Of UN Trucks With White Powder, Spox Says "Anti-Humidity," Ladsous Linked Rapes to R&R

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- When peacekeepers from France allegedly raped children in the Central African Republic and the UN learned about it more than a year ago, the UN and UNICEF did nothing, until French UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous asked to fire the whistleblower Anders Kompass in March of this year, as stated in twoUN Dispute Tribunal rulings.

  On September 11, refusing to answer on this, Ladsous instead linked the rapes to soldiers' lack of "distraction" and saying rapes could be avoided by some "relatively cheap R&R." Video here.

  On September 15, the UN Mission in CAR, MINUSCA, disclosed yet another "allegation of sexual exploitation committed by one of its civilian staff."

 On September 23 it was reported that a ship carrying UN Peacekeeping mission equipment was found in Mombasa, Kenya, with cocaine and AK-47s hidden INSIDE the UN Peacekeeping equipment. It appears the equipment was headed to the DR Congo, where Ladsous has declined to go after the Hutu FDLR militia (he has a history, here.)

On September 24, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who twice now has Banned the Press from even posing a question to Ladsous, about the ship, the guns and the white powder. Video here. Dujarric said that APC guns can be stored inside the vehicle; if they were not registered it was, he said, a “clerical” error.

  On the white powder, Dujarric said that it might be “anti-humidity” powder to protected the tires of the vehicles during the voyage. The death of the UNODC official, he said, was by natural causes. Online, some speculated about Ladsous and a “French Connection” remake. But Ladsous' most recent video, linking UN rapes to “R&R,” takes the prize. Will it come up at the Peacekeeping summit?


In another story, presented as related, Shamus Mangan of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

“was found dead with considerable blood in his mouth...Eleven sachets of a powder believed to be cocaine were found in his room, as well as other drugs, police said. An official statement is awaited on details of the seizure from the vessel impounded last Thursday nigh... an assortment of weapons, including a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) with serial numbers G6 5309, were recovered. The arms were hidden beneath combat wagons.”

The first story, here, says

“the Kenyan coastal police on Thursday raided the vessel, which was docked in the Indian ocean port of Mombasa, on suspicion that it carried drugs and lethal weapons. The ship had come on the radar of the Kenyan coastal police after they were alerted by the FBI and Interpol, who have been closely monitoring the movements of the international drug cartel. After almost four days of searching, the authorities recovered a huge consignment of drugs that was concealed inside the tyres of the trucks. The authorities also recovered weapons, including AK-47s, from the vehicles. The Hoegh Transporter, a vehicle carrier, began its voyage on July 22 at the Port of Hitachi in Japan, where civilian vehicles destined for Kenya were loaded, before reaching Korea on August 1. It then went to Dubai and left from there on September 3. Its next stop was Mumbai, where the trucks meant for the UN peacekeeping mission were loaded. The ship left Mumbai on September 10... Mombasa handles imports, such as fuel and consumer goods, for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia.”

  So where WERE these trucks headed?

   The UN was closed on September 23, and as set forth below, its spokesman has declined to answer questions, at least Peacekeeping related questions, online. Meanwhile the UN's noon briefings on both September 25 (the day of limited coverage of the Pope at the UN) and September 28 - when ironically a UN Peacekeeping summit will be held, chaired by Barack Obama. Will this and Ladsous' linkage of UN rapes and R&R be addressed?

  On September 24 at the press conference for Indian Prime Minister Modi's arrival in New York, Inner City Press asked about the upcoming Peacekeeping summit. Periscope video here. We will pursue this. Watch this site.

 (Note that the UN has previously tried to explain away drugs, even in its mail room in New York, when Inner City Press exclusively uncovered them, here.)

  Inner City Press on September 15 asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, video here, transcript here:

Inner City Press: does this person have immunity or would the UN waive immunity?

Spokesman Dujarric:  Immunity in criminal cases… in all criminal cases does not apply.  And if… if a case were to go… a judicial case were to go forward, there would be no immunity for these actions, clearly, as they're not part of that person's work.

Inner City Press:  When you say the person can't leave the country, is that by order of… the UN won't facilitate them leaving or the CAR…

Spokesman:  That's as far as… I'm speaking on behalf of the UN.

