On Lebanon, Inner City Press Asks Sigrid Kaag of World Bank & White Phosphorus, UNSC Prez Delattre of Killed Spanish Peacekeeper

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 17 --  When the UN's Special Coordinator on Lebanon Sigrid Kaag emerged from the UN Security Council on March 17, she said that the "UN family" stands ready to help with Lebanon's development. 

  Inner City Press asked Kaag if the World Bank, which considers Lebanon a middle income country and won't make grants to it, is part of the "UN family." Inner City Press also asked Kaag about the use of white phosphorus by Israel, cited in Paragraph 10 of the underlying 1701 report.

    On this last, Kaag said to ask the UNIFIL spokesperson - done.

(On the killing of a Spanish UNIFIL peacekeeper, of which Inner City Press asked the Security Council's president for March, Francois Delattre of France, Delattre make a point of answering, saying that the investigation is ongoing but to check that with the UN Spokesperson - to be done).

  Kaag said there is a debate about the financing for development implications of "middle income" status, that Lebanon is not the only country facing humanitarian issues which faces this problem. The question remains, how will the "UN family" address it?

   “It is absurd that Lebanon has no access to World Bank grants because it is considered a middle-income country,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres' prepared remarks to the UN Security Council on Syria on February 26 said.

   When he delivered the remarks, he added in Jordan. So Inner City Press, when Guterres came to the Security Council stakeout after that meeting, asked him about this addition, and if he -- and UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Kyung-wha Kang beside him -- would be pushing for a change at the World Bank, which is official a part of the UN “family.”

  Guterres replied that development assistance should taken into account this new world, where Lebanon and Jordan but also Chad, Niger and Cameroon with respect to Nigeria, and Ethiopia and Kenya with respect to Somalia, are the “first line of defense for global collective security.”Video here.

  Lebanon's Ambassador to the UN Nawaf Salam told Inner City Press, "This is unfortunate indeed," here.

 But what will be done? Watch this site.
   

On Ukraine, Russia Circulates New Draft, ICP Asks Churkin of Luhansk Bombing; White Phosphorus?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 12, more here -- The Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe signed an agreement today with outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. 

  On Ukraine, one immediately wondered if OSCE's position that a jet bombed the administrative building in Luhansk on June 2 will now be adopted by Pillay and her New York representative Ivan Simonovic, in his report due June 17.

  Inner City Press asked Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin about the bombing and report. He said Simonovic's report due June 17 will be closely examined; he also cited reports of use of white phosphorus by the Ukraine side.

  Churkin said he had circulated a new draft resolution, calling for a ceasefire and for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to support the OSCE. Churkin spoke after a Security Council meeting on Iraq, on which we will report next.

Background: When asked of the killings in Odessa on May 2, or the more recent jet bombing of Luhansk, the UN tells the Press to wait for the June 17 report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

  Navi Pillay, leaving that post on August 31, in her June 10 last opening statement to the Human Rights Council said, "In Ukraine, the UN response to the crisis stepped up as the situation deteriorated in February 2014. My Office swiftly deployed a human rights monitoring mission that has so far issued two reports, with concrete recommendations including guarantees for the implementation of minority rights. I hope that the new Government will address the human rights challenges in Ukraine, and I encourage it to devise a comprehensive human rights reform plan that includes accountability for violations."

   In other parts of her speech, Pillay mentioned specifics, including for example on the deadly mine accident in Turkey. But on Ukraine, nothing on jet bombings or the asserted use of chloroform in Odessa.

   Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has nominated to replace Pillay Prince Zeid, who has represented and spoken for Jordan on the Security Council since January. On Ukraine, what has he said of the jet bombing, of Odessa, of the detention and shelling death of journalists attributed to the government? Watch this site.

