At UN, Jose Ramos-Horta Tells Inner City Press UN Should Compensate for Cholera in Haiti, As Brazil Did in Timor Leste, Ameerah Haq on Sexual Abuse

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 16 -- Nearly seven months after the Review Panel on Peace Operations began its work, and after breaking scandals about the cover up of sexual abuse in Central African Republic, Haiti and elsewhere, the Panel's Jose Ramos-Horta and Ameerah Haq took questions on it, before the report was released.

  Inner City Press asked about accountability. Specifically, is the Panel proposing that UN Peacekeepers face the judicial system in the countries they serve in (no), and what did the Panel conclude on how the UN should have dealt with charges it brought deadly cholera to Haiti, and that the Deputy Permanent Representative of Cote d'Ivoire sold posts in UN missions in DR Congo and Haiti? Periscope video, for now, here.

  Ms. Haq said no, the Panel is only proposing that civilian UN staff face the judicial system in the countries in which they are accused of crimes or abuse. Haq said, "In the case of uniformed personnel, it rests with their country of origin…they are not UN staff, and so therefore the UN rules do not apply. The agreement we have with the TCCs is that they will go through their judicial and prosecutorial process in their country and the UN will be informed.. This process must be done quickly, and we must have their reports."

 For civilians, Ramos Horta added, "If there are credible allegations, the mission must facilitate, immediately, due process to take place in that country…it cannot challenge the host country… You commit a barbarity, you have no protection whatsoever, you are subject to the laws of the country where you operate."

  On the Cote d'Ivoire DPR's sale of UN posts -- documented by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services, as exclusively reported by Inner City Press -- Haq said that the UN has no jurisdiction over him, only over its own issues. Haq said, "We can only look at where the UN is involved. The key to accountability is stronger investigation. But we don’t have jurisdiction over a certain individual. We can bring it to a member state." This is a loophole.

  Horta on cholera said that "the instance of cholera traced back to Nepalese peacekeepers, it could have happened in any other mission. My preferred action would be for the international community to sit down and discuss, what can we do to assist those people who are affected? It has been done before, without waiting for clarification.

"In my country [Timor Leste], a Brazilian military ran over a child. The Brazilians…the ambassador went to the family, apologized and offered compensation. The family accepted, and they were very touched that the ambassador took time…this is how we expect people working under the UN flag to behave."

 We'll have more on this.

 Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Office released a three-page "Information Note" about it. Inner City Press and theFree UN Coalition for Access tweeted photos of it, here.

  The Note, under the heading "Addressing Abuse and Enhancing Accountability," says that "immunity must not mean impunity. Immunity was never intended and does not apply to provide immunity [sic] from prosecution to UN personnel alleged to have committed sexual exploitation and abuse. The immunity privileges are functional only, i.e., related to the exercise of his/her professional duty as a UN employee, not for private acts."

  Is this directed at the courts which receive arguments for UN impunity, as for killing 8000 people and counting in Haiti by bringing cholera?

  The Information Note goes on, "Bar troops from countries listed in the Secretary General's annual reports on children and armed conflict and on conflict related sexual violence, until de-listed."

  But the Secretary General choose to disregard his own Special Adviser's advice and not list Israel or Hamas, and did not list the French "peacekeepers" alleged to have engaged in child sexual abuse in the Central African Republic. 

   There was a press conference on the report long scheduled for 1:30 pm on June 16; at the last minute the time was changed. The meeting at which the report was unveiled was closed.

  This UN cannot reform itself.

  On June 12, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric about the mounting scandals around Herve Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping, and Dujarric said that the Panel would respond. From the transcript

   

In DRC, South Africa Prepares to Redeploy, No Ladsous Answers on War Criminals

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 10 -- After M23 took Goma while the UN Mission MONUSCO did almost nothing, criticism of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations began to grow.

   Over the weekend, Ugandan President Museveni said MONUSCO is no more than "military tourism." At Monday's UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked if there was any UN or DPKO response, but there was none.

