UNGA Begins With Bill Clinton and Edible Insects, Offline Internet, Press Barred By UN DPI

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 17 – Slipped into the UN on the Saturday before General Assembly high level week, in an event listed in the UN Media Alert but from which the Press was barred (video here) was none other than Bill Clinton. So said the master of ceremonies in the UN's ECOSOC Chamber on September 16, fielding questions from Clinton friend Denis O'Brien accused of profiteering in Haiti, where the UN has also failed. 

On stage were teams of “social entrepreneurs,” with ideas ranging from an archived off-line Internet deemed good enough for refugees, apparently according to UNHCR, and a sort of Uber for rickshaws in Pakistan. A previous winner, purveyor of insect meals to the poor, also spoke. But the UN webstream from ECOSOC went dark before the promised arrival of Clinton. And outside, the machinery of surveillance was being put in place: Inner City Press Periscope here. We'll have more on this. Earlier on September 16 with the UN Media Alert listing a 4:30 pm event about refugees, ostensibly Secretary General Antonio Guterres' signature issue, Inner City Press was stopped from entering the UN, even through the Visitor's Entrance, to cover the event. Two UN Security officers were unaware of the Media Alert or what it was. As the time passed 4:30 pm, their supervisor returned to say that his "boss, Millie McCormack," said the Press could not come in. Video here. No one present from, nor any preparation by, the UN Department of Public Information, now run by Alison Smale who has not responded to numerous petitions to her since September 1, even while attended fashion shows. The UN is both UNprepared and UNfair - including on such issues as Myanmar, Yemen, Burundi and Cameroon. Next up,on September 18, US President Trump, Ambassador Nikki Haley and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in the UN's ECOSOC Chamber. September. Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric has repeatedly said he will distribute a list of meetings and bilaterals of his boss, his third Secretary General in a row, Antonio Guterres. As of the evening of Friday, September 15 it has not happened. Dujarric tried to limit his "background" briefing at 10 am on September 15 only to his friends in the UN Correspondents Association, a group which accepted advertising funds from Macau-based businessman Ng Lap Seng's South South News then provided the venue for Ng's photos with Dujarric's previous boss Ban Ki-moon. Now several disgusted UNCA members have forwarded Inner City Press this UNCA bragging, how UNCA has negotiated to exclude the vast majority of journalists covering UNGA from access to the Conference Building: the UNCA members "have access to B1 area with secondary passes AND without cameras...The UNCA chair in the Press Briefing Room now has a plaque alerting visiting media that the seat is reserved." Way to try to let the "visiting media" and the UN-based media which covers corruption know who you think is boss. The bragging concludes, "As in previous years an email was sent to Lt. Eugene Whyte with the NYPD containing the list of the broadcasters who have paid for a spot / fiber connection on Press Island so that media outlets without NYPD passes have access. They are:
TIMA // EUROVISION // CBS // SPHYNX // CCTV // AL JAZEERA // CBC // CNN // BBC //AL ARABIYA // AP // XINHUA // NHK // VOA. Thank you for your attention, UNCA Access, Space and Security Committee" including Sherwin Bryce-Pease, Meilssa Kent, Nabil Abi Saab, Giampaolo Pioli." This information is sent only to people who pay money. At a background briefing on September 8, a UN Department of Public Information official told Inner City Press that the current nearly-useless wifi Internet “should” be fixed in time, and that “there will be a secondary pass for RC to go to basement area, 1B, limited to resident correspondents” - a group of less than 200 of the several thousand journalist the UN says are coming. Inner City Press asked, Why are these passes limited in that way? The UN official said, “That's the arrangement with Security and with the UNCA [UN Correspondents Association] because we have to find some distinction." So the UN let a group of at most 200 insiders limit the access of thousands of other journalists, with no transparency.We'll have more on this.

On Rwanda, Herve Ladsous' Role in UNSC Not Saying “Genocide" in 1994 Linkes Now to His Inaction on FDLR, Refusal to Answer Press Questions

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 6 -- Twenty one years after the beginning of the genocide in Rwanda, UN Peacekeeping remains under the thumb of Herve Ladsous, who in 1994 acting as France's Ambassador in the UN Security Council argued for the escape of the Hutu genocidaires into Eastern Congo. See Ladsous' memo here, put online by Inner City Press.

