Amid UN's Ministerial Hype, US Praises Departing AMISOM, Sikhs Complain of France

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1minhype121408.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 14 -- A police bus was set up in front of the UN on Sunday night. Inside the building was nearly empty, but metal detectors had been erected in the basement by Conference Room 8. It was the calm before the storm. But what storm?

Monday and Tuesday will see diplomatic action on Zimbabwe and the Middle East, Somalia and Congo. Slated to come are Condi Rice and Sergey Lavrov, and the UK's Milliband. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, like Tony Blair, will appear only by video, despite the scheduling Monday of a Sikhs versus France press conference about the Gauls' ban on religious symbols.

Condi is said to be pitching a resolution for UN peacekeepers in Somalia. Since the UK blocked even a bridge force for the Eastern Congo, in which the UN has already spent billions, anything for Somalia seems a long shot. Especially with the U.S. in denial. The quote of the week came from a spokeswoman from the U.S. mission to the United Nations, Nicole Deaner, that "AMISOM is an effective peacekeeping force." Oh really? Then why have the Islamist al-Shabab claimed more and more land, leading to AMISOM's departure?

An article containing Ms. Deaner's quote also cited, without explaining, a professor from North Carolina named Kenneth Menkhaus. He is an advisor of the so-called Enough Project, a subsidiary of the Center for American Progress. Despite the high-sounding name, CAP has refused to reveal its list of donors, even as its director John Podesta bonds with the incoming Obama administration. Was this the change we believed in?

Lavrov's Russia, making nice with the U.S. on the Middle East, should be expected to follow through on its stated anger at Ban Ki-moon's secret agreement with NATO, and his pro-U.S. statements on South Ossetia. Neither is on the agenda these two days. It's a feel-good holiday time at the UN. Only for the Congo and Somalia, there appear to be no gifts.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1minhype121408.html

UN Council Takes Up Vague Middle East Resolution, Tony Blair Stays Silent

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1roadmap121308.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 13 -- Why issue grand pronouncements about elusive Middle East peace just as elections in Israel are approaching, and George Bush is outgoing? At a rare Saturday meeting at the UN, the Security Council met about a vague two-page resolution proffered by the U.S., joined by Russia. The Libyan Ambassador left the meeting first, handing out copies of the draft resolution without comment. Inner City Press is putting the document online here for Page 1, here for Page 2.

Council sources tell Inner City Press that Israel has expressed concern about the call, at the top of page 2, for "both parties [to] refrain from any steps that could undermine confidence or prejudice the outcome of the negotiations." Libya, meanwhile, is expected to return with language urging more specifics in the resolution. Earlier this month, a Libyan ship was blocked by Israel from landing on the Gaza Strip.

But why issue this pronouncement at this time? Cynics in the Council view it as a sop to the Bush administration, for the failure to deliver on the promises made at the Annapolis conference more than a year ago. This way they can say that as they left office there was momentum -- even if facts on the ground belie this Polyanna spin.

A person describing himself as a European diplomat urged on reporters that having the Council involved helps the parties. He assured Russian Permanent Representative Vitaly Churkin that he had only spoken on background. "You softened them up," Ambassador Churkin said. When a reporter tried to cut him off with a question about President Bush, he glared, overrode the reporter and then left the stakeout.

France's Jean-Maurice Ripert spoke last, and Inner City Press asked him about the refusal of Quartet representative Tony Blair to brief the Security Council as non-permanent member South Africa has been requesting for months. "I am not aware of the reasons he will not be talking," Ripert said.

Inner City Press has been told, but the UN has refused to confirm, that Blair's reasons is that he should not speak until after the Israeli elections. But why then is the Council speaking, or trying to speak? The question was not answered.

Nor, on another matter, did Ripert comment on the UN's report of both the Rwandan and Congolese government's assisting armed rebel groups in the Kivus. Inner City Press asked, any comment? "Not yet," Ripert said. Some surmise that the report or the possible actions to be taken on it will be used as negotiation fodder.

About Tony Blair, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson on December 11 --

Inner City Press: We heard from the Council that Tony Blair has said that he will not brief them in December based on their invitation; that he may in fact not come to the Quartet meeting. Is it your understanding that he will be here at the Quartet meeting but...? He cited some time constraint, is my understanding.

Spokesperson Montas: I am not aware of that. I can try to find out whether Mr. Blair will be there. I don’t have that information at this point.

Question: And also if he’s declining the invitation to brief the Council, what’s the reason for that?

[The Spokesperson later added that Mr. Blair, as well as Mr. Kouchner, were scheduled, as of now, to participate in the Quartet meeting via videolink.]

This was followed up on at the December 12 noon briefing:

Question: I just wanted to find out about this; you talked about this Middle East Quartet meeting. Mr. Blair is supposed to be speaking from video?

Associate Spokesperson Haq: Yes.

Question: Why isn’t Mr. Blair making himself available to the Quartet? He’s being paid a lot of money, and he has... but he is making himself as sparse as possible. I mean, to come here to the United Nations, what is his (inaudible)?

Associate Spokesperson: First of all, making himself available by video link is participating in the meeting. He will participate in all activities of the meeting. He will just not be physically present in New York. That’s a standard feature of meetings. We try to schedule meetings whenever they are convenient for all people to be in the same venue at the same time. If that’s not possible physically, we try to make the appropriate arrangements by video link, and that’s what we’re doing in this case.

Question: Just to follow up to this question. Who are the Arab Foreign Ministers coming to attend this conference, this Quartet meeting?

Associate Spokesperson: As far as that goes, some of the arrangements are still being made. So I don’t have any names officially to give out to you just now. But if you come upstairs after this meeting, we can provide you with a few additional details.

Question: I mean, it’s supposed to be a meeting between Arab Foreign Ministers and the Quartet; that’s the sign originally?

Associate Spokesperson: Yes, and you may have missed this, but I mentioned that at the start that there will be a meeting in Conference Room 8 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday.

Question: The media has already announced that there will be the Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Will that be the case?

Associate Spokesperson: Like I said, because the arrangements are still being worked out, I don’t want to give out all the names just yet. We do have some additional details upstairs, so we can provide that for you after this. Matthew?

Inner City Press: First, it’s a follow-up on this Tony Blair question. Since he represents the UN, can you confirm that he was asked to brief the Security Council in this month and he declined to do so?

Associate Spokesperson: I think, for that, the best thing to do is to talk to the President of the Security Council; they’re the ones in charge of the arrangements for the Security Council.

Question: But as a representative of the UN, he sent a letter saying “I won’t come…” (interrupted).

Associate Spokesperson: He is not just a representative of the UN. He, as you know, is a representative of the entire Quartet, so we don’t speak directly for Mr. Blair. But he has an office, and we can give you the contact number for his office.