   Later on Monday, Inner City Press asked South Africa's Permanent Representative Baso Sangqu if it is true the South African forces currently serving in MONUSCO -- or MONUSELESS as many Congolese now call it -- will transition out to the neutral international force called for in the Kampala communique.

  Yes, Sangqu told Inner City Press. He called MONUSCO "a force not being seen to be doing enough. We're to a point where the TCCs [Troop Contributing Countries] don't want to implement, they must move. Africa is ready."

  Sangqu told Inner City Press this was discussed at the day's Secretary General luncheon, "we must do more." Inner City Press asked when to expect the South African switch.

   "Once concept of operations is endorse for the neutral international force," Sangqu replied.

   The discussion took place just after the opening ceremony for a photo exhibit celebrating the UN's -- and South Africa's -- work in Timor Leste. 

  Ladsous was scheduled to appear, but given his refusal to answer even the most basic questions, like "what is the UN's role in Abyei," while on UN TV at the Security Council stakeout, time seems better spent following the Mali bilateral meetings in the Security Council.

   But on the link between Timor Leste and the UN in the Congo, we note a photograph recently tweeted at Inner City Press, of alleged war criminal Tono Suratman in the Congo with MONUSCO in 2010. Click here to view.  What standards does DPKO have? Even less, it seems, under Ladsous.

   DPKO chief Herve Ladsous responded soon after the Goma failure by claiming MONUSCO had done well, then refusing to answer Press questions about rapes in Minova by Congolese Army units the UN may or may not work with. 

  Instead, Ladsous summoned hand-picked correspondents into the hallway. Video here.

   Recently Inner City Press learned that General Shavendra Silva of the Sri Lankan Army, whose troops are depicted in the UN's report on Sri Lanka as engaged in war crimes, went to Lebanon to "inspect" the troops of Ladsous' UNIFIL mission there. Ladsous has refused questions about having Silva as an adviser on Peacekeeping Operations.

   Inner City Press is told a tale of Ladsous' predecessor Alain Le Roy taking a personal interest in whether UNMIS (or UNAMID) dealt with ICC indictee Ahmed Harun in Southern Kordofan -- and answering questions about it. 

   Ladsous by contrast refuses human rights questions. Well, he defended the Hutu governmental genocidaires in Rwanda in 1994, click here to see Inner City Press first profile. And watch this site.

After Sandy, Diplomats Work from UN Not Dark Missions, Chinese Generator, Windex Underground

By Matthew Russell Lee

 

UNITED NATIONS, November 2 -- Hurricane Sandy's impact on the UN, downplayed in a "rosy" November 1 press conference by UN officials, was not limited to the UN Secretariat's downed e-mail and website and corridors in its "3B" third sub basement "like the movie Titanic" -- countries' missions were also impacted.

  Among the Permanent Five members of the Security Council, only China had its Mission's power cut off. It is located on 35th Street, four blocks into the blackout zone.

  Inner City Press has been told that a generator turned on and stayed on, unlike at nearly NYU and Bellevue Hospitals. But with Con Ed still off, some UN thinkers are looking at the Host Country Agreement.

  Despite lack of electricity and even running water in Chinatown where he lives, a worker at the Vienna Cafe has remained upbeat, even as the volume of coffee cups and left over sushi and pastries as risen with increased use of the Cafe.

   Another sample Security Council member, South Africa, still has the power in its 38th Street Mission off. Permanent Representative Baso Sangqu and his political coordinator took off Thursday evening leading a Council mini trip to Timor Leste.

  But its other diplomats remained working in New York, visible in the UN's Vienna Cafe, having a wide range of meetings. The same could be said of Indonesia, with its building on the same 38th Street block as South Africa's mission.

  Just as neither rain nor snow nor "gloom of night" were said to stop deliverers of mail, countries' diplomacy continues, even when the UN Secretariat leaves its web site down for days.

