UN Says Ban Ki-moon's Faux “Press Encounter” With Peres Managed by Israel, Softball with Scribes

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 30 -- When is a “press encounter” not a press encounter? When the UN claims that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held one, but the press corps which covers the UN is not informed and is not present. 

  But those ostensibly speaking for the UN press corps make no complaint, instead bragging about Ban kicking a (soft) ball with them. This is UN decay, and what the Free UN Coalition for Access is challenging.

  On Sunday, June 29 Ban's spokesperson's office sent out a transcript of what it called Ban's “Remarks at Press Encounter with H.E. Mr. Shimon Peres, President of Israel.” What was sent out did not say when it had occurred, nor where, other than “New York.”

  No notice was sent out by the UN's Media Liaison and Accreditation Unit, nor by Spokesman Stephane Dujarric. When Dujarric was in charge of MALU,  FUNCA formally asked him to begin providing notice of Ban events even if held outside of the UN headquarters.

  On June 30, Inner City Press for FUNCA asked, where did the "press encounter" take place and why were the press not told? Dujarric said it was the Israeli mission which made the arrangements -- if true, that is abnormal, as the UN is supposed to announce to the media it accredits when Ban will be taking questions on UN relevant issues. 

  Dujarric bragged when he gave notice of Ban meeting New York City Mayor De Blasio - but gave no notice of the "press availability" regarding Israel's Peres. FUNCA says this is UNacceptable.

  The old UN Correspondents Association on the other hand, whose head Pamela Falk was present on June 30 if only to take the first set-aside question to Hilde Johnson on South Sudan, made no complaint.

  Instead, they are bragging about a "journalists and diplomats" game of football or soccer this week, even that Ban Ki-moon will be present at the kick-off.  Softballs, indeed.

  If Netherlands' Ambassador goes, he might want to answer about donor countries refusing to follow the recommendation of the UN Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations that peacekeepers be paid $1700 a month, offering only $1250. This question wasn't answered - but ones about the World Cup were. When Inner City Press asked Dujarric on June 30, he wouldn't express any position on peacekeeper reimbursement either. To this is the UN coming -- softballs.

  The UNCA Executive Committee didn't even give their own members a transcript of Ban's spoonfed lunch quotes to them this year, on which they wrote (largely fawning) stories. 

  One of UNCA's dues-paying members was told by outgoing French Ambassador Gerard Araud, "You are not a journalist, you are an agent" -- and UNCA is still dragging its feet. Hey, that's no way to kick a ball.

  Of Ban's Peres remarks the coverage, in a style echoing state media, was by the UN's own UN News Centre, which ran a photograph by UN Photo and “reported” that Ban was “speaking at the beginning of a meeting with President Shimon Peres of Israel at the UN Headquarters in New York.”

  But the photo appears to show Ban's own residence, blocks away from UN Headquarters. It was on the door of Ban's UN-provided residence that legal papers in the first case against hisUN bringing cholera to Haiti were taped -- but the UN refused to confirm that.

  Last Friday June 20 Dujarric and his deputy Farhan Haq refused to answer Inner City Press' written request for confirmation or denial of the service on Ban of yet more Haiti cholera papers.

  And from June 26 to June 27 Dujarric would not even confirm receipt of Inner City Press' questions about UN Peacekeeping's Herve Ladsous flying the UN-sanctioned leader of the FDLR militia in a UN helicopter without any approval from the UN Security Council. 

  The Free UN Coalition for Access is opposing selective answering, failure to answer, and here, failure to notify.

So when IS a “press encounter” not a press encounter, but a scam? How long can this go on, and how much lower can they go? Watch this site.

   

On Syria, Saudis Say Latins Will Be on Board, Ja'afari on OMIC, Sri Lankan General Shavendra Silva Speaks in UNSC

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 24 -- The proposed UN General Assembly resolution on Syria, drafted by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, was the main subtext outside the Security Council's debate Wednesday afternoon.

  Inner City Press asked the Saudi Permanent Representative about the concerns about welcoming recognitions of the opposition raised for example by Latin American countries. (See letters published by Inner City Press, here.)

“They'll be on board,” the Saudi ambassador replied jovially. But others were not so sure. 

