Of Corrections: On Nemtsov As UN's Ban Ki-moon Shifts from "Saddened" to Condemns, Reuters Follows AFP on Mis-Reporting Martin Bouygues Dead

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 28 -- Everybody makes mistakes. On February 28 the UN's Office of the Spokesperson first said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was “saddened” by the murder of Boris Nemtsov -- then 50 minutes later correcting it to “condemns.”  Agence France Presse misreporting that Martin Bouygues was dead.

    The former correction gives rise to the question whether the UN received a complaint about Ban not condemning the killing, leading to the issuance of the correction. It merits coverage.

  But Reuters, for example, simply retyped the “corrected” Ban Ki-moon statement, putting Ban in the same light as was done by Ban's in-house UN News Service.

   The backstory here is the Reuters at the UN has tried to get other, more critical media thrown out of the UN -- and has then gone so far as to censor from the Internet leaked copies of the Reuters “for the record” complaint. 

  Here was the complaint; here via the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Chilling Effects project is the notice that the leaked complaint by Reuters has been blocked from Google's Search as a copyrighted book, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (set to be globalized by the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership.)

   That initial Reuters campaign culminated in a letter, also leaked, by Voice of America to the UN asking for Inner City Press' accreditation to be “reviewed,” here. 

   A subsequent Inner City Press request under the Freedom of Information Act to VOA's Broadcasting Board of Governors yield documents showing that not only Reutersbut also Agence France Presse coordinated with the VOA request. 

  So did then and current United Nations Correspondents Association head Giampaolo Pioli, angry at an Inner City Press report that Pioli has been the landlord of Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka's outgoing Ambassador to the UN.

  To come full circle, since Ban Ki-moon's statement are most often crafted within the UN Department of Political Afffairs, that DPA chief Jeffrey Feltman is currently in Sri Lanka may have played a role in the vacillation from “saddened” to “condemns.” We'll have more on this.

For now, a UN footnote: the new Free UN Coalition for Access notes that the Agence France Presse and Reuters pitch to expel was based on their wires having editors - did that stop the Bouygues mis-reporting, or the craven retyping and quid pro quo at the UN? FUNCA is against censorship, and for the rights of journalists.

   

UNanswered: Did UN's Jeffrey Feltman Says Sri Lanka Will Now Investigate "Under UN Supervision"?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 28 -- Nine days after the UN Human Rights Council under Joachim Rucker granted HCHR Zeid's request to withhold the already delayed report on war crimes in Sri Lanka, the UN on February 26 added Jaffna as a stop to the Sri Lanka visit by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's highest political official Jeffrey Feltman.

  That came two days after Inner City Press asked if Feltman would go to Jaffna, site of protests of the delay, and was told "Colombo only." 

 On Friday, February 27, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric:

Inner City Press: on this trip by Mr. Feltman to Sri Lanka, I wanted to know:  can you confirm he's meeting with the Tamil National Alliance… that's tomorrow?  And will there be any readouts?

Spokesman Dujarric:  We talked to our colleagues in DPA [Department of Political Affairs] to make sure we can get some readouts e-mailed over the weekend as they happen.

   But more than 24 hours later, after Feltman's meeting with the TNA, there was no read-out. 

  Meanwhile it was reported under the headline "UN clarifies the delay" that "the UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, told the TNA that the release of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Inquiry on Sri Lanka (OISL) report on alleged war crimes in the Island was postponed to September this year following the assurance given by the new Government, that it would conduct an internal investigation under UN supervision."

  So since UN DPA is tweeting about Feltman's trip, Inner City Press asked in this same medium, "Press Q: So, did government promise an 'investigation under UN supervision'?"

  So far, no answer. The UN is UNresponsive - click here for that, including with regard to the UN's Censorship Alliance - but we'll stay on it.

  Rucker, speaking in Geneva, has claimed that this delay was "very rational" in a "relatively unique" case. Are all forms of impunity and justice delayed "relatively unique"?

  On February 24, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said:

"Mr. Feltman will then travel to Sri Lanka on Saturday.  There, he plans to meet with senior officials of the Government of Sri Lanka, political parties and civil society groups. This will be his first visit to Sri Lanka, and he looks forward to discussing with Sri Lankan leaders various issues of mutual concern."

  Inner City Press immediately asked Ban Ki-moon's Spokesman Stephane Dujarric if Feltman will at least visit Jaffna in the north, site of protests of UN High Commissioner Prince Zeid's recommendation of the day:

Inner City Press: I want to ask in advance whether he’s going to go only to Colombo or Jaffna where there were pretty big protests over the weekend against the decision to defer that human rights report.  I’m wondering what’s the relationship between his trip and that… the process supposedly in six months to…

Spokesman Dujarric:  My understanding is that he will only go to Colombo to meet with various people.  We’ll get you, as the meetings happen, we’ll try to get you readouts.

