At UN,
Muted Support for UNDP Worker Arrested in Myanmar, "Unacceptable," Staff Says
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
October 3 -- The UN worker swept up and arrested by the Burmese government, like
many of her compatriots, has still not been released. Sources in Yangon indicate
that the arrestee is Ms. Myint Ngwe Mon; a person by that name is listed in UNDP
records, as a "Program Assistant" at the "G5" level. According to Reuters, an
unidentified "UNDP spokeswoman" also gave out this name, despite UNDP's earlier
position of not giving out names. Click
here for
Inner City Press' previously story. At Wednesday's UN noon briefing in New York,
Inner City Press asked:
Inner City Press: Reports are in from
Myanmar that some UN staff members have been taken, you know, swept up by the
Government. So, I guess I'm wondering what is the UN system going to do about
that?
Spokesperson: Well, we can confirm that a
UNDP staff member was arrested early this morning in Yangon. In the early
morning hours, authorities conducted a sweep of houses, apartments, in the
Shwedagon Pagoda area, where the major protests occurred, and in this round-up,
a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) staff member, her husband and
brother-in-law, as well as her personal driver, were arrested. This is the
information that we have. We are following up on the issue and we are trying to
secure her release. UNDP will be sending a letter to the Permanent Mission of
the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations today to intercede for her release.
This is all we have so far on the issue.
The
reference to "her personal driver" struck some as strange; others questioned
whether UNDP in Myanmar accepts staff from the government, and if UNDP's
"national staff" in fact have UNDP contracts.
2007 Summit on Safety of UN
Personnel: Burma response not shown
Wednesday,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon himself was asked:
Q: A UN worker
has been arrested, we heard, a UNDP worker. What are your thoughts about that?
Are you going to intervene personally yourself to try to free her?
SG: I am going
to do whatever I can to, first of all, address this issue, the overall human
rights situation in Myanmar. That is again one of the top concerns of the
international community.
First out
of the box, at least with a press release clearly calling for her release, was
the UN (Secretariat) Staff Union, specifically its Committee on the Security and
Independence of the International Civil Service, which late Wednesday stated:
"numerous General Assembly resolutions
(e.g. A/RES/61/133) call upon all States to provide adequate and prompt
information in the events of an arrest or detention... detained staff must not
be held without charge."
We'll see -- watch this site.
* * *
Click
here for a
Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army.
Click
here
for an earlier
Reuters AlertNet
piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's
$200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
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[at] innercitypress.com
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Other, earlier Inner
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UN Office: S-453A,
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Reporter's mobile
(and weekends): 718-716-3540
