By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 23 -- The UN's role in Libya is ostensibly premised on its transparency to the public, and that it accountable to all and not just some of its member states.
So when UN consultant Dirk Vandewalle was quoted that he prepared a 30 page report, and three page summary for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and as describing these in a lecture at Dartmouth, it seemed fair for Inner City Press to ask about the summary he prepared, with public money, for this public institution.
But Ban's acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said "Those are not in any way public documents... "I wouldn't comment on the work he did as a consultant... preparing ideas for what the post-conflict situation will be."
The UN has no freedom of information act, apparently not even to its member states. Haq said "what we would give to Member States are the final documents. All documentss go through a process of editing and approval."
So is the UN editing down Vandewalle's work? Or as he said in his lecture, was his job to edit other UN documents? And how can the UN not "comment on the work he did as a consultant" with public money?
On August 15, Inner City Press asked Haq about another article which "quotes Dirk Vandewalle as a Libya expert at Dartmouth... is Dirk Vandewalle still a consultant to the UN and Ian Martin’s post-Qadhafi team, and if so, was his contract renewed? What’s the status of that?"
Acting Deputy Spokesperson Haq: He is a consultant working with Ian Martin on the transition team, yes.
Inner City Press: Are his views attributable to the UN?
Acting Deputy Spokesperson Haq: His views on this particular topic, I believe, if you are referring to this particular article, he did that in his capacity as an expert at Dartmouth University.
Now with the UN saying it won't share Vandewalle's reports, which he is describing at a private university, with the public, press or even member states, Inner City Press asked if Vandevalle is in any way barred from disseminating his "confidential" work product?
Earlier, some in the UN question why Ian Martin was named Ban's "post-conflict" expert, when he needed yet another expert. Now, the views of this "post-conflict" team are opaque, even deemed confidential. This is the UN's legitimating function? We'll continue on this. Watch this site.