Inner City Press:  I guess, inevitably, I have to ask you this.  Since Mr. [Hervé] Ladsous said that one of the reasons these abuses take place is people don't leave the country and go for R&R elsewhere for recreation, one could say, how long has the person been in the country?

Spokesman:  Matthew, I think… I think you continue to gain great pleasure in distorting what Mr. Ladsous said…

Inner City Press:  You can read the transcript.  He said…

Spokesman:  Listen, I think you raised that issue yesterday.  I answered clearly this is a case… a possible case of sexual abuse, which is to be condemned and which will be pursued as far as we can, both internally and with the relevant judicial authorities.

Inner City Press:  How long has it been since the person left the country?  The reason I ask is that he made the linkage.  He's the one that brought up people traveling…  [Cross talk - actually, talk over, by scribes]

Spokesman:  Matthew, I will say this one last time.  Civilian staff and military staff work under two different regimes.  So you're… to compare soldiers that have been in-country in very difficult circumstances for three years and civilian staff is not to be comparable.  Yes, ma'am?

  Later on September 15, Dujarric declined a Press question about what Ladsous said, ironically during a Reditt "Ask Me Anything" session. Ask Me Anything, except...

  On September 14, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about what Ladsous had said, similar to comment which as noted below have gotten other military officials fired, even after they apologized. (Ladsous has not apologized, clarified, or answered any Press questions.) September 14 video here, transcript here:

Inner City Press: I'd wanted to ask you this on Friday or Mr. Ladsous, but I want to ask you, from this podium, he said, in discussing rapes, he said that peacekeepers there don't have enough recreation, that they don't have enough comfort.  He said that they are looking into getting them flights to get them fresh air, and although he did use the word, he's not excusing it.  I'm going to tell, many people saw this as basically a statement that somehow linking the rapes to a lack of other distractions…

Spokesman Dujarric:  I think… I think it's a complete misinterpretation of what Mr. Ladsous said.  He stressed a number of times that there was no excuse...

Inner City Press:  Then what about the flights?  I'm sorry.

Spokesman:  I'm a little over-caffeinated with me today so just bear with me.  He repeatedly said that there was no excuse for rape.  Okay.  That is clear.  That is UN policy, and I think that's everyone's policy.  There is no excuse for rape.  What he said in talking about the case of one contingent that had been deployed in basically a very hardship peacekeeping operation for more than three years.  When troops are not rotated, when troops don't have an opportunity to be rotated out for [rest and recuperation] and that's true for any armed forces, it creates the conditions where there can be all sorts of abuse or other things developing.  It is not an excuse for rape.  And I think it's clear that we have seen rape and horrendous sexual abuse by soldiers in many parts of the world.  Some of them come from very rich armies.  Some come from very poor armies.  There is no excuse.  What he was saying and I think people would agree with it, that three years for any contingent being stationed in very difficult circumstances is too long.

Inner City Press:  I guess what I want to say, US military, an admiral in the Pacific was fired for comments exactly like that for which the person… the person excused himself and apologized… he said distraction, comfort.

Spokesman:  Matthew, Matthew.  I read what you wrote.  I'm aware of the other case.  I think they're complete… they're not comparable.

Inner City Press:  Where are the flights going?  Where are the [rest and recuperation] flights going? 

Spokesman:  I will come back…

  Back in 1995 for similar comments, US Admiral Richard C. Macke was fired, as reported in the LA Times and the New York Times, which said Macke "apologized after members of Congress and Japanese officials complained, but it was too late.... A senior White House official said tonight that Anthony Lake, the national security adviser, had heard of Admiral Macke's remarks and told the Defense Department that the statements were 'not acceptable.'"

  Anthony Lake is now in the UN system, as the head of UNICEF - does he think UN Peacekeeping chief Ladsous' similar comments in 2015 are acceptable? Or does he, apparently like his and some other major member states, hope no one notices what Ladsous says and, worse, does?

  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has yet to act. Nor have Ladsous' French sponsors, who dumped him on the UN after he'd previously beenrejected for the post by Ban's predecessor Kofi Annan, said anything.

 When Inner City Press started asking about this, Ladsous took to saying"I don't respond to you, Mister," right on UNTV. Instead he summoned Agence France Presse, Reuters and others to private briefings, as here in the hall. These media didn't report Ladsous' antics -- nor despite being present at Ladsous' September 11 press conference did they report his linkage of soldiers' rapes to their lack of "comfort" or R&R. This is today's UN.

