UN
Budget
Adopted at
Noon on
Christmas Eve,
R2P Fight,
Distant Claims
of Savings
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 24, updated
-- After an
all night UN
Budget
Committee
negotiation in
which the US
pushed to cut
funding
including to
the UN Mission
in Ivory Coast
and to give
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
"flexibility"
to cut more,
Ban jogged up
onto the
General
Assembly
podium for the
final votes.
Ban
offered thanks
to Tommo
"Menthe" --
that's Monthe,
the Permanent
Representative
of Cameroon --
and to UN
staff, who
have protested
his management
style, taking
sides and
failing to
protect them,
and have
threatened to
go on strike.
Ban
put on an ear
piece and
heard Cuba,
Venezuela and
Iran rail
against
including
Responsibility
to Protect in
his Office on
the Prevention
of Genocide.
Ban gave no
response, just
as he has had
no substantive
comment on for
example Sri
Lanka's
whitewash
"Lessons
Learnt &
Reconciliation
Commission"
report.
When
the vote
occurred,
joining those
opposing
having R2P in
the Genocide
Office were
Ethiopia and
Brazil [see
below]
which has
proposed the
concept of
Responsibility
While
Protecting.
Abstaining was
Qatar, of
which the
President of
the General
Assembly --
not present
for this
budget "Super
Bowl" of the
UNGA -- is a
national.
While
Ban waited
backstage to
miss it, the
General
Assembly voted
on human
rights in
Myanmar. The
21 countries
supporting
Myanmar
included
Sudan,
Belarus, Sri
Lanka,
Uzbekistan and
Cambodia,
whose Hun Sen
has, analysts
say, pushed
Ban around on
human rights
and its
UN-affiliated
Extraordinary
Chambers in
the Courts of
Cambodia.
Apparently
Ban came to
say that this
year's budget
is smaller
than that
last. That'll
also be a
bragging point
for the US
Mission and
its Ambassador
on Management
Joe Torsella.
He was working
it hard on
Friday night,
conferring
with Susana
Malcorra,
viewed by many
as Ban's new
Deputy
Secretary
General,
pacing around
saying into
his cell
phone, it's
more
complicated
than that.
GA
from photo
booth Dec 24,
2011, Torsella
not shown, Ban
in & out,
(c) MRLee
But
neither during
the votes in
the Fifth
Committee at 8
am, nor in the
General
Assembly at
noon on
Christmas Eve
when the
voting was
finally over,
was Torsella
present. And
after it was
over, one
female
representative
pleaded to
change her
vote on R2P.
The acting PGA
dismissed her,
and afterward
an ALBA
country
predicted it
was Brazil,
while two
others said
no. We'll have
more on this.
[See
below]
Update:
two hours
after the
final vote was
cast, the US
Mission to the
UN put out a
statement by
Joe Torsella,
along with two
Internet
links, neither
of which yet
had the
December 24
statement up.
Here
is Torsella's
October 27
statement.
Watch this
site.
Update
of December
26, 4 pm
-- On the
question of
Brazil's R2P
vote, which we
have already
flagged in the
above, we have
received and
immediately
publish this:
Subject:
Brazil's
vote on
Plenary
regarding
Office Special
Adviser on
R2P:
Clarification
From:
Permanent
Mission of
Brazil to the
UN, First
Secretary
(Fifth
Committee)
Date: Mon, Dec
26, 2011 at
3:24 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Dear
Matthew:
Regarding your
article "UN
Budget Adopted
at Noon on
Christmas Eve,
R2P Fight,
Distant Claims
of Savings", I
would
like to
clarify that
Brazil's vote
on the Plenary
meeting
concerning
the budget of
special
political
missions,
including the
Office of the
Special
Adviser for
Responsibility
to Protect,
was recorded
incorrectly.
The Brazilian
delegation is
in favor of
said
resolution.
The votes
registered at
the closure of
the Fifth
Committee
session, a
few hours
earlier,
reflect
correctly
Brazil's
position on
the matter:
1) we voted
against the
amendment
proposed by
Cuba and other
delegations;
2) and in
favor of the
resolution
once the
amendments
were rejected.
We will
request the
Secretariat to
rectify our
Plenary
meeting vote
at the
earliest
opportunity.
Best
regards,
First
Secretary
(Fifth
Committee)
Permanent
Mission of
Brazil to the
United Nations
, 
