UN Asks Amos to Go to Syria, Russia Says Not Opposing Since No Aid Militarization

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 22 -- At the February 21 luncheon of UN Security Council members and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative Pankin brought up what was earlier tweeted from Moscow: that there should be a humanitarian envoy to Syria.

France, participants in the closed door luncheon tell Inner City Press, was particularly dismissive.

On February 22, Ban's Deputy Spokesman announced that Ban will be "meeting Nabil Elaraby to discuss the appointment of a special envoy to handle the crisis. In the meantime, the Secretary-General has asked Valerie Amos, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, to visit Syria."

During this announcement, Inner City Press was being told where to go and not go by UN Security. From where it was confined, Inner City Press asked Amos' Deputy Catherine Bragg if there was any indication that Syria's Bashar al Assad would allow Amos into the country. We really don't know, Bragg told Inner City Press.

Back at the Security Council, closed door consultations were postponed until late on Tuesday after a long meeting about Timor Leste. Some wondered, how could Russia oppose Amos going? And after the meeting, Russian Deputy Pankin told Inner City Press, "he is dispatching her. We are not opposing it. She is the chief humanitarian in this organization. She is fully aware of the challenges and fully rejects the militarization of aid, armed convoys, and protecting by force. So she will engage in seeking some arrangements, windows, openings."

Inner City Press asked, "Why not a Security Council statement?"

Amb. Pankin replied, "Let's see the Syrian reaction." Let's -- watch this site.

As Yemen Saleh Official Says All's Well with UN, Agreement from UN But Not on Customs

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 2 -- Amid complaints in Yemen that the immunity deal signed by Ali Saleh leaves his officials and system largely in place, the UN on Friday called its coordination with the government "very good" -- even though this government has blocked the UN from bringing in "essential equipment for [its] operations."

Yemeni state media quoted Interior Minister Mutahar Rashad al-Masri praising to the Director of the UN's Electoral Assistance Division Craig Jenness on December 1 "Yemen’s relations with the UN in all areas, particularly the humanitarian and security coordination."

Inner City Press on December 2 asked UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Catherine Bragg if this is accurate, and if the UN now is dealing with the same exact people it dealt with before Saleh traveled to Saudi Arabia and signed the immunity deal.

Bragg said, "I think the coordination of humanitarian action has been very good, with the government, we have been working very well, on IDPs, we have good relations with the ministries involved." Video here, from Minute 12:47.

Then, after Inner City Press quoted from a UN report to the contrary, Bragg acknowledged "problems bringing in essential equipment for our operations." She said there is "no universal or standardized arrangement in place" but said that is "not atypical for a country like Yemen which does not have that."

It seemed circular: the lack of easing entry of humanitarian goods and equipment is typical for a country which does not so ease, and is still somehow "good coordination."

The UN report says

"The process of reaching a global custom agreement with the Yemeni government, which started in September 2010, is ongoing. The steps so far taken include the submission of necessary documents, explanation of the necessity and impotence of these documents, and training for customs officers. The shortage of fuel (particularly diesel) continues in the country, causing long queues for fuel when it is available. Fuel prices in petrol stations have reportedly increased from 150 YER per litre to 350 YER per litre. Response: Follow up contact was made with the custom authority this week, and the information obtained is that the documents are under review."

Bragg explained it as a change in scope: the UN was dealing with 300,000 in the north and tens of thousands in the south," but now with "3.8 million."

Isn't some of that increase due to the actions of the Saleh government with the same UN says its gets "good coordination" from?

Al Masri told Jenness he was "hailing the UN’s efforts and significant role in the success of the Gulf-brokered initiative and its implementation mechanism signed in the Saudi capital last week by all political parties in Yemen."

The people demonstration in the street and getting killed did not sign, and don't agree with, the immunity deal, nor does Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman.

On December 1, a self described "senior Western diplomat" told Inner City Press regarding Saleh's immunity, "That was a Yemeni decision, a decision of the GCC. The best option was to support that, without cherry picking." If accountability is a cherry... Watch this site.

Despite Hearing of Death in Sri Lanka, UN Bragg Says No Contact with Ban's Panel

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 26, updated -- Hours after the UN belatedly told Inner City Press that its humanitarian deputy Catherine Bragg had no restrictions on her recent visa and trip to Sri Lanka, Ms. Bragg said that she has and apparently will have no contact at all with Ban Ki-moon's Panel on Accountability for war crimes, despite people in Northern Sri Lanka telling her about relatives killed in the war.

Inner City Press had put questions in writing to Ms. Bragg, including

“How much of the aid you are requesting would be distributed by or through the government? Did you hear anything about unfair distribution of aid? About why and how the IDPs / returnees were displaced? Will you pass any of this information to any other part of the UN -- the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, or the Secretary General's Panel on Accountability in Sri Lanka? When did you apply for a visa, how long was it for, and where there any conditions, explicit or implicit? Were there any negotiations (and if so, what was said)?”

Some but not all of these questions have now been answered, in a way that reflects the fragmentation of the UN system. Ms. Bragg and her spokesperson have for now declined to answer them in writing.

But the question remains to be answered: how could a high UN official like Ms. Bragg listen to people's stories about murder in a place like Northern Sri Lanka and not share the information with the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, or in this case the Secretary General's Panel on Accountability in Sri Lanka?

Even on the questions about disparities in aid distribution, Bragg's spokesperson provided an answer on Wednesday morning that the UN wouldn't “second guess the government” on aid distribution.

And Ban Ki-moon's UN apparently won't “second guess” on war crimes, either -- except for example by second guessing the International Criminal Court judges who have indicted Sudan's Ahmed Haroun for war crimes. The UN Mission in Sudan used a UN plane to provide transportation to Haroun to convene a meeting of the same type of nomadic tribes he organized in Darfur to burn villages down.

The UN is subject to second guessing for this, and now for listening to people in Northern Sri Lanka and then just sitting on the information. Why Ban's Spokesperson Martin Nesirky sat on Bragg's office's answers such as they were to Inner City Press' January 17 questions still remains unresponded to, as do numerous other factual questions submitted by Inner City Press.

On Wednesday he said that Ban's Panel's plan are still "under discussion.” Where -- in meetings of the UN alone in the North Lawn Building?

Nesirky said that the panel continues to discuss its interaction with Sri authorities. But Sri Lanka under Mahinda Rajapaksa has made it clear it will not deal with Ban's Panel, despite Ban having praised Rajapaksa's “flexibility.” Watch this site.

Fast transcript:

Bragg: During my visit, the panel never came up.

Ban Spokesman Martin Nesirky: As we've said, this is something under discussion, and the panel continues to discuss its interaction with Sri authorities. As you know, the panel said from the outset that a visit to Sri was not essential for the work it's carrying out, but it does seek to have interaction with various Sri Lankan actors.

Journalist: Do you have any plans to meet with the panel to talk about your trip?

Bragg: There has been no discussion so far about my meeting with them.

On Sri Lanka, UN Says Bragg Had Visa Without Restriction, Unlike Ban's Panel

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 26 -- On Sri Lanka, Inner City Press has belatedly gotten some UN answers to questions about humanitarian issues it asked more than a week ago.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the answers it provided today says it “cannot second guess the government” on the fairness of aid distribution, and won't comment on the government ordering the International Committee of the Red Cross out of Northern Sri Lanka, or imposing a burdensome registration process on other NGOs in the country.

The questions OCHA provided answers to today were a subset of the Sri Lanka questions Inner City Press initially asked the Office of the Spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, OSSG.

Days before Ban Spokesman Martin Nesirky said he wouldn't answer any more questions from Inner City Press unless it acted “appropriately,” apparently meaning not asking about compliance with UN rules, he said “ask OCHA.” So on January 17, Inner City Press emailed the questions to OCHA's spokespeople.

