Inner City Press

Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

These reports are usually available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis

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Haiti Suffering Linked to Bill Clinton Delay, UNDP Helen Clark Power Grab, Ouellette Out

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 13 -- Six months after the earthquake in Haiti, there's still rubble in the streets and little has been fixed. Inner City Press on July 12 asked Nigel Fisher, the UN's acting humanitarian coordinator in Haiti, what he made of criticism of UN envoy Bill Clinton, along with the government, moving too slow. 

Between March and June, Fisher answered, they worked on the terms of reference. Is this why the UN appointed Bill Clinton as a tzar? To sit still?

Another aspect to the delay, well informed sources tell Inner City Press, has been the play by the UN Development Program's Helen Clark to try to win control of the trust fund from the World Bank, in order to gain the fee income associated with it. For shame.

Inner City Press asked Fisher to confirm that UN Mission chief of staff Bernard Ouellette had been removed from the job by the Canadian military. I can't comment on that, Fisher said.

UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq was moderating the video link up from Port au Prince. Inner City Press asked him about Ouellette. We haven't been told the reason, Haq said.

It's sexual misconduct. Inner City Press asked, did it violate not only Canadian but also UN rules? As Haq formulated an answer, Fisher cut in. He did not break any UN rules, Fisher said. What happened to he couldn't comment on it?


Rubble in Haiti, Bill Clinton's terms of reference and Helen Clark's power grab not shown

 Especially when Canada says the improper relationship was not with another Canadian?

  Also on July 12, the UN's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta Wahlstrom talked about the Haiti earthquake, and Mexico City's efforts after its quake in the 80s. Inner City Press asked Wahlstrom about Mexico City's efforts on pollution, and UN's perceived partiality in the water wars in Central Asia.

  Only one U.S. city has joined the UN's safe cities campaign: North Little Rock. Wahlstrom said it is a city of 80,000, and ascribing joining to the mayor. No Bill Clinton connection?

* * *

On Haiti, Why Did UN Conceal Jail Slaughter, Shoot Into University?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 26 -- Since the January earthquake in Haiti, the UN has said publicly that it is partnering with the Haitian National Police, and that it is unaware of evidence of HNP abuses of human rights including summary executions.

These statements were made by the head of the UN mission Edmund Mulet, and by deputy Tony "Rape Elates Me" Banbury, in press conferences and video links with the Press at UN Headquarters.

Now comes evidence of a slaughter of prisoners by the Haitian National Police in January, in a semi collapsed jail while UN peacekeepers stood outside. The question is, when did the UN know it, and why did the UN not come clean, but rather wait for the press to disclose it?


UN's Ban and Banbury, 4 months non disclosure of prison murders not shown

At the UN's May 26 noon briefing, Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: In Haiti there was this incident where UN peacekeepers reportedly fired teargas and rubber bullets and then chased students into the campus of the university. What, I guess, what are the UN’s policies both on the use of these two non-lethal crowd control measures, and what training is given in terms of not violating local customs of not having armed military — armed, in this case, peacekeepers — going onto college campuses?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, first of all, the UN Mission in Haiti has issued an apology concerning this incident. The troops went inside the university to arrest a student who threw rocks at UN troops. But as you know, and as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative has said, UN troops should not enter university grounds. When it comes to the question of use of teargas and rubber bullets and so on, I would need to ask DPKO for more information on the rules for the use of those kinds of…

Inner City Press: [inaudible] and then on this, and I know that yesterday you made this announcement that the UN is going to conduct a joint investigation with the Government of the prison alleged killings. But what I couldn’t figure out is when did the UN know? It seems to many that this only became public because the New York Times ran an exposé of it. When did the UN become aware of it, that there was an issue of how, that some of the prisoners may have been killed by the Haitian National Police while peacekeepers were immediately outside the jail? And why didn’t the UN go public at that time?

