At UN on Sri Lanka, Ban Ki-moon Panel Under Deputy Eliasson Met Egeland, De Mistura and Schulenburg, To Finish in June: Public?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 -- Four years ago in May 2009 the Sri Lankan Army was advancing north toward a "bloodbath on the beach" in which tens of thousands of civilians were killed.

  The UN has been criticized for its inaction (and some of its actions) in Sri Lanka, and is now again studying itself to come up with recommendations. A panel under Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson was announced, in response to an Inner City Press question, on December 5, 2012. What has it accomplished?

  On May 9, 2013 Inner City Press asked Eliasson where things stand. He answered that earlier in the day he had an hour and a half meeting about the Sri Lanka review, by video, with such "outside experts" as Staffan De Mistura, Jan Egeland and Michael von Schulenburg, who was thrown out of Sierra Leone.

(The 2009 successor to Egeland and Eliasson as Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, has been interfacing with UN-linked NGOs, but apparently not on this report on Sri Lanka. When Inner City Press quoted him about deleting at least some e-mails from Tamils, his staff complained with UN Media Accreditation. And see second footnote below.)

The goal, Eliasson said, is to come up with recommendations to not have this happen again (he cited Myanmar and Syria). He will get the report, from two of his staff members and Michael Keating, and assess it and give it to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, all by mid-June.

Will the report be public? That is a question that will be asked. Watch this site.

Footnotes: 1) Following up, Inner City Press asked the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay if there has been any progress on her visiting Sri Lanka. The answer was, Discussions continuing with Sri Lanka on possible dates.."

  2) When the Sri Lankan government screened its war crimes defense film inside the UN and Inner City Press wrote about it and some background, a fight began that continues to this day. Most recently, a pro government Sri Lankan told Inner City Press they will "complain to UNCA." And what? (Though even the threat is quite telling.) Due to attempts at censorship, for example demands that articles be taken down, Inner City Press co-founded the Free UN Coalition for Access. So, send away. We may have more on this.

Obama Didn't Raise Sierra Leone Ousting UN Envoy, Malawi's DRC Roles

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 29 -- After a staged Washington whirlwind of the leaders of Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, Malawi and Senegal this week, on Friday US National Security Staff Senior Director for African Affairs Grant Harris took press questions about the visits.

  Inner City Press asked, regarding Sierra Leone, what the Obama administration thought of Ernest Bai Koroma having thrown UN envoy Michael von der Schulenburg out of the country as an “obstacle” to his re-election.

  No, Grant Harris answered, that did not come up. At the UN, even UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant told Inner City Press it was troubling.

  But the US wants friends or partners in Africa, for example talking up Senegal's role in Mali -- where apparently the real muscle with be a French “parallel force” which French Ambassador Gerard Araud this week would not or could not tell Inner City Press would be under any UN control.

  Inner City Press also asked Grant Harris if Joyce Banda's talks, including with Defense Secretary Chuck Hegel, had touched on Malawi's role as one of three brigade contributors to the Democratic Republic of Congo “intervention brigade” approved by the UN Security Council on March 28.

  It didn't come up in that level of specificity, Grant Harris replied. But did it come up even at all? Watch this site.

As UK Lyall Grant Regrets UN Envoy Banned from Sierra Leone, Of Meece's Meekness, Frechette in Breeze

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 4 -- After UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon capitulated to the government of Sierra Leone and abruptly removed UN envoy Michael von der Schulenburg from the country, some UN officials close to Ban complained to Inner City Press about "the S-G's weakness."

"What kind of message does it send," a senior Secretariat official asked Inner City Press, "when Ban sells out his own appointees at at the drop of a hat?"

On Friday, Inner City Press asked the Security Council president for March Mark Lyall Grant of the UK about Schulenburg's removal. Speaking in his national capacity because the Council won't discuss it until March 22, Lyall Grant did not directly criticize Ban, but said "the ERSG was put in a difficult position by the government of Sierra Leone.... We regret that, he left earlier than originally planned." Video here, from Minute 28:45.