  Another country's Permanent Representative told how his wife took visitors to Union Square and found "food being handed out, no power... like a war zone."

   Diplomats in and beyond the Security Council complained to Inner City Press on Friday about the UN's response to Hurricane Sandy, and about public statements since that some call "misleading."

  For its part, despite a statement November 1 at 2 pm that the UN's website would be "back up" that day, Inner City Press noted this was not the case at 5 pm that day, see Twitter photo here. At 5 pm on November 2, the UN website was still "unavailable... undergoing urgent maintenance."

   A long-time Permanent Representative told Inner City Press the UN Secretariat "asked for money to be Number One in preparedness and business continuity, but look at this -- email down, member states weren't kept informed." We will have more on this on Monday, if not before.

   Staff members complained to Inner City Press they are being "forced" back to work in the nether regions of the UN, given "only Windex and a dust mask." One asked, "Will they even have an OSHA certified inspection? Is it safe?"

    Inner City Press at Friday's noon briefing, the first in a week, asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman Eduardo Del Buey about the inspection, and safety. He said he would look into any inspection. We'll see. Watch this site.

As UNSC Reconvenes, Six Members Head to Timor Leste, Qs of P5 and Ladsous

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 31 -- After the UN Security Council held a short but historic meeting Wednesday, chased out of its of its normal Chambers by Hurricane Sandy, it emerged that at least some Council diplomats will head November 1 halfway around the world to Timor Leste.

  Earlier in October the Security Council canceled or postponed planned trips to Afghanistan and Yemen, both on safety grounds. Timor Leste is considered safer; in fact, the UN is about to pull its peacekeeping mission out.

  A Council source told Inner City Press on Wednesday, "Seven were supposed to go but Moroccan Perm Rep Loulichki is stuck. So it's only six, and none of the Permanent Five."

  The head of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous alluded recently to the close down of this mission. "I don't know why he refuses to answer Press questions," one of the diplomats said, echoing another. "It just makes Ladsous look unprofessional."

  During the meeting Wednesday the Security Council extended the mandate of the Somalia mission for seven days, putting off more substantive decisions. 

  Outgoing Council president Gert Rosenthal of Guatemala read out a long Presidential Statement on Women, Peace and Security. The head of UN Women, Under Secretary General Bachelet, was on the podium but did not give a speech.

  Also in the room was Under Secretary General for Safety and Security Greg Starr. Outside in the North Lawn building hall was USG Yukio Takasu, the head of Management. Both will address the press on Thursday at 2 pm. Watch this site.

As US Brags on Ban, NAM & Iran, Of August 8 Meeting & Non-Answers

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 13 -- When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon came to the Security Council on the morning of August 8, instead of going straight into the Chamber for the meeting on Mali he entered through a side door. 

  But he did not find what he was looking for, and soon went into the Chamber.

Inner City Press, on the scene, tweeted the misdirection play.

  Five minutes later, US Ambassador Susan Rice arrived at the Security Council. After the Mali session she went through the so-called Quiet Room, soon to be followed by Ban Ki-moon and his entourage.

  To a US Mission spokesman on the scene, Inner City Press asked what this meeting was about, and when it had been scheduled. There was no definitive, or reportable, answer.

  Then at the August 8 UN noon briefing, Inner City Pressasked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky

Inner City Press: Iran has said that the Secretary-General has confirmed that he will attend the NAM meeting at the end of this month. This is in turn giving rise to some concerns, and I say, I guess, in Washington and Israel that he would send a wrong message. Are the Iranian Government statements that he is going to the NAM meeting incorrect or is he going?

Spokesperson Nesirky: We are obviously aware of those reports. Um, I cannot confirm them, and I’m not going to comment on them.

  Now Inner City Press is informed of "bragging" that the US has "demarched" Ban Ki-moon not to go to the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Iran at the end of this month.

 It has not been possible to put the question to Ambassador Rice in the interim.

  But Ban, now in South Korea and then Timor L'este, has made no announcement. Watch this site.