 Now, Jaffna has been added. But what will the read-outs be? We'll have more on this

  Back on February 13 after Sri Lanka's new government spoke of doing another local investigation into war crimes in 2009, and asking for a suspension of the UN Human Rights Council process, Inner City Press went to Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera's meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

  No other media at the UN attended; only the UN's own in-house UN Photo and UN TV. But accompanying Mangala Samaraweera were outgoing Ambassador Palitha Kohona and others. Video here.

  Ban Ki-moon, before Inner City Press was whisked out of the meeting, told Mangala Samaraweera he had met him after the tsunami - that is, when Ban was a South Korean diplomat.

  On February 17, after High Commissioner Prince Zeid recomended and got for Sri Lanka a six month deferral of action, Ban's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, asked ofShavendra Silva by IPS, said 

"the Secretary-General is aware that the new administration is planning to set up a domestic accountability mechanism and will be carefully assessing developments.  The Secretary-General, as you're aware, met with the Minister of External Affairs of Sri Lanka last Friday, 13 February, and stressed the importance of Sri Lanka to show firm and clear commitment to accountability, reconciliation and human rights.  He also encouraged the Government to engage continuously with the High Commissioner for Human Rights.  Advancing accountability, like other parts of the post-war agenda in Sri Lanka, will lay the basis for the country to make further progress on peace, democracy and development.  The UN remains committed to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to address the postwar agenda.  The Secretary-General is also aware of reactions from various communities to the decision by the Human Rights Council, and the Secretary-General will positively engage with the new Government and support its efforts."

  This is shameful all around, in light of talk of accountability.

  Last week, the UN's Oscar Fernandez Taranco met the US State Department's Nisha Biswal. Inner City Press asked if it was about Bangladesh, and was told, "in part."Taranco was at Ban's meeting with Samaraweera, here. So was Sri Lanka and the deferral request the other part? Watch this site.

Back on February 12 Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman for the UN's position.Video here. 

  First, Inner City Press asked whether Sri Lanka's Palitha Kohona is leaving the UN:

Inner City Press: yesterday, he met with Ambassador Kohona of Sri Lanka.  I couldn't tell if that was a farewell call or not.

Spokesman Dujarric:  It was indeed a farewell call.

Inner City Press:  And did the issue of not pursuing the Human Rights Council investigation into Sri Lanka arise?

Spokesman Dujarric:  It was, indeed, a farewell call.  I mean, the Secretary-General's position on the, on the human rights investigation is unchanged.  He's obviously aware that the new administration is considering setting domestic accountability mechanisms and will be carefully assessing these developments.  The Secretary-General has stressed the importance of Sri Lanka establishing credible mechanisms that meet international standards.  Advancing accountability, like other parts of the post-war agenda in Sri Lanka, will lay the basis for the country to make further progress on peace, democracy and development.  The UN stands ready, as always, to support Sri Lanka's efforts to address the post-war agenda as we have consistently affirmed.

  It's a question that when raised, here, to the US State Department went so far unanswered. New foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera is set to meet with Ban on February 13. Watch this site. 

  Back on January 12 the UN said that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made this call:

"The Secretary-General congratulated President Sirisena’s election and the successful conclusion of the presidential election. The Secretary-General and President Sirisena discussed the President’s 100-day plan and Sri Lanka’s post-war agenda. The Secretary-General affirmed continuous support by the UN to Sri Lanka."

  That is, the UN's read-out of Ban's call had no mention of accountability or of the UN Human Rights Council inquiry into the bloodbath on the beach in 2009. We'll have more on this.

 After Mahinda Rajapaksa conceded defeat but before 10:30 pm on January 8 in Washington, US Secretary of State issued a statement, below. 

  Inner City Press published it, and asked the UN for its comment. Told to expect one in the AM, New York time, Inner City Press noted, the earlier the better. Twelve hours later, there was nothing.

  So Inner City Press asked again at the noon briefing on January 9, after new President Sirisena's inauguration. UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said the UN welcomes the transfer of power, then later in the briefing read out this statement:

"The Secretary-General congratulates the people of Sri Lanka on the successful conclusion of the presidential election, and welcomes the constitutional transfer of power.

"The Secretary-General applauds the Sri Lankan Elections Commission for its professionalism in ensuring a peaceful and credible election. He also commends the efforts of the candidates, including in particular outgoing President Mahinda Rajapaksa, law enforcement agencies and civil society for upholding and respecting democratic governance.

"The Secretary-General looks forward to working with President Maithripala Sirisena and the people of Sri Lanka. He affirms the continuous support of the United Nations for development, reconciliation, political dialogue and accountability in Sri Lanka."

  Inner City Press immediately asked Haq if what this reference to accountability portends for the UN inquiry into the events in 2009. We'll have more on this.

  Amnesty International has said that "Sri Lanka has for years resisted all international efforts to investigate the conflict years, and instead relied on domestic investigation bodies that toed the government line. This has to end – the new government should cooperate fully with the UN investigation.”

   Watch this site.

  In other possible routes to accountability, talk of seeking justice in US courts as to several joint American citizens in Team Rajapaksa - or on the team during the 2009 "Bloodbath on the Beach" -- has picked up. Some team members have reportedly already left the country: we'll have more on this.