  A Western country which told Inner City Press it would vote for the resolution today said it should not, however, be put to a vote in the current form, asking, Isn't the point of the General Assembly to show wide-spread support?

  That wouldn't happen on the current draft, and “if it's modified down any further, what's the point?”

  Beyond “the Latins” and India and South Africa, concerns were expressed to Qatar by Malaysia.

  Sources told Inner City Press Qatar will meet with the Western European and Other Group on Friday -- after WEOG meets with UN Department of Political Affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman.

   Wednesday afternoon's original schedule had the United Arab Emirate speaking between Syria and Iran. Perhaps to avoid this squeeze, the UAE switched spots and went before Bashar Ja'afari, Syria's ambassador.

   Ja'afari in his speech proposed re-naming the UN the “Organization of Major Influencing Countries” -- which Inner City Press shortened to OMIC. Ja'afari said that Saudi Arabia & Qatar don't allow any political opposition, “even formal.”

  Norway's Geir O. Pedersen said all countries should stop flow of weapons into Syria. Afterward he told Inner City Press that his country does all it can to make sure funds don't go for weapons. 

  But what is the European Union going to do, on the oil sales questions in the morning by Russia as likely to flow to the benefit of the Al Nusra Front?

  Sri Lanka had signed up to speak -- and was represented not by Permanent Representative Palitha Kohona but by its Deputy Permanent Representative and General Shavendra Silva, whose acceptance on Ban Ki-moon's and Herve Ladsous' Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations caused such controversy. 

  Now Shavendra Silva is inside the Security Council, amid all the speeches. Here is his speech, put online by Inner City Press with his name on it. What is the UN coming to? Watch this site.

Were UN Deaths in South Sudan Linked To Lack of Armored Personnel Carriers, Ladsous Mismanagement?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 14 -- What about the mis-management of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations by its fourth French chief in a row Herve Ladsous, in this case at the UN Mission in South Sudan? In December an UNMISS helicopter was shot down by the government, killing the four Russian pilots on board.

  There have still be no findings; the Russian Mission to the UN has publicly questioned how envoy Hilde Johnson is running the mission.

  Now five Indian peacekeepers have been killed, along with four Kenyans and three South Sudanese. Senior ambassadors asked Inner City Press last week, why were they out there without armored personnel carriers? Several linked this to "Ladsous mismanagement."

  Inner City Press went to the April 12 UN noon briefing and asked:

Inner City Press: about the attack in South Sudan on the peacekeepers that killed the Indian peacekeepers, the Kenyans and the South Sudanese. There is now a pretty detailed account, talking to eyewitnesses, saying that 200-some armed fighters attacked the convoy. But, one thing that came up yesterday, actually in the North Lawn Building, around the senior advisory group, many of the troop-contributing countries are protesting that the Indian peacekeepers didn’t have APCs [armored personnel carriers], basically saying they didn’t have the right equipment to be in an area as dangerous as it is, and I wanted to know, is it true? Does UNMISS, South Sudan Mission, not have armored personnel carriers? Why was it in that area? And, I know, you know, 20/20 hindsight, but they are saying there were no APCs and that’s a problem, and I am wondering, what do you know about it?

Deputy Spokesperson Del Buey: I’ll have to find out for you, Matthew. I don’t have that information with me.

  In the two days since, no information has been provided, just UN Peacekeeping tweeting its condolences.

  Under Ladsous, UN Peacekeeping has hit new lows in information games. On matters like the 126 rapes in Minova by the Congolese Army, Ladsous' partners, Ladsous outright refuses (November 27, December 7, December 18) to answer Inner City Press' questions. 

  Then his DPKO - and now Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson's office -- hand the answers to other, favored media like Tim Witcher of Agence France Presse (Ladsous has served on an AFP management board) and Louis Charbonneau of Reuters. This has been objected to, now formally as the Free UN Coalition for Access.

  But even if there is some spin about the lack of APCs, who would print it? So maybe there will just be no answer at all. Watch this site.

Claimed UN Reforms are Sagging, High Flying Ban Oversees Raids on Press, Lawless

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 12 -- What is UN reform? For some it revolves primarily around air travel costs, with the intern in business class a sort of modern day welfare queen in a limousine.