  Notably, Ladsous has banned UN support to a military offensive to “neutralize” the heirs of the genocide, the Hutu FDLR militia. Ladsous refuses Press questions on this, even has twice has his spokesmen physically remove the UNTV microphone from Inner City Press, which asked. 

 (On April 6 it was claimed that Ladsous' spokesman was pointing to another journalist as Ladsous refused to answer Inner City Press' questions - but he grabbed the microphone, as happened before, here.)

  Among documents put online on April 6, 2015 is the Mucyo Commission report, which says of the Security Council advocacy involving Ladsous that in the Security Council, the French Ambassador “did a lot of lobbying with the the Member States of the Council to avoid the Security Council's use of the expression 'genocide.'” Page 179,here.

  But the documents released jump from June 1994 to 1998, thus missingthis Ladsous memo. Pre-selected coverage, focused on US Bill Clinton, John Shattuck, Prudence Bushnell and Joyce Leader and UK David Hannay, omits this link to current events at the UN as well. We'll have more on this.

 When today's UN Peacekeepers are determined, by the UN itself, to have shot at civilians by using inappropriate force, what accountability is there? None, with Herve Ladsous atop UN Peacekeeping. But even the supposed reporting in the incidents is inconsistent.

  On Mali, after Ladsous' MINUSMA reached side deals with the MNLA rebels about Tabankort, there was a protest in Gao.

  UN Police ultimately under Ladsous' command shot and killed three civilians. In this case, because the Malian government wanted an investigation of the killing of protesters which supported its positition, the UN did an investigation and at least released a summary. (Ladsous refused to answer Inner City Press' questions including about the roots of the protest, his mission's deal with the MNLA in Tabankort.)

   But in Haiti, where Ladsous' peacekeeping mission was filmed shooting at protesters who oppose Michel Martelly, the report has not even been summarized. MINUSTAH chief Sandra Honore told Inner City Press the report is finished and "with DPKO" - that is Ladsous. But no summary is being released. Ladsous refused Inner City Press' question about this, and scribes ignored that these are two incidents of shooting unarmed civilians, in two countries, under Ladsous. Who is responsible?

   Vine here. These questions took place at the UN Security Council stakeout, but Reuters and Agence France Presse did not mention it, only blaming Rwanda. Both previously tried to censor Inner City Press coverage of Ladsous and French colonialism, to the extent of moving to ask the UN to throw Inner City Press out.

Which approach is journalism?

AFP wasn't even AT this stakeout - Ladous sought to avoid questions by repeating his talking points in French, but no AFP. Then Reuters told UNTV to give it the microphone, to ask about Rwanda. Ladsous leered. Then a retired Reuters reporter was pointed at by Ladsous' spokesman Nick Birnback, who then grabbed the UNTV microphone to take it away from Inner City Press.

On April 2 Ladsous appeared at the UN Security Council media stakeout but after reading a prepared statement refused to answer Press questions about the underlying Tabankort agreement with the MNLA which led to the Mali shooting. Video I here.

  Inner City Press also asked about shooting at civilians by Ladsous' peacekeepers in Haiti, caught on video, and asked if that withheld report would be released. Ladsous said, I do not respond to you. Video II here.

  Inner City Press asked if it isn't now a pattern, peacekeepers shooting at unarmed civilians not only in Mali but also Haiti, and if Ladsous will take responsibility.

  Ladsous' spokesman Nicholas Birnback then grabbed the UNTV microphone and moved it away from Inner City Press. This happened before with Ladsous and his previous spokesman. Video here, story here. At that time, after the Free UN Coalition for Access complained, the UN Spokesperson told FUNCA it would not happen again. Now it has. Accountability?

 Tellingly, the Ladsous scribe who angled for and got the first question asked pointedly if the peacekeepers in Mali weren't from Rwanda. Ladsous leered and said the Troop Contributing Country, then spoke again at the end to lay the blame on them. Video II, here, near end.