 

   

On Bangladesh, Inner City Press Asks UN of Murdered Blogger Avijit Roy; Arrests for Placards, Websites Banned, UN-free Press

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 27 -- Amid the violence in Bangladesh,Inner City Press has five times asked the UN how it reviews whether the military personnel it uses from Bangladesh have not been involved in human rights violations. February 5 video;  UN's February 20 transcript;February 23 transcript, video here.

  Inner City Press and the Free UN Coalition for Access have also asked about freedom of expression in Bangladesh, which has taken an even more tragic turn. On February 27 Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: Press freedom question, both in Bangladesh and about Bangladesh here.  One, there was a pretty high-profile hacking to death of a blogger in Bangladesh named Avijit Roy, and I'm wondering whether the UN system, CPJ and others have denounced it for obvious reasons.  What does the UN say about that?  And also our colleague who's asked a number of questions here about Bangladesh, I tried to ask MALU yesterday whether it was true as reported in Bangladesh that the Government of Bangladesh or mission made some inquiry with the UN trying to essentially question his accreditation or make it so he couldn't ask questions here.  And I wanted to know, what's the position of the UN on such inquiries?

Spokesman Dujarric:  The UN's position is if somebody meets the accreditation criteria, they are welcome in this room and they are welcome to ask any questions.  I may cut them off if the preamble to their question is too long, but that's just my chair's prerogative.

Inner City Press:  Is it appropriate for Member States to try to essentially, like, cherry pick what journalists get to ask questions?

Spokesman Dujarric:  The point is that once they're in this room, they're allowed to ask whatever they want.  Okay?  On the attack of the blogger, we spoke to our human rights colleagues who obviously condemned the attack and expressed the hope that the perpetrators will be quickly brought to justice through the due process of law, and they've added that it's obviously very important that the space for freedom of expression in civil society be upheld in Bangladesh.

   After the briefing, Inner City Press and FUNCA were informed that the referenced journalist -- not the murdered blogger -- had his media's website blocked in Bangladesh, where there have been arrests for carrying placards, and threats against the Daily Star for publishing photographs of posters. We'll have more on this.

  Now on February 25, amid push-back at the questions, Inner City Pressasked with even greater specificity:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask, beyond just the arrest warrant against Zia, there's a Mr. Mahmudur Manna has been arrested for trying to stir up the army and he's been arrested by something called the Rapid Action Battalion, RAB.  The reason I'm asking is research discovers that Mohammad [UN transcript claims "inaudible" but it is Muhammad Matiur Rahman] of this Rapid Action Battalion named in a filing that was directed to ICC is reportedly about to take up a position within MONUSCO.  I've been asking you this a number of times.  You'd said that the UN has all these concerns, but given that much of the violence in Bangladesh is allegedly perpetrated by the military that's contributing soldiers, I'm naming this name as a sample case.  What does DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations] do to review the people coming in?  There are other conflicts…

Spokesman Dujarric:  I understand.  I've heard your question.  I tried to answer to the best of my ability yesterday when you last asked it.  You know, I have no specific information on the case that you mention or the people you mention.  There are procedures in place in order to ensure that DPKO uniformed personnel meet the requirements that we have and also in terms of human rights.  If I have any information on those specific cases, I will share them with you.

   But still, nothing, from UN Peacekeeping run by Herve Ladsous.

On February 24 Inner City Press on behalf of the new Free UN Coalition for Access asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about the Bangladesh government's threats against the media there, specifically the Daily Star.

  Now the these strands have come together, the UN's and UN Peacekeeping's dubious commitment to human rights and a lack of press freedom in Bangladesh -- and in the UN.

  The Kaler Kantho newspaper in Bangladesh, saying that questions about human rights and Bangladesh's military should not be asked at the UN's noon briefing, has favorably cited the UN Correspondents Association in its support, reporting (as auto-translated) that ICP

"United Nations Correspondents Association iuenasie) faced investigation. He was threatened with expulsion from the iuenasie was reported that the UK's Guardian newspaper. His reputation for investigative journalism in the United Nations." Click here to view, then translate.

  Here is the Guardian article, which reported that ICP which

"has been responsible for breaking several stories about the UN, has.. also written stories accusing the UNCA president, Giampaolo Pioli, of a conflict of interest involving Sri Lanka (see here).  Lee is regarded as the UN department of public information's least-favourite journalist because he is persistent, is willing to ask uncomfortable questions, and has cultivated an impressive network of sources within the UN. UNCA is a self-governing body and membership is not a prerequisite for obtaining UN press credentials, which are granted by the UN media accreditation and liaison unit (MALU). So Lee's expulsion would not automatically deprive him of UN access. However, it is possible that it might weigh in the balance when he next applies for credentials."

   In fact, Inner City Press was never expelled by UNCA -- they didn't have the votes -- but quit the organization in disgust once its term on the board expired, and co-founded the Free UN Coalition for Access.

