Federal Reserve do?

The "Equatoguinean" response complains at the Senate report deals only with African corruption -- Angola with HSBC, Gabon's Omar Bongo with Citigroup, Nigeria's Abubakar with Suntrust and the ubiquitous Citibank -- and not any other continent. In this, it echoes the defenders of Sudan's Omar al Bashir, that the International Criminal Court and its prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo have so far indicted only African defendants.

But Equatorial Guinea goes further. Its cover email to Inner City Press argues that "it can be considered as an authentic insult to Africa, and more so after the people of the United States have voted in the majority for a President of African origin."

Then, in capital letters, Equatorial Guinea screams that

"In Africa and in Equatorial Guinea we are tired of BEING TREATED FOR CENTURIES LIKE INHUMAN BEASTS, ON WHICH ALL THE BRUTAL AND EVIL BEHAVIOURS POSSIBLE ARE BLAMED. This is again so verifiable in this case that even different media of the United States have written these days, in regards to this case, THAT THE FAMILY OBIANG PRACTICES CANNIBALISM."

Another of the ICC's and Ocampo's indictees, Jean Pierre Bemba the previous Vice President of the Congo, argued during his campaign against Joseph Kabila that, "I am not a cannibal!"

The Equatoguinean defense that's closest to the mark is that

"We also wish to put on the record that the United States is the country from which comes the highest foreign investment in Equatorial Guinea, which exceeds 12 billion USA dollars, and that no American corporation has complained of fraudulent behaviour of the Government. We also expect the Senate Subcommittee to be consistent with the criteria of the North American companies."

Or should it be the other way around? Major U.S. investors with the Obiangs include ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil, Hess Corporation, and Noble Energy. We will have more on all this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/banks1eguinea021510.html

As Darfur Goes Quietly at UN, US Rep on China Guns, Gration and Gambari of One Mind?

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1sudov021310.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 13 -- After the UN Security Council held a meeting about Darfur on February 11 -- it was rushed according to Sudan, leaving only UN Peacekeeping's number three official to brief -- the press stakeout remained empty.

The French presidency of the Council did not come out and summarize the closed down discussions. The US Mission to the UN did not come out and speak, a pattern of silence some reasons for which the Mission does not want reported. But a Sudanese diplomat gave his version of the background to the meeting, and U.S. Congressman Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) spoke exclusively to Inner City Press, calling for more to be done, including about weapons flooding South Sudan, "coming in from China," he said.

Rep. Smith told Inner City Press, "We should be doing more. We had Gration speak, but it has to become a front burner issue. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement is at risk if there is no agreement in the North."

He recounted meeting President Omar Al Bashir, "before going to Darfur. All he talked about was lifting sanctions."

Inner City Press asked Rep Smith if he favored or opposed the U.S. joining the International Criminal Court. "I'm not against it, but I'm not yet for it," he said. He said the General Wesley Clark had be "charged with crimes against humanity" due to bombs dropped from U.S. planes flying "over three thousand feet."

A Sudanese diplomat, meanwhile, told Inner City Press that the Security Council's meeting would have made more sense later, with new UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, but "France wanted to rush it, before Gambari -- so they ended up with only Mr. Titov [the #3 in UN Peacekeeping] and not even Le Roy."

Meanwhile, while the UN Mission in Darfur UNAMID flies around a delegation from the Arab League, for resettlement of IDPs, U.S. envoy Scott Gration prepares to visit. At the UN, little is being said for now on the record: it's only Sudan, and visitors. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1sudov021310.html

At UN, Buzz of Holmes Leaving, Tibaijuka's Absence, Accountability on Intranet

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/ban2compacts021210.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 12 -- At UN's annual signing of "compacts" on Friday morning, the buzz from one Under Secretary General to another was that top UN Humanitarian John Holmes "is leaving to go back to the UK." Later another senior UN official, not present at the Compact signing ceremony, told Inner City Press this same thing.

Holmes was not present to sign his Compact, being in Haiti. Anna Tibaijuka, removed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon inexplicably from running the UN's Nairobi office, was equally inexplicably not present, even by video conference. Her Nairobi chief successor Achim Steiner, handpicked by Mr. Ban, was present, with the image of a tree behind him.

Steiner signed two Compacts, as did Cheick Sidi Diarra, still moonlighting between Least Developed Countries, Landlocked and Small Island Developing States and the Special Adviser on Africa position, which some in the General Assembly say has become moribund under Mr. Ban. The Assembly has voted that the post must be filled, but it has yet to happen.

