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At UN, China Raises Afghan Killings to Block Debate of Myanmar's, Burma Off Month's Council Agenda

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 2, updated -- China has raised the killing of Afghan civilians, in response to a proposal to include Myanmar and Protection of Civilians in the footnotes of October's UN Security Council program of work, Inner City Press has learned.

  In connection with what is usually a routine beginning of the month Council meeting, China disputed the possibility that the "umbrella" topic of Protection of Civilians might be loophole through which the activities of Burma's Than Shwe military government could be raised.

  So China, as Russia has done in the past, said that the killing of civilians in Afghanistan by the U.S. and NATO is also relevant.


In Afghanistan vote, fraud and protection of civilians not shown

 October's Council president, Vietnam, is having to run the debate. The Council members had a customary breakfast, and then retired to the consultation room.

  The few reporters at the stakeout drifted away. At 10:39, only Inner City Press remained at the stakeout, under the now vacant space where a tapestry "after" Picasso's Femme Sur l'Echelle used to be. It was entirely silent. Watch this site.

Update of 11:10 a.m. -- A Council diplomat tells Inner City Press that all except China said, Afghanistan is on the agenda anyway, under an ISAF item.

Update of 1:10 p.m. -- When Vietnam's Ambassador held a press conference as Council president, Inner City Press asked about the omission of Myanmar from even the footnotes of the program of work. We operate by consensus, he answered, and it is not in the footnotes. So, those who proposed Burma's inclusion let it drop. We aim to have more on this -- watch this site.

* * *

UN Counters Galbraith Fallout with Unnamed Official, Sampler Next for Kabul?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 1 -- Charged with covering up electoral fraud to benefit Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, the UN in New York on Thursday, in a background briefing to the Press, argued that it is not the UN's role to uncover or publicize fraud. Rather, the speaker who insisted on being identified only as a senior UN official said, the UN makes recommendation for procedures to be put in place so that fraud can be detected.

  But if the UN's recommendations are dismissed, or if implemented are then revoked, does the UN say anything? No, the senior official said, why should we? The Independent Electoral Commission isn't breaking any laws.

  Inner City Press asked the official if Afghan law provides for any penalty for those found guilty of fraud. I don't know, the UN official said, adding that the Elections Complaints Commission, three of whose five members are appointed by the UN, has no power to impose criminal penalties.

  The official provided by the UN, answered again and again that he was baffled by the critiques made by the UN's just fired deputy envoy to Afghanistan, Peter Galbraith. Inner City Press asked if Galbraith's letter to Ban Ki-moon is true in saying that Eide ordered UN staff not to talk about the election and fraud. I can't imagine Kai doing that, the official said. He allowed that the UN has rules about how staff can talk, and Kai might have reminded UNAMA staff of the rules.


UN's Ban and Karzai on red carpet, Galbraith and fraud not shown

  Critique the UN's management, Galbraith said that only weak organizations punish those who disagreed in internal debates. The official said that went beyond his remit, as did Ban Ki-moon's decision to suspend any UN assistance to the November elections in Honduras. That was Ban's decision, a Ban spokesperson has said. But, as with the firing of Galbraith, who will explain it on the record?

Footnotes: The Times of London has reported that, to replace Galbraith, the U.S. is pushing the UN to try Donald "Larry" Sampler. He worked with a USAID contractor, and is in fact a Facebook friend of Gary K. Helseth, accused of accused of corruption in Afghanistan with the UN Office of Project Services. Some Sample(r).

* * *

At UN, Iran's Mottaki Says Protesters Are Dealt With, Nuclear Sites All Reported

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 1 -- In Iran "there are some people, a limited number of people, who look for trouble and want to create unreal," Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the Press on Thursday. "It is very clear how they should be dealt with." Video here, from Minute 31:55.

  During a Q&A session at the UN in New York, nearly all of which dealt with nuclear issues, Inner City Press asked Mottaki about a story of post-election torture, rape and exile, which Inner City Press heard from Ebrahim Sharifi by cell phone on September 21. Sharifi states that he joined the non violent street protests then was picked up, blindfolded and held for a week.

  Inner City Press asked Mottaki if he acknowledged the veracity of any such charges, if people can file complaints in Iran and what he thinks of the call for a UN General Assembly special envoy to Iran on human rights issues. Video here, from Minute 25:43, Mottaki's reponse here from Minute 27:08.

  Mottaki's more then five minute answer became with calling the June elections "the most glorious presidential elections in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Mottaki claimed the skeptics, once they received an explanation, were convinced. This left a few trouble makers -- "it is very clear how they should be dealt with."


UN's Ban, Ahmadinejad, Motakki and Zarif, pre election violence

  Mottaki said that Iran has vibrant NGOs, which rather than complain in Geneva to the Human Rights Council come to the UN in New York to participate in workshops about the rights on women.