Hearing nothing back from OCHA or Nesirky and his Deputy Farhan Haq to whom Inner City Press reverted with the questions, on January 26 Inner City Press asked OCHA deputy Catherine Bragg and them her spokespeople. OCHA said it had given answers to the OSSG. But, perhaps in implementation of Nesirky's threat, the OCHA answers were never given to Inner City Press.

Finally OCHA re-sent its capitalized answers directly to Inner City Press:

What does [the UN] say to the protests in east Batticaloa about allegedly inequitable distribution of aid?

WE CANNOT SECOND GUESS THE AID PROVISION OF THE GOVERNMENT, PARTICULARLY AS IT IS PULLING TOGETHER A COMPREHENSIVE POST DISASTER NEEDS ASSESSMENT. IN MAJOR DISASTERS, IT IS NOT ABNORMAL FOR SOME OF THOSE AFFECTED TO WISH AID PROVISION WOULD OCCUR IN A DIFFERENT MANNER THAN IT HAS DONE.

Also, as previously asked-- Does the UN have any comment on Sri Lanka's government ordering the International Committee of the Red Cross out of Northern Sri Lanka? http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91160

WE UNDERSTAND THAT ICRC IS CURRENTLY DISCUSSING THE FUTURE OF ITS OPERATIONS IN SRI LANKA WITH THE AUTHORITIES, AND HAVE NO FURTHER COMMENT AT THIS TIME. PLEASE REFER TO ICRC FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS.

Or, as previously requested, on the new rules requiring NGOs and INGOs tonregister with the Department of Defense, etc

A GOVERNMENT HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW WHICH NGOS ARE OPERATING WITHIN A COUNTRY, AND TO REQUIRE REGISTRATION. OUR CONCERN HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE ABILITY TO ACCESS POPULATIONS IN NEED OF HUMANITARIAN AID.

When did Ms. Bragg apply for a visa to Sri Lanka, when was it granted and are there any conditions on the visa, regarding where to travel, whom to speak with, etc?

I AM NOT AWARE OF ANY DIFFICULTIES IN OBTAINING THIS VISA NOR OR ANY TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ON IT.

Ban's Spokesperson's Office, despite Ban's December 17 and January 14 statements that Ban's Panel on Accountability in Sri Lanka could travel to the country due to President Mahinda Rajapaksa's “flexibility,” has been unwilling to answer specific questions about visas for the Panel and conditions the government would impose. Now they have been asked other questions. Watch this site.

While UN's Sri Lanka Panel May Not Go, Bragg Won't Convey IDPs Tales

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 18 -- While the trip to Sri Lanka by the UN's panel on accountability is in limbo or, sources tell Inner City Press, about to be canceled, UN humanitarian deputy Catherine Bragg will now travel to Northern Sri Lanka to speak with civil war returnees -- but only about flooding, the UN says.

Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky for the second day in a row about Catherine Bragg's trip. On January 17 Nesirky told Inner City Press to “ask OCHA,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Inner City Press submitted questions to OCHA, which were acknowledged as received, but by the next day's noon briefing no answers had been given.

So when Nesirky on January 18 said Bragg would “advocate on behalf... of returnees,” Inner City Press asked if she will advocate with respect to the alleged war crimes which made them displaced.

No, Nesirky said, Bragg's trip has nothing to do with the Panel of Experts, which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced on December 17 would visit Sri Lanka. Video here, from Minute 45:23.

Insiders late on January 17 told Inner City Press that despite Ban's statement, his Panel will now probably NOT visit the Island. Despite Ban's December 17 announcement praising President Mahinda Rajapaksa's “flexibility,” since then Rajapaksa's government has written to the UN to say not only that the Panel should not come, but that neither the government nor its Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Panel will speak with the UN Panel of Experts.