As in February 2009, Inner City Press was the only media organization there. Even for the photo op, only UN Television and UN Photo were there. Nevertheless, Mr. Ban in his prepared remarked said the UN was making these signings "as public as possible."

The documents, and reports on performance, will go only on the UN's intranet, not available to the public, to "we the peoples."

Many of the Under Secretaries General at the ceremony rarely if ever speak to the press. Chief UN lawyer Patricia O'Brien, in her few appearances, has stuck narrowing to issues of the Hariri Tribunal, refusing questions even on the UN's involvement in Cambodia's tribunal.

Inga-Britt Ahlenius, recently in the media for OIOS' alleged policy of not pursuing former UN employees or third party contractors, has not held a press conference in the Compact annual cycle.

New Safety and Security chief Gregory Starr has not spoken with the press, other than a single interview with the correspondent of the Washington Times (which recently closed its UN bureau by means of massive layoffs).

Starr is the only new UN senior office since last year. Now, a needed shakeup may be near.

Mr. Shabaab Shabaan, while affable, has yet to hold a press conference, despite being in the news for a damning UN Dispute Tribunal decision about his management. Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky, who sat in the corner during the signing ceremony, announced only that Ban will appeal the UNDT decision, but refused Inner City Press' question for a statement of the basis of the appeal.

Some absences were more than understandable. Lynn Pascoe, along with Ban's closest advisor Kim Won-soo, was still on his North Korea trip. Mr. Ban told the Press that he spoke with Pascoe, who had not met with Kim Jong-Il to whom Ban sent a leather bound copy of the UN Charter in six languages.

Neither top peacekeepers, Alain Le Roy nor Susana Malcorra, was present. Inner City Press saw both of them less than an hour later going into the Security Council.

In the Council, another USG spoke: Alan Doss, whose six line e-mail urging UNDP to show him "leeway" and give his daughter a job is still being investigated by the UN some eight months later. Why does USGs like Doss sign Compacts, and abide by them? As with everything in this UN, it is a work in process, not necessarily in progress. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban2compacts021210.html

At UN, Climate Change Financing Discussed, IPCC Glacier and Pachauri Questions Not Taken, China Eligibility Debated

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/ban2ipcc021210.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 12 -- At an ill-attended press conference held at 7:30 am Friday in UN Headquarters in New York, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon introduced Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi and his UK counterpart Gordon Brown as chairs of an Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing.

In a tightly controlled media Q &A session that followed, Mr. Ban did not address the controversy swirling about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's scientific blunders and chairman Doctor Pachauri.

Rather, Mr. Ban took on a straw man question, about whether the snow in New York undermined climate science. He also said that he will ask the heads of state of Guyana and Norway to join.

Of the four journalists at the UN in New York who raised their hands to ask questions, three were called on by Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky. Before a softball question about the snow outside, one asked repeatedly if any of the climate change financing would be given to China. As Mr. Ban looked uncomfortable, both Prime Ministers denied it.

Despite hand raised from the beginning of the question and answer session to the end, Inner City Press was not allowed to ask a question. In fact, the question had back on February 3 been asked and dodged by Nesirky:

Inner City Press: There has been a lot of controversy around the finding of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) about the Himalayan glaciers, and they have essentially back-tracked and said that they apologized; it was unverified information. Mr. Pachauri has said he won’t apologize. But, I wonder what, given the importance of climate change and the IPCC to the Secretary-General’s agenda, what does he make of this controversy and how can the IPCC process be reformed to not create this kind of controversy on the issue?

Spokesperson: The Secretary-General is obviously aware of these reports and what’s been happening in the last few days and weeks. But, you know, ultimately it’s for the IPCC to address this. It’s for the IPCC to talk about this, and they have talked about this in some detail. They have said that they regret what happened, and reaffirming their strong commitment to a high level of performance in their reporting and so on. So, therefore, it’s not really for the Secretary-General to weigh in on this specific report. There are many reports, there are many other aspects to the work on climate change, which is absolutely vital, as you’ve mentioned; it’s one of his priorities. So, I think that the most important thing is to focus on the road to Mexico and how you can improve the prospects for that meeting and what needs to be done between now and then.

Inner City Press: [inaudible] because… in the last 24 hours… Mr. Pachauri….

Spokesperson: IPCC regrets, Matthew, IPCC regrets.

Question: So, I mean, Mr. Pachauri says he wasn’t responsible for it. So, I guess what I’m saying is, who is in charge of the agency on which Ban Ki-moon rests his, you know, the case has been made by that agency [inaudible].