But 24 hours later, still no contact information for Tony Blair had been given. And Jean-Maurice Ripert, representing both France and the EU, said he doesn't know why Blair is not going to speak to the Council...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1roadmap121308.html

ABN-AMRO and ING Are Facilitators of Congo Sanctions Violations, ICC Disclosure Not Solved

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/drc1stearns121208.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 12 -- "We're not supposed to talk about UN reform or accountability in peacekeeping operations," the head of the UN's Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo Jason Stearns told the Press on Friday. Inner City Press asked if Stearns' Group had at least investigated the reports of top UN peacekeeper and Indian colonel praising rebel Laurent Nkunda, now accused of killed more than 100 civilians in Kiwanja. No, Stearns said, his Group's priority had been to focus on the main supporters of Nkunda's group, the CNDP. Video here, from Minute 28:18.

But if the UN does detailed investigation, shouldn't it include review of whether it or its peacekeepers are part of the problem? Apparently not.

Stearns nevertheless provided one of the more informative UN briefings in recent memory. His Group's report names the wife of Laurent Nkunda, and three banks which transferred money to her: ING, ABN-AMRO and KBC. Inner City Press asked if Stearns thought the financial transfers of these banks were appropriate. "Nkunda's wife is not on the sanctions list," Stearns said.

The same legal hair-splitting obtained when Inner City Press asked whether the interviews Stearns' Group has done will be provided to the Office of the International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo. Most of it is public record, Stearns answered. But what about the interviews granted on condition of anonymity?

If shared with Ocampo, it seems they will have to be shared with any defense attorneys, as reflected by the ICC judges' freezing of the Congo case against Thomas Lubanga. That's up to to the ICC, Stearns said. Which makes it appear at the UN system is still in disarray in terms of how confidentiality can be promised to witnesses for information that may be shared with the ICC, requiring disclosure to defendants. Doctor, heal thyself...

Footnote: The appearance by Stearns, previously of the International Crisis Group, was a break from the usual invisibility and lack of accountability of UN Experts Groups. The Somalia Group, for example, issued a report alleging the Somalis were being trained in Lebanon, but never came to explain it. Likewise, those who came before Stearns on the DRC implied that Congolese uranium was leaking out, which others linked to Iran. Stearns disclaimed that, and criticized the BCC for implying this Group was wiretapping. Hey, Bush did it...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/drc1stearns121208.html

UN's Rwanda Prosecutor Says He Cleared Karenzi, Contra Navi Pillay, No News On Nepali Generals

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2karenzi121208.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 12 -- The UN system's approach to Rwanda was shown this week to be in disarray. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda, Hassan B. Jallow, told the Press on Friday that his Office had been asked about the service with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur by Rwandan General Karenzi Karake, indicted for war crimes by a judge in Spain. Jallow said his answer had been that he had no case against Karenzi, who as a consequence is still in his UN job.

But on December 9 in the same room, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay had told the Press that her Office had raised issues of war crimes by Karenzi Karake while with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RFP), well as getting several Nepali generals removed from peacekeeping missions due to their involvement in disappearances. Inner City Press had asked Ms. Pillay what the UN does about abuses among its peacekeepers, and was told on December 10 that further information was being sought from Ms. Pillay, which two days later has not been provided.

So the UN system's top human rights official is taking credit for raising war crimes issues about a top UN peacekeeping general, while a top UN system prosecutor first says he doesn't recognize the general's name, then says he cleared him.

Meanwhile, the UN's Congo sanctions committee has issued a report linking the RPF-successor Rwandan government with the rebels in Congo led by Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda, while saying on the other hand that the Congolese government army is in league with the Hutu FDLR rebels.

News analysis: Could the ICTR's refusal to prosecute any RFP abusers, and UN Peacekeeping's failure to heed what the UN Human Rights Commissioner says she raised about RFP general Karenzi, have played a role in creating the atmosphere in which the Rwandan support of Nkunda described in the report takes place? The UN doesn't report on itself, at least not on issues like this. But it should.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2karenzi121208.html

UN Peacekeeping Ripped by Ramsey Clark and Congo Doctor, Even HRW's Roth

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1hrprizes121008.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 10 -- An unlikely pairing of Ramsey Clark and Ken Roth, the director of Human Rights Watch, both criticized UN Peacekeeping on Wednesday, as they both collected the UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights. Inner City Press asked Roth and another prize winner, Doctor Denis Mukwege who repairs raped women in Eastern Congo, about Western powers' indecision over whether to send peacekeepers there. Doctor Mukwege said the 17,000 troops currently there should have been able to stop the abuses of the 6,000 FDLR Interhamwe in the area, but have not.

Inner City Press asked Ramsey Clark for his views on more aggressive UN Peacekeeping in the Congo and Darfur. Clark replied by describing the UN Mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, as soldiers from 15 countries who do not coordinate with each other or with UN headquarters in New York.

While Clark did not answer Inner City Press' question if he would represent Sudanese president Omar al Bashir if he is indicted, he said that five million people have died in the Congo due to the lack of interest of Western powers, who nevertheless focus on what Clark called the 200,000 dead in Darfur in Sudan. To some, this sounded like an answer, to others, an offer of representation.

Earlier on Wednesday at the Nigerian Mission, that country's Permanent Representative Joy Ogwu said that she hopes that no arrest warrant is issued for Bashir, who she described as acting better, "much better," of late. Asked if Nigeria would enforce an arrest warrant, she did not give a direct answer.

HRW's Ken Roth in his opening remarks about the Congo criticized what he called the three countries best equipped to go into the Kivus: France, the UK and Germany. Inner City Press asked why he had not even bothered to mention the U.S. Roth agreed, saying it is sad one does not even think of the U.S. for peacekeeping any more. He said that among the victims of the war in Iraq are people left unprotected in Sudan, the Congo and Somalia. This implies that the U.S. would have participated in those UN Missions but for occupying Iraq and Afghanistan.

But as left unaddressed by Madeleine Albright earlier this week, the U.S. did not act in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide either. It goes back to the "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia. Ramsey Clark's views on that were not available at press time.

Footnote: As Inner City Press first exclusively reported on October 26, Ramsey Clark was selected earlier this year by General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann as one of his 15 special advisors. His spokesman was asked on Wednesday why Clark hadn't earlier gotten this UN prize. Inner City Press asked if d'Escoto Brockmann's presidency this year had anything to do with the award. Could it be only a coincidence?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1hrprizes121008.html

Nigeria Rejects UN Involvement in Delta, Greece Likes Ban's No Comment, NY Bricks Are Thrown

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1notwanted121008.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 10 -- What country wants to be the subject of the UN's focus? Not Nigeria. Over plates of spicy fish, tubers and spinach, Permanent Representative Joy Ogwu answered questions on Wednesday afternoon, in the Nigerian missions two-story penthouse banquet hall across from the UN. Inner City Press asked what engagement if any Nigeria wants from the UN about the Niger Delta. None, Ms. Ogwu said. We don't need the UN. We are fully in control of our territory.