Lyall Grant went on to list other recent controversies about "host country consent," for example the Democratic Republic of the Congo where, he said, the government threatened that the UN Mission should leave. He added that was "resolved." But how?

In DRC, Ban's envoy Roger Meece said almost nothing amid Joseph Kabila electoral controversy -- the blocking of opposition candidates, the torching of polling stations. While such meekness may be Meece's personality, Ban is sending the message that this is how to succeed in his UN.

Notably, Ban has refused to support in any way his own appointee as chair of the Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations, Louise Frechette, when she belatedly rule inappropriate the participation of Sri Lankan General Shavendra Silva, whose 58th Division is depicted in Ban's own Panel of Experts report as engaged in war crimes.

While other Permanent Representatives of Permanent Five members of the Security Council make excuses for Ban, intent only on securing top UN management positions from him, Lyall Grant has shown himself willing to speak some truth. Watch this site.

As Sierra Leone Envoy Says Ban Caving To Koroma, Pascoe Says Speaks For Itself

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 14 -- While Michael von der Schulenburg was still the UN envoy in Sierra Leone, Inner City Press reported that he hit a staff member, and that in a previous stint for the UN in Iran had dealt in antiquities and rugs, dubbing him "the carpet bagger."

But when Schulenburg was unceremoniously removed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as his envoy, several Ban administration officials approached Inner City Press to say Ban had "hit a new low," as one of them put it.

According to these UN officials, who asked for anonymity due to fear of Ban administration retaliation, Schulenburg was removed not because of his previous "misdeeds" as one put it, but entirely because the government of Sierra Leone didn't like how he was dealing with the opposition in the run-up to elections.

Dealing with oppositions is, of course, part of the job a UN envoy is supposed to do, even if it has become less and less prevalent of late, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and South Sudan.

Even amid this trend of "sucking up" to host countries as a "way to stay relevant" or at least stay in the country, as one put it, it was not thought that Ban would simply give in and pull out one of his envoys in this way.

On February 9, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky:

Inner City Press: In the Sierra Leonean press, they say that President [Ernest Bai] Koroma informed [he] was no longer willing to talk to Mr. Schulenburg and that’s why he was removed. And I think since some seem to have a concern that this involves not supporting an SRSG who was trying to speak both with the Government, but also to the opposition and in the face of Government threats to no longer deal with him, to just remove him, this is why I am asking again, what was the reason that he was removed? Is this a mischaracterization of the Secretary-General’s support, or in this case non-support, of an SRSG on the ground facing threats from the Government?

Spokesperson Nesirky: We don’t have anything beyond the statement that we have already issued on this, in which it is very clear that the Secretary-General supported and was supportive of the efforts of Mr. von der Schulenburg on the ground in Sierra Leone.

Inner City Press: Then why did he remove him so abruptly, and what do you say to this? Is it true that President Koroma said, “I won’t deal with Schulenburg any more”?

Spokesperson: As I say, we issued a statement and I don’t have anything beyond that, Matthew.

Then a letter from Schulenburg to the outgoing head of Ban's Department of Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe emerged, in which Schulenburg wrote

"There can be little doubt, that the decision by the President to force my early departure will be seen - rightly or wrongly - by virtually every Sierra Leonean as an effort to remove a potential obstacle to his re-election and as opening the door to manipulating the election outcome in his favor. I also feel that we should engage the President directly over his sudden flair of hostility towards me before giving in to his request for my departure... Many Sierra Leoneans (as indeed many among the international community) may see the U.N. as readily caving in to unreasonable and unjustified pressures without making even the slightest attempt to protect the position as the Secretary-General's representative in this country."

