ICP Asks UN About Ban Ki-moon Promoted Son in Law, Same as Syria RC?

By Matthew Russell Lee, Follow Up on Exclusives

UNITED NATIONS, September 28 -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in late August awarded the top UN job in Kenya to his own son in law, Siddharth Chatterjee, and did not even recuse himself.

  On September 27, Inner City Press directly asked Chatterjee about it, on Periscope. here. Vine here.

 Inner City Press also asked Ban Ki-moon's in law if he had been present at and played a role in the Jaffna Hospital massacre in Sri Lanka. He did not deny this -- rather, he said it was not "pertinent." He said he would answer at an "opportune time."

On September 28, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about it, Beyond the Vine video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press:  the Secretary-General's son-in-law, Siddharth Chatterjee.  I know I'd asked you in writing, maybe ten days ago to be able to ask him the questions that your office hadn't answered.  And I did find him in the lobby yesterday, and he said to me, "Oh, we'll find an opportune time."  So it wasn't clear to me… and he also said, as to some of the questions, "They're not pertinent."  I don't know if that referred to whether who the selection panel was or who the other candidates were.  But it led me to want to ask you, did your office, in fact, ask him ten days when I asked you whether he would answer the questions?  Because it seemed like he was unaware of the request.  That's how he came off.

Spokesman:  I think everyone is aware of your interest in speaking to Mr. Chatterjee, and it's not… you're welcome to contact whomever you want and request an interview.  Whether or not they grant you one is really up to them.

ICP Question:relatedly, because there's now… I've seen this controversy around the resident coordinator for Syria.  And some people are saying it's Mr. Ali Al-Za’tari to replace Mr. [TYacoub El] Hillo.  And I just wanted to know, was the same process used?  Can you say a little bit more about the inter-agency panel, DOCO…?

Spokesman:  The inter-agency panel… every resident coordinator goes through the same process with the inter-agency panel.  A recommendation is then sent to the Secretary-General, whether it's Mr. Za’tari or any of the other ones.  I told you many-a-times on his… on Mr. Chatterjee that the Secretary-General stayed away from that process.  We do expect the new humanitarian coordinator, resident coordinator, to arrive in Damascus very early next month and to take up his position.  There is an acting… somebody acting in that stead until his arrival.

ICP Question:  But in the same way that I asked you whether UNDPA (Department of Political Affairs) and the Secretariat was… played a role in the Kenya resident coordinator, because it seems that it's clear that they did in Syria… so did they in Kenya?

Spokesman:  I will not go into any further detail than I already have.

Further?

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