  It was Senegalese Babacar Gaye, the head of the CAR mission, and not overall Peacekeeping chief Ladsous who was fired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon; Inner City Press obtained and put Gaye's letter online here (credited here and here) citing systemic problems.

  Before Ladsous' carefully controlled four day visit to the country - no questions on the peacekeeper rapes, colonial photographs sent out - UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Inner City Press, which asked, that Ladsous would take questions when he returned, including about peacekeepers' sexual abuse.

But when Ladsous appeared at the September 11 UN noon briefing, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric for the second time did not allow Inner City Press to ask Ladsous a single question. Dujarric gave the first question to the UN Correspondents Association, which after a perfunctory questions about the number of sexual abuse cases said its “real” question was if Ladsous will meet Obama. (Yes, apparently, and inappropriately, see below). Video here.

  Inner City Press prepared to ask Ladsous an obvious question: what is his response to appearing in at least two UN Dispute Tribunal rulings as having tried to get the whistleblower Kompass fired? But Dujarric gave the second question to a Reuters reporter who has previously channeled Ladsous, then to Agence France Presse, whose UN reporter in 2011 asked UNCA's board to act on Inner City Press' reporting on Ladsous.

Even with the questions allowed, Ladsous' answers should get him fired. First, speaking of sexual abuse, he said he didn't want to “deflower” the subject. Vine here. Then explaining the peacekeepers' rapes he said that a solution would be to get them more “recreation” (translating back and forth with Dujarric, Ladsous began to say “R and R”).

  Ladsous was asked, what do you mean? He said that Asian countries are good at this. We'll have more, but on top of his role in covering up rapes in DR Congo, Darfur and now CAR, this should get Ladsous fired. More here.
   

Censorship by Turkey Now Slammed by Pillay, As Reuters' Complaint to UN Still Banned From Net

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 14 -- Turkey's law allowing the banning of web pages without any court order has belatedly been criticized by the United Nations. The criticism comes not from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon but rather Navi Pillay in Geneva on February 14: "The amendments contained in Law no. 6518, adopted on 6 February, may allow Turkey’s telecommunications authority (Telecommunications Communication Presidency) to block websites without first seeking a court order."

    Surprising to some, Pillay's statement did not mention Turkey deporting journalist Mahir Zeynalov, nor did UNESCO under Irina Bokova mention this. Earlier this week Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson about Vietnam beating up and jailing bloggers like Nguyen Van Hai and was diverted to UNESCO:

Inner City Press: On Vietnam. There are a number of anti-death penalty groups — Harm Reduction International and the World Coalition against the Death Penalty — they’re calling for the suspension of UN counter-narcotics funding to Viet Nam, saying that this, in fact, essentially funds executions of people that are found guilty of drugs. There’s also been some crackdown on bloggers and journalists in Viet Nam. But, I wanted to know, on either of those two, is the UN aware of this? What’s the response to the range of groups raising these issues about crackdowns in Viet Nam?

Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: Well, on the first, I would refer you to UNODC in Vienna, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. I think they do what it says on the tin and they should be able to help you. And with regard to any crackdowns on journalists, you know journalists should be allowed to carry out their work unimpeded, but you may also wish to speak to UNESCO, who have the mandate to deal with media matters within the UN system. Okay.

  UNESCO canceled a "World Radio Day" event at the UN in New York on February 13 due to snow, although another session on Syria was not canceled. Nor was a ceremony in which Ban Ki-moon signed compacts, including by video, with Pillay in Geneva and UNODC's Yuri Fedotov in Vienna -- no word on Vietnam.

  The UN can be quite blind, on purpose, to censorship right in its midst, of documents which were directed to and received by it. A leaked complaint to the UN by Reuters' UN bureau chief Louis Charbonneau has been blocked from Google's Search without any court or apparently other review.

 The right to freedom of the press is being circumvented by acynical request on the part of Reuters to remove leaked documents from Google's search. Of this abuse of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry told Inner City Press about this case:

"Unfortunately, it is all too easy for a copyright holder (assuming that the person that sent this notice actually held copyright in the email) to abuse the DMCA to take down content and stifle legitimate speech. As countries outside the US consider adopting DMCA-like procedures, they must make sure they include strong protections for free speech, such as significant penalties for takedown abuse."