  In the public record is Ladsous' 1994 memo supporting the escape of the Hutu genocidaires who formed the FDLR into Eastern Congo, where now Ladsous' MONUSCO finds one excuse after another NOT to neutralize the FDLR as it did the largely Tutsi M23 armed group.

  Accountability? Video here.

  Inner City Press, which has been asking the UN Spokesperson - sinceUN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous refuses Press questions -- about the killings since they occurred in January, on April 2 asked UN spokesperson Farhan Haq if the report will be made public, and if any verdict or sentence against the peacekeepers would be made public. Haq did not say yes to either.

  A report on Ladsous' peacekeepers in Haiti firing at unarmed demonstrators hasn't even been summarized, much less released.

As to the killings by peacekeepers in Gao, Haq would not even publicly state the nationality of the peacekeepers. Talk about impunity. He said the Ladsous will briefing the Security Council -- behind closed doors, of course -- about the report, then will come to the UNTV stakeout. But Ladsous refuses Press questions, on his cover up of rapes in DR Congo and Darfur and every other question. Video here, Vine here. 

This is a new low in UNaccountability.

 Here is the UN's summary as read-out by Haq, video to follow:

The Inquiry launched by the Secretary-General to determine the facts surrounding the violent demonstration that took place on 27 January 2015 in Gao, Mali, in front of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) Regional Headquarters has submitted its report.

The Inquiry determined that members of a MINUSMA Formed Police Unit used unauthorized and excessive force on civilian protesters during the demonstration, resulting in the death by gunfire of three protesters and the wounding of four others.

The Inquiry also established that some protesters and organisers of the demonstration bear responsibility for the violence of the protest, which included Molotov cocktails, stone throwing and attempts to breach the perimeter of the Regional MINUSMA Headquarters in Gao. The Inquiry noted that MINUSMA security forces were left to face the protesters on their own in violation of the Status of Forces Agreement with the host country. Five MINUSMA police officers were wounded during the event.

The Secretary-General profoundly regrets the casualties among civilians resulting from the excessive use of force during this event by the MINUSMA personnel concerned.  He condemns it as a violation of the MINUSMA Directive on the Use of Force. The Secretary-General is committed to ensuring that the responsible individuals are held fully accountable for their actions.

Steps are being taken in this regard with the authorities of Mali and the relevant police-contributing country. The Secretary-General encourages the Government of Mali to take the appropriate steps to prevent future such incidents.  Communications, management and crisis procedures within MINUSMA will also be examined to prevent the recurrence of such acts.

The Secretary-General is committed to ensuring justice for the victims and their families according to local customs and appropriate United Nations procedures. MINUSMA is in contact with the local authorities and with the individuals and families concerned in this regard.

On behalf of the United Nations, the Secretary-General expresses his deepest apologies to the victims and their families.

The United Nations, and MINUSMA in particular, remain committed to supporting the stabilisation of Mali.

   

At Rwanda Genocide Panel, UN Official Cheng-Hopkins Names France, But No Follow-Up or Press Q at IPI

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- When a panel on "Twenty Years after the Genocide: What are the Lessons Learned from Rwanda?" was scheduled across First Avenue from the UN on April 22, the dispute earlier in the month between Rwanda and France, about the latter's responsibility, seemed sure to come up.

  Inner City Press RSPV-ed to the International Peace Institute and watched the opening statements by webcast (while simultaneously live-tweeting the US State Department's daily briefing). Before the Q&A segment, before the moderator asked people to raise hands for questions, Inner City Press arrived, then indicated that it had a question. (Two, actually, including the April 3, 2014 cable from the UN in Burundi about the government arming its youth wing that Inner City Press published but on which the UN spokesperson has allowed but declined to answer questions.)

  The first round went to insiders, including the chief of UN Peacebuilding Judy Cheng-Hopkins who to her credit asked about Jeune Afrique quoting a French soldier that he was ordered to fight with the RFP outside Kigali, and to help the genocidaires themselves.

  It seemed this required an answer from the panel. But the only answer was about the United States, that it was gun-shy after Somalia and "Bush" said the US had no interest in the country. Actually, it was under Bill Clinton.

  But the IPI moderator next called on people who raised their hands long after Inner City Press, including another UN staff member. The time expired, and the moderator said Inner City Press could come up front and ask a question one on one. Well, no. The UN Host Country Com'te began meeting on the US's denial of Iran's ambassador-nominee's visa.