While some allege that Schulenburg himself leaked the letter, other tried to say it is not authentic. On February 14, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Nesirky

Inner City Press: the letter that’s now been leaked —Mr. Schulenburg’s letter to Lynn Pascoe asking the UN not to give in to what he called pressure by the Government of Sierra Leone to have him removed as SRSG — what’s the response to his letter? Because it makes it look to some and he said in his own letter that it will look like the UN is simply giving in to host country’s displeasure with either criticism or even-handed treatment by an SRSG. Is it in fact a letter that Schulenburg sent to Pascoe and what is the Secretary-General’s response to the idea of some that he sold out an SRSG?

Ban smiles at SRSG before the Fall, letter not shown, (c) UN Photo

Spokesperson: First of all, we put out a statement, as you will have seen, I don’t have anything to add to that, except to say that we don’t comment on leaked internal communications.

So Inner City Press sought out Pascoe himself, in the UN's North Lawn building. Pascoe sighed and said it "speaks for itself," indicating at least that the letter is authentic. Yes, this speaks for itself. This is Ban's UN. Watch this site.

At UN, Talk of Dutch Replacing Choi, Carpetbagger Aims for Iraq, Musical Chairs

By Matthew Russell Lee, News analysis

UNITED NATIONS, June 24 -- With Abidjan buzz with reports that Dutch politician Bert Koenders is set to replace UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's ally Choi Young-jin atop the UN Mission there, in New York it fits into a puzzle of Ban's doling out of UN posts by country.

Currently the Netherlands “has” the UN top spot in Iraq's UNAMI mission, in the person of Ad Melkert. But Melkert is coming up on two years in the job, and is said to be on his way out.

Sources tell Inner City Press that already Michael von der Schulenburg, the UN official chopping at the bit to get out of Sierra Leone, is vying to replace Melkert in Iraq. These well placed sources say that von der Schulenburg previously while serving the UN in Iran ran a business exporting carpets and other antiquities. What better new posting, then, than Iraq?

While the UN this week confirmed to Inner City Press that Ban has tapped Norway's Hilde Johnson, in advance, to replace Haile Menkerios in South Sudan, at Friday's noon briefing there was said to be no announcement ready about Choi. On June 22 Inner City Press asked about a set of Assistant Secretaries General whose contracts have expired:

Inner City Press: it appears that some of the ASGs [Assistant Secretaries-General] in DESA [Department of Economic and Social Affairs], Thomas Stelzer or Ms. [Rachel] Mayanja, that their contracts have expired, that according to Secretariat data, in the one case, expired in December; in one case, expired in March; the idea being that maybe they are not going to be renewed, that they are supposed to find other posts as part of mobility. Can you confirm that, and what is the, what are the legalities, what are the specifics of working at the UN without a contract? It said that Mr. Stelzer is being paid as, almost as a consultant, although he is an ASG, at least on paper.

Ban & Schulenburg, note the empty chairs, magic carpet not shown

Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: Well, I don’t think right here and now I would want to get into individual personnel cases. I don’t think that is appropriate. If that picture changes, I will let you know.

Inner City Press: can you say as a general matter that this idea that five years in a post may be enough and that people should look, not to leave the system, but look for other posts in the system. Is that something that the Secretariat is putting out?

Spokesperson Nesirky: As you well know, that is something that has been discussed at some length amongst Member States, and there are differing views on that amongst Member States. And as a general rule, as a general practice, it is not appropriate to comment on individuals’ contracts or employment status with the Organization. Other questions? Yes, Mr. Abbadi?

Ah, UN transparency. There are a number of UN officials who are coming up on five years in the same job: let the musical chairs begin! Watch this site.

On Pakistan, Ripert out of a UN Job, Schulenburg Tried Carpet Bagging, Musical Chairs

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 27, 2010 -- On Monday UN “Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Rauf Engin Soysal of Turkey as Special Envoy for Assistance to Pakistan. The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Jean Maurice Ripert,” France's former ambassador to the UN. But what will Ripert's next job be? And who else competed for the Pakistan post?

On the latter, Inner City Press is told by well placed sources that Ban's representative in Sierra Leone Michael Schulenburg, previous the UN's Resident Representative in Iran, was lobbying member states to try to get the Pakistan position.