Spokesperson: No, no, Matthew, the Secretary-General does not rest his case purely on the IPCC. There is an enormous body of evidence and information out there from various different sources, not just from the IPCC, however important that may be. And an error in one report does not undermine the entire science that is clearly proven.

So who apologized -- the IPCC's website? To have nothing to say about the various scandals surrounding the IPCC and Pachauri seems strange. To not allow the question a week later is worse.

Update: in the hallway after the press conference, away from the screen of the Spokesperson, UN climate advisor Janos Pasztor at least took Inner City Press' other question, on the way to Ban's next appearance, signing compacts with some senior officials, on which we will later report -- how this UN Panel would interact with the IMF's idea of using SDRs. It will consult, Pasztor said. Possible duplication of effort?

Also after the press conference, a senior Chinese official told Inner City Press that the question about China taking climate change funding was "stupid" and "insulting." He said, "We are entitled to it!"

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban2ipcc021210.html

Killings by Haitian National Police Ascribed to Imposters by UN, No Anti-Corruption Role, UN's Pro-Government Focus

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1hnp021110.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 11 -- The UN says it is investigating reports of summary executions by the Haitian National Police. Video here, from Minute 57:52.

Inner City Press for the second time in ten days asked acting UN chief in Haiti Edmond Mulet about the killing of alleged thieves, this time citing Haitian religious leader Max Beauvoir's account of a January 16 meeting of President Rene Preval, the Prime Minister and police chief at which "we decided we had to deal with them in an emergency way... capital punishment, automatically, for all bandits."

Mulet stammered that "we are aware of some incidents of shooting [by] private security guards... perhaps Haitian National Police members involved." But even this, he tried to convert into imposters, who stole the HNP uniforms.

On February 1, when Inner City Press asked, Mulet said that the UN Mission MINUSTAH was "investigating" such claims. Ten days later, there are no "conclusions," he said.

Top UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy began the February 11 presentation by praising Mulet for maintaining such good relations with the Haitian government.

How can Mulet credibly investigate and speak out against Haitian National Police killings, which Max Beauvoir said were decided on at a meeting including Rene Preval and the Prime Minister, if he is also tasked with "getting along well" with these officials?

The UN has at least two conflicting goals: to get along with the government, and to ensure that at least basic human rights are being respected. Right now the UN in Haiti appears to be paying only lip service to the second, human rights goal.

The UN need to be (made to be) much more clear about its role in Haiti. The UN has some hard working international and national civil servants in Haiti, but only if the UN admits what it cannot or will not meaningfully do will the need for others to do it become clear. Lack of clarify ill-serves the Haitian people.

Inner City Press also asked about another ostensible UN role: to try to minimize corruption, so that needed donations will be made. Inner City Press asked about documented meetings with President Preval by a Florida-based business, AshBritt, which is under fire for how it got Hurricane Katrina contracts -- with Haley Barbour as a lobbyist -- and how it performed under other contracts.

Of the meeting in which AshBritt pitched for major contracts in Haiti, Mulet said "we have nothing to do with that." Video here, from Minute 58:49. So much for an anti-corruption monitoring role for the UN. But if the UN is not going to do it, who is? Watch this site.

Footnote: Mulet also said he had no information about Haitian land owners seeking payment, now or in the future, for land used for housing, temporary and later permanent. Since aid funds are involved in this re-housing process, and the question was squarely raised to Mulet's deputy Kim Bolduc on February 8, it seemed strange that Mulet had no information three days later. We will continue to pursue this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1hnp021110.html

As Myanmar Torches Karen Villages, Who If Anyone At UN Is Watching Is UNclear, No Nargis Follow Up Alleged

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/ban2mybiar021110.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 11 -- On Myanmar, the UN has yet to name a replacement for its previous envoy, Ibrahim Gambari. Amid reports of government soldiers torching villages and targeting medical workers in the Karen minority regions, Inner City Press on February 11 asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky is the UN was aware of these reports, and what it was doing.

"It is possible that the UN is aware," Nesirky said, adding that "I'm personally not aware." He said, "I see if I can find out who inside the Organization is following this and knows something about it." Video here, from Minute 5:49.

When Mr. Gambari was re-assigned to Darfur, Inner City Press exclusively reported (on December 14) and then the UN confirmed (on January 7) that that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar was taking over the Myanmar jurisdiction that had been Gambari's.

Mr. Nesirky was questioned extensive about this, including the still unanswered question by Inner City Press of how Gambari was compensated by the UN once the Iraq related portion of his take home pay was eliminated. (There is a similarly unanswered question outstanding from Inner City Press about how Ban's other advisor Robert Orr is paid.)