  Inner City Press has RSVP-ed for a number of other upcoming IPI events. At the last one it attended, panelist Herve Ladsous of France, the head of UN Peacekeeping, answered Inner City Press' question on when UN Peacekeeping will go after the Hutu FDLR militia by saying, "Mister, I never answer your questions." Watch this site.

   

In DC, Power Is Confirmed Without Apology, Goldman Sachers to Geneva, Morocco Bundled (Georgia Out, Lithuania In)

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 2 -- The day after the US Presidency of the UN Security Council ended, the US Senate confirmed Samantha Power to replace Susan Rice as Permanent Representative to the UN.

  After breathless narratives of widespread opposition to Power, after her confirmation hearing performance at the committee level, she sailed through 87-10.

  In a memorable moment at her hearing, she said not only that America is the greatest country on earth but that it never has anything to apologize for.

  At the UN covering the Security Council, Inner City Press was watching the hearing on C-SPAN, and something sounded wrong. Didn't Bill Clinton apologize, for example, for the US' votes at the UN to shrink the UN Peacekeeping force during the genocide in Rwanda?

  Wasn't that what Samantha Power's book "A Problem from Hell" was all about? There was grumbling from within the delegation of Rwanda, members of the Security Council for the next year and a half.

  It will certainly liven things up. Some predict that Susan Rice's commitment on issues relating to Sudan and South Sudan will wane -- that may be an over-personalization of the US Mission's work -- and others predict that the whole Problem from Hell approach will focus only on Syria.

  But probably one should judge or predict a person on a body of work rather than this hearing performance, or what Sri Lankan Tamil activists saw as Power's strange silence during what they call their genocide, in May 2009. This finger-pointing at silence extended to Obama himself.

  And Obama the same day nominated as a US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva a former classmate who worked at Goldman Sachs, Pamela K. Hamamoto. 

  Another campaign bundler, Dwight L. Bush, Sr., was nominated as ambassador to Morocco. (While this Bush is not one of those Bushes, the pervasiveness of this process is why some call this a one party system.)

  Coming so quickly after Susan Rice's gambit to include a human rights monitoring component in Herve Ladsous' mission in Western Sahara -- such a component exists at his mission in the Congo but is mostly used on an ideological basis -- the financialization of the Morocco post seems telling. On the Security Council, Rwanda has a year and a half, while Morocco has only half a year left.

  And while we'd previously reported Georgia -- not Georgia on my mind, but Tblisi -- as a candidate for the Eastern European seat on the Council, Inner City Press spend part of an American night on July 29 hearing how ECOSOC would be enough for now for the Georgians, and Lithuania edged out by Vuk Jeremic for President for the General Assembly would now get the Council seat. Watch this site.

Footnote: rather than look to the past, even the recent past of Power's confirmation hearing, why not look forward, and not only at the "big picture" items on the Security Council's agenda? As Inner City Press exclusively reported yesterday, the US had thought France would draft a resolution on Central African Republic in August. Due to vacations, they plan not to. Might that change? Shouldn't it?

   

Bill Clinton Says UN Peacekeeper Brought Cholera to Haiti, Didn't Know

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 7, updated -- After the UN has refused to answer complaints that it introduced cholera into Haiti, its Special Envoy Bill Clinton has now in essence admitted it, only disputing whether "the UN peacekeeper from South Asia... knew he was carrying that virus." Intrepid journalist has put the audio online, here from Minute 0:50.

Back on December 16, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq about

Inner City Press: a quote from Nigel Fisher, that “I don’t think the UN has ever denied the possibility”, and then it goes into brackets, “that they could have been at fault”. And some have said that the UN did deny exactly that. And I wanted to know, again, one, the update on how they are responding to this claim for compensation for the cholera, but two is, again Mr. Fisher has been there a long time, but is that accurate? Is the UN not denying that they may have been responsible?

