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UN
Says
Porno Is
Behind It, Dodges
on No Bid Lockheed Contract, Valium
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
JFK
Airport, May 21, updated May 26 and June 3 – The range of questionable
management
practices at
the UN were on display Thursday, as Department of Management chief
Angela Kane belated came to field questions from the Press. Inner
City Press asked her around millions of dollars the UN mis-payed to
military contractor Lockheed Martin in Darfur, about a pornography
scandal that continues to reverberate in the UN, and about her
Department's retaliation against staff member they quick provided
information about unlicensed distribution of Valium and controlled
substances by the UN Medical Service.
On
the pornography scandal, she claimed that all of those implicated
have been disciplined, noting that five views are different than five
hundred. This was just after she was asked about the Wall Street
Journal's expose of the UN's mishandling of sexual harassment cases.
Two
of these three questions, Ms. Kane referred to others. On the report
that the UN paid $4.3 to Lockheed's PA&E subsidiary for
construction services, at a time no construction took place, she said
to “ask Susana Malcorra,” the head of the Department of Field
Services. She said that the Secretariat disagrees with the findings
of the UN's own Office of Internal Oversight Services.
UN's Ban and Kane, Ahlenius and Lockheed not shown
Then,
she said to ask the head of OIOS, Inga Britt Ahlenius, about a
non-public report she says cleared the Medical Service of wrongdoing.
Ahlenius hasn't answered Press questions for months, and Kane could
not commit to making the report purportedly clearing the “doctors”
public, despite chiding the Press for not reporting on it. (Kane is
known to be asking the Office of Legal Affairs to make publications
print the UN's position, even if based on reports the UN withholds.)
She said of course US licenses are required by those in the Medical
Service, and some countries only require a single lifetime license,
never renewed. She denied that US authorities are looking into the
matter. We'll see.
Update:
On May 26, Inner City Press received the following
From:
unspokesperson-donotreply@un.org
To:
matthew.lee@innercitypress.com
Sent:
5/26/2009 1:45:29 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
In
response to your recent news story on the Medical Service, we are
transmitting the following information provided by OIOS:
In
response to media reports claiming that ga group of largely
unlicensed doctors and nurses are dispensing and in some cases taking
and self-medicating with Valium, Diazepam, Demerol, Ambien and other
controlled narcoticsh at the UN, the Office for Internal Oversight
Services (OIOS) informed us that the facts need to be correctly
stated.
The
Office informed us that a complainant had reported to OIOS about
possible abuse in the management and dispensation of controlled
substances in the Medical Services Division (MSD) of the United
Nations. OIOS immediately assigned two investigators to conduct
preliminary inquiries into this report.
Based
upon the information obtained, OIOS confirmed that the Medical
Services Division does have a process in place to ensure safe custody
and dispensation of controlled substances.
OIOS
concluded its preliminary inquiries and determined that the
complainant's claims about the abuse of the dispensation of
controlled substances in the MSD could not be verified. It adds that
a fully conclusive verification can only be obtained upon a full
investigation. This would require review of confidential medical
records, to which OIOS does not have access.
Is
this what the UN means by exonerated -- that it creates "rules"
that preclude its supposedly independent investigative unit from
verifying a whistleblower's allegations which are backed up by
photographic and other evidence?
Update of June 3, 11:46 a.m. --
moments ago, Inner City Press received immediately adds to this page
the following, which it will later analyze:
Subj:
transmitting message from Dr. Brian Davey of the Medical Service
From:
unspokesperson-donotreply [at] un.org
To:
Inner City Press
Sent:
6/3/2009 11:18:18 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
"I
would like to point out that a [story] on the site of Inner City
Press is reporting outdated information. In an update dated 26 May,
accessible at http://www.innercitypress.com/dm1kane052109.html, the
following is reported:
"OIOS
concluded its preliminary inquiries and determined that the
complainant's claims about the abuse of the dispensation of
controlled substances in the MSD could not be verified. It adds that
a fully conclusive verification can only be obtained upon a full
investigation. This would require review of confidential medical
records, to which OIOS does not have access."
Is
this what the UN means by exonerated -- that it creates "rules"
that preclude its supposedly independent investigative unit from
verifying a whistleblower's allegations which are backed up by
photographic and other evidence?
"This
is inaccurate. The facts are that after the preliminary enquiries
reported above, the Medical Service Division (MSD) voluntarily
provided access for OIOS to the confidential medications control
record, so that conclusive determinations could be made without any
qualifications. This allowed verification that the information
provided by the informant was incomplete and misleading. Further, the
information provided to OIOS presented demonstrably false
interpretations of what the photographs of the record actually
showed. Access to the record allowed OIOS to verify that the actual
evidence contained in the confidential medication control record did
not substantiate the allegations that had been made. OIOs has now
closed the investigation.
We
ask that you correct the story for the record.
Thank
you."
As stated above, this will be subject to analysis later.
What Mr. Davey calls inaccurate was the response provided by the UN. It
has since been supplemented, in front of three journalists, by USG
Kane. More to follow.
