On
Threats in Georgia and Burundi, Corruption by UN Officials, UN Has No
Comment
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS, February 29 -- Questions
unanswered by the UN this week ranged from threats of death in Burundi
and of war in Georgia, though UN officials receiving housing subsidies
from the governments to an Assistant Secretary General moon-lighting on
the board of directors of a for-profit company. While Ban Ki-moon is
often said to be "deeply concerned about" and "closely following" tense
situations worldwide, and urging calm or restraint, when the president
of Georgia threatened military action on its breakaway region of
Abkhazia, Ban's spokesperson had no comment at all.
On February 28,
Inner City Press asked,
"in Georgia, the President has recently threatened an armed response to
the Abkhazia region about a journalist that's not been released or
whatever. Does UNAMIG or the Secretary-General have a response to this
threat of violence?"
Spokesperson: No, those are threats and we don't respond to threats.
Inner
City Press: Did he urge calm?
Spokesperson: No, we don't have an answer to that.
There was more
evidence this week that the UN doesn't respond to threats, not only at
Thursday's
Lahkdar Brahimi press conference, but also in Friday's non-response
to a plea for protection from 46 opposition figures in Burundi.
Inner City Press asked about
"a report of a letter to the Secretary-General by 46 opposition
lawmakers in Burundi saying that they face death threats and asking for
UN protection. What's the UN, either the Peace-building Commission or
-- given the UN's involvement in Burundi, what's the response to that
letter?"
Spokesperson Michele Montas
replied, "We haven't received that letter. As you know, I was told,
from what I read in the media, that letter was given to the
representative of the United Nations in Bujumbura. We have not received
that yet and I don't have anything on that."
What -- the UN doesn't have fax
machines? Forty six legislators in Burundi have pleaded to the UN for
help, but Headquarters has to wait to receive the hard copy of the
letter? Since the Spokesperson's Office did not respond, Inner City
Press asked the senior leadership of the Peace-Building Commission, and
received confirmation that the threats and the letter had been discussed
that morning. But then why was no report given at the noon briefing, or
through the rest of the day?
UN in Burundi, 46
opposition lawmakers pleading for UN help not shown (or heard)
On
Tuesday, when the Spokesperson
tries to limit the whole UN press corps to two questions, Inner City
Press asked about "a
report in the Dutch press that the UNDP head of the Millennium Campaign
for the UN, Evelyn [Herfkens], there's a dispute about whether she
should pay back the housing subsidy she received in contravention of UN
rules. One, does the UN have a position on whether she should pay it
back? And also, the Dutch housing reports say there are at least two
other individuals in international positions that were receiving this
and they're looking into it. Can you say whether there are other Dutch
UN officials that were receiving housing subsidy?"
The spokesperson
replied,
"I don't have any information on that." Later, Inner City Press provided
the Spokesperson's office with names, including of a person who briefed
the press this week, and has waited for confirmation or denial that this
person is receiving housing subsidy from a member state. How long should
one wait? One day? Two? Six?
On
Friday, Inner City Press asked
very specifically about "a
filing by a publicly traded U.S.
company, GTREX, filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and said that they'd named
to their board of directors an Assistant Secretary-General of a
specialized agency of the UN, the World Tourism Organization, named to
the board of directors of a for-profit company. Is it permissible for
someone to be a UN system Assistant Secretary-General and also be
serving on the board of a private corporation?
The spokesperson said,
"Let me get more information on this first." Bu the day ended without an
answer. For the record, the ASG's name is
Geoffrey Lipman.
And so it goes. Watch this site.
* * *
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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