Associate Spokesperson Haq: Well, first of all, on the claim: yes, the claim has been received and is currently being studied. And at this stage, I wouldn’t have any further comment on that. Regarding the second thing about responsibility for cholera, as you know, we take that matter very seriously. In January 2011 appointed a panel of independent scientific experts to study all available evidence in order to determine the cause of the cholera outbreak and epidemic. The panel determined that it was not possible to be conclusive about how cholera was introduced into Haiti. So, in other words what Mr. Fisher says does not necessarily contradict that. It is just that there was no conclusive way of determining how the cholera was introduced, according to the panel.

And still the UN has not responded to the complaint filed and then buried with its Office of Legal Affairs under Patricia O'Brien. Now what?

Typically, "a spokeswoman from the U.N. peacekeeping mission said she couldn't comment because she did not hear Clinton' s statement." Well here it is: audio here from Minute 0:50. Watch this site.

MassiveGood, Praised by UN's Ban, Bill Clinton & Douste-Blazy, Called MassiveScam, $525,000 Spike Lee Film Yields $200,000

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
www.innercitypress.com/un1itaid071110.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 11 -- To raise money for the fight against AIDS and other diseases during the purchase of an airplane ticket: it sounds like, or as the UN calls it, “MassiveGood.”

Back on March 4, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised the program, and made the first donation. Inner City Press asked Ban's envoy on “innovative finance for development,” Philippe Douste-Blazy, about how the program would be transparent. Rather than directly answer, Douste-Blazy handed out copies of his book.

After four months and $11 million dollars in spending, including $525,000 for a 60 second Spike Lee promotion film featuring brief appearances by Samuel Jackson, Susan Sarandon, Paul Auster and a recording of former President Bill Clinton's voice, questions have arisen. Inner City Press asked the UN on July 8

Inner City Press: UNITAID allocated $22 million to something called the Millennium Foundation, which is also headed by Mr. Douste-Blazy, for this thing called MassiveGood, where for every plane ticket people were going to click. It was estimated that it would raise hundreds of millions of dollars [but] it’s raised much, much less than that. Given that Ban Ki-moon was the first clicker and used the UN platform to promote this idea, what does he think about the article and of the use of $22 million that should have gone to, actually, antiretrovirals, to pay Spike Lee to do an ad for something that’s raised so little money? And what is Mr. Ban Ki-moon going to do to clean up this scandalous use of funds?

Associate Spokesperson: We’ll check with our colleagues dealing with this about what kind of response there is on that.

The following afternoon, this response was proffered:

Date: Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 2:22 PM
Subject: Your question on MASSIVEGOOD
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply
To: Matthew Lee @innercitypress.com

Our colleagues at UNITAID wish to stress that MASSIVEGOOD is a private-public partnership in the first stages of development.

Three months after the initiative was launched at the United Nations, MASSIVEGOOD has raised $200,000 in micro-contributions from travelers and corporate donations, a figure which is completely in line with the original fundraising projections.

UNITAID adds that it is already seeing an impressive number of donation “clicks” coming from travelers this summer, only four weeks after its operational launch. The Millennium Foundation will be holding its operational launch in the USA this October and it is sure to be fully deployed throughout the travel industry there.

Once fully deployed in the USA and in several European countries, MASSIVEGOOD will allow travelers to make a micro-contribution towards the three health-related Millennium Development Goals, as is already the case in Spain. The Millennium Foundation will continue to secure partnerships within the travel and tourism industry, and to ultimately ensure that each of us who travel can help the world reach the Millennium Development Goals.

It all sounds very nice. But consider:

- the Millennium Foundation (MF) is headed by Philippe Douste-Blazy. It has been established in Nov. 2008 as a private Swiss Foundation. Its purpose is to collect "voluntary contributions" (i.e., donations) to support global health initiatives. The key idea is to encourage travel agents, individual travelers and corporate companies to routinely donate a small sum of money (2 €, 2 $ or 2 £ per ticket) each time they book an airplane ticket online, thanks to the cooperation of the main companies part of the Global Distribution System (GDS). The MF was created with the assumption that those main companies - top three being Sabre, Travelport and Amadeus - would fully cooperate with the above-mentioned donation scheme. Under a set of favorable assumptions, a McKinsey report was predicting the scheme could raise a fair amount of money, in the few hundreds of millions $ per year.