So, one would expect Mr. Nambiar to be identified as the person ostensibly following Myanmar and reports of torching of Karen villages. Inner City Press also asked about reports of the government increasingly denying and delaying visa for humanitarian workers trying to get to the regions impacted by Cyclone Nargis.

Mr. Ban made statements about saving people there. One would expect follow through, particularly by his chief of staff, at least on the Nargis humanitarian issues. But even the Tripartite Core Group, which includes representative from the Than Shwe military government, is painting a bleak view.

So where is the UN? Watch this site.

Footnote: the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, is headed to the country again, after a November postponement that UN spokesman Nesirky has said he will look into and explain.

Will Quintana raise the Karen issues, and visit that region? On previous trips, he's acknowledged to Inner City Press, he traveled about the country with military helicopters and escorts. Perhaps if this continues, one wag speculated, they'll let him meet Aung San Suu Kyi.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban2mybiar021110.html

Amid Tear Gas, UN Lets Stand Sri Lanka Claim of Its Congratulations, UN's "Good Journalism" Guide

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/bansri2congrats021110.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 11 -- As in Sri Lanka the Rajapaksa administration deploys tear gas against those protesting its arrest of Sarath Fonseka, in New York Inner City Press asked if the UN had any comment. Video here, from Minute 8:46.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky reiterated his version of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's telephone call to Mahinda Rajapaksa. But then did the UN or Mr. Ban, Inner City Press asked, take issue with the Sri Lankan government's press release about the call, that it involved Ban congratulating Mahinda Rajapaka, without any mention of the arrest of Fonseka or the tear gassing of his supporters? Video here, from Minute 8:46.

"Governments will characterize... as they see fit," Nesirky said.

But what if the press coverage adopts the government's version of the call, and the UN is portrayed as totally (and not just partially) in bed with human rights abuses?

Inner City Press mentioned instances where the UN, even under Ban, has taken issue with statements by governments, of Sudan and Zimbabwe for example. So does the silence now mean the UN and Ban are satisfied with the Rajapaksas' summary?

"That's not what I said, don't put words in my mouth," Nesirky protested. Video here, from Minute 10:44.

Another journalist asked Nesirky for a more "philosophical" response about when governments mis-use their communications or even photo ops with the UN.

"I am not a philosopher," Nesirky. He then returned to the Sri Lanka issue, saying that "the coverage was rather balanced," including both the read out of the Secretary General and the government. Mr. Nesirky said pointedly, "That's what good journalists do." Video here, from Minute 12:40.

Leaving aside the question of whether the UN and its spokesman should be opining on what and how journalists should report, it seems strange for anyone to equate "good journalism" with merely presenting side by side the UN's version and the government's version, that Ban congratulated Rajapaksa while he cracked down on his opponents and the independent press. Does that mean both versions are equally true?

It is a win - win situation then. Ban can say he spoke about due process, and Mahinda Rajapaksa can say he was congratulated by the UN while cracking down on his opponents. Each side gets what it wants. Could this be Ban's UN kabuki theater?

Footnotes: Ban's versions is that he called for due process. But after the call, presidential brother and Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that Fonseka "is guilty" of treason, predicting a five year sentence. When the president's brother declares a person guilty before any trial or even showing of evidence, it doesn't sound like "good" due process. Will the UN have anything to say?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/bansri2congrats021110.html

Sri Lanka Says UN's Ban "Congratulates" Rajapaksa After Arrest of Fonseka, Press Crackdown

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/bansri1congrats021010.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 10 -- After Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa had his electoral opponent Sarath Fonseka arrested, UN Secretary General Bank Ki-moon belatedly put in a call to Colombo. By the time the UN provided a requested read out of the call, the Rajapaksa administration had already publicly characterized it as a call of "congratulations," which followed Ban's own public statement of "relief" after the election.

Mr. Ban had declined to send any UN presence to the presidential elections, and has rebuffed the recommendation by the UN's own Special Rapporteur Philip Alston that he name an investigative panel on war crimes in Sri Lanka. So what did he now discuss with Mahinda Rajapaksa?

Inner City Press, which had asked at the UN's noon briefings of February 9 and February 9 for Ban's response to Fonseka's arrest and the assault on press freedom in Sri Lanka, went to the UN Spokesperson's office at 5 p.m. on February 9 to ask for a read out of the call. It will happening later tonight, Inner City Press was told. Can a UN read out be provided later tonight? Perhaps, was the response, it will take time to approve it.