  But in terms of accountability, when the UN Staff Union voted “no confidence” in Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and Inner City Press asked repeatedly how much Ban spends on travel for himself and his entourage, no answer has been given.

  Doesn't transparency start at the top? 

  Similarly, while it was in the context of his “mobility” plan that Ban Ki-moon answered Inner City Press that his opponents in the UN Staff Union in New York were “selfish,” many point to Ban's closest adviser who merely move laterally, not out to the field.

  Shouldn't mobility begin at the top? It happened for Fink Haysom. It is happening for Michael Myer. Why not, say, Bob Orr?

  Oh we forgot, Ban's scribe Tom Plate, in belatedly launching his book “Conversations with Ban Ki-moon” at the Princeton Club, called Orr invaluable. All the more reason to share him with the world!

  There are claims of increased whisteblower protections. But just this week, James Wasserstrom decried the Sisyphusian processing of his retaliation claim.

  The focus on air travel mentioned above we attribute to US Ambassador for Management and Reform Joe Torsella. We have to say, we saw him in the North Lawn working it on the report of the Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations.

  Friday as the General Assembly adopted the other reports of the Fifth (Budget) Committee, but not SAG, a well placed African ambassador told Inner City Press that Torsella, Miguel Berger of Germany as Fifth Committee chair, and the Permanent Representative of Fiji representing the Group of 77 had been charged with “cooking” a final SAG proposal.

  Apparently the dish was not ready: by close of business Friday it had not been adopted.

  So, is the UN being reformed? We think not. Down in the world of press relations, the new Free UN Coalition for Access has submitted twelve simple reforms to the top of the Department of Public Information. 

  Not a one has been implemented; there is not even a process. There are still no rules of due process for journalists.

  Hitting a new low, DPI conducted a raid on Inner City Press' office on March 18, and when the Spokesperson was asked by BuzzFeed about the raid, the photographs including of Inner City Press' desk and bookshelf were immediately leaked to BuzzFeed through an anonymous “Concerned UN Reporter” e-mail account.

  Reform? We think not. But there are people trying. Watch this site.

At UN, Senior Advisory Group Standoff on Broken Equipment & Deployment, Ladsous Silent on Shavendra Silva

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- When UN Peacekeeping's so-called Senior Advisory Group was appointed, the inclusion of Shavendra Silva, a Sri Lankan military figure depicted in the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's own report as engaged in war crimes, was first exposed and covered by Inner City Press.

  Ban told Inner City Press, Silva's inclusion is a decision of member states. His chief of Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous refused to answer Inner City Press questions about it.

  Now in the endgame of the SAG, there are at least three issues. And April 3, diplomats met until 8 pm about them, including UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant, French Deputy PR Martin Briens, Pakistan's DPR and others.

  The SAG recommended setting troop rotations at every 12 months. 

  But many Latin American countries say their constitutions do not allow more than six months; India is said to share this position.

  The longer deployments would save the UN, or Ban Ki-moon as SAG-ers put it, $21 million.

  The SAG also proposed that if a country deploys troops but malfunctioning equipment, they should not be paid for personnel. Surprisingly, this would save $170 million according to SAG sources.

  After a dispute about the survey mechanism, the proposed increased troop compensation would be $80 million.

  And so even now on April 3 in the UN's North Lawn building, Permanent Representatives and Deputies were dueling about how to jibe these three. If the cost savings, of longer deployments say, are foregone, how to pay the increased compensation to the troops, without going back to recalcitrant taxpayers for more money?

  Earlier on April 3, Inner City Press sought to ask Ladsous a question. While others also leaving the Security Council, such as DPA's Jeffrey Feltman and DFS' Ameerah Haq, were willing to answer, Ladsous was not. This is a pattern.

  UN Budget Committee chair Miguel Berger of Germany was on the scene on April 3. He remarked to Inner City Press, again you are the only one covering it. He talked up a de-mining event on April 4, which stonewalling Herve Ladsous is slated to also attend. Click here for notice of event on the site of the Free UN Coalition for Access. Watch this site.