It is expected now that representatives of the Rajapaksa government will, in New York only, speak with Ban Ki-moon's Office, not his Panel.

So did Ban Ki-moon misspeak, some now wonder, on December 17, or in what he told the Press on January 14?

Inner City Press is told that Ban's Panel has written three letters seeking visas. At first the Panel was told that it could make “submissions” to the LLRC. Ban's Panel said that it cannot provide testimony, but rather take it, not only from the LLRC but from any and all who are involved in the accountability process.

Later Ban's Panel made further concessions, saying they wouldn't care what it was called, submission or representation, they'd just like to go. Then the sources say the Rajapaksa government still said no.

The current state of play, the insiders say, is that the Panel will probably NOT go to Sri Lanka.

Ms. Bragg will go, but will not pass along anything that displacees say about WHY and BY WHOM they were displaced and worse. Some Organization.

Questions on Sri Lanka that Inner City Press asked UN OCHA on January 17:

when did Ms. Bragg apply for a visa to Sri Lanka, when was it granted and are there any conditions on the visa, regarding where to travel, whom to speak with, etc?

What does OCHA say to the protests in east Batticaloa about allegedly inequitable distribution of aid?

Also, previously asked to Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General:

Does the UN have any comment on Sri Lanka's government ordering the International Committee of the Red Cross out of Northern Sri Lanka? http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91160

Or, as previously requested, on the new rules requiring NGOs and INGOs to register with the Department of Defense, etc?

Watch this site.

UN Gets Sri Lanka Visa for Fundraising, Not War Crimes Panel, Doormat for Despots

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 17 -- A month after visits to Sri Lanka were announced by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for his Panel of Experts on Accountability, a UN official from New York is finally going to Colombo.

It is not, however, about accountability. Rather, deputy chief of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Catherine Bragg is going to issue an appeal for money.

At the UN's January 17 noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky to comment on protests about aid non delivery in Batticaloa, and why his Office never responded to these two questions formally submitted to him six weeks ago on December 5, 2010:

Does the UN have any comment on Sri Lanka's government ordering the International Committee of the Red Cross out of Northern Sri Lanka?

Or, as previously requested, on the new rules requiring NGOs and INGOs to register with the Department of Defense, etc?

The latter question was pending unanswered for much longer. The UN's OCHA, whose previously chief John Holmes spoke of the very “bloodbath on the beach” which Ban's Panel appears to be skirting around without investigating, has not commented on the expulsions of and restrictions on humanitarian NGOs and even INGOs.

Nevertheless on January 17 Nesirky, who had not announced Bragg's visit among the press releases he read at the beginning of the noon briefing, would not even confirm or explain Bragg's visit. He twice told Inner City Press to “ask OCHA,” the UN arm which has refused to comment on restrictions on humanitarian NGOs in the country they will now ask for money for.

Inner City Press asked Nesirky to state when and under what conditions Ban's Panel will or will not go to Sri Lanka, now in light of UN official Ms. Bragg's fundraising trip.

Nesirky insisted that the "Secretary General has answered your questions," apparently referring to Ban's January 14 comment, after a press conference in which Nesirky refused to take a Sri Lanka question, that the members of his panel “are now working very seriously on finalizing the dates of visiting Sri Lanka.”

Inner City Press then asked about “the government has said they can only talk to the LLRC [Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission], that they can't investigate anything.”

Ban Ki-moon replied, “They will be able to... They are now discussing that.”

Many find it strange that a month after Ban announced his Panel would go, and specifically praised the “flexibility” of President Rahinda Rajapaksa, he now says his Panel is having to (re) discuss the ability to have conversations inside Sri Lanka, to which Ms. Bragg is dispatched to raise funds.

In a conversation with one of the groups excluded from Northern Sri Lanka, the UN was referred to a a “doormat for despots. To this has this UN sunk. Watch this site.

