At
UN,
Staff Complain
of Malcorra
Banning
Speaking with
Member States
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 16 --
While the UN
of late has
claimed to
trump its
failures such
as in Sri
Lanka with a
burst of
transparency,
behind
the scene it
is ordering
its staff
members not to
talk with
member
states, much
less the
media.
Inner
City Press has
received
multiple
copies of and
complaints
about an October
22, 2012
letter from
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's chef
de cabinet
Susana
Malcorra to
staff,
stating
"with
reference to
your statement
that you will
bring certain
internal
issues to the
attention of
Member States,
I would draw
your attention
to staff
regulation 1.2
(i) and staff
rule 1.2 (i),
which address
relevant
obligations
which apply to
all staff
members."
Staff
took -- not
twisted --
this as a
threat that
they could not
raise
concerns the
the member
states which
ultimately
"own" the
United
Nations.
Would
such silencing
extend as far
as to killings
staff
witnessed in
the
field, but
higher-ups in
the UN did not
want to
report, as the
recent
Sri Lanka
report,
especially as
unredacted,
reflects?
Inner
City Press has
obtained, and
is publishing,
staff's
response to
Ms.
Malcorra
"threat," here.
The staff also
reference a request
for
investigation
that they have
filed, the
first two
pages of which
Inner City
Press is
exclusively
putting online
here.
In
fairness, Ms.
Malcorra is
hardworking
administrator,
and defender
of the Ban
Ki-moon
administration.
But this can
go too far. In
the course of
supposedly
championing
the report
into the UN's
failures in
Sri
Lanka,
Malcorra on
November 15
when asked by
the Press
about the
redactions to
the Sri Lanka
report said
"The
Secretary-General
felt, and I
fully share
his view, that
there was
nothing that
will change
the
transparency
to show the
report if we
took out those
aspects that
have a clear
relation to
documents of
internal use
that were
fully
available to
the Panel,
which only
indicate how
open and
available
every single
person and
every single
document was,
but didn’t
necessarily
add any value,
but also put
the
Organization
at risk by
sharing
publicly in
such a short
term
internal
documents."
But
the redactions
include
blacking out
not only then
USG John
Holmes
urging that
the term "war
crimes" not be
used, but also
Ban
Ki-moon's own
quote that "Government
should be
given the
political
space to
develop a
domestic
mechanism"
of
accountability.
It seems
strange to
argue that Ban
blacked out
his own
comments in
order to not
chill his own
future
deliberation.
When
Inner City
Press
questioned
this
redaction,
even under the
rationale
Ms. Malcorra
has presented,
she responded,
"So why do you
always
twist things
in a manner
that doesn’t
recognize the
huge, huge
attempt to
make sure that
all the
available
information
was ready to
be reviewed by
the panel, and
you just twist
that in a
manner that
only makes the
point that we
are trying to
protect
ourselves.
It’s
just really
something that
disturbs me
profoundly."
Asking
why
information is
being
withheld, or
staff is being
told not to
speak to
member states,
is a
journalist's
job. It can be
done without
rancor on
either side.
Watch this
site.
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