- Philippe Douste-Blazy, UN Secretary General Ban's Special Adviser on "innovative financing", has lobbied for such a donation scheme given his close ties with the travel industry (notably French businessman Jean Francois Rial). As Chairperson of UNITAID Executive Board, he came to realize that certain governments, notably the US government, would never support UNITAID and implement an airline tax similar to the French tax himself had created when he was a member of the French government. UNITAID is a big UN procurement agency for HIV/AIDS drugs hosted by the World Health Organization in Geneva.

- Mr. Dousteblazy has used his position as UNITAID Chairperson to have UNITAID granting a substantial budget ($22 million) for the creation of the MF, while we was simultaneously taking up the presidency of the newly created entity (thus cumulating the two presidencies : UNITAID, MF). This entered into force in Nov/Dec. 2008 with the establishment of the MF, recorded by the Swiss government, and the first wire of funds from UNITAID to the MF.

- the MF quickly recruited his own secretariat, starting with a Director General, another Frenchman named Bernard Salome. An Executive Board of the MF was set up, with representatives of most countries already involved in UNITAID (notably France and the UK), but also representatives of prominent NGOs (Oxfam). The MF's HQ was officially located in Geneva, in the commercial zone by the city airport.

- the MF has designed its collecting scheme on 2 main tasks : i/ having the GDS companies developing the software enabling their customers (e.g., travel agencies) to make the routine online donation ; ii/ launching massive media and advertisement campaigns in targeted countries representing a great potential of air travelers : the US and selected European countries (Germany, Switzerland, UK, Spain).

Eighteen Months Later, This is the Situation

- approximately half of the UNITAID grant, i.e. 11 M$, has been spent or engaged. The MF spends an additional 500,000 $ a month minimum. At the current pace of spending, most insiders think the MF will run out of funding by end 2010, Q1 2011

- the donation scheme ("Massivegood") has been launched in 2 countries only : the US (early March 2010) and Spain (1 June 2010)

- the donation situation is dire : after 4 months targeting the US market (i.e., the key market), the amount of donations is about 14,000 $, and only a few hundreds of people have donated. Some sources actually suspect those donors to be employees of one of the GDS companies partner to the donation scheme, inviting its staff to make a donation to get the process started.

- none of the main GDS companies (Amadeus, Travelport, Sabre) has implemented the online donation software with its own customers (travel agencies), for various (legal, technical) reasons. It seems that as little as 5 out of 150,000 travel agents in the US have individually and voluntarily responded to the call for donation.

- in 2009, the MF has contracted an advertising consortium (led notably by French advertising firm Fred & Farid) for its media and ad campaign, labeled "Massivegood". According to sources, the contract would amount to 9 M$. Today, at least 3 M$ have been spent for the Massivegood campaign and the US launch in particular. A very big expenditure ($525,000) has been the making of a 60 second promotional movie by Movie Director Spike Lee, featuring brief appearances by Samuel Jackson, Susan Sarandon, Paul Auster and a recording of former President Bill Clinton's voice. This (fairly ordinary) movie has generated little interest on the Internet.

To summarize : 11 M$ of HIV/AIDS funding have already evaporated, and more is at risk ; the launch of the Massivegood brand on the most critical market (US) has been a failure ; unable to ensure the dissemination of the donation software, the MF seems irreversibly unable to achieve the two elements of its initial strategy, i.e. organizing a vast network of online donations through the GDS companies, and promoting its brand vis-a-vis the citizens and travelers in key countries.

Beyond the incompetence, the most striking and shocking factor is that UNITAID funding should legally be used to scale up access to HIV/AIDS and malaria drugs for the poorest countries. Today, UNITAID, the Global Fund against HIV/AIDS and all organizations fighting global pandemics are struggling with declining resources. How many doses of anti retrovirals, how many bed nets against malaria, how many packs of therapeutic food could have been bought with those wasted 11 M$ ? Is it worth waiting for the remaining 11 M$ to disappear into thin air ?

And so informed sources want to know:

- is the UN Secretary General Ban aware of the failure of the Massivegood scheme ? Why did he decide to support it by making publicly the first online donation himself on March 4th ? Was he briefed on the fact that the software wasn't ready ? Does he intend to keep Mr. Dousteblazy as his Special Adviser ? Does he intend to take full responsibility for his adviser's initiatives ? Would his attitude have anything to do with his wish to retain French support in view of a second mandate ?