  Now, Kaler Kanthro continues after citing UNCA, the UN's Censorship Alliance,, the Bangladesh government is trying to ask the UN - and US State Department - credentials of those who ask questions about human rights abuse and censorship in the country. At the UN, they've found the UN Censorship Alliance. But this time, there's FUNCA. 

  On February 24, Inner City Press on behalf of FUNCA asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric:

Inner City Press: On Bangladesh, it seems like the violence is escalating but my question to you is about a statement by current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina where she says a publication, The Daily Star, legal action should be taken for publishing a photograph of a poster campaign of protesters in the street.  I’m wondering first if you have any response to that and also if you have anything new. I know there was a request to go.  Where do things stand as people seem to be getting disappeared et cetera?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I don’t have an update for you on that except obviously to say that we support freedom of expression and the right for newspapers to exist, which is a big part of democracy in any country.

   But what about using "peacekeepers" who have been involved in the violence?  We noted that we'd have more on Herve Ladsous' failure to vet Bangladesh's "peacekeepers," now as his DPKO won't answer this basic question. Ladsous refuses Press questions: video here and here,Vine here. (UNCA did nothing about this, quite the contrary.)

   Inner City Press has raised these questions: is Colonel Imran Ibne A. Rouf serving UN Peacekeeping? A filing addressed to the International Criminal Court says he "abducted seven innocent civilians from a place near Dhaka Central Jail;" they were all killed.

  What about Colonel Amin, Director of National Security Intelligence, now reportedly serving in Ladsous' MINUSCA mission in the Central African Republic, along with Lt Col Mazid, who was commanding officer of Rapid Action Battalion 10?

  In Ladsous and Martin Kobler's MONUSCO mission in the DR Congo, where a Cote d'Ivoire diplomat was allowed to sell UN Police positions (clear here for that Inner City Press exclusive), please explain the presence of Lt Col Shiraj , Lt Col Mofazzal and Lt Col Khandakar Mahmud, all three of whom were in the Bangladesh Border Guards?

  In Ladsous' mission in Mali, accused like the mission in Haiti of shooting at unarmed demonstrators, please explain the presence of Lt Col Munir, Lt Col Faruq, Lt Col Shamsul Kabir and  Lt Col Mustafiz, all of whom were in the Bangladesh Border Guards, and another Maj Mustafiz, from the Directorate-General of Forces Intelligence?

   Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping uses human rights abusers, and at least in Mali and Haiti commits human rights abuses (while enabling them in the DR Congo and elsewhere). Maybe this is why Ladsous refuses to answer Press questions. Or maybe it's the still UNaddressed sale of posts scandal in his missions in Haiti and the DRC also exclusively exposedby Inner City Press. We'll have more on all of this.

 As to Bangladesh this comes after it emerged that Ban Ki-moon sent January 30 letter(s) to the country, even though the government there says they only got the letter much later. What explains the delay? 

When on February 5 Inner City Press asked the UN, which uses Bangladesh soldiers as peacekeepers, this ensued:.

  So what if anything is the UN doing? Watch this site.

   

On South Sudan, UN Still Murky On Who Shot Copter Down, Who Kidnapped Children as Soldiers; Inner City Press Asks

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 27 -- When a draft resolution was circulated on February 24 to the UN Security Council which would set up a South Sudan sanctions committee, wire reports focused on the views of the Western Permanent Three members of the Council -- the US, France and UK -- and did not make available to the public the actual nine-page draft.

   Inner City Press in an exclusive dispatch on the morning of February 25 published the full draft, here and embedded below.

  Now on February 27 after UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric read out a vague summary of the UN's investigation into the deadly downing of one of its helicopters in South Sudan last August, Inner City Pressasked for specifics:

Inner City Press: you said that they were unable to determine who did it, that it came from an area between In Opposition and the Government.  But there was this audiotape of Peter Gadet threatening the UN to shoot down helicopters that was… you know, days before it was shot down.  So, can you say or find out whether these Board of Inquiry people listened to the audio and whether they found it not credible or… why it's not part of the report?

Spokesman Dujarric:  They had all the information that was available to them.  As a general point, a threat is a threat.  I think what they were looking at is for hard evidence to figure out who had shot the helicopter, they were not able to come in with any conclusive information.

Inner City Press: Do they use a different standard of proof than even a court because usually like it seems like --

Spokesman:  A Board of Inquiry tries to establish what happened.  Obviously, they looked at the helicopter and all the information they had.  That's the conclusion they came up with. 

  But why? Beyond Gadet, the International Crisis Group, for example, implies that the government itself shot the copter down: 

"an UNMISS helicopter was shot down on 26 August, killing three. Although the results of its investigation have not been released, initial reports suggest this was done from territory controlled by the government and by a weapons system know to be in the hands of the government [n. 100:  Crisis Group interviews, UN officials, Nairobi, November 2014; defence and security adviser, Nairobi, December 2014.]"

  For UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous to remain silent is consistent with its approach to the Tabit rapes in Darfur, the Minova rapes in November 2012 by the DR Congo Army, and the shooting at unarmed protesters in Haiti (to say nothing of the killing by cholera there.)