  In this case, copyright is being (mis) claimed for an email from Reuters' Lou Charbonneau to the UN's chief Media Accreditation official Stephane Dujarric, seeking to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN.  

  Access to the document has been blocked from Google's search based on a cursory take-down request under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. 

 If this remains precedent, what else could come down?

  Why not an email from Iran, for example, to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency? Why not a sanctions filing by a country? Here is Reuters logic, accepted if only automatically by Google:

The copyrighted material is a private email I wrote in April 2012 and for which I never gave permission to be published. It has been published on a blog and appears in on the first page of search results for my name and the firm I work for, Reuters. It can be seen here: http://www.innercitypress.com/reutersLC3unmalu.pdf

  But this is true of ANY leaked document: it can be said that the entity or person exposed "never gave permission [for it] to be published." Does that mean Google can or should block search access to it?

  Can a complaint to a Media Accreditation official against a competitor legitimately be considered "private"? In any event, the DMCA is not about protecting privacy.

  Iran or North Korea could say a filing or status report they make with the IAEA is "private" and was not intended to be published. Would Google, receiving a DMCA filing, block access to the information on, say, Reuters.com?

  Charbonneau's bad-faith argument says his complaint to the UN was "published on a blog." Is THAT what Reuters claims makes it different that publication in some other media?

Reuters' Charbonneau hands off to Ban Ki-moon: secret? by Luiz Rampelotto

  The logic of Reuters' and Charbonneau's August 14, 2013 filing with Google, put online via the ChillingEffects.org project, is profoundly anti free press.

  The fact that Google accepts or didn't check, to remain in the DMCA Safe Harbor, the filing makes it even worse. The request to take-down wasn't made to InnerCityPress.com (which was never given prior notice) or its server -- it would have been rejected. But banning a page from Search has the same censoring effect.

  The US has a regime to protect freedom of the press, and against prior restraint. But this is a loophole, exploited cynically by Reuters. What if a media conducted a long investigation of a mayor, fueled by a leaked email. When the story was published, could the Mayor make a Reuters-like filing with Google and get it blocked?

  Because it is the only response to censorship, here is the text of Charbonneau's communication to the UN's top Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit official Stephane Dujarric and MALU's manager, to which he claimed "copyright" and for now has banned from Google's Search:

Hi Isabelle and Stephane,

I just wanted to pass on for the record that I was just confronted by Matt Lee in the DHL auditorium in very hostile fashion a short while ago (there were several witnesses, including Giampaolo). He's obviously gotten wind that there's a movement afoot to expel him from the UNCA executive committee, though he doesn't know the details yet. But he was going out of his way to be as intimidating and aggressive as possible towards me, told me I "disgust" him, etc.

In all my 20+ years of reporting I've never been approached like that by a follow journalist in any press corps, no matter how stressful things got. He's become someone who's making it very hard for me and others in the UN press to do our jobs. His harassment of fellow reporters is reaching a new fever pitch.

I just thought you should know this.

Cheers,

Lou
Louis Charbonneau
Bureau Chief. United Nations
Reuters News Thomson Reuters reuters. com

This email was sent to you by Thomson Reuters, the global news and information company.

"UNCA" in the for-now banned e-mail is the United Nations Correspondents Association. The story developed here, as to Sri Lanka; here is a sample pick-up in Italian, and here is a comparison of UN treatment of Italy (and foreign minister Emma Bonino) and Sri Lankan Tamils. 

  The Free UN Coalition to Access, formed after the old United Nations Correspondents Association was turned into a vehicle to try to get the investigative Press thrown out of the UN, triggered by stories about Sri Lanka and also the fourth French head of UN Peacekeeping in a row, has spoken up along with many others for Gulf media (in particular only because based on personal knowledge Australian reporter Peter Greste) detained in Egypt, and forAngolan radio editor Queiros Chiluvia of Radio Despertar detained for looking into screams from a police station. Pillay? Bokova? We're listening.  Watch this site.   

For Guinea Bissau, a Push to Re-open UN Drugs Agency UNODC: It's Only One "Lonely" Consultant

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 -- With all the talk about Guinea Bissau being a narco state run by drug kingpins, it was surprising on May 9 to hear Brazil's Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro 

Viotti says that the UN Office of Drugs and Crimes had closed its program in the country.