But what about the invitation of Ibrahim Gambari, UN Under-Secretary General, to help mediate the conflict? He was invited not as any representative of the UN, but as a former Nigerian diplomat, Ms. Owgu said.

But at the time, the UN took some credit for the invitation that Nigeria made. [Just as the UN Development Program brags of its involvement, with multinational oil companies, in the Niger Delta; we note without yet commenting that UNDP rents the fourth floor of Nigeria House in New York.]

It seems there are two competing interests here: the UN Secretariat's interest in being seen as relevant, and a country like Nigeria's interest in being seen as sovereign and not needing UN help. Usually these conflicts are managed without any difference becoming public.

Take, for example, the Secretariat's "no comment" on the shooting and riots in Greece, on which we inquired and reported yesterday. Today the argument is made that it is not only Greece, but Europe and some other regions on which the UN does not comment. Africa, we're told, is different, because the problems are more constant. But Nigeria, for example, does not want UN involvement. Perhaps no one does, except in cases of terrorist attacks -- in which now, for example, India is asking the Security Council to put Jamaat ud Dawa on its terror sanctions list. So which country's desires are disregarded, and on what basis?

We'll end, rather than with more analysis, with fact: Inner City Press is informed that Wednesday at 5 a.m., the Greek consulate in New York had a brick thrown through the window, and graffiti on the wall, "Alex was here," the name of the boy shot dead Saturday in Athens. Later on Wednesday, protesters assembled, reportedly mostly not Greek. Inner City Press asked, might they be from FYROM?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1notwanted121008.html

At UN, Global Compact's Coke and Nestle Under Fire, Advisor Barlow a Transparently Cheap Date

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1barlow120908.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 9 -- Coca-Cola's claim to be water neutral is not credible, and the UN's Global Compact is little more than "blue-washing," the UN's new water adviser, Maude Barlow, told the Press on Tuesday. Inner City Press asked her and General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann if during this year they will take on the Global Compact, to try to make it have some standards. Doesn't the Compact ultimately answer to the General Assembly? Video here, from Minute 15:08.

Barlow denounced not only Coke but also Pepsi, as well as Nestle and other "water hunters," as she called them, which take water from aquifers and "put it in plastic and sell it all over the world." Barlow said she opposes bottle water. D'Escoto said that the "murky" role of corporations in the field of water must be clarified or distilled. But what about the Compact?

But Barlow did go further than other advisors and UN envoy in clarifying finances. Inner City Press asked her what part of her travel and mandate are paid by the UN. Hotel and airfare, she answered, adding "I'm a cheap date." Unlike, it must be said, the UN Millennium Project's Eveline Herfkens...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1barlow120908.html

As Greece Burns in Police Shooting's Wake, UN's Ban Has No Comment, and Letters Not Received

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1riotgreece120908.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 9 -- As the death of a 15 year old boy, shot by Athens police, has triggered four days riots throughout Greece, the UN on Tuesday still had no comment. Similar or lessen incidents elsewhere garner formal statements by the UN's Ban Ki-moon or his spokesperson Michele Montas. Is the silence in this case explained by the political power of Greece compared, for example, to Nigeria or Guinea Bissau? Or rather is it Greece's unimportance?

This latter theory appears to be supported by another answer on Tuesday, that the UN has not received or processed a letter the Turkish Cypriot leader Talat says he send to Ban Ki-moon. Such letters appear to get lost. How else to explain the Secretary General's upbeat, some say saccharine, last report on Cyprus, compared to the threats of naval confrontation over oil exploration. Ban's report admonishes the two leaders in Cyprus not to negotiate through the press. Does this mean not answering questions? If so, it can be said to be catching.

From Tuesday's UN transcript:

Inner City Press: it’s reported that the Turkish Cypriot leader, [Mehmet Ali] Talat, wrote a letter to the Secretary-General, I guess responding to what Cyprus had written making other points. Has it been received and is Ban Ki-moon, does he have a response to it?

Spokesperson Montas: Well, it would go first, as you know, to our Special Envoy dealing with the issue of Cyprus. In terms of the Secretary-General receiving another letter, I can check for you whether the letter was received.

[She later added that no such letter had been received.]

Inner City Press: Okay, and does he have any either comment or (inaudible)...is there any UN response to the, in Greece, to the shooting and rioting that’s taking place in the last three days?

Spokesperson: No, except that the Secretary-General has been following that issue quite closely. He has no comments on it at this point.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1riotgreece120908.html

At UN, Madeleine Albright Talks Genocide While Dodging on Rwanda Votes of 1994

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1albright120908.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 9 -- The U.S. is said to be a forgiving country, a land of re-invention of self. How else to explain Madeleine Albright, who in 1994 while serving on the Security Council pushed to remove UN peacekeepers from Rwanda during the genocide, showing up Tuesday at the UN along with William Cohen as experts to advise Barack Obama on the prevention of genocide?

Certainly, a person who has erred is in a good position to help successors avoid the same mistake. But Ms. Albright's introductory remarks to the Press did not mention the word Rwanda. So Inner City Press asked her, as the U.S. Permanent Representative during the Rwanda genocide, what lesson she has taken from it, and from the Council's dealings with the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Video here, from Minute 10:44.

Ms. Albright could only say that people had been distracted by Bosnia and Haiti and, she said, Somalia "where the Black Hawk helicopter had been shot down." We were doing things, she said. But she did not address the connection, that following the deaths of American service people in Somalia, President Bill Clinton decided that not only no Americans, but no other peacekeepers should take action in Rwanda.

Belgian peacekeepers had been shot, and Belgium wanted to leave. Today, Belgium says it is interested in sending peacekeepers to its former colony the Congo, but won't because the European Union doesn't agree. The EU is deploying in Kosovo. What has been learned?

Here is Ms. Albright's answer to Inner City Press' question:

"I do think there are various aspects of the tragedy of Rwanda that obviously weigh very heavily on all of us that had anything to do with it. And I do think there are lessons there that have been incorporated into some of these suggestions.

"I think that it is obviously always easier for people to make judgments about what decisions were taken at the time when there was a different level of information available, which is something I tell my students all the time, but I do think what was missing was enough information coming in, looking at patterns, early warning signs, and anything in the US government that actually was a strong interagency process that had people watching for what was going on, and that's why we've suggested an atrocities prevention committee that would meet on a monthly basis and would be available, why we have suggested that the National Intelligence Estimate involve intelligence across the board ...

"The other part that I think is truly germane and why you need people spending time on this, for those of you who were here during that period, you know that it isn't as if we weren't doing anything. We had been in Somalia, the Black Hawk helicopter had been shot down, we were in Bosnia, we were looking at Haiti."

News analysis: rather than "never again," this is a recipe for "again and again."

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1albright120908.html

UN's Pillay Says While Few States Discipline Abusive UN Troops, They Are Needed

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unhrc1pillay120908.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 9 -- While the UN relies on troop contributing countries to discipline UN peacekeepers who rape or abuse, "very few states in fact have prosecuted" them, the UN system's top human rights official told the Press on Tuesday. Inner City Press asked Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, what the UN should do to ensure that more than "very few states in fact... prosecute" their soldiers who are accuse of abuse. Shouldn't the UN stop taking troops from such countries, or at least withhold some of the payments? "We need the troops," Ms. Pillay said. Video here, from Minute 39:43.

Later on Tuesday her Office's representative in New York, Craig Mokhiber, told reporters not to accept governments' "justifications" the human rights abuses they should control. Video here. But what is the UN's and Ms. Pillay's argument, that the lack of discipline of abusers is excused by the need for troops, but a justification? If a government said it would not discipline soldiers in its own army for war crimes because then it would be more difficult to get volunteers, Pillay and the UN would surely not accept the premise. But how is the UN's position any different?

Pillay went on to say that her office did get several generals from Nepal removed from duty, due to involvement in disappearances. She mentioned the case of Rwandan general Karenzi with the UN in Darfur, where despite indictment for war crimes by a Spanish judge, Karenzi remains in place.

Also concerning Spain, Inner City Press asked Ms. Pillay about the controversy surrounding the $23 million ceiling of the new human rights chamber in Geneva, whether Spanish international cooperation funds should have been used and whether, as reported, a square meter of the ceiling has already fallen. I would be alarmed by the ceiling, she said, since she will be sitting under it. She said Spain's Ambassador told her the funds used for the ceiling had never been expressly earmarked for the poor. International cooperation, apparently, can mean many things.

Footnote: Mokhiber appeared with a pro-UN pollster, Steven Kull, and Peggy Hicks from Human Rights Watch. Kull, when asked why he had not included sexual orientation rights in his poll, said he hadn't "found a sponsor" for such questions. Inner City Press asked if that didn't mean that the questions asked were directly by funders. Oh no, Kull assured. But strangely enough his organization has not, for example, polled people in the Congo on what they think of UN peacekeepers. To come full circle, the word for this is impunity.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unhrc1pillay120908.html

Questions About Jamaat ud Dawa and UN's Pakistan Aid in Mumbai's Wake

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1jamaat120808.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 8 -- As arrests for the Mumbai massacre are being made at the Jamaat ud Dawa camp in Kashmir, questions have resurfaced about the UN's engagement with Jamaat ud Dawa following the October 2005 Pakistan earthquake. On October 6, 2006 Inner City Press asked then-UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric to address reports that the UN worked with both Jamaat ud Dawa and the Al Rashid Trust, on the UN's sanctions list. Mr. Dujarric said that the UN's focus is on working with and through group who can get aid to those who need it. Video here, from Minute 13:50.

Inner City Press pursued the issue and published a report including a quote that UN "aid they got from international agencies - have really boosted their position locally. One Jamaat leader told us that people were now trusting them with their children - they hadn't before the earthquake - and they had actively recruited hundreds of children left orphaned."

Days later on October 10, Inner City Press asked the UN's top humanitarian Jan Egeland about the reports. Egeland, who still works part-time with the UN, answered that "I'm sure we did cover people of many different beliefs and many different political orientations. We do not ask hungry people if they do have this or that political belief... But if you work in Kashmir, there will be people given aid who would belong to organizations which have fundamentalist beliefs." Video here, from Minute 46.

As Inner City Press reported at the time, after the October 10, 2006 press briefing, supplemental answers were provided by one of Mr. Egeland's spokespeople, Kristen Knutson. Asked how, in the future, OCHA will try to ensure that it does not increase the influence of groups like the Al Rashid Trust by providing aid to camps they establish, Ms. Knutson insisted that "determining who can set up a camp is entirely up to governments of member states. And once a camp is open, OCHA and the UN will provide aid to the people in that camp."

So now, what has been the UN's engagement with Jamaat ud Dawa? The UN's New York headquarters was closed for a holiday on Monday. The issue will continue to be pursued.

News analysis: Giving aid is good, but so is having standards, or at least being transparent about the lack of standards.

Footnote: to show that the issue cuts in many different ways, while Egeland said that the UN tries not to work with organization's whose principles vary from those of the UN, last week Inner City Press asked current UN spokesperson Michele Montas again about Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's agreement with NATO, which was kept confidential and not pre-shown even to member states. While the UN is for the abolition of war, NATO is a military alignment that, among other things, does not oppose the use of nuclear weapons. So what are the UN's standards for engagements with groups? As we said, it cuts both ways.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1jamaat120808.html

Behind Myanmar's Bluster, Gas Deals for Daewoo, China and India, on which UN's Ban Has No Comment

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/ban1daewoo120508.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 5 -- As Myanmar has stepped up the pace of its imprisonment of political opponents, bloggers and journalists, the UN's Ban Ki-moon met Friday with his "Group of Friends on Myanmar." Afterwards he told the Press that he will only go to Myanmar if there are some positive moves by the Than Shwe government, including release of political prisoners. Inner City Press asked him about the responsibility of private corporations doing business in Myanmar, giving the specific example of South Korea's Daewoo and its deal with Myanmar Oil and Gas. I cannot comment on specifics, Ban said, adding that "whoever has influence" should try to convince Myanmar to improve its record.

Along with India and corporations like Daewoo and Total, a major influence is China, whose foreign minister visited with Than Shwe just this week. The problem is that all of these parties want natural resources from Myanmar. Inner City Press' analysis is that these resources make Myanmar feel impervious to outside pressure; its business partners however prefer having the fig leaf that Ban Ki-moon's involvement and visits provide. This is the small leverage that the UN is trying to use: no photo opportunity with Ban until a few political prisoners are released. "They can just be locked back up later," one cynic said.

After Ban's spokesperson had tried to say that the query -- about the Congo -- before Inner City Press' was the "last question," Inner City Press had asked if Myanmar's oil and gas deals with China and India were helpful, or made Myanmar more intransigent. Ban to his credit waved off his spokesperson and took the question, although ultimately he did not answer it. Standing behind Ban was his Indian chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar. Sources tell Inner City Press that the United Kingdom is putting pressure on this position, previously held under Kofi Annan by the UK's Mark Malloch Brown. While incongruous, as Inner City Press asked the UN's British humanitarian coordinator John Holmes earlier on December 5, the UK's minister for international development Gareth Thomas this week criticized the current UN as unworthy of leading the fight against poverty, click here for that.

Footnote: Ban's "no comment" on whether and how responsible businesses would do deal with Myanmar right now seems incongruous given his attendance, earlier on December 5, at a forum of educators for responsible management. Two of these educators told Inner City Press that, as regards Myanmar, the UN should have disclosed when it was losing up to 25% of value to Than Shwe through government-required currency exchange, as only revealed after an internal UN memo was leaked to Inner City Press.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1daewoo120508.html

When UN Loses Money to Dictators, It Resists Disclosure, Unlike Even Corporations

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1disclosed120508.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 5, updated -- Following the exposure of the UN's quiet currency exchange losses to the governments of Myanmar and Zimbabwe, Inner City Press on December 5 asked a member of the UN's Responsible Management Education group what the UN should do when it faces or discovers such losses. "Disclose," said John Fernandes of the Alliance to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Gerard Van Schaik of Belgium's EFMD added that such disclosure should be to society at large, and not only to donors. Video here, from Minute 36:52.