  On the draft sanctions resolution, Inner City Press reported that that of the Elected Ten or E10, African members Chad and Angola, as well as Latin America members Venezuela and Chile, urged that the African Union and the regional body Intergovernmental Authority should take the lead before any Security Council’s decision.

  Sources tell Inner City Press that in this view, decision should only be taken on the draft after the Security Council meets with IGAD and the African Union Peace and Security Council, scheduled the sources tell Inner City Press for March 12 during a French-organized Security Council trip also including, the sources say, the Central African Republic and Burundi. We'll have more on this.

  On an abuse in South Sudan on which the UN was slow and partial in reporting, Inner City Press on February 24 asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask first about South Sudan.  There was this very kind of high-profile kidnapping of dozens of children, and what I really wanted to ask you about is, although it was initially said it was unclear who did it, there are now reports that the militia that is responsible for it is basically part of the army of South Sudan.  And I wanted to know what Ellen Løj or the human rights component of UNMISS, what they say about those allegations that seem to be serious?

Spokesman Dujarric:  We’ve seen increased reports of kidnapping of children and forced enrollment into units, whether it’s the report you stated which our colleagues at UNICEF have flagged for us, or other reports, and I know it’s something that is of concern to all of us here.  It is being looked at both by the Mission and by different departments here.  But it’s obviously a big concern.  We have worked very hard to ensure that children are freed from such activity, and we will continue do so.

Inner City Press:  But do you expect the UN system to say who is responsible?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I know they’re looking into these — we’ve seen these reports.  We’re looking into them.

 Now Radio Tamazuj reports on this, citing Inner City Press' questions under the headline, "UN refuses to name abductors of 1000+ men and children in South Sudan."

  We'll have more on that, as well. Inner City Press has put the full text online here:

South Sudan Sanctions Draft Circulated in UN Security Council, Exclusive Reporting on Non-P3 Deferences to... by Matthew Russell Lee

  The full draft we are publishing, in the public interest, above.  Reuters typically said they "obtained" it but did not publish it; Voice of America said they saw it, and mechanically quoted HRW on Russia and China, with nothing about the view of the African and Latin American members of the Security Council. Watch this site.

   

After Inner City Press Scoop on UN Peacekeeping Posts Sold, Replacing OIOS Chief Still Murky?

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Series

UNITED NATIONS, February 27 -- In UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous, positions in missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti were corruptly put up for sale, a 49-page “Strictly Confidential” UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report obtained and exclusively published by Inner City Press on February 7 show.

  Despite the various UN answers to Inner City Press set forth below, the Cote d'Ivoire diplomat depicted by OIOS soliciting and accepting the bribe is still inside UN headquarters. OIOS didn't make any recommendation about him, nor recommend any changes so it or the UN could.

  Now Inner City Press has learned that a replacement for the head of OIOS Carman Lapoint is being sought. The process to select the next holder of this lone UN oversight position should be transparent, so that real oversight can begin. We'll have more on this.

 On February 16 The Independent followed up, crediting Inner City Press and quoting an unnamed UN spokesman that "we cannot and should not pre-judge the results of the national investigation" and that "there are 36 UN police officers from the Ivory Coast deployed to the mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 60 to the operation in Haiti."

 On February 17, Inner City Press asked UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq:

Question:  I wanted to ask about the OIOS [Office for Internal Oversight Services] report about acceptance of bribes for UN police posts that I asked about last week, yesterday The Independent published a story on it.  They quoted a UN spokesman.  I don't know if it was you or Stéphane [Dujarric].  But, what I wanted to ask you about was the substance of it.  It said, “We cannot and should not prejudge the international investigation.”  Since the OIOS report has bank records and you've already taken action, apparently, and repatriated 10 police officers, doesn't the UN think its own report is true?  So, what does it mean to say that… is Côte d’Ivoire supposed to reinvestigate the case before taking action on the Deputy Permanent Representative?  And, finally, they also mention there are 36 Ivoirian police officers in MONUSCO and 60 in MINUSTAH [United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti].  How many have actually been repatriated?  Thanks.

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  Well, regarding that, basically, once the OIOS report was received, we took decisive measures, including ordering the repatriation of all the UN police officers who were involved.  All those officers involved are either gone or in the process of leaving the peacekeeping operations on which they served, which is to say MONUSCO and MINUSTAH.  Beyond that, no police from Côte d’Ivoire will be extended beyond their current assignments and deployment of any subsequent Ivoirian police to UN operations has been suspended until confirmation from Côte d’Ivoire that action has been taken on the OIOS investigation.  And regarding… and regarding the quotes that you had referred to, yes, we're not going to prejudge the results of the national investigation, which the UN has asked the Member State to conduct.  We've insisted that the investigation be very thorough and comprehensive.  We've stressed that the UN should be kept fully informed of the results of the Member State’s investigation and that necessary action should be taken as a result.  But, saying that, now, of course, it's up to them to do it and we won't prejudge the results of their actions.