  On Iran's nuclear program, Mottaki said that other than Qom, there are no other sites not reported to the IAEA. The press conference ended with a report for a newspaper in Israel calling for the floor, without receiving it. He was told by the UN's spokesperson that the UN is an "inter-governmental body... we cannot do anything about what member states do." Apparently not.

Footnote: Mottaki, before traveling to DC, wiled away the evening of September 29 at Indonesia's Independence Day celebration in the UN Delegates' Dining Room. There were satays, rice and noodles. One attending, chewing, snarked that at such receptions, the quality of the food is in inverse proportion to the amount of democracy in the hosting nation.

   Inner City Press has previously written about, and sampled, Iran's kebab diplomacy, click here for that. Seven thousand years of culture...

* * *

Amid Tales of Iran Torture, UN and Ban Urged To Speak, Treki Role Questioned

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 21 -- As Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prepares to speak Wednesday before the UN General Assembly, across First Avenue on Monday two non-governmental organizations briefed the press on the arrests and killings of protesters that followed the recent contested election. By cellphone, 24-year old computer scientist Ebrahim Sharifi told the Press about his abduction on June 22 leading to a week of torture, mock execution and rape.

  Sharifi has since fled Iran, having been told the rest of his family is also in danger. He worked on the campaign of Mehdi Karroubi; later, the government accused Karroubi -- or Mir-Hussein Mousavi -- of paying Sharifi to make the allegations.

  While many of the protests of Ahmadinejad's UN visit focus on the nuclear or Israel issues, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and Human Rights Watch on Monday called on the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution appointing a special envoy to Iran.

  Inner City Press asked for the panelists' review of the performance of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the Iran human rights and democracy issues. Steve Crawshaw of HRW was typically diplomatic, saying that while he is sure there is "robust" advocacy by the UN "behind closed doors," it is "very important that [Ban] makes his voice heard... repeatedly." In fact, Ban's Spokesperson has been asked repeatedly for comment on Iran, and has declined comment.


UN's Ban and Ahmadinejad, talk and envoy on torture not shown

  Since the new General Assembly is headed by Libyan Ali Treki, Inner City Press asked if this might have any impact on the likelihood of the Assembly addressing these Iran issues. Crawshaw, again diplomatic, said that while he didn't wish to pre-judge, every country should be worried when people are shot and killed. Yeah...

Footnote: at a briefing for countries' missions to the UN, the NY Police Department predicted 12,000 protesters of Ahmadinejad, diplomatic sources in the meeting tell Inner City Press...

* * *

With UN's Ban Shielded from Nepotism Questions, Scandals Brew, Defenses Outsourced to Mission

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 17, updated twice -- While questions having swirled all summer around Ban Ki-moon's leadership of the UN, Mr. Ban belated held a pre-General Assembly press conference on September 17. But the management, human rights, nepotism and even corruption short falls in Ban's UN that have been discussed in diplomatic circles and in the media were scarcely mentioned.

  No questions were allowed on two human rights short falls, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, much less on the nepotism scandals festering at the highest levels of the UN. It's as if these issues were censored out, after having been strangely outsourced to South Korea's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, who recently invited Inner City Press to a lunch with only one topic: the integrity of Ban Ki-moon. [See Amb. Kim Bong-hyun's reply, in full below.]

  Thus, it's not that Team Ban is unaware of the questions. After a leaked e-mail by Ban's envoy to the Congo Alan Doss surfaced and was first published by Inner City Press, Ban's Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe told the Press Ban was very concerned and expected a report on the matter when he returned to New York from his vacation in South Korea.

   That was a month ago but when Inner City Press, denied a chance to question by Ban's Spokesperson Michele Montas, asked Ban on his way out about the case of Alan Doss, Ban muttered "that is still going on," presumably referring to the investigation.

   Ban's spokesperson, who previously referred Inner City Press to Ban's main adviser Kim Won-soo about the issue (Mr. Kim subsequently canceled the meeting), should at least have allowed a question about Ban's actual management of the UN.

  Ban's lack of action is attributed by some, including prospectively a major U.S. newspaper, to questions about two recent hirings of Ban's son in law Siddarth Chatterjee. First he was hired, without any competitive process, by Ban's envoy in Iraq Staffan de Mistura to be his chief of staff, a position for which many said Chatterjee did not have the diplomatic and political background.

   Since de Mistura had previously hired the son of Kofi Annan's chief of staff Iqbal Riza, many saw a pattern, of the hiring of top UN leaders' children as a way for far-flung officials to be viewed favorable in Headquarters.

   As de Mistura left Iraq, Ban's son in law resurfaced hired by the UN Office of Project Services to head a whole regional bureau. While UNOPS refused to answer the simple question of whether Chatterjee's job is at the D-1 or D-2 level, it has since emerged that the post was upgraded to D-2 in connection with a process in which Ban gave UNOPS more freedom over its human resources practices. While it is said Chatterjee for now is at the lower of the two Director levels, he can be upgraded at any time, without public announcement.