While Sudan Bars IDP Expert, UN Says IDP Camps in Darfur OK, Unsure of Arrests

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 22 -- In the wake of the UN Security Councils visit this month to Darfur, the Sudan regime of Omar al Bashir pursued sixteen internally displaced person camp residents who spoke to the Council, making threats and arrests.

In New York on October 22, UN acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN couldn't confirm these reports, even those a UN Secretariat official is now scheduled to belatedly brief the Council on October 25 about the arrests.

Similarly, even though an internal UN document Inner City Press obtained while covering the Council's trip to Sudan reflects the shrinking and near closure of the Kalma IDP camp, the UN's Farhan Haq has said that Kalma camp is not, in fact, being closed down.

So was the internal UN document, shown by the UN to the Council members while in Darfur, incorrect?

While the Council was in Darfur, it asked to visit the Shangil Tobaya IDP camp, but could not. Days later, a Council diplomat told Inner City Press that the Council had been blocked from visiting Tobaya. Inner City Press asked, by whom? The government of UNAMID? Both, was the answer.

Now, in response to Inner City Press' question about people displaced by continued fighting in Jebel Marra going tot the Tobaya camp, the UN has said that it has full access to the camp, but sees nothing strange going on.

Subject: Your question on Shangil Tobaya
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply
Date: Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 3:44 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

There are five IDP camps in Shangil Tobaya, and UNAMID regularly patrols all of them. UNAMID said that they have full access to these camps and that there hasn't been anything significant to report in them lately.

Could this be like the UN's patrol in Eastern Congo in early August, where in villages where mass rapes were taking place, the UN peacekeepers visited and concluded that nothing was going on?

Inner City Press on October 22 asked the outgoing Representative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons Walter Kalin about the arrest of residents of Abu Shouk camp, and the dismantling of Kalma.



While saying that such dismantling would violate international law, Kalin said he couldn't comment further because Sudan has rejected his request to visit the country.

Likewise when Inner City Press asked the UN's Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living Raquel Rolnik about the housing rights not only for people in Darfur, but also nomadic tribes in Abyei and elsewhere, she said that she had asked to visit Sudan but was unable to.

A cynic compared this to Omar al Bashir allowing the Security Council to visit Darfur, to watch and learn who to target and arrest. What will the Council and UN Secretary do? Watch this site.

Footnote: also on October 22, Inner City Press asked the Number Two official in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Catherine Bragg about recent UNICEF statements admitted that the Sudanese government blocks the collection and release of malnutrition data. It is not acceptable, Ms. Bragg said, that this is not released. As of September 15, OCHA chief Valeie Amos spoke of reviewing the UN's work. What has she found?

As Ban Heads to Chile, UN Praises Chile Despite Protests, MassiveGood Spin

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un2chile030410.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 4 -- With the UN's Ban Ki-moon now flying off to Chile, his officials' slavish praising of the government of President Michelle Bachelet has become more and more questionable.

First Alicia Barcena, head of the UN office in Santiago, told Inner City Press that no looting was occurring, contrary to TV images on BBC and France24. This UN official, who served for years in New York, asked "What is looting?" She said there was no violence or problems between the government and the people.

Next, the UN's deputy humanitarian chief Catherine Bragg told a press conference that Chile is a strong government that is doing a good job. But when Bachelet traveled near Concepcion on March 4, she didn't go into the downtown due to protests of her performance.

Inner City Press asked Bragg, why was the UN going out of its way to praise Chile's government? Why was there such a stigma on receiving UN aid? Bragg said she was just telling it like it is. This is how the world appears to the UN: governments good, critics invisible.

Ban is traveling with only seven other people -- two of them guards -- on a commercial flight. He learned of the available seat on Thursday morning. He also publicly clicked a two dollar donation to MassiveGood, along with Bill Clinton. What is Clinton doing these days for Haiti? Bachelet was serving as UNIFEM spokesperson for Haiti until her own earthquake hit. And now?

