Sudan
Owes UN $1
Million But
Can Vote, US
"Should Not Be
Compared," UN
Tells ICP
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 4, updated
Jan 7
-- After the
UN Committee
on
Contributions
left 49 member
states out of
its Honor Roll
of countries
who are
paid-up on
their UN due,
Inner City
Press on
Friday asked
Secretay
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
about two of
the countries,
Sudan and the
United States.
Nesirky
cut
in, "you know
very well that
the United
States works
on a different
budget cycle.
So, I don’t
think that you
should compare
the two."
Be
that as it
may, Nesirky
told Inner
City Press
"Let’s check
on the
contribution
list with
those who deal
with these
matters and
then we can
come back to
you."
Late
Friday
afternoon,
this answer
came in about
Sudan:
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Fri, Jan
4, 2013 at
4:21 PM
Subject: Re:
Question on
Sudan
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
On
arