As
Ban Gives
Pillay 2 Not 4
Years, He
& Deputy
Absent, Syria
Speaks Alone
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 24 -- As
the time came
for UN High
Commissioner
on Human
Rights Navi
Pillay to get
a second term,
or not, Inner
City Press
learned and reported
of moves in
Geneva to
"open the
process" and
at
least consider
other
candidates.
While
publicly
portrayed as a
matter of
precedent --
that the HCHR
position
should
not
automatically
be two years,
as the UN
Secretary
General
position
of two term
Ban Ki-moon
now appears to
be -- there
was less
public
talk that
Pillay's work
on Israel
might result
in Ban Ki-moon
denying
her a second
term.
Typically,
Ban
split the
difference and
gave Pillay
only two
years. Many
say this
sends a
message to
further High
Commissioners
-- but what
message is
it?
Ban's
prepared
statement was
that he was
glad to have
"prevailed" on
Ms.
Pillay to take
a two year
term. That
could be read
that Pillay
did
not want to
stay on -- not
the case,
Inner City
Press' sources
say --
or that while
Pillay could
and perhaps
should have
said, "four
years or
nothing," she
was convinced
to accept half
a loaf.
When
the General
Assembly
convened
Thursday
afternoon on
Ban's two year
proposal, the
turn out was
very low --
notably, the
one escalator
up to the GA
Hall
was out of
service. There
was only one
speaker,
Syria, and not
at
the level of
Permanent
Representative
(while he had
spoken
earlier on
Thursday in
the Budget
Committee,
click here for
that.)
Syria's
representative
said that
Pillay uses
dubious
sources, but
then
formally
wished her
well.
Afterward
several
delegates
noted to Inner
City Press
that neither
Ban nor his
Deputy Asha
Rose Migiro
had
bothered to
come to the
meeting. Ban
is in town but
the only item
on
his public
scheduled was
a town hall
meeting at
9:30 am, which
his
head of
Management
Yukio Takasu
also attended
and apologized
for
being late to
the Budget
Committee for.
So
where was Ban,
or his Deputy,
during the 3
pm session on
his half-term
for Pillay?
Watch this
site.
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