   "Two supposedly lateral moves resulting in reality in a meteoric rise up two levels," as one observer wryly puts it, "only at the UN." Meanwhile Chatterjee has taken to telephoning Indian newspapers which have picked up Inner City Press' coverage of the issue and telling them to remove articles and comments from the Internet, in the face of legal threats.

   After Ban's adviser Kim Won-soo canceled the meeting, which it was emphasized would be off the record or on background, about the still unanswered Chatterjee questions, Inner City Press received a lunch reach-out from the Deputy Permanent Representative of South Korea's mission to the UN, Kim Bong-hyun. Over a sizzling bowl of beef and noodles, the hospitable DPR Kim repeated again and again that Ban is a man of integrity, although from an earlier generation of Korean diplomats.


UN's Ban on Sept. 15, report and action on nepotism not shown

   DPR Kim made detailed arguments about Ban's son in law's promotions and threats for censorship; that seemed to be the purpose of the lunch. On the Alan Doss matter, he first expressed concern about the "leeway" e-mail, then recovered and argued that Ban's hands are tied by rules making it difficult to fire UN staff. But Doss is Ban's personal envoy to the Congo. There is no way to pass the buck. DPR Kim nodded and said Ban would be sure to know and do something about the Doss issue. But it hasn't happened yet.

   While DPR Kim gave no indication that his outreach was off the record or even on background, normally these indirect defenses of Ban would not have to be used or reported, if Ban himself would address the issues in at least one of the fifteen largely scripted answers he gave on Thursday. A weak communications strategy has helped get Ban into the situation is his, entering this General Assembly. And thing do not appear to be getting better.

Footnotes:  Ban's Spokesperson, as Inner City Press first publicly reported, is set to retire in November. Those who multiple sources say are vying to replace her include Eric Falt of the UN Department of Public Information [but see below], two journalists who have covered the UN, and an official of the UN Foundation...

  Another UN mis-hiring scandal, which Inner City Press asked Ban Spokesperson about in writing on August 27 has still not been answered to or even commented on.
Watch this site.

Update of Sept. 17, 4:45 p.m. -- For the record we have received this denial from Mr. Falt: "I wish to inform you that I am very happy with my job as Director of Outreach in DPI and am not currently applying to any other position."

  Additional communication has been received from the South Korean Mission to the UN, clarification has been sought, but has not yet been received. Watch this site.

Second update -- we have received the following from Ambassador Kim of Korea and publish it in full:

Subj: from Amb.Kim of Korea
From: [ ]
To: Matthew Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Sent: 9/17/2009

Dear Matthew,

I just read your article titled "with UN's Ban Shielded...." of Sept. 17, 2009. I found that facts of the article were distorted and I was misused. My purpose to invite you to the lunch the other day was to exchange views about agenda of the new session of the GA.

My message to you was that the press should listen to both parties concerned, otherwise the press would lose its balance and credibility.

However, on the contray to my intention, you initiated to explain the stroy of Alan Doss to me, including the biting rumor of a staff of UNDP and quoted me as making detailed arguments about SG's son in law.

I did not know the story of Alan Doss at all and I din not know the details on the stroy of the son in law of the SG. I answered to your questions as to the two cases based on my common sense as a career diplomat. I answered that there were rules and regulations for hiring and firing staff in any organization. I added that I knew there was a commission for the appeal of staff in the case of infringement of interest. Also I urged you to look into the rules and regulations about the prodedure of promotion in the UN.

I said that the procedure of promotion regarding to the son in law of the SG was supposed to be transparent and based on merits. I further expressed my view that answers related to those questions should be sought in the framework of the legal institution of the UN and advised you not to try to personalize the issue.I strongly request you to carry the above explanation in your blog as an exercise of right of reply.

Sincerely,

Kim Bong-Hyun, Pd.D.
Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations

   Entirely agreeing with the right to reply, we nonetheless note that very little was said about the upcoming General Assembly session, while much was said about the Mona Juul memo, the possible motives and the "Asian" style of diplomacy. Detailed arguments were made about whether the Secretary General's son in law was initially a P-4 or P-5, and is now a D-1 or D-2 (the post has been upgraded to D-2). If nepotism is a problem in the UN, as many think it is, it is difficult to report on and address the issue without giving specific example: that is, personalizing the issue.

  What seemed and seems significant is that while the Secretary General and his team are reticent to address or even take questions on these nepotism issues, the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Secretary General's native South Korea made the arguments, with detailed information about the Secretary General's son in law.

  While this may be a credit to Ambassador Kim Bong-hyun, these arguments should be coming, on the record, from the Secretariat itself, and they should not be evading or not allowing questions on the issue. Frankly, it is unclear if Ambassador Kim Bong-hyun disagrees with this analysis of the weakness of the Secretary General's current Office of the Spokesperson. But we appreciate his right of reply and so publish the above in full. Watch this site.

 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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