Minutes later, Inner City Press asked the UN's humanitarian chief John Holmes if he agrees with and will implement these views of the UN's business partners. Holmes claimed that the UN had been "perfectly transparent" about its losses in Myanmar. But his colleague Dan Baker, when Inner City Press asked him about the losses on July 10, said incorrectly that Myanmar's "government does not benefit." Video here from Minute 46:20.

In fact, Baker and the UN only admitted their losses to Myanmar's military government after Inner City Press continued asking about it, in light of a June 26 UN internal memo which put the level of losses as high as 25%. Holmes on December 5 said that the UN still "has no systematic mechanism" to look for losses, but acknowledged only one other country where this has happened, Zimbabwe. But before Inner City Press last week asked about the UN's losses to Robert Mugabe, the UN had publicly disclosed nothing about those losses either.

Inner City Press asked Holmes, if the UN in the future losses money to government required currency exchange, will it as recommended disclose the level of losses in its Consolidated Appeal documents or other fund-raising pitches. Video here, from Minute 36:50. Holmes answered, apparently without irony, "I'm sure it will come out one way or another." Apparently, only if the information leaks to the press, and even then, the UN's first instinct, like Baker's, is usually to deny it.

Inner City Press is most often skeptical of corporation which come to drape themselves in the UN's blue flag -- on December 5, Inner City Press asked about the UN Global Compact membership and reporting of BHP Billiton, which is the subject of an undisclosed OECD Guidelines complaint for destruct act mining in Colombia. Video here from Minute 20:07, and see update below. But in this case, the UN is not even living up to or follow the minimally-responsible advice of the business school executives it has invited to its corporate society responsibility events. In fact, the UN's willful non-disclosure of losses would, if done by a publicly-trade business, trigger fines and imprison. But the UN is (still) benefiting from immunity, and impunity. This all needed to change.

Update: Less than 12 hours after the Global Forum for Responsible Management Education press conference, the Global Compact provided the following statement by its Director Georg Kell about the BHP Billiton / OECD matter:

To answer your question, here is a bit of a perspective on the OECD story
(attributable to Georg Kell):

"The Global Compact is about dialogue and learning. We try to foster change by providing incentives and recognizing good practices. Of course, no organization, large or small, can claim to be perfect, and there is always room for improvement. The main thing to understand is that the GC is not a compliance-based instrument. In situations where individual incidents require solution-finding, we very much welcome the constructive efforts of the OECD.

"But, as this case may illustrate, disclosure by companies on non-financial performance is not necessarily synonymous to implementation and does not cover all incidents that occur in a global organization. The Global Compact is aware of this, and we are undertaking efforts to make reports submitted under the reporting (COP) framework more tangible and meaningful."

We hope to be able to report more about these efforts. Later on December 5, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon if and how private corporations should deal with Myanmar's government at this stage. Despite having addressed the Global Forum for Responsible Management Education only hours earlier, Ban replied that he cannot comment on specifics, adding that "whoever has influence" should try to convince Myanmar to improve its record. Click here for that.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1disclosed120508.html

ICC's Moreno Ocampo Learned Nothing from Lubanga Case, Laughs at Retaliation Finding

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/icc5ocampo120308.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 3 -- The day before he indicted Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, Luis Moreno Ocampo of the International Criminal Court was found by the International Labor Organization to have retaliated against a whistleblower, who was awarded 200,000 Euros including 25,000 Euros in "moral damages." On Wednesday at the UN, Inner City Press asked Moreno Ocampo, "Did you learn anything" from the ILO's criticism, and from the suspension of the cases against Thomas Lubanga of the Congo, for failure to turn over exculpatory evidence?

Moreno Ocampo would not admit any error in either case; in fact, he laughed at the finding of retaliation. Video here, from Minute 21:11. When asked if the finding against him impairs his or the ICC's work, or is brought up as he travels the world explaining his questionable legal strategies for example in the Lubanga case, Moreno Ocampo said, "When I come here, you ask me questions about it." Perhaps most amazingly, after saying that the state parties of the ICC paid the 200,000 Euros judgment to the whistleblower he fired, Moreno Ocampo said on camera that the charges against him had been "manifestly unfounded." Video here, from Minute 37:33.

Such a dismissive attitude to judicial findings, and such misleading statements about a ruling, Moreno Ocampo would be sure to criticize in any of his indictees. How then does he engage in them? And how could this behavior by the ICC's chief prosecutor be curtailed? Or is he above the law?

Earlier this year, Inner City Press published verbatim quotes by the head of the Coalition for the ICC, comments made after a press conference at the UN. This Coalition's spokeswoman then called Inner City Press asking that the quotes be stricken. This reflects the unwillingness of those who are supposed to directly and indirectly oversee Moreno Ocampo to be seen as criticizing him, for fear of being misunderstood to be criticizing international justice, or as supporting al-Bashir.

But Moreno Ocampo's behavior, including that underlying the ILO's 200,000 Euro judgment, injure the reputation and integrity of the international criminal justice system. Substantively, a prosecutor who jeopardized the case against an alleged child soldier recruiter like Lubanga, and then says he had nothing to learn from the delay and criticism by judges, should not continue as prosecutor. But who will tell him?

Sitting next to Moreno Ocampo at Wednesday's news conference was the State Parties' Christian Wenaweser, of Liechtenstein. Even as Moreno Ocampo made light of the 200,000 Euro judgment, paid not by him but by the State Parties, Wenaweser said nothing.

In September, the former foreign minister of a Pacific country which supports the ICC told Inner City Press that Moreno Ocampo had been telling diplomats that he had offered to Bashir not to indict him, if he turned over the two previously indictees Kushayb and Harun. Inner City Press asked Moreno Ocampo, and he denied it, saying, "I never did it, I cannot offer." Those who make decisions about the ICC and its prosecutor will have to assess Moreno Ocampo's credibility.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/icc5ocampo120308.html

In UN's Silent CAR Alarm, Impunity for Assassinations, Civilians Still Unprotected

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/car2impunity120308.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 3 -- "In northwest Central African Republic, we have no force there and the rebels are in activities," UN envoy Francois Lonseny Fall told Inner City Press on Tuesday. It has been that way in CAR for some time now, and the UN appears to have given up on trying to protect civilians there.

Fall had been leaving his briefing to the Security Council, not planning to speak with reporters, many of whom had mistaken acronym of his mandate, BONUCA, as concerning Burundi rather than CAR. Some jokes, a country so poor it cannot afford a name. Others commented how the MINURCAT peacekeeping force, stationed in northeast CAR, is only about Darfur, not about the locals. Who cares about the the people of the Central African Republic? In the northwest, fighting has forced them in their thousands into the bush.