- what is Mr. Douste-Blazy reaction in front of this situation ? Does he consider resigning from his position of Chairperson of UNITAID Executive Board for having distracted resources of this organization ? How could he plea ignorance as he chaired both organizations (the grantor and the grantee) ? Did he consider he exerted objective control and defended UNITAID's interest ? Can he display the exact and detailed account of all travel expenses incurred by UNITAID and the MF for him to "promote" the Massivegood scheme ? He is supposedly an unpaid UN adviser ("one dollar contract") : who pays for his income,secretariat and office(s) located in Paris, not in Geneva ? Some say the Paris office rent would be as high as 10,000 € a month : is it correct ? Is Mr. Dousteblazy using this office only for UN or MF related purposes, or for his participation to French politics ?

-Why was Mr. Salome, like Douste-Blazy a Frenchman, appointed Director General without any transparent and competitive process, post publication and selection panel ? Why is the amount of his salary not published or disclosed even to the members of the MF Board ? What is the amount of travel and other expenses incurred by the MF on Mr. Salome's behalf ? Could this complacent situation have something to do with the fact that Mr. Salome is a former adviser and very close friend to Bernard Kouchner ?

- why did WHO, UNITAID's hosting entity, validate the "transfer" of $22 million from a UN HIV/AIDS fund to a non-UN, opaque private entity such as the MF, entirely created from scratch and specifically designed for a dubious fund-raising scheme, without raising questions or demanding guarantees ? Especially since this operation did not enter into UNITAID's legal purposes ? Would it have something to do with the fact that the WHO lawyer in charge of this scrutiny process (Ms. Donna Catliota) has been recruited by the MF as a lawyer immediately after she validated the transfer of funds from UNITAID to the MF ? And why did such an obvious conflict of interest remain unnoticed by WHO upper management ?

- what is the level of administrative expenses of the MF ? how many people are actually employed by the MF : some say 25 staff, is it true ? it is true that at least 6 of them perceive net salaries in excess of 10,000 € a month after tax ? The MF website mentions that the MF has its offices in Geneva but also maintains a "satellite office" in Paris : what are the expenses linked with this Paris office ? How many people do work in Paris for the MF ? Some say that the Geneva office, actually located inside the airport zone, is a "ghost office" : how many people do actually work there on a daily basis ? And above all, why does a private Swiss law foundation have an office in Paris, while planning operations in the US or Spain and not in France ? Would it have something to do with the possibility for some French, Paris-based staff to evade from French tax laws, receiving tax-free salaries under Swiss laws while enjoying Paris ?

- why did Mr. Douste-Blazy prefer to use UNITAID funding for the MF/Massivegood scheme instead of leveraging private philanthropic funds or even turning to (development) banks to provide the seed funding ? After all, the McKinsey study had predicted a certain potential for the donation scheme (under a set of precise assumptions though) : with appropriate guarantees, the initial capital could have been borrowed and reimbursed as quickly as a 2 or 3 years. Why then distracting UN HIV/AIDS funding ? Would it have something to do that Mr. Douste-Blazy wanted to avoid any external scrutiny over "his" scheme, be it from a philanthropist, a bank or a UN body, whereas such scrutiny could have prevented the current mismanagement of funds ?

- how was the advertisement company for the Massivegood campaign chosen ? Was there a competitive tender for the 9 M$ contract ? Why was a French company chosen, notwithstanding the fact that the donation scheme had to be launched in the US primarily ? Did the French company enjoy early information and contact from the MF and its Chairperson, ahead of the contract ? How does the firm explain the mediocre success of its campaign in the US ?

- why did Director Spike Lee bill the MF 525,000 $ for such a short promotional material ? Was it non-profit ? Did he and all the actors involved work pro-bono ? What is the detail of expenses incurred by this movie ? How does he explain the movie has generated so little interest ?

- are the CEOs of the main GDS companies (Amadeus, Travelport, Sabre) aware of such financial mismanagement by the MF ? If yes, is it why they have refused to cooperate further with the MF, notwithstanding the fact that they had signed a letter of intent ? If yes, again, why then didn't they alert political and administrative authorities?