Footnote: On MassiveGood, after Ban's clicking, UN official Philippe Douste Blazy appeared to describe the program. Inner City Press asked Douste Blazy how transparency in how the money is spend will be ensured, and about his earlier idea of a UN Lottery to raise money.

Douste Blazy did not say much about transparency -- a French observer described high costs, that is, MassiveOverhead -- but he again praised the lottery idea. Inner City Press asked, but doesn't that take money from the poor? We're not doing it yet, Douste Blazy answered. Oh, good.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2chile030410.html

Despite Peacekeeping Missions, Fear In Central African Republic, UN Sounds CAR Alarm

By Matthew Russell Lee, News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/car4alarm081009.html

UNITED NATIONS, August 10 -- The Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries in the world where people fearing both government and rebel forces flee into the bush, "suffers from a surfeit of multilateral interventions," UN Humanitarian deputy Catherine Bragg told Inner City Press on August 10.

Ms. Bragg recently visited the CAR and on Monday she came to brief the UN press corps. Only two media outlets asked questions. Ms. Bragg began by marveling that there were as many reporters present as there were. (In a briefing just before Ms. Bragg began, a scandal occasioned by nepotism by UN Congo Mission chief Alan Doss was the topic of energetic questioning, click here for that.)

The UN's still unsuccessful engagement with CAR ranges from a peacekeeping mission that is directed only at spill over from Darfur in Sudan, to a peacebuilding project repeatedly changes its name. As Ms. Bragg described it, there are sections of the country with no roads at all. Video here, from Minute 28:23.

Still, she said when Inner City Press asked, the biggest problem is fear among the population. Despite local and international peacekeeping missions, there is still no peace. Former colonial power France contributes little.
It is a country so poor, some say, that it cannot even afford a more descriptive name than "Central African Republic."

It is to Ms. Bragg's credit that she went, and that upon her return she sought to brief the press. But Inner City Press' final question remains unanswered: what is being done so that the same sad briefing is not given in two years, or in five years?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/car4alarm081009.html

When Sri Lanka Ordered Doctors Out of Conflict Zone, UN Said Nothing

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/sc2srilanka042309.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 23 -- A week after he was sent for the UN to Sri Lanka and two days after he returned, Vijay Nambiar has yet to speak to the Press about his mission. Thursday Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe why Nambiar skirted the media stakeout Wednesday outside the Security Council meeting on Sri Lanka, if he stopped in India on his way back to New York and if so who he met with, and if he could be made available at such a stakeout or press conference. "I don't think so," Ms. Okabe said to the last request, attempt to permit no other questions. Video here, from Minute 36:56.

Instead, the UN's Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Catherine Bragg took questions, with nothing allowed to be asked beyond the artificially limited humanitarian issue. Inner City Press asked Ms. Bragg about reported intimidation of doctors in northern Sri Lanka by the government, including their removal earlier this year from government payrolls if they stayed to treat patients in the conflict zone.

Ms. Bragg said that the UN "only heard this through the NGOs" on April 22. Video here, from Minute 16:17. But even the BBC pick up these reports, back on February 11. Does the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which operates the ReliefNet web site and oversees a separate IRIN reporting service, not even monitor BBC about the exclusion of doctors from where civilians need them?

Another reason for the UN to check the BBC: they quoted Defense Secretary (and Presidential brother) Gotabhaya Rajapakse saying that it was not sensible to send a mission to the "No Fire" zone as called for by Ban Ki-moon. Rajapakse said "it would not be sensible to let aid agencies into the conflict zone because there was already an army operation in progress to rescue civilians." Now what?

Inner City Press asked Ms. Bragg when the UN had in fact complained to the government about the 13 UN staff who, along with their families, are being detained in the government's internally displaced person's camps. I don't have that timeline, Ms. Bragg said. Her spokesperson has said the complaints began in February, but the Sri Lanka government says the first they heard from the UN was a letter on April 15 from the UN's Country Representative Neil Buhne.