Inner City Press:  I guess it's actions versus investigation.  You stand behind your own report since you've already sent police officers home based on it, right?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  Yes, of course.  The people who were found in the internal investigation to have received improper assistance in getting their jobs, those are… like I said, I've either all left or in the process of leaving.

   On the last line, we're left assuming that "I've either all left" means "they've either all left." But how many have left? 

   And why has the Cote d'Ivoire Deputy Permanent Representative who sold UN Peacekeeping posts not been declared Persona Non Grata by the US, which says it cares about peacekeeping and UN reform?

  The UN strip searched and PNG-ed Indian diplomat Khobragade for an employment dispute. Here an Ivorian diplomat has sold posts in UN Peacekeeping. Where's the PNG?

  Tellingly, after the Press' exclusive February 7 exposure of corruption in Herve Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping, its asking about it at the February 9 UN noon briefing and even the UN's long statement in spin and response at the February 10 noon briefing, UN insiders and Ladsous corruption enablers like Reuters and Agence France Pressereported not a word about the corruption.

  Reuters has been spoonfed lines about Ladsous MONUSCO refusing to act against the FDLR in the DRC, which is passes through with no analysis of Ladsous and MONUSCO's history, much less corruption. We'll have more on this.

  On February 12, despite the UN investigative report depicting in detail Cote d'Ivoire's Deputy Permanent Representative Bafetegue Ouattara soliciting and taking bribes to sell posts in Ladsous' MONUSCO and MINUSTAH missions, Inner City Press ran into Bafetegue Ouattara in the basement of the UN, by the garage. After an exchange of words, including a demand to know who leaked the report to Inner City Press (demand rejected), at noon Inner City Press asked, video here:

Inner City Press: the corruption one is as follows:  It has to do with that OIOS [Office of Internal Oversight Services] report that was leaked showing the payment of bribes for peacekeeping posts.  I’d asked Farhan, but I wanted to ask you more because, this morning, I actually ran into the named deputy representative of Côte d’Ivoire, Bafetegue Ouattara, in the building, and since this report, which began in 2013 and was finalized in 2014, has banking records proof of the payment of bribes for peacekeeping posts, I just wondered what does the UN do?  I understand that the peacekeepers have been asked to return home, but the person who solicited and took bribes… does the UN have no recourse at all?

Spokesman Dujarric:  You know, as you well know… As you well know, diplomats are sent here by their Governments.  We have no authority over them.  It is up to national Governments to take action against these, against individuals.

Inner City Press: Is there nothing that a diplomat could do even inside this building that the UN would take action on?  This was soliciting bribes for UN posts.

Spokesman:  As I said, this person works for the Government of the Côte d’Ivoire, it would be up to them to take appropriate action. 

  So again - there is NOTHING that a diplomat couldn't do at the UN? It cannot be said that this UN has zero tolerance for corruption - far from it. Later on February 12, UN Peacekeeping chief Ladsous, who refuses to answer any Press questions, was hobnobbing with diplomats in the Delegates' Entrance to the UN General Assembly. We'll have more on this.

 On February 10 there was a partial answer, video here;transcript here, including

Inner City Press:  Do you think that this… the panel on peacekeeping operations under [José] Ramos-Horta, is this the type of obviously kind of hole in the system that was exploited for personal gain that should be reviewed?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  This is a clear-cut case of corruption which was found by our Office for Internal Oversight Services, and we're following up on that.  Clearly, quite a good measure of the follow-up also needs to be handled by the Member State involved.

   But there are many unresolved questions; watch this site.

 Two days after that exclusive, on February 9 Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq for the response of UN Peacekeeping, whose chief Herve Ladsous since Inner City Press raised corruption has refused all Press questions, specifically what Ladsous has done in the ten months he has been on notice of this corruption, as shown by the leaked documents. February 9 video here.

 On February 10, UN deputy spokesperson Haq came to the noon briefing with a prepared answer, which he read out. February 10 video here. He said that further recruitment of UN Police for Cote d'Ivoire has been suspended pending that country taking action.

 Inner City Press asked if all ten police described as paying bribes have been repatriated, for the status of the Deputy Permanent Representative Ouattara shown taking bribes, and if inquiries have been made with other countries which send soldiers or police to the UN.

  Haq said that the ten have left or are in the process of leaving. Six months after the final report? "In the process of leaving"?

 Worse, Haq said it is up to Cote d'Ivoire if the Deputy Permanent Representative remains in his post at and in the UN. Isn't collective bribes for UN posts a crime? And not only in Cote d'Ivoire? 

 Inner City Press asked Haq if this obvious loophole allowing corruption will be reviewed by Ban Ki-moon's panel of Peace Operations, to which Inner City Press has already forwarded the OIOS report. Video here.

 Another question that has been raised to Inner City Press by diplomats after reading the exclusive is whether Ladsous had a duty, at least before the UN Security Council's trip to Haiti last month led by Chile and the US to tell Council members that bribes had been collected for positions in the MINUSTAH mission there.