UN Ban Defends IPCC Report, No Comment on Pachauri, Derides Comparisons

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/ban3ipcc022410.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 24 -- Three weeks after the UN told the Press that "it's not really for the Secretary-General to weigh in on this specific report" of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Ban Ki-moon pointedly urged member states to "reject the last-ditch attempts by climate skeptics to derail negotiations by exaggerating shortcomings in the [IPCC] fourth assessment report."

Some wondered, if the UN saw no need to respond three weeks ago but now belatedly steps into the ring, does this indicate the type of desperation exhibited by the UN's hastily put together press conference after Yvo de Boer announced his resignation?

At Wednesday's UN noon briefing, three weeks after Inner City Press asked for comment on the IPCC's misuse of NGO press releases as science, it inquired into Ban's belated comment on the controversy, and his characterization of all who critique errors in the report as "climate skeptics."

Inner City Press asked asked how Ban's upbeat read out on Copenhagen squared with his Timor L'este envoy Ameerah Haq's frank statement to the Press that Copenhagen was a disappointment, reiterated February 23 at the UN Security Council stakeout.

Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky was once again testy, chiding Inner City Press that

"if you want to try to chip away between different people saying different things at different times, you could do that pretty much every day, and maybe you will... if you look at what might have been, had there not been the level of movement that there was in Copenhagen, then things would look even worse. Nobody has said that this is precisely what everybody wanted. Many people -- Yvo de Boer, Janos Pasztor -- who sat here right after the Copenhagen Conference with Bob Orr and spelled out what the role of the United Nations had been in getting to a good point, but that it was not good enough; that more needed to be done. So, it’s very easy to try to push a wedge between two different people."

After this diatribe, several correspondents asked Inner City Press in essence, what is wrong with Nesirky? To compare two statements is basic journalism. And to report on now-acknowledged errors in an inter governmental body's scientific report is not necessarily "climate skepticism" -- it is journalism. The UN does not seem to understand this.

Inner City Press asked, on February 3 and 24 and even before, for Ban's comments on IPCC chair Pachauri's refusal to make financial disclosure about income he receives from Deutsche Bank and others for advice related to his IPCC job. Nesirky responded that "To come back to the part of the question about business dealings and disclosure, this is something that he himself, Mr. Pachauri has spoken about himself, and I have no need to elaborate further on what he himself has said."

That's leadership. The person more and more widely accused of lacking transparency has rejected the charges. What more could the head of the Organization need to say? Perhaps, as on Himalaya Gate, Mr. Ban will comment in three weeks. Watch this site.

Footnote: beyond her refreshingly candid comments on Copenhagen as disappointment, Ms. Haq also answered Inner City Press' questions about an incident in which UN Police in Timor L'este were filmed standing by at Timor L'este police beat up a protester. She said it is under investigation, and that UNPOL has a duty to report. But don't they also have a duty to protect civilians?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban3ipcc022410.html

UN's Ban Says Let Bygones Be Bygones on Afghan Election Fraud, Timor Impunity

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1bygones110409.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 4, updated Nov. 5 -- As the cancellation of the fraud triggered run off election in Afghanistan was called illegal by challenger Abdullah Abdullah, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in London called on him to "let those bygones be bygones."

Some wondered how this reflected the UN's commitment to democracy and the rule of law, and bigger picture, to impunity. President al Bashir of Sudan for example, or indicted Timorese militia leader Maternus Bere, might say bygones should be bygones. But what if it's illegal?

Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas about the "let those bygones be bygones" quote, and if Ban and the UN are saying that the Karzai dominated IEC's decision is legal. "We are not passing judgment on that," Ms. Montas said. Video here, from Minute 12.

But the UN's Kai Eide, as soon as Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the second round due to fraud in the first, called for "timely" conclusion. And the UN has de facto given its blessing since.