Spokesperson: Well, certainly — a number of things. First of all, the Mission was aware immediately [that] this incident took place. That’s the first point. The second is that they immediately, the Human Rights Section in that town, in Les Cayes, immediately began looking into this. What you have to also remember is precisely when it took place, 19 January, was very close to when the earthquake took place, and therefore MINUSTAH — the Mission — and the rest of the UN presence as well as, of course, the entire population of Haiti were still digging themselves out of the rubble, metaphorically and literally. Therefore I think you could probably understand that that was the immediate first focus. This is taken extremely seriously, and there already has been an investigation within MINUSTAH into what happened in that prison. And there are already preliminary findings. And it’s precisely because there were repeated requests for an investigation by the Haitian National Police — and precisely because that investigation has not yet been forthcoming — that MINUSTAH went ahead with its own investigation and, secondly, has also now, through Mr. [Edmond] Mulet, agreed with President [René] Préval that there should be an independent commission to look into what happened.

Inner City Press [inaudible] because there have been a series of press conferences and video hook-ups with Mr. Mulet where questions of killings by the Haitian National Police have come up. And I think in one of them he said he wasn’t aware of any; then they have described the Haitian National Police as a good partner of MINUSTAH. Were any steps, again, [inaudible] I guess go back over and look at those things, it wasn’t, I mean when you say MINUSTAH was aware, was Mr. Mulet aware of this all the way back to January 19?

Spokesperson: My understanding is that the Acting Head of the Mission at that point, Mr. Mulet, was aware from early on — I don’t know precisely which day. But as I say, there were many other things that needed to be contended with at that point. And he takes it extremely seriously. And I think that it has been pursued consistently and seriously behind the scenes to try to ensure that the Haitian National Police conduct an investigation. And that did not happen, or not to the extent that was necessary, and that’s why both MINUSTAH launched its own investigation with its own resources, and has now additionally agreed with President Préval that there should be an independent commission. And the details of that are still being worked out.

INNER CITY PRESS: And just one last one on this. Were any steps taken to not have MINUSTAH work with a particular unit or units of the Haitian National Police that the UN had reason to believe were engaged in this killing of prisoners?

Spokesperson: I’d have to find that out, I’d have to find that out, but it’s standard practice in other operational areas to take precisely those kinds of measures.

We'll be waiting. Watch this space.

* * *

UN Defends Use of Haiti Love Boat, Belated Moratorium on Evictions, No Times

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 28 -- When the UN's top representative in Haiti Edmond Mulet emerged from the Security Council on Wednesday, only one journalist was there. One of his staffers asked Inner City Press, what happened to the interest in Haiti? What indeed.

Mulet gamely agreed to take questions. Inner City Press asked about forced evictions from the soccer stadium on Port au Prince on April 9, and from at least two schools. Mulet acknowledged these had happened, but said that he and others met with Haitian authorities "last Thursday" -- that is, April 22 -- and that going forward there would be a moratorium. But what about the 7000 evicted from the stadium?

Inner City Press asked about the so-called Love Boats, two luxury ships rented by the World Food Program and one sub-contracted to Mulet's mission MINUSTAH. Mulet said this was only temporary, that a camps is being built to house up to 500 people. Currently 200 are housed on board. At what cost, he said, he did not know.

"
UN DSG Migiro, watched by Edmond Mulet, April 9 eviction not shown

  On April 1, Kim Bolduc left after a mere four months as UN Resident Coordinator in Haiti. Inner City Press, which exclusively reported the departure, asked Mulet to explain it. We "discussed her reasons for leaving," Mulet said, without disclosing them. Video here, from Minute 3:45.

Press notes: Inner City Press asked Mulet about the day's front page New York Times story on seemingly forgotten parts of Haiti, assuming he would have read it. "I haven't," he said. Does this reflect on UN media readiness, on pay walls or that the Paper of Record is not what it once was? Last week, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said he would seek guidance on a New York Times editorial pillorying the UN's performance in Afghanistan. But a week later, no response. Does the UN feel no need?

  Meanwhile, at least some in the UN are thinking of further limiting press availability. A UN press aide, seeing only this reporter waiting for Mulet, said that maybe the stakeouts should be canceled. Or not be televised, so reporters had to come. Or televised on a delay. Serve sandwiches and liquor, one wag suggested. Then the press will come. And so it goes.

 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

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