 Inner City Press has raised the question to MINUSTAH's chief and spokesperson, as to DR Congo mission MONUSCO's chief Martin Kobler, separate story here (as Kobler runs to be Ladsous' peer atop UN aid agency OCHA.)

 Haq told Inner City Press that "this was corruption found by our own internal oversight." But the report says the UN's OIOS "received" information about these possibly corrupt practices on July 24, 2013. We'll have more on this.

   

Inner City Press Asks UN High Commissioner Guterres of No World Bank Grants for Lebanon or Jordan, He Replies on Chad, Niger, Ethiopia and Kenya

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 26 -- “It is absurd that Lebanon has no access to World Bank grants because it is considered a middle-income country,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres' prepared remarks to the UN Security Council on Syria on February 26 said.

   When he delivered the remarks, he added in Jordan. So Inner City Press, when Guterres came to the Security Council stakeout after the meeting, asked him about this addition, and if he -- and UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Kyung-wha Kang beside him -- would be pushing for a change at the World Bank, which is official a part of the UN “family.”

  Guterres replied that development assistance should taken into account this new world, where Lebanon and Jordan but also Chad, Niger and Cameroon with respect to Nigeria, and Ethiopia and Kenya with respect to Somalia, are the “first line of defense for global collective security.”Video here.

  Lebanon's Ambassador to the UN Nawaf Salam told Inner City Press, "This is unfortunate indeed," here.

 But what will be done? Watch this site.
   

North Korea Sanctions Report Named Ethiopia & DR Congo But Reuters Censored, Dennis Rodman Text Here

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 26 -- When the new UN North Korean sanctions report was “obtained” by Reuters, then nearly immediately by other Western wire services, some wondered why it was released in this choreographed way.

  Reuters did not put the report online, instead making its own choices of which nations to list: “countries such as Brazil, China, Egypt, Greece, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, Russia, Singapore and Thailand.”

   But tellingly, there's more. 

  For example the report at Paragraphs 92-93 says that North Korean ammunition was shipped to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in early 2009. 

   Why didn't Reuters, which as Inner City Press has noted has (mis) reported that the UN “paused” support to a DRC Army action against the Hutu FDLR militia which had not then even begun, report on this part of the document (which it also didn't put online)?

 Similarly, the new DPRK report says that 

“88. The Panel continued to investigate a possible connection between an Ethiopian entity (Homicho Ammunition Engineering Industry) and a DPRK entity (Korea Mineral Trading General Corporation) that may have been in violation of the arms embargo. Ethiopian authorities informed the Panel that a “Korea Mineral Trading General Corporation” has been removed from the list of suppliers on the Homicho Ammunition Engineering Industry website. The Panel awaits further information from Ethiopia.”

   As Inner City Press noted, when an ex-Reuters reporter who then went on the UN's Group of Experts of the Somalia Eritrea Monitoring Group and wrote a “regime change” letter on SEMG letter head was exclusively exposed by Inner City Press and resigned, Reuters never reported on it.
 
   This is how the UN -- and Reuters -- work.

    In fact, the Reuters scribe got Google to censor his ownanti-Press “for the record” filing to the UN, here.

   Equally comically, the DPRK report says, of “Gifts given by Dennis Rodman and Paddy Power,” that

“Despite the lack of informaiton from Dennis Rodman, the Panel was able to confirm some of the gifts he presented. The Irish company, Paddy Power, which accompanied Mr Rodman on the December 2013 trip, valued the gifts at around $3,000. (Paddy Power's gifts include a bottle of Jameson whiskey, a decanter and glass set, baby clothing and a Mulberry handbag.)

“The US informed the Panel that appropriate measures were taken in response. In addition, it said that it lacked sufficient information at that time to determine whether there was a violation of the luxury goods embargo but that some of the items were “likely to be considered luxury goods...  15 CFR Part 746.

“Ireland informed the Panel that the total value of the good was low and it it constitute a one-off arranged and could not be considered commercial trade. Paddy Power explained that it was unaware that its activities could violate sanctions. Ireland decided not to pursue the case.”

  So the US reported to the UN Panel about Dennis Rodman. Inner City Press had asked previous chair of the UN's 1718 Committee, Sylvie Lucas of Luxembourg, about it, here. 

   On February 26, 2015, the new chair from Spain declined a press gaggle's request for a briefing, how ever bland. He might want to check with Lucas, or her predecessor Ambassador Cabral of Portugal -- such briefings have become expected, and to cancel them would be a step backward, the new Free UN Coalition for Accesssays. We'll have more on this, too.

   

In OCHA Top Post Race, UK's Stephen O'Brien Set for Interview by Ban Ki-moon on March 3, Others

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Series

UNITED NATIONS, February 26, more here, Video I here-- After Inner City Press reported on UK Prime Minister David Cameron's angry or "rude" call to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and more than a month after Inner City Press exclusively reported on Cameron's second and third nominees to replace Valerie Amos, today Inner City Press can reported that Cameron's replacement candidate Stephen O'Brien is slated to be interviewed next Tuesday, March 3, by Ban Ki-moon himself.