Citing Afghanistan, Ban Ki-moon went to the General Assembly seeking more money for security. But sources in the UN's Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions tell Inner City Press that the Secretariat didn't file a budget request for Security along with its other requests, and that a management report on DSS which was requested in the 62nd General Assembly two years ago still has not been filed.

"He shouldn't be too opportunistic," an ACABQ member told Inner City Press. Ms Montas on Wednesday refused to comment, saying, "I cannot get involved in the business of ACABQ." Video here, from Minute 17:20.

Footnote: Likewise on the issue of impunity, this time in Timor Leste, Inner City Press asked about the recent release of Maternus Bere, indicted for crimes against humanity by a UN-supported court. Did the UN try to stop him from leaving Timor for Indonesia? Video here, from Minute 21:33.

"There was nothing the UN could do," Montas said. "We learned of the transfer as anyone else did. I have to get more information before I give you the Secretary General's opinion." We'll be waiting.

Update of Nov. 5 -- subsequently, on Timor at least, the UN provided a canned statement, below from the transcript, for a Nov. 5 Afghanistan development at the UN, click here. Nov. 5 read out:

"I was asked yesterday about our views concerning reports that Maternus Bere, who was indicted for crimes against humanity allegedly committed in 1999 in what was then East Timor, has gone to Indonesia. The UN Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) says that it has no information on the circumstances of Bere’s return to Indonesia.

The United Nations position that there should be no impunity, especially for serious crimes, including crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, is well known. In the case of Maternus Bere, it is our position that Mr. Bere should be brought to justice. We have made this position clear on numerous occasions.

We have seen the media reports indicating that Maternus Bere was transferred to Indonesia late last week. We were not aware of this transfer and have yet to receive official confirmation that such a transfer took place. For us, any act that undermines the rule of law, particularly with respect to accountability for serious crimes, is deeply regrettable.

I’d like to recall that the Secretary-General expressed his hope in last month’s report to the Security Council that 'the Governments of both Timor-Leste and Indonesia will ensure that Maternus Bere is brought to justice, taking into account the report of the Commission of Experts appointed in 2005.'"

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1bygones110409.html

Genocide a Secret at UN, Call for Timor Justice Spurned, Crimes in Bangladesh, UN Won't Help a Trial

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1banglatimor082709.html

UNITED NATIONS, August 27 -- The UN deals with genocide in secret, and demands an end to impunity only sporadically. On Timor Leste, just as human rights groups call for an UN international criminal tribunal to get to the bottom of ethnic violence there, the UN Security Council issued a press statement praising the government's efforts in this regard. Inner City Press asked the Council president for August, UK Deputy Permanent Representative Philip John Parham, if there was any discussion in the Council of an outside tribunal. No, he said, I have been authorized to praise the governments own efforts. Video here, from Minute 3:18.

Inner City Press also asked his about a meeting held in the UK Mission to the UN this week, of all 15 Council members with the UN's expert on genocide Francis Deng. On August 26, UK Ambassador John Sawers said that Parham had chaired on. On August 27, Parham said it was an "informal informal" and therefore a closed meeting. The UN and genocide, shouldn't it be public?

Meanwhile, long after the question was asked, the following answer has been received on the UN and Bangladesh:

Subj: Your question on Bangladesh
From: unspokesperson-donotreply [at] un.org
To: Inner City Press
Sent: 8/26/2009 12:16:25 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time

The UN has responded positively to a request from the Government of Bangladesh for technical assistance in its national efforts to address the issue of the 1971 war crimes. The UN has offered to provide the most suitable form of assistance - not to the trials but to help the Government make an informed decision on the issue, and is in discussion with the Bangladesh authorities on the subject.

Why not to trials? Inner City Press has been told by sources that UN Development Program chief Helen Clark, in one of her first meetings upon assuming the post, met with Pakistani representatives. It's Pakistan accused in the 1971 war crimes, and sources inside UNDP tell Inner City Press that the agency's interest in helping Bangladesh has gone down.