And
see, a
May 13 Inner City Press debate on Sri Lanka, here
Ambulance aflame in "No Fire" Zone, May 13, 2009
In the final week of
fighting we ran this message, from Dr. Sathiyamoorthy
13
May 2009
Dear
Sir / Madam,
Heavy
battle started since 5.30 am. Many wounded civilians were brought to
hospital and hospital is not providing services because hospital was
under shell attack. Few staff reported duty. nearly thousand patients
are waiting to get daily treatment. But even simple wound
dressing and giving antibiotics problems. So many wounded have to
die. In the ward among patients many death bodies are there.
Looking hospital seen and
hearing the civilians cry really disaster. Did
they make any mistake do the world by the innocent. But the
important sta[keholders] are just listening the situation and not
helping the people.
Dr.T.Sathiyamoorthy
Regional
director of Health Services
Kilinochchi
(Now at No Fire Zone)
From the UN's
May 18 noon briefing transcript:
Inner
City Press: on Mr. Nambiar. Can you say whether while he is there
the issue...there are some saying that there are many people that are
now injured in the (inaudible) care in what had been called the no
fire zone; and that the ICRC has no access. Is this something
that...is this in the case there some doctors who used to report on
the casualty figures who have gone missing as reported in the
Guardian and the Independent. Are these issues, I mean you mentioned
he’s talking about the IDPs instead of post-conflict; what about
people that are actually at this moment sort of dying without medical
care...(interrupted)?
Deputy
Spokesperson Okabe: Well, that’s the subject that I think John
Holmes is going to come and talk to you about right now.
Inner
City Press: Burt can you say whether Mr. Nambiar, I guess I am just
wondering... -- John Holmes is not there, Mr. Nambiar is -- is this
an issue that the UN is urgently raising with the Government or not?
Deputy
Spokesperson Okabe: The Chef de Cabinet’s visit, as we mentioned
to you, focuses exactly on the same issues that I just mentioned;
which are the United Nations’ and the Secretary-General’s
concern. Now, obviously the immediate humanitarian needs on the
ground are the utmost priority for all of us.
But
what about the doctors?
On
Thursday
May 7, Inner City Press
asked Associate UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq:
Inner
City Press: I wanted to ask about this invitation that’s been made
to the Secretary-General to visit Sri Lanka. First I wanted to ask
if on Monday when he met with the Ambassador of Japan, whether he was
briefed on a visit by Mr. [Yasushi] Akashi to Sri Lanka and was urged
by Japan that he should take this visit. And I also wanted to know
whether he would be in New York 11 May for the Middle East debate,
and 15 May to meet with the Chinese diplomats, that in fact this is
one reason that he is considering not going, as I have been told by
senior Secretariat staff.
Associate
Spokesperson Haq: Well, first of all, we don’t announce the trips
of the Secretary-General until they are close to occurring. And in
that regard, I don’t have anything to announce about a trip to Sri
Lanka at this stage. At the same time, as Michèle told you
yesterday, and is still true for today, if the Secretary-General
believes that visiting Sri Lanka can have an impact in terms of
saving lives there, he will certainly try to go. So he is
considering that. But part of what he is studying is what the impact
of a potential trip would be.
Inner
City Press: But if he had that belief, that would be without regard
to attending the 11 May Middle East thing or the 15 May meeting with
the Chinese diplomats? I am told that’s a major factor in his
planning.
Associate
Spokesperson: Scheduling is a separate issue. What we’re talking
about is the decision of whether or not to go. And certainly if he
can make a difference and can save civilian lives, which is what his
priority has been on this case, then he will go. At present, we
don’t have anything to announce at all in this regard, though.
Question: Just one last
one on that. I wanted to know, can you at least
confirm that he met with Ambassador Takasu on Monday in his office
inside the Security Council? Can you give a read-out of that meeting
and say why it wasn’t on his public schedule?
Associate
Spokesperson: I can confirm that he met with the Permanent
Representative of Japan. He did that, yes. It was in his office in
the Security Council. We don’t provide readouts of meetings with
ambassadors.
Question: And why wasn’t
it on the schedule?
Associate
Spokesperson: It came up all of a sudden when he had a bit of free
time in between other appointments on a fairly hectic day.
On Friday
May 8, Inner City Press asked Deputy
Spokesperson Okabe:
Inner
City Press: On the invitation by the Government of Sri Lanka to the
Secretary-General to visit, is there any progress in thinking? In
the alternative, is the Secretary-General, is he considering invoking
Article 99 or responsibility to protect or making some other move of
some type on the situation in Sri Lanka?
Deputy
Spokesperson: I have nothing beyond what we’ve been saying from
this podium this week on Sri Lanka, including what the
Secretary-General himself has said earlier this week.
What Ban said
did not involve calling for a cease-fire. Watch this site.
Channel
4 in the UK with allegations of rape and
disappearance
Click here
for an Inner City Press YouTube channel video, mostly UN Headquarters
footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
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
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
UN
Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017
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Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter's
mobile (and
weekends):
718-716-3540
Other,
earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
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2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
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