And what of Bill Clinton, Paul Auster, Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson and Susan Sarandon.

Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1itaid071110.html

In Haiti, UN's Kim Bolduc Is Out, Coke and Clinton Fete Citigroup, Siemens

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/haiti1kimcoke040610.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 -- In the midst of the UN's response to Haiti's earthquake, it has removed its country representative Kim Bolduc, Inner City Press has discovered.

Told by a source that Ms. Bolduc was leaving Haiti, on March 31 on the sidelines of the Haiti donors' conference Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky, "do you know if Kim Bolduc is still performing her function as country coordinator in Haiti?" While Nesirky answered "Pass, don’t know," subsequently this came in:

Subject: Answer to your question on Ms Kim Bolduc
From: @un.org
To: Inner City Press

Dear Matthew, Kindly find hereby the answer to your question :Is Ms Kim Bolduc still performing her duties in Haiti?

"Kim Bolduc completed her assignment in Haiti on 30 March 2010".

It is certainly a strange time to have the country representative's "assignment" run out.

Also alongside the Haiti Donors' Conference at the UN, Bill Clinton co-hosted a corporate event for Coca-Cola, promoting a drink called "Haiti Hope."

While the Press was barred from the event, the UN Office of Partnership' roster of 135 invitees, subsequently obtained, lists Nestle executives Paul Bulke and Peter Braback, executives from Citigroup including Vikram Pandit, Siemens and Crescent Petroleum. And so it goes at the UN.

And here's from the April 1 transcript of the IMF, titularly a part of the UN system:

INNER CITY PRESS ONLINE QUESTIONER: At the U.N. yesterday, Mr. Strauss-Kahn said that the IMF has yet to forgive Haiti’s debt. By contrast, the IABD has already forgiven $479 million. Can you explain the IMF’s delay and exactly what Executive Board Meeting it will be when Mr. Strauss-Kahn will actually propose forgiving Haiti’s debt?

MR. RICE: In response to this question, I’d really like to refer you to the statement that we issued yesterday from the Managing Director when he attended the high-level conference in New York City. And on the issue of debt relief, what he had said was that there was a framework--staff was preparing a framework to be put forward for consideration by the IMF Executive Board on the issue of debt relief and the IMF...

Watch this site.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/haiti1kimcoke040610.html

In Haiti, UN Force Commander Silent on Killings, Clinton Skips Press, Contracts

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un2hnp021810.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 18 -- In Haiti, the UN's Force Commander Major General Floriano Peixoto Vieira Neto, has been aware of "incidents" in which the Haitian National Police have killed civilians. Inner City Press asked him about it on Thursday. Video here, from Minute 13:56.

He said, "those were crucial and critical moments, the HNP needed to use that kind of force." Video here, from Minute 15:56.

It is reported that President Rene Preval, his prime and other minister met in January and authorized the summary execution of "criminals." The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, which has a stated and implicit duty to protect civilians, has confirmed it has been aware of killings.

Inner City Press asked the Major General what his troops do about this. "I do not command the police," he said. "I do not speak on this."

This seems to be a major problem. Even those the UN peacekeepers are changed, according to the force commander, with security and not criminal justice, if they witnessed one civilians killing another they would act. But if Haitian National Police kill someone, even as a summary execution, the UN says and does nothing?

Later on Thursday, Bill Clinton was scheduled to join a press stakeout with Ban Ki-moon, John Holmes and Haiti's Ambassador. But Clinton was delayed, due in part to an anthrax scare at the UN -- click here for Inner City Press' first and second stories -- so he skipped the stake out. Mr. Ban took only one question before leaving.

Inner City Press asked Haiti's Ambassador about a meeting between President Rene Preval and US contractor Ashbritt, to gain rubble removal contracts. He replied no contract has yet be let, and whoever wins must create jobs. Afterward, he thanked Inner City Press for not asking about the HNP's alleged executions.

John Holmes dodged questions, first about his leaked email about Haiti, then about restrictions on UN aid in Somalia being imposed by the US. We'll have more on this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2hnp021810.html