Buhne, who has been described to Inner City Press even by senior Ban Ki-moon advisers as having gotten far too close to the Sri Lankan government, has been approved by the government to head a "technical" mission to the conflict zone. Inner City Press asked Ms. Bragg if anyone other than Mr. Buhne had been considered. Ms. Bragg insisted that the UN had chosen Mr. Buhne. But there are senior UN officials who are embarrassed by him.

Bigger picture, Inner City Press asked Ms. Bragg why her Office and the UN had not noticeably complained when NGOs and journalists were excluded from northern Sri Lanka by the government, in contrast to the noise made about 10 international NGOs expelled from Darfur in Sudan. Ms. Bragg focused on a more recent time, saying that Ban Ki-moon has issued more statements about Sri Lanka this year than any other country. Video here, from Minute 22:54.

But these statements haven't even called for a cease-fire. It is said that Ban will return Friday afternoon from the most recent of his many trips, this time passing through Malta. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/sc2srilanka042309.html

On Sri Lanka at UN, Mere "Remarks to the Press," UK Says IMF Loan Not Relevant

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/sc1srilanka042209.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- Despite the UN having warned of a "bloodbath on the beach" in northern Sri Lanka, and despite the UK and France having spoken loudly of what they would push for in the Security Council, Wednesday's informal Council session ended with mere "remarks to the press" by this month's president, Claude Heller of Mexico.

As Heller spoke at a microphone in the UN's basement, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's envoy Vijay Nambiar slipped quickly past the press. He left the UN's humanitarian deputy Catherine Bragg, who did not visit Sri Lanka, to speak for the Secretariat. Inner City Press asked Ms. Bragg to provide an update to the UN's figure for civilians killed between January 20 and March 7, 2683, which only became public because leaked to and published Inner City Press. Ms Bragg answered that

"We don't have any official numbers at all of the casualties. Unlike in other conflict situations where the government would have provided us with casualty numbers and that we would verify with other sources, we have not been provided with those numbers by the government so we cannot verify them. We only have estimates."

But she would not give a new estimate. This creates a situation in which it is in a government's interest to not provide information to the UN, because then the UN will be silent.

The Ambassador of the UK, John Sawers, spoke even before Heller. He was asked why the Council could not even come up with a Presidential Statement, as it did on the North Korean launch. He answered that the unanimity of the Council is important. Inner City Press asked Sawers about the UN's access to the screening points for those leaving the conflict zone, and for the UK's position on Sri Lanka's application to the International Monetary Fund for a $1.9 billion loan that would, many say, replenish the war budget and build detention camps in the north.

Sawers said that the UN does not have sufficient access to the "reception" points. He said that "the question of an IMF loan to Sri Lanka is not directly relevant." Earlier on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch had called the delaying of Sri Lanka's IMF loan application the only positive step taken by the countries who say they are concerned.

US Ambassador Susan Rice stopped at the microphone, but said at the outset that she would not take any questions, that she had somewhere to go. One would have liked to know her and the US's position on Sri Lanka's IMF loan application. The previous day, when Inner City Press asked her if the US is concerned about the ethnic aspect of the violence and detentions, she said, "The priority needs to be the physical protection of innocent civilians." Wednesday she specified that both sides are shooting at civilians as they leave the conflict zone, and that the International Committee of the Red Cross does not have adequate access.

Sri Lanka's Ambassador Palihakkara directly disagreed with this point, saying that both the ICRC and Caritas have full access. Palihakkara was seen talking with Ambassador Rice's colleague Rosemary DiCarlo after the Council session, perhaps on this point.

Inner City Press asked Palihakkara a series of questions, quickly transcribed afterwards:

Inner City Press: The UN has said staff is held in these camps without being able to leave. UN says they've been complaining since February. Why aren't these people released?