At 11 a.m. on February 10 in a snowy New York, the UN finally issued a manicured read out of its version of the call. But the Sri Lankan government has already issued its rosy assessment, which the UN has not contradicted. The Sri Lankan government said:

Ban Ki-moon congratulates President on victory

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 01.00 GMT

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon congratulated President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his outstanding victory in being elected for a second term in the recently concluded Presidential Election.

In a telephone conversation with the President today (10), the Secretary General wished him success in the continuance of his efforts to strengthen peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, with assurances of UN support for this work.

President Rajapaksa apprized Mr. Ban Ki moon of current political developments, including the dissolution of Parliament, and the Government’s commitment to prevent divisions harmful to democracy, and conduct another peaceful election.

In discussing the issues of humanitarian assistance and development in Sri Lanka, President Rajapaksa informed the Secretary General that infrastructure development was the most needed, both in the liberated areas of the North and East, as well as in other parts of the country. The Government was giving priority to this and would be appreciative of assistance in this regard.

President Rajapaksa also discussed with the Secretary General the role of Non-Governmental Organizations in the tasks of both humanitarian and development work, and stated the Government’s willingness to work with foreign organizations in necessary spheres of activity, emphasizing the need for foreign NGOs to be accountable and transparent in their work, in view of previous experience in this regard.

With regard to the special development work in the North, Mr. Ban Ki-moon was told this work was handled by Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Senior Advisor to the President, who was fully involved with the tasks at hand.

In discussing issues regarding Human Rights and related issues, particularly in the concluding stages of the operations to defeat the terrorism of the LTTE, the President informed the UN Secretary General that the independent committee headed by Mr. DS Wijetunge PC, was looking into the contents of the related reports, and once this Committee submitted its report, further action would be taken as considered necessary to bring about greater post-conflict reconciliation.

The UN Secretary General was told that the Government looked forward to further progress both in the economic and development spheres, with the participation of investors and other assistance from abroad.

The 25 minute telephone conversation was initiated by the UNSG's office.

Presidential brother Basil Rajapaksa met with Ban in January 2009; Inner City Press was the only independent, non-UN media to attend the photo opportunity. While the UN has never provided a read out of that meeting, sources have said it was in preparation of what would become the bloodbath on the beach, essentially asking Ban to speak out not at all, or only belatedly, as he has.

Sri Lanka's February 10 description of congratulation was picked up elsewhere, also without any protest or correction by the UN. A sample headline was "UN chief vows to support Rajapaksa in strengthening peace," by the PTI, Press Trust of India.

Hours later, the UN issued its own version -- "to enable sleep at night," as one wag put it:

READOUT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S CALL WITH THE PRESIDENT OF SRI LANKA

The Secretary-General spoke by telephone on Tuesday night with President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka, and expressed his concern about recent developments in Sri Lanka.

The Secretary-General urged President Rajapaksa to keep his commitment, as agreed in the joint statement, to ensure concrete proposals for a political solution of issues with the Tamil community in the North and to ensure full accountability for any crimes against international humanitarian law or abuses of human rights. He took note of the progress in returning displaced persons to their places of origin, but added that more needs to be done in this regard.

The Secretary-General brought up the arrest of General Sarath Fonseka, and he urged the Government to respect the due process of law and guarantee the personal safety of General Fonseka.

The Secretary-General said that he looks forward to continuing his dialogue, both personally and through his Senior Officials. It was agreed that the Secretary-General would send Under-Secretary-General B. Lynn Pascoe to Sri Lanka soon after the presidential inauguration later this month.

Currently, Mr. Pascoe is in North Korea, with Ban Ki-moon's closest advisor Kim Won-soo. Mr. Kim is ostensibly the deputy chief of staff, with Vijay Nambiar occupying the Under Secretary General chief of staff position.

On both February 8 and 9, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky if Mr. Nambiar is, officially or de facto, now in charge of the UN's Sri Lanka policy, given reports that calls from the Rajapaksa administration to Mr. Ban were referred to Mr. Nambiar. (It concerned trying to cancel a UN press conference by Philip Alston, about summary executions by the Sri Lankan army.)

Numerous observers, most recently a forthcoming TV documentary, have opined that Nambiar's involvement in Sri Lanka in 2009 was inappropriately pro-Rajapaksa, and worse. Nesirky at the Monday and Tuesday noon briefings this week has said he would get to the bottom of the question of the call and roles, but has not. On Wednesday there was no noon briefing due to snow. And the Rajapaksa administration's trumpeting of Ban's congratulations circulated worldwide, with no protest or correction by Ban's UN. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/bansri1congrats021010.html