Spain said the same on May 10, and UN envoy Jose Ramos-Horta got more specific. He said he was reaching out for funding from the European Union and the UN's Peacebuilding Fund in order to re-start the UNODC program.

But then the bomb shell: the UNODC program, such as it was, consisted of a single "lonely' consultant.

In essence, the reinstatement of this consultant has become the litmus test of the international community's commitment to Guinea Bissau.

Meanwhile, Ramos-Horta explained that he speaks of army "modernization," not "reform" since "in some of our cultures," reform means "putting you on the shelf."

Likewise he told member states that Guinea Bissau is "not the typical case of a coup d'etat" in that those in power now are not Generals. But by whom were they put there?

Given Ramos-Horta's roots in Timor L'este and thus the Portuguese speaking CLPL grouping, it was surprising that Ramos-Horta heaped praise instead on the West African group ECOWAS.

The outgoing chair of the Guinea Bissau peacebuilding "configuration," Brazil's Viotti, is now leaving (as Inner City Press first reported, to become Brazil's Ambassador to Germany). She has fought hard for the CPLP's positions. But now is ECOWAS coming to the fore? Watch this site.

UNODC Say No Contact with Guinea Bissau Military Junta, GA, Ban Ki-moon UNclear

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 27 -- While the UN remains elusive about whether Guinea Bissau's post-coup leader Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo will speak for the country in the General Assembly, and whether he will meet with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon or his team, the head of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime Yuri Fedotov was more clear midday on Thursday.

  Inner City Press asked Fedotov about UNODC's work in and analysis of Guinea Bissau, including whether, since the April 12 coup d'etat, UNODC has worked with the post-coup government. Inner City Press asked asked whether UNODC believes drug trans-shipment has increased or decreased since the coup.

  Fedotov replied, "Unfortunately, it is clear the trans-shipment of drugs through Guinea Bissau is increasing. It puts an additional challenge."

  On whether UNODC works with the post-coup government, he replied that it "obviously" does not even have any contacts with what he called the "military junta." Fedotov said:

"So far we keep our profile very low. We keep alive facilities we helped to install in Guinea Bissau, including transnational crime unit. Obviously as you understand we don't have any contacts with members of the military junta in Guinea Bissau. But we are keeping the modest assets we built, in close coordination with all UN programs and fund present there... That is an issue we are discussion with colleagues. I've had several meeting in New York. We'll continue to pursue matter and we'll see what could be done in this particular context."

One wonders, who has Fedotov met with about this while in New York for the General Assembly? With whom has Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo met? Watch this site.

As UN Refugee & Crime Agencies Sign Deal, No Safeguards, No Protection

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 31 -- After the UN's refugee agency UNHCR signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC chief Yuri Fedotov told the press, "where there are refugees, there are always crime." Video here, from Minute 2.

Inner City Press asked Fedotov to explain: was this only about crimes committed against refugees, or would it include checking refugees, and even by implication sharing information with governments? Video here, from Minute 6:36.

The question seemed obvious, for example considering the controversy in the United States when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says it will work with any criminal justice agency: protests ensue, and suspension or safeguards are demanded. Wouldn't the UN have some safeguards?

Inner City Press requested, and ultimately obtained and is putting online here, the Memorandum of Understanding, which does not appear to have any such safeguards. Fedotov's answer was that "refugees appear not in peaceful countries." UNHCR's Antonio Guterres added that conflicts today are rarely between two states.

Take for example the recent entry into Somalia by the Kenyen Army, reportedly with supportive bombardments by France (from the sea) and, it seems, from the US. This is not a conflict between two states but a self-described "hot pursuit" operation by a state on a non-state actor, Al Shabab.

But over the weekend, an aerial bombardment of a camp inside Somalia killed five, according to Medicins Sans Frontieres. Guterres insisted it isn't clear what happened, and that UNHCR has no mandate inside Somalia.

Likewise when Inner City Press asked Guterres about the plight of Kachin people displaced by Myanmar's Army offensive, he replied that UNHCR is only in other parts of Myanmar and wants to keep open the "asylum space" in Thailand. But Malaysia is moving to return people to Myanmar.

Given all this, the lack of safeguards in UNHCR's agreement with the UN's crime agency is of concern. We hope to have more on this.

