Amid
Questions of
DRC Expert
Hege, UN Tells
ICP It Vetted,
UNSC Could
Object
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
follow up to
exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 7,
updated -- A
week after
Inner City
Press first highlighted
two articles
under the
byline of the
chairman of
the DR Congo
Sanctions
Group of
Experts, Steve
Hege, and
one
of the
articles was
removed from
the Internet,
the UN has
belatedly
answered Inner
City Press'
question about
how such
"experts" are
vetted.
On
August 1,
Inner City
Press asked:
Inner
City Press:
There is some
controversy
arisen around
the group of
experts on DRC
sanctions...
that the
coordinator of
the group of
experts has
published
articles
saying FDLR is
not a threat
to Rwanda,
that Rwandan
concern about
the FDLR is
just a
diversion.
Some think
these are
positions that
are contrary
to what the UN
has said
elsewhere.
What’s DPA’s
role in the
selection of
the people to
be on these
groups of
experts. A
similar
controversy is
about Somalia
where Mr. Matt
Bryden seems
to be leaving.
But what’s the
UN role and
how are these
people
selected?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: I
will check on
that, Matthew.
I think it’s,
perhaps a
little more
prosaic than
you are
sketching out.
But let me
check.
It
took six days,
but on the
morning of
August 7 the
following
generic answer
came in:
Subject:
Your
question on
panels of
experts for
sanctions
committees
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Tue, Aug
7, 2012 at
10:53 AM
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
your
question from
last week, we
have the
following
information:
The
Secretariat
interviews
potential
candidates,
checks their
references and
transmits the
names and CVs
of the
proposed
experts to the
Chairperson of
the relevant
Sanctions
Committee.
Following the
Committee’s
endorsement
under the
no-objection
procedure, the
Secretary-General
appoints the
experts
through a
letter
addressed to
the President
of the
Security
Council.
The
Secretariat
transmits
official
requests to
Member States
to submit
names of
qualified
candidates for
the roster of
experts and
also requests
that regional
and
subregional
organizations,
specialized
agencies, and
academia
propose
suitable
candidates.
Experts
are
selected based
on the
expertise
required to
fulfill the
mandate as
specified in
the relevant
Security
Council
resolution,
with due
regard being
paid to
geographical
representation
and gender.
Will
this satisfy
those raising
questions
about Hege and
his work? We
doubt it. Did
the UN
Secretariat
read the two
articles being
pointed to
now? (And why
was one of the
articles taken
off line so
quickly once
Inner City
Press wrote
about it and
linked to it?)
Who nominated
Hege? Had they
read the
articles?
Update:
Inner City
Press asked
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
at the August
7 noon
briefing and
he replied
that
"everything
that we have
to say at the
moment is in
what we sent
you" - the
email above. Video
here, from
Minute
13:50.Watch
this site.
, 