Background: Of the UN's last report on Ukraine, dated May 16, much  much has been said. Here is what is said about the events of May 2 in Odessa:

“63. On 2 May, a national unity rally gathered around 1,500 people, including many fans from the football clubs of Chornomorets Odesa and Metalist Kharkiv, as well as city residents. Among the crowd there were reportedly also some radical members of the Right Sector and Maidan self-defence unit armed with bats and metal sticks. Shortly after the rally began, the latter were provoked by approximately 300 well-organized and armed pro-federalism activists; the rally turning into a mass disorder, which lasted for several hours. As a result, four protesters in support of Ukraine were killed by gunshots (a fifth died later in the hospital from his injuries). Many were injured during the afternoon (mostly protesters supporting federalism). During the evening, violent clashes between the two sides continued on the main square (Kulikove polje), which ended in a fire a at the Trade Union building where protesters supporting federalism had taken refuge. As a result of the events, 46 people died of whom 30 (including 6 women) were trapped and unable to leave the burning building and 8 (including one woman) died from jumping out of the windows. In total, 38 died at the scene of the fire. At least 230 were injured.”

  While not attributing the setting of the fire which targeted “pro-federalism” activists, the UN report says that these “armed” pro-federalism activists “provoked” the Right Sector.

  Ivan Simonovic is in Ukraine, but will only go to Odessa AFTER today's report has been released. Inner City Press has previously reported on what OHCHR sources have said are Simonovic's moved to try to become Pillay's successor(there are other candidates; more on that soon). 

  Now sources say with Eastern Europe in line to pick the successor to Ban Ki-moon as UN Secretary General, Simonovic may be vying for the UN's top post alongside Irina Bokova and others, including non Eastern Europeans Helen Clark of UNDP and Kevin Rudd of, well, Kevin Rudd, who'd like to compete with Kamel Morjane, long time associate of Ben Ali in Tunisia, to replace Lakhdar Brahimi on Syria.

  Ah, politics.

  Tellingly, when US Voice of America wrote up the UN report, here, it didn't even mention Odessa (or Odesa), citing only anti-government groups. There is legislation pending in the US Congress to confirm that Voice of America must follow the US line -- but isn't that already the case? 

  In full disclosure, Voice of America along with UN Correspondents Association executive committee members from Reuters and Agence France Presse sought to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN,  as documented by Freedom of Information Act inquiries. Click here (VOA letter to current UN spokesman), here (AFP) and here for VOA about Reuters' support, here's Reuters bureau chief asking Google to ban from Search his “for the record” complaint to the UN against Inner City Press: censorship.

  As a human rights irony, these same and UNCA's executive committee set up a kangaroo court to prosecute Inner City Press for its reporting on Sri Lanka war criminals and conflicts of interest, here.

  Ah, human rights. Watch this site.

   

On Syria, Charlie Rose Ignores Qatar, Saudi & Bahrain, Leers about Gaddafi, Russia's Churkin's Response

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 10 -- On Syria, PBS at 11 pm on Monday belatedly ran the full hour of Charlie Rose's Sunday morning interview with Bashar al-Assad. Much had changed in the interim, not least the proposal that Syria let the UN oversee or destroy chemical weapons. 

  But there was Charlie Rose, reading questions off a list with little follow up. And here Inner City Press is putting online a transcript -- with a few lines in Russian -- of Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin's response. Talk about weird timing.

   Rose repeated that Syria delayed the UN inspectors, with Inner City Press' follow up questions with the UN showed that the UN only formally requested access to Ghouta on August 24, granted the next day.

   In a telling moment, when Assad noted that the US used depleted uranium in Iraq (the effect in Fallujah were shown by VICE last season) and Israel used white phosphorus in Gaza, Rose just moved on to the next question. Next!

   Same when Rose intoned that people don't want one family running a country. What about Saudi Arabia? What about Qatar? What, as one Inner City Press follower chimed in, about the Bushes?

   Rose seemed to leer when he asked Assad if he was worry about what happened to Gaddafi -- visions of gun butts dancing in his head. Is this the West's accountability?

Showing his crack knowledge of Syria's divisions, Rose called it a minority sect dictatorship. But what about Bahrain?

Anyway, the news cycle had moved on. Here though is a transcript of Churkin with some Russian. Watch this site.