Even the UN's envoy Fall is dismissive, pitching an upbeat vision of peace talks this week in Bangui. But at what cost? The UN's report on CAR recites without criticism an amnesty agreement for CAR's former leaders Ange-Felix Patasse and others "and their accomplices for embezzlement of public funds and assassinations, among other offences." This is in a UN document, S/2008/733 at Paragraph 7, without any criticism. Where, for example, is Luis Moreno Ocampo?

If such an arrangement were proposed in Darfur, for example, their would be worldwide outcry. But this is the CAR. Impunity, mass displacement, none of it seems to matter. It is not a high profile conflict, the wrongdoers don't fit into into wider global template. And so the suffering continues, with the pretense of UN caring.

Inner City Press asked Fall four questions on Tuesday. Has there been an upsurge in violence, and areas to which the UN cannot go? Yes, he said, in the northwest. The report under staff security says that "following an attack on the north-eastern town of Sam Oundja on 8 November, one UN staff member and either humanitarian workers were evacuated by EUFOR on 9 November. UN activities are currently suspended in that part of the country."

Note that is the north-east: when such attacks occur in the north-west of CAR, there is no EUFOR to evacuate the workers, and no inclusion in the report.

Inner City Press also asked about the Lord's Resistance Army, reportedly rampaging in from the DRC. Fall acknowledged the incursions, but played them down, nothing since the end of the year. Nothing but hopeful upcoming talks, all based on impunity. Where is Luis Moreno Ocampo now? The toolbox of double-standards adds new drivers every day.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/car2impunity120308.html

Who Investigates UN Investigator Ahlenius is Raised by Unsigned Letter Which Ban Dismisses

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/oios2ahlenius120208.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 2 -- As the UN's investigative chief has been accused of corruption, the UN has nothing so say except that e-mails have been forwarded. Last week Inner City Press printed in full a whistleblower's letter to the head of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, Inga-Britta Ahlenius, copied to Ban Ki-moon. Click here for that. On December 2, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas:

Inner City Press: I got a copy of a letter that was sent, I believe “cc’d” to the Secretary-General, but also to Ms. Angela Kane and [Catherine Pollard[ about what they claim are irregularities in the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), in terms of hiring and promotions. It’s a pretty, it’s a long letter. Are you aware of it? Has the Secretary-General received it and what’s going to be done to look into the claims made in it?

Spokesperson Montas: We’re certainly aware of it. The Secretary-General, as you know, came back this morning, at 1 o’clock in the morning, so I cannot answer on his behalf on whether he has been briefed on that. But of course, Ms. Angela Kane received the letter and Ms. Inga-Britt Ahlenius has already received it also.

Inner City Press: But who is it, I guess this is sort of a structural question, if the OIOS is the investigative unit of the UN, who investigates OIOS in the face of this type of allegations?

Spokesperson: We’ll get some answers for you on that. I know we have already asked for some answers.

[The Spokesperson later added that the letter in question was an anonymous one that had been sent to staff members in OIOS and one media outlet. As soon as Under-Secretary-General Inga-Britt Ahlenius received the letter, she forwarded it to all staff in the Audit Division and to all Directors, and she encouraged them to discuss and comment on it. Ms. Ahlenius said that “the only way to deal with such issues is to bring transparency to it”. The Spokesperson also noted that her Office does not comment on unsigned complaints.]

The "one media outlet" is Inner City Press; the UN's dismissal of "unsigned" complaints is of a piece with the lack of protection for whistleblowers in this UN. But still the question has not been answered, who investigates OIOS? Inner City Press is told that the Board of Auditors was asked to do it, at one point. But this case is too timely. The UN's Tuesday dodge will not suffice.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/oios2ahlenius120208.html

UN Piracy Resolution Dodges Toxic Waste and Sinking of Wrong Ship, Somali TFG's Sphere to Shrink

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/som1pirates120208.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 2 -- As the UN Security Council congratulated itself for Tuesday's resolution about Somali piracy, unresolved are the problems of the dumping of toxic waste on Somali shores, the sinking of a fishing ship and its crew in the name of fighting pirates, and the lack of popularity of the UN-based Transitional Federal Government as its Ethiopian backers threatened to leave at month's end.

Even the UN's envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, has said the European Union must stop its ships from dumping on Somalia. But when Inner City Press asked Ambassador Ripert of France, which still holds the EU's presidency, about how toxic waste will be dealt with, he said he was not prepared for the question. Video here.

When Inner City Press asked him about reports that the Indian navy's loudly proclaimed sinking of a pirate "mother ship" last month turned out to be a fishing ship, he said, You should ask the Indians. But the shooting was done under the cover of Security Council resolution.

The U.S. representative, Rosemarie DiCarlo, came out of the Council and said the U.S. is working "bilaterally" to try to stabilize Somalia. Inner City Press asked if that meant speaking with the Ethiopians, since the U.S. armed them and gave them the green light to drive on Mogadishu back in December 2006. Video here. Apparently it does. But the Ethiopians make good on their word, to leave by the end of this month, expect the TFG's sphere of influence to shrink even further.

Of the TFG, a Somali source of Inner City Press opines that "on the TFG side the President he is against the agreement as it was between one clan -- the prime minister and Sheikh Sharif are of the same clan. The speaker of the parliament is now expected to fly to Puntland to join the Presidents effort in opposing the agreement. Both see their influence will be diluted by the addition of 275 more members to the parliament and they do not want to have to run for the offices they are already possess."

Compared to this real politik, the UK Deputy Permanent Representative Karen Pierce took a more legal-minded approach, speaking about the right and responsibility of member states, parties to the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, to "accept delivery of persons responsible for or suspected of seizing or exercising control over a ship by force or there thereof."

But when one suspects a person or ship of piracy, is that enough to fire and sink the vessel? Inner City Press asked Amb. Pierce what recourse the owner of a erroneously downed ship would have. She said she wasn't sure, nor about the applicability of the SUA Convention to the problems of toxic waste dumping. Video here.

News analysis: And so what exactly were these Council members congratulating themselves for, with this belated and repetitive resolution? South Africa's outgoing Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, asked as he entered the Council chamber about the resolution, groaned dismissively and told Inner City Press, they're never going to do anything for Somalia, haven't you understood that?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/som1pirates120208.html

As UNICEF Drugs Resold in Sierra Leone and Holiday Cards Misrun, UN's Ban Is Silent

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1unicef112908.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 29 -- Medicine and mosquito nets given for free by the UN system to the government of Sierra Leone have reappeared for sale for profit in Free Town. The abuse is widespread. Inner City Press on November 25 asked UN spokesperson Michele Montas if Ban Ki-moon or his envoy on malaria Ray Chambers have any comment, any plans to address this re-sale of UN aid. First let's see if it's true, Ms Montas said. But it has been captured on film, by the BBC's Panorama program, summarized here.