Schulenburg is already a controversial figure, having been accused of physically hitting a UN staff member in Sierra Leone. But there's more: these well placed sources say that while ostensibly serving the UN in Iran, Schulenburg engaged in the export of Persian carpets, including for profit. They joke that this focus on rugs explains his interest in Pakistan.

As for Ripert, who more and more obviously fled from the Press during his time in the Pakistan post, the buzz among Inner City Press' sources is that he will be getting a job at UN Headquarters. They point out, for example, that the top job at the UN Office of Partnerships is being vacated by Amir Dossal, who intends to set up another corporate social responsibility entity in and around the UN.

The Deputy Permanent Representative from one of Pakistan's neighbors notes that the UNOP job is at a lower UN level than the Pakistan post, which was at the Under Secretary General level. He also notes that Mr. Rauf Engin Soysal, as a Deputy Undersecretary in the Turkish foreign service, implies for the UN Pakistan post after Ripert, who was France's Permanent Representative to the UN, a downgrading. We'll see.

Footnote: On the Pakistan front, there are rumors of a September 28 meeting between the foreign minister of India, staying at the Palace Hotel, and of Pakistan, staying at the Roosevelt. We'll see. Watch this site.

On Sri Lanka, UN Has No Comment on Anti-Terror Law, Ban's Freetown Rep Not Worried By Protest

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/untrip4may1srilanka060909.html

UNITED NATIONS, June 9 -- As UN money supports internment camps in northern Sri Lanka, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that he is closely monitoring compliance with the Joint Statement he signed with President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

But on June 9, in a UN noon briefing with no real time pressure and only three journalists in the room, Ban's Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe first tried to shift directly from a twelve minute read out of press releases to a guest about Sierra Leone, then begrudgingly agreed to take Inner City Press' "daily two questions."

Inner City Press asked if Sri Lanka's extension of its anti-terrorism laws, which allow detention with out charge and are directly disproportionately against the Tamil minority, are consistent with Ban's understanding of the Commitment, and with his call against triumphalism and for reconciliation.

Ms. Okabe called this a mere "press report" on which the UN has no comment. For the sake of time, she said, let's turn it over to the guest. Video here, from Minute 12:39.

First, the extension of the anti-terrorism laws was extensively reported, and is a legislative fact. Any office closely monitoring developments in Sri Lanka would be aware of it, and should be prepared to comment hours later on it -- particularly since the detained doctors who remained in the "No Fire" zone offering treatment and casualty figures, about whom Ban has expressed concern, are being held under these laws.

Second, there was no rush to get the guest, the representative in Sierra Leone, on. The noon briefing had been reduced to a less than 15 minutes, more than 12 minutes of which consisted of Ms. Okabe reading out loud UN press releases.

It appeared clear that Ms. Okabe simply didn't want to answer questions. To be so dismissive of Sri Lanka, a topic the Secretary General is ostensibly monitoring closely, appears to be inconsistent.

The Sierra Leone UN representative, Michael Schulenburg, is also accused of being too close to the country's president. Inner City Press asked Schulenburg to respond to a quote from the US representative of the opposition SLPP, that Schulenburg's and Ban's report "reads more like an eulogy to President Koroma than an objective, professional, and balanced report on the fair implementation of the very communique."

Schulenburg said that the criticism of his approach is only from "one journalist." Even Ban's high officials point the finger at three media organizations -- click here and here for that.

Inner City Press asked Schulenburg about reports that SLPP supporters may stage protests. I don't that, Schulenburg said. "I'm not worried about this at all." Video here, from Minute 32:51.

Schulenburg said he did not recognize the name of the US representative of the opposition SLPP. Outreach seems in order.

Footnote: In fact, with Ban Ki-moon slated to get another award, this time on June 17 at 630 p.m. at the St Regis Hotel in Manhattan, there is talk about a protest by people concerned with the UN's action and lack of action in Sri Lanka. Again, outreach -- and action, follow through -- seem in order. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/untrip4may1srilanka060909.html