  Sources also tell Inner City Press there is a "second Brit" in this final round, Caroline Spelman, the submissions of whose name was first reported by Inner City Press. "It's looking like [Andrew] Lansley is OUT," a well placed source told Inner City Press. But there are others in the final round, to be interviewed by video.

  Can Martin Kobler, with the promised neutralization of the FDLR in the DR Congo so incomplete, be considered?

  Back on February 12 Inner City Press learned more about the selection process, reported it that day and asked the UN about it on February 19.

  Beyond Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson, who as on many similar issues Ban Ki-moon has put in charge of this process, Inner City Press is informed that the interview panel consists of two senior UN officials and two outside officials, including "the Swiss chief of the International Committee of the Red Cross."

   That would be Peter Maurer, formerly Switzerland's Ambassador to the UN. As one source put it, this puts the UK with its "weak" candidates "even further behind the eight ball."

 On February 19 Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric:

Inner City Press: on this OCHA recruitment process, I know that earlier in the process, Farhan, I think it was, had said there's been a petition asking for outside participation in the review and he'd said, no, this is something that can be done in-house.  So I wanted to ask you not who's on the short list, but as a general matter, can you confirm that the UN has in fact accepted at least two outside people on the review panel, some of whom have been named in writing, but just the general principles…

Spokesman Dujarric:  No, I understand.  I think if you look — we can share with you — there's quite an extensive detailed report on how this recruitment process is done, which went to the General Assembly, I think, last year, and outlines the possibility for the Secretary-General to reach out to outside parties.  But I will not confirm the details of this recruitment process.  When it's over, we'll announce it.

Question:  And will you say whether you had an outside participation…

Spokesman:  When it's over, we'll announce it.

   Talk about (a lack of) transparency...

    Non-UK candidates, as Inner City Press has already first reported, include Germany's Martin Kobler, the United Arab Emirates' Lubna Khalid Al Qasimi -- for whom Ban was heavily lobbied when he was in the UAE recently -- and, Inner City Press now hears, "a South African candidate." We'll have more on this.

  Citing Inner City Press' exclusive reporting on  Caroline Spelman and Stephen O'Brien, the UK's second round of candidates after opposition to Andrew Lansley, C4's Lindsey Hilsum says Germany's candidate Martin Kobler led in a poll of 200 UN staff by Avaaz.

  Whatever the other merits, there is now another unaddressed scandal at the UN Mission in the DR Congo, MONUSCO, which Kobler is in charge of. As exclusively uncovered by Inner City Press, UN Police posts in Kobler's mission were for sale, by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Cote d'Ivoire to the UN. Click here for that.

  Inner City Press 24 hours before this report sought comment and explanation -- particularly for the UN having sat on this report since April of 2014 -- from Kobler and MONUSCO, but so far, nothing.

  Shouldn't Kobler have to answer? Watch this site.

   Back on January 14, Inner City Press was informed by sources of a minister from the United Arab Emirates, Lubna Khalid Al Qasimi, a member of the ruling family of Sharjah, put forward as a candidate by the UAE. The UAE has, it was noted,, the "Humanitarian City." And the UAE did give $1 million to OCHA's CERF last month.

  But the UAE sought, and has been unable to obtained, UN Asia Pacific Group consensus support for their candidate. This is a set-back. 

The UK's second duo of candidates, after opposition to Andrew Lansley: Caroline Spelman and Stephen O'Brien. Are those who oppose and opposed Lansley being lobbied?

  Germany's candidate Martin Kobler, a close observer emphasizes to Inner City Press that Kobler was for a time the UN's first choice to be UN Special Coordinator on the Middle East, before after opposition by a Permanent Five Security Council member the position went to Robert Serry.

  Now Serry is to be replaced by Nickolay Mladenov, currently UN envoy in Iraq. The UK -- seeming to reflect a lack of confidence it will retain OCHA -- sought to name one of its national to replace Mladenov, but was shot down by Iraq. That process is now in its final stages.

  While Inner City Press exclusively published the Mladenov to Serry switch before midnight in New York on January 30, eleven hours later one of the board members of the UN Censorship Alliance put it out without any credit at all. That's UNCA - Inner City Press quit and co-founded the new Free UN Coalition for Access, after attempts at censorship and refusal of UNCA's board to issue even guidance about not stealing exclusives. Call it sleaze.

  Back on November 26, minutes after the UN announced the departure of Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs chief Baroness Valerie Amos, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq if the vacancy would be advertised for candidates from all countries, or if it is set aside for Amos' United Kingdom.

  On January 30 Inner City Press was reliable informed that UK Prime Minister David Cameron telephoned Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and said -- "rudely," according to denizens of the UN's 38th floor -- that despite the UK's submission of two additional names, below, Ban "must" pick Andrew Lansley.

  These sources say that Ban, as if to prove independence, will NOT choose Lansley but will keep the post UK, choosing on a progressive basis the female candidate,Caroline Spelman. Are those opposed to Lansley being lobbied for her?

  We'll have more on this.