In the first instance, Inner City Press asked UNICEF for an answer, and got this

Hi Matthew, Just for your info, I think it is important to note - a) it is the Government that distributes products, b) that UNICEF does conduct monitoring and requests action...

"Cotrimoxazole is on the essential medicines list of most countries and is one of the products in highest demand from UNICEF. It is a well-tolerated and cost-effective life-saving intervention for children living with HIV or who have been exposed to HIV. To help save the lives of children in Sierra Leone, UNICEF provides supplies of nets and drugs to the Government for distribution.

"The Government provides quarterly reports on health programme implementation and UNICEF regularly conducts spot-check monitoring of distribution. If irregularities are uncovered, UNICEF informs the Government and it takes action...

"It is unrealistic to expect that all of the drugs and nets we provide will be used for the purpose for which they are intended... Where we have information about large-scale leakage from our programmes, we investigate and take action."

But what action has been taken in this case? Contrast this well-crafted answer, though, with the underlying report, here. There is a need for the head of the UN system, Ban Ki-moon or at least his Malaria Envoy Ray Chambers, to speak and act on the resale for profit of UNICEF-granted drugs in Sierra Leone.

UNICEF also recently answered Inner City Press' question about its auditors' criticism of the use of holiday card sale proceeds, to

"Please provide UNICEF's comment / response on deadline to para 42 from

A/63/474, that '[a]t UNICEF, the Board observed that some National Committees were retaining up to 100 per cent of the gross proceeds from the sale of greeting card products even though rule 9.04 of the special supplement to the UNICEF Financial Regulations and Rules states that they may be authorized to retain only up to 25 per cent of such sales. The Advisory Committee concurs with the Board that UNICEF should ensure that the 25 per cent retention limit is applied and that, if necessary, UNICEF should evaluate and formalize any exceptions to the rule.'"

Inner City Press asked, "what is UNICEF's response, what is UNICEF doing in response?" Subsequently the following was received:

Hi Matthew, Here's an answer re the Greeting Cards.

"In 2007, the UNICEF greeting card business generated sales of $ 156 million and made a net contribution to UNICEF programmes of $ 61 million, a healthy 39% operating margin, comparing favourably to the industry average of 4% to 8%. As with all consumer-product businesses, there are costs associated with the sale of UNICEF greeting cards. These include direct selling and marketing costs, production and manufacturing, logistics, and distribution.

"In some markets, UNICEF has recently faced increased competitive pressure coupled with market contraction. This has resulted in lower than expected sales and higher than expected selling costs. In these markets, UNICEF and the relevant National Committees are presently reviewing alternative distribution models to improve the cost to sales ratio and improved levels of profitability."

Despite UNICEF's spokesman's always erudite answers, one wonders if "the relevant National Committees" include UNICEF Germany, faced earlier this year with scandal which UNICEF also minimized, at least initially. We await Ban Ki-moon's views and action on the sale for profit of UNICEF-given drugs in Sierra Leone.

Working for children is laudable, but oversight is needed. This can appear to be lacking at UNICEF, witness not only the above but also the UN's reticence to openly criticize UNICEF's chief's granting of the UN's North Lawn to Madonna and a Kabbalah-affiliated charity earlier this year. UNICEF's chief has yet to hold a press conference with Q&A in UN headquarters since then.

Footnote: And now some observers of both the UN and United States political scenes opine that the top position at UNICEF may soon be in for a change to be believed in...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1unicef112908.html

UN Accepted Mugabe's Exchange Rate in Zimbabwe, Refuses to Disclose Losses As In Myanmar

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1ratezim112708.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 27 -- The UN let the Zimbabwe regime of Robert Mugabe take a cut of all aid money it raised and, until two week ago, converted at a government-imposed rate at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, two UN officials admitted to Inner City Press on November 26.

Catherine Bragg, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, refused to compare the exchange rate the UN accepted from the government to other available rates. "The UN does use the black market," she said. "Whatever exchange rate the government allows us to have, the UN has to use." Video here, from Minute 11:59.

Ms. Bragg and OCHA were appealing for $550 million for Zimbabwe in 2009. In 2008, using but not disclosing Mugabe regime dictated exchange rates, the UN appealed for $400 million, and raised and spent $300 million.

Earlier this year, Inner City Press exposed the UN's loss of 20 to 25% of money raised by the UN and spent in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis as the UN allowed the Than Shwe military government to require conversion of dollars into government Foreign Exchange Certificates. Click here for that.

At that time, Inner City Press asked OCHA chief John Holmes, as well as the spokespeople for Ban Ki-moon, UNICEF and the UN Development Program to disclose any other countries in which the UN system was losing 5% or more to government require currency exchange. The responses ranges from "there are no such countries" -- which is now shown to be untrue -- to "we don't need to tell you."

This latter approached was continued four months later, by Ms. Bragg and Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas. Ms. Bragg refused to compare the Zimbabwe rate up until two weeks ago to the exchange rates others were able to obtain.

Ms. Montas after a back and forth with Inner City Press said that even the UN's unofficial information on exchange rate losses "will not be available to you." Video here, at Minute 27:35 - in the UN's transcript, her quote is inaccurately transcripts as "will not be valuable to you." The UN's summary of Ms. Bragg's OCHA press conference does not use the word black market, which she used two times, and does not include the unanswered questions in this regard.

How could the UN appeal for hundreds of millions of dollars while it knew that of this aid money it was losing high percentages -- 25% in Myanmar, an unknown percentage in Zimbabwe and other undisclosed countries?

From the November 26 noon briefing transcript:

Inner City Press: And also I wanted to ask you, there was a press conference here at 11 by OCHA about Zimbabwe, the scope of which was explicitly Zimbabwe only… but an issue that arose was when, the UN, apparently up until two weeks ago when they converted donor dollars in Zimbabwe, they received a foreign exchange rate significantly lower than the market rate. But, they said that they were unwilling to compare the two, because the UN doesn’t do business “on the black market”. Is it, does the UN, I guess, if it’s spending donor money, is some attempt made to see that in fact the money is not just being lost to governments like, in this case Zimbabwe, or what happened in Myanmar. What safeguards are in place to make sure that money is not being lost to governments when they require conversions of funds with them?

Spokesperson: Okay, what we are also concerned about is not going through illegal channels. And the UN cannot afford to go the black market. What Ms. Bragg said was true. In terms of trying to find the best rates, as you know, they negotiate in every single country where the UN operates. So, short of going through the illegal market, we are doing what we can to try to get the best rate we can possibly have.

Inner City Press: I tried to ask Ms. Bragg if the UN had compared other rates available other than the one they were getting from the government and she said, no, we only take one with the government. So how would, how would the UN know if it’s getting a good rate or not if it doesn’t, I guess I’m, maybe the question to you or to OCHA is, what has been the spread between what other people get as an exchange rate and what the UN gets from the government?