Amb. Palihakkara: First of all, UN staff are not held anywhere. These are our nationals, Sri Lankan nationals employed by the UN who have come out of the LTTE hold and now, like any other normal civilians, they are in the IDP centers, and they are not held like in a detention camp, but they need to be screened like others, and I agree that it has taken too long to do that screening. ... I have myself strongly recommended that when the UN takes responsibility they be allowed to leave. They are working on that. It's not a policy issue. It's just taking a little too long. But we are working on that.

Inner City Press: Your country has been barring some journalists from going to the conflict zone or even the country at all. Why?

Amb. Palihakkara: I don't think anyone is banned. People going to the conflict area are taken when the conditions are [garbled]. I believe recently some journalists were taken and I think the Reuters correspondent went to the frontline area some weeks ago. ... I believe CNN correspondent filed a report. But perhaps we should broaden that access area.

Inner City Press: What was your view of Desmond Brown being sent by the UK as an envoy? And would IMF funds be used for IDP camp maintaining?

Amb. Palihakkara: Well, about Mr. Des Brown, I think our government has made our position clear that they were concerned about the procedure, not necessarily anything about the credentials of Mr. Des Brown or anything. So I don't want to add to that government's statement. ... [On the] IMF loan, I have to ask my colleague in Washington. ...

Finally, for this report, Inner City Press asked Claude Heller if the Council had gotten a broad enough range of information. He spoke of "appropriate channels" that he would not discuss. His statement, or "comments to the press" --

As you know, the members of the Security Council, we had an informal meeting this afternoon in order to consider the situation in Sri Lanka. The members of the Security Council, we heard a briefing from Mr. Vijay Nambiar on his recent visit to Sri Lanka including his discussions with the government of Sri Lanka. We expressed, all the members of the Security Council, our gratitude to Mr. Nambiar and our strong support to the Secretary-General for his ongoing efforts on Sri Lanka.

The Security Council members, we expressed our deep concern about the humanitarian situation in the Vanni region and the plight of the civilians trapped within the conflict area and we call on all member states to provide urgent humanitarian assistance. The Security Council members, we strongly condemn the LTTE terrorist organization for the use of civilians as human shields and for not allowing them to leave the area of conflict.

In this regard, the Security Council members, we demand that the LTTE immediately lay down arms, renounce terrorism, allow a UN assisted evacuation of the remaining civilians in the conflict area, and join the political process through dialogue in order to put an end to the conflict. The Security Council members, we urge all parties including the government of Sri Lanka to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law and to allow international and humanitarian agencies access to those affected by the fighting.

The Security Council members, we welcome the news that the tens of thousands of civilians have escaped from the conflict area in the past few days and urge that further steps be taken to allow the safe evacuation of the remaining civilians to provide to them the necessary protection and assistance. We express also the importance of the UN role in assisting the Sri Lankan government in attending the present humanitarian crisis under the present dramatic circumstances, looking forward to the conclusion of the conflict. And we expect also that the Sri Lanka government will support the UN team that is in the field. That's the main elements of the conversation of the informal consultations that the Security Council members had this afternoon.

This will be updated, watch this site. One development was praised at Wednesday's NGO briefing, the delay at the International Monetary Fund of Sri Lanka's request for a $1.9 billion loan. It was supposed to be approved weeks ago, HRW's Anna Neistat said when asked by a correspondent from Xinhua. Video here from Minute 49:09. In mid-March, when Inner City Press asked the IMF's spokesman if any conditions would be attached, he said it was still being negotiated.

While Neistat said that human rights conditions can't be attached to loans, early in the the week at the UN, Jo-Marie Griesgraber from New Rules for Global Finance responded to Inner City Press' question about Sri Lanka's loan request by noting that under Michel Camdessus, military over-expenditure can be to considered a "non productive expenditure." Video here, from Minute 33:14.

And is the building of detention camps, now being funded by the UN, a legitimate "humanitarian" expenditure? To be continued.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/sc1srilanka042209.html