UNDP claimed it didn't understand the question, and since then has refused to answer it. The above is from the Secretariat, and is less than helpful. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1banglatimor082709.html

On Violence from Zimbabwe to East Timor, UNDP Says One Thing But Does Another

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/undp1violence051608.html

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 -- One assumes that the UN system is adverse to violence and those who commit it, but the UN Development Program this week evinced an attitude more nuanced or conflicted. In Timor Leste, following the mass violence in 2006 which left 37 dead and 100,000 people displaced, the UN's own Commission of Inquiry named former Defense official Roque Rodriguez as a person who should be prosecuted for distributing weapons to those who did the killing. Two years later, UNDP has hired Mr. Rodrigues as a security consultant, which even the UN's Office of Legal Affairs has criticized. On May 13 at the UN's noon briefing, Inner City Press asked the Spokesperson

"In East Timor, there is this controversy where Roque Rodrigues, who is recommended by the UN Commission to be prosecuted, has now been hired by the UN as a Presidential Security Adviser. Supposedly, there is an OLA memo to ASG Mulet saying this is a bad thing for impunity. Can you confirm that such a memo exists and can you explain why the UN would hire a person that the UN itself says should be prosecuted?"

Spokesperson: Well, I think that, [according to] the last contact I had with them, the situation was being investigated and they were trying to find out what happened and what are the charges against this gentleman. At this point we don’t have the results of that investigation and we should find out very soon.

Inner City Press: Just to be, I felt that he was actually named in this UN Commission of Inquiry as someone who should be prosecuted.

Spokesperson: Yes, he was and how he got hired and how it happened, that is what is being investigated.

[She later added that Mr. Rodrigues was not a United Nations staff member. He was on a special service contract for UNDP.]

This bracketed addition to the UN's transcript was amplified to Inner City Press by UNDP's new spokesman Stephane Dujarric: "Mr. Rodrigues was contracted on an individual basis under a project in support of the office of the Timor-Leste President. He does not have any UN status, and indeed the question of his contracting is currently under discussion between the mission in Timor (UNMIT) and UN headquarters. "

But Inner City Press later on May 13 asked UNDP's spokesman some simple follow-up questions:

"Is UNDP paying Rodrigues' salary? You say that Rodrigues "does not have any UN status." What do you mean, he is a contractor, right? Isn't this his status -- he holds a SSA contract with UNDP? Or are you referring to privileges and immunities; that he has no such status, given that he is a contractor? Did the Govt of Timor Leste specifically request that UNDP hire Mr. Rodrigues as a consultant? If so, which official made this request?"

Dujarric notified Inner City Press on the afternoon of May 14 that he would not be able to answer the questions that night, presumably due to a need to seek information in Timor Leste. But more than two days later, there still is no response to these questions about why UNDP has as a contractor a person the UN itself has said should be prosecuted for participating in illegal violence.

Even when it is quoted in support of "anti-violence," UNDP's approach is open to question. In Harare, the Herald newspaper controlled by the Robert Mugabe government this week quoted UNDP's "Resident Representative Dr Agostinho Zacharias that 'We welcome reports that the authorities are intensifying the anti-violence campaign, we encourage them to continue to do so and ensure that violence is totally removed in all parts of the country... there are also reports indicating that MDC supporters are also resorting to violence and intimidation. This state of affairs is unacceptable to the UNCT.'"

For the UNDP's resident coordinator to be, on behalf the rest of the UN, "welcoming" the Mugabe government's "anti-violence campaign" seems more than a little strange. The UN Spokesperson said that Zacharias' written statement is available, but did not answer if the UN or UNDP has sought any correction of Mugabe's newspaper's use of Zacharias' comments. The Spokesperson called Zacharias' comments "balanced." But in some cases, particularly of violence, balance is not what's called for.

Rather than address these issues, UNDP's Ad Melkert on Friday presented himself to the press as a major opponent of cluster bombs. But why has UNDP hired as a security consultant a person the UN itself should be prosecuted for passing out weapons for mass violence? To be continued.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/undp1violence051608.html