Spokesperson: I don’t have that information. If Ms. Bragg could not give to you, I don’t have it.

Inner City Press: She said it was a matter of policy. They won’t even say what the comparison is because they don’t want to talk about a “black market”.

Spokesperson: I understand her point.

Inner City Press: So, I go back to this. With these cap appeals that come out, how is there any way to know how much of the money is being lost in government foreign exchange conversions, if the UN has a policy of never comparing the rates.

Spokesperson: Well, the situation is that we are an intergovernmental organization. You have to take into account the legal government that is in any country, whether there are problems or not, of course. The policy is trying to find the best rates, but within legal ways.

Inner City Press: I guess I’m…

Spokesperson: In some countries it’s not a black market. It’s a competitive market. Then the UN tries to get the best rate. Whenever you have a government-controlled system like this one, the UN does not have a choice.

Inner City Press: Right. I guess, just to deal with that, I understand what you’re saying, it seems important to know what, to know what the losses are, to know…

Spokesperson: I’m sure they are aware of it.

Inner City Press: Then why wouldn’t they disclose them? If they just asked the international community for hundreds of millions of dollars, if the UN knows how much is being lost to the Government, why would it be against the policy to say…?

Spokesperson: Because they cannot officially take into account the black market.

Inner City Press: Could it be done on some unofficial basis?

Spokesperson Montas: It’s certainly done on an unofficial basis. But it won’t be valuable to you.

This last transcription is significantly and seemingly intentionally inaccurate. As the video shows, Ms. Montas says, "it won't be available to you." Video here, at Minute 27:35; the Q&A starts here at Minute 24:30.

After Ms. Bragg's formal press briefing, Inner City Press asked OCHA's country leader Rania Degash if she could speak about the exchange rate losses. No, she said, saying that the UN Development Program had been in charge of it. Another correspondent muttered, this is so secret, what is it, the CIA? But even that agency is overseen to some degree by a legislature. Who oversees the UN? The ethically-compromised Inga-Britt Ahlenius of OIOS? No one, apparently.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1ratezim112708.html

UN Silent on Cypriot Tensions, What a Downer, UNIFEM Forgets FYROM

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2downer112608.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- A day after UN Spokesperson Michele Montas told Inner City Press she would seek a comment from Cyprus envoy Alexander Downer about the naval and oil exploration dispute between Turkey and Cyprus, the indirect answer was that Downer and the UN have no comment. They argue, against all logic, that this dispute has no impact on the talks about the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Is this just sloppy and wishful thinking, or something more?

Following Cyprus' complaint to Ban Ki-moon about the naval run-in, Turkey has said it will file its own complaints. Cyprus then moved to file complaints about air space incursions.

As Inner City Press previously inquired into and reported on, Downer has another, for-profit job, with the business consultancy, Bespoke Approach. His web page there mentions, in context as a reason to hire him, his envoy position with the UN. Is this proper? What safeguards are in place? These questions were never answered when Downer was appointed, or since. Wednesday, Inner City Press asked a senior UN official, who acknowledged that sometimes conflicts are not considered until after an envoy is appointed, if then. Nor, apparently, is Downer's employment contract with the UN a public document.

Downer's fellow Australian Joel Fitzgibbon, far from withholding comment, has aggressively criticized the UN and its Afghanistan envoy Kai Eide, click here for that. So Downer's silence is neither national character or strategy. Is it just bad diplomacy, or laziness?

Downer's silence in the face of this escalation can be contrasted with the near-immediate comment issued by another envoy in the region, Matthew Nimetz. When the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia sued Greece in the International Court of Justice for blocking its application to join NATO, Nimetz issued a statement that FYROM had assured him this would not impact talks on the name issue.

UNIFEM Forgets FYROM

Following Inner City Press' exclusive report on November 25 that UNIFEM's handout about the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women refers not to FYROM but to "Macedonia," the spokesman for the UN Development Program had told Inner City Press that "Re FYROM, this fund and project is managed by UNIFEM. They are aware of the error in the pamphlet and are addressing it."

Inner City Press called and spoke with UNIFEM's media consultant Beatrice Frey, who said she would obtain and provide information from officials of the Trust Fund, with whom she was then in a meeting. Inner City Press also asked what UNIFEM does on the issue of violence against women and sexual exploitation and abuse by UN Peacekeepers. Six hours later, no information had been provided on either topic.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2downer112608.html

While UN Says Kosovo Trust Agency Budget Is Not Public, UK Calls for Transparency

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN www.innercitypress.com/kta1budget112608.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- The budget of the Kosovo Trust Agency, a fund run by the UN Mission in Kosovo, is not public, UNMIK chief Lamberto Zannier told Inner City Press on Friday. Speaking outside the Security Council meeting about the deployment of EULEX, Zannier said he has ordered the central bank of Kosovo to preserve the funds, but none of it will be public. He said he visited the UN's former office and didn't sense anything was wrong.

Inner City Press then asked the United Kingdom's Deputy Permanent Representative Karen Pierce, who had just called for transparency in any parallel structures, if the UK thinks the Kosovo Trust Agency should be transparent. She called the KTA "not an ideal situation," even before Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence. She said it should be "regularized," and at some point a budget should be issued. But when?

Inner City Press also asked Zannier about the controversy surrounding former UNMIK chief legal officer Borg-Olivier, who not only went directly to work for the Kosovo government, but bragged that he had lobbied for them while still employed by UNMIK. That was before my time, Zannier answered, refusing further comment.

On the Secretary-General's report on Kosovo, there was a lot of happy talk, punctuated by Serbia's foreign minister Vuk Jeremic speaking about churches destroyed and paved over. Kosovo's representative responded at the stakeout that Serbia had done much worse, that history will be written from facts. Inner City Press asked Karen Pierce if the UK supports the six point plan. Kosovo has rejected it, she said by way of an answer. She pointed out that several more countries -- Kosovo puts the count at five -- have issued recognitions of independence since the case was filed with the International Court of Justice. Most of these five were arm-twisted. Rule of law, indeed....

On the other hand, when Inner City Press asked U.S. representative Rosemary DiCarlo is any progress had been made in getting Miladin Kovacevic, the basketball player who beat a New York State college student into a coma and then fled back to Serbia with the assistance of that country's consulate in New York, extradited to the U.S.. We're trying, Ms. DiCarlo said, adding that she is aware of no progress. Hillary Clinton is on record calling for the extradition. Might U.S. policy, even on Kosovo, be influenced by this issue in the future?

Footnote: Inner City Press asked Karen Pierce if and when the Security Council will issue some pronouncement on the shooting spree earlier in the day in Mumbai, India. Not tonight, Pierce answered, going on to deplore the acts. Cynical journalists moaned that they might have to come in on Friday. Thursday, being the U.S. Thanksgiving day holiday, was considered out of the question.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/kta1budget112608.html