Footnote: both Fedotov and Guterres were in New York meeting with Ban Ki-moon and the Chief Executives Board. On Friday outside the CEB meeting, Inner City Press poses another protection question to World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran, so far without answer.

Christine Lagarde of the IMF was there too -- to what end, nobody knows. Now Ban, Lagarde, Barack Obama and others are headed to the G20 meeting in Cannes, the UN briefing regarding which was closed to the press and public. And so it goes at the UN.

On Blood Chocolate, Nestle and Child Trackiffing, Does UN Act in Cote d'Ivoire or through its Global Compact?

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unblood1nestle101409.html

UNITED NATIONS, October 14 -- As Halloween approaches in the United States, when tons of chocolates will be bought and handed out as treats, at the UN an organization Stop the Traffik held a briefing and was asked about child labor in cocoa production in Cote d'Ivoire. The group's web site asks, "Nestle, What Are You Doing?"

Inner City Press asked, since Nestle is a member of the UN Global Compact, about human rights and fair labor, what is the UN doing? And since the UN has 7000 peacekeepers in Cote d'Ivoire, what has it done on the child labor and trafficking issue? Video here, from Minute 24:33.

Steve Chalke, the founder of Stop the Traffik and "UN.GIFT's Special Advisor on Community Action against Human Trafficking" at first answered that Nestle is not the problem, the industry is the problem. But them he went on to praise Cadbury and Mars, at least in the UK and Australia, for making commitments which Nestle has yet to make.

Simone Monasebian, Chief of New York Office of UN Office on Drugs and Crime, did not answer about the UN Global Compact or about UN Peacekeeping in Cote d'Ivoire. (The UN's envoy there, Choi Young-jin, reads his mandate so narrowly that on October 13 he declined to comment not only the the Trafigura toxic waste scandal, but also the timing of elections). Rather, Ms. Monasebian said that UNODC gets only 10 percent of its funds from the UN's regular budget. The rest, she said, is voluntary and earmarked. If Member States gave money for this issue, UNODC would do more.

She mentioned that the last President of the General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann named two facilitators to being informal consultations toward a global plan of action on the topic, and that some say current PGA Ali Treki has named a third facilitator.

Inner City Press asked PGA Treki's spokesman about this at the noon briefing, he said he hadn't heard, to ask the Third Committee. But people say that the Ambassador of Tunisia has been named. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unblood1nestle101409.html

On W. Africa Drugs, UN Makes Excuses for Guinea's Conte and CNDD Coup Leaders, No Shame

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/undrug1guinea070809.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 8 -- As the UN system brags about its work against illicit drug trafficking in West Africa, questions have arisen about the UN's engagement with the past and present regimes in Guinea. When previous president-until-death Lansana Conte died in December 2008, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a laudatory statement about Conte's rule.

Soon thereafter, it emerged that Conte's family used diplomatic privileges to traffic massive quantities of drugs. On July 8, Inner City Press asked Ban's Special Representative for West Africa Said Djinnit and UNODC chief Antonio Maria Costa about their dealings with Conte and the CNDD military coup leaders who have succeeded him, in light of Ban's statements against Honduras' coup leaders. Video here, from Minute 53:03.

Mr. Djinnit at first said he didn't understand the question, and then emphasized that he dealt more with Guinea's prime minister than with Mr. Conte, who he said was sick. Djinnit confirmed that he engages with the coup leader CNDD president, who Djinnit says is "committed to deal" with drugs, although he said the UN "has concerns about how it is being done." Video here, from Minute 54:08.

Mr. Costa recounted telling Lansana Conte about the drug trafficking of Conte's son, and then getting a call three hours later from Guinea's prime minister, who said that Conte himself had called to become better informed. Like Djinnit, Costa essentially excused Conte for allow the country's presidency to be used for drug trafficking by saying Conte was ill, and couldn't control his son. The disparity of the UN's statements about "coup leaders" in Honduras and its "flexible" approach to Guinea could not be more stark.

Inner City Press also Djinnit, Costa or their two panel members Andrew Hughes, UN Police Adviser, Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO); and Harper Boucher, INTERPOL Special Representative to the UN, to comment on the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendation that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, so praised by the UN, be removed from public life for 30 years for supporting war lord Charles Taylor.

The only response, such as it was, from from Mr. Hughes, who said he was not the right one to answer. Afterwards, Inner City Press asked INTERPOL's Mr. Boucher about the freeing of former Kosovar prime minister Ceku from an Interpol warrant for war crimes by the flashing of a UN document. Boucher said he wasn't that familiar with the case, but that it might be "political" You don't say...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/undrug1guinea070809.html

At UN, Beneath the Glitz a Trust Fund for Victims in Uganda and the Congo

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/tfv1unodc051209.html

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 -- Complete with Alec Baldwin and a slew of fashion designers, Tuesday night at the UN saw the type of hype event that often debases the Organization. In the name of the children of Uganda, a country where the UN Development Program funded a forcible disarmament program which resulted in burned villages and children chained until exchanged for guns, the UN held a fundraiser, $250 to enter. The honored guest was painter Ross Bleckner, who garnered praise from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The UN Office of Drugs and Crime had issued a press release puffing a "group of distinguished leaders in the arts, entertainment and business communities to serve on the Benefit Host Committee for the exhibition opening, including: Graydon Carter, artists Jeff Koons, Chuck Close and Brice Marden, designers Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Rachel Roy, Harry Belafonte, Academy Award winning actors Nicholas Cage, Rachel Weisz and Mira Sorvino; actors Alec Baldwin, Carey Lowell, Candice Bergen and Ashley Judd, Russell Simmons" -- and that was only on the front page.

There was sushi and fashion photographers, a slew of UN high officials drinking in the scene. But the cause, as it turned out, seemed to be a pure one: the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), which works in Uganda and the Congo, and is trying to get into Sudan.

Inner City Press interviewed TFV director Andre Laperriere, who described soliciting the art work from former child soldiers, and paying villagers in seeds to rebuild roads to their communities. He took great pains to distinguish the TFV from the International Criminal Court, headed by Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, who was also in New York on Tuesday, chatting with US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff. Moreno Ocampo has become a controversial figure, leading the ICC to be fine for retaliation against a whistleblower and living only for the press.

Laperriere, on the other hand, seemed focused on the victims, on raising money to help better their lives. He said Germany's a major funder, and two corporations - then the head of UNODC, Antonio Mario Costa, swept him away, with talk of an after-party dinner, and of tomorrow's press conference. Watch this site.

Footnote: on the sidelines of the night of hype, the Permanent Representative of Security Council member Uganda told Inner City Press of Sri Lanka that for his country "there would be no problem to discuss it in the Council... There is urgency to do something about it."

This is counter to the common wisdom at the UN, that those Council members opposing addressing Sri Lanka include not only China, Russia, Viet Nam and Libya, but also Burkina Faso and Uganda, and Turkey and Japan (the latter two, it is predicted, would abstain). Now, Uganda has said it would have not problem having Sri Lanka on the Security Council's agenda. So why are those countries which supposedly care waiting? Again, watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/tfv1unodc051209.html

UN's Drug Czar Lambastes Taliban and FARC, Calls Myanmar Problematic, Dodges North Korea Question

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1drugs062608.html

UNITED NATIONS, June 26 -- The UN's Vienna-based narcotics and crime czar Antonio Maria Costa regaled Ambassadors and reporters on Thursday with his view of the war on drugs. He correlated drug production with the strength of rebel groups, listing the Taliban, Colombia's FARC and, in a historical footnote, Alberto Fujimori's crackdown on the Shining Path and drugs in Peru. Inner City Press asked if he was unequivocally promoting the strengthening of all governments, for example in Myanmar and North Korea.

Costa paused while his colleague cued up some slides about Myanmar. "It's problematic," Costa intoned, "to deal with a country with which we have severe problems with human rights." He went on to say that despite an "uptick" in 2007, opium production in Myanmar is generally down, and confined to the eastern part of the country. "Let's be honest," he said," there's limited control by government there." He said that Laos has been certified as opium free, but there are still "cohorts" of old people addicted to heroin, which is brought in from Myanmar. The North Korea portion of the question he did not answer as all, despite reports of governmental involvement in the drug trade.

Also from the audience came impassioned criticism of Costa's UN Office of Drugs and Crime from the Ambassador of Cape Verde, who disputed the area devoted to drug cultivation, and of Colombia, who told Costa to stop correlating narcotics production with the strength of the government. She said that the strength of the FARC has waned, even though drug production numbers are up. Stick with the numbers, she counseled, stick with the facts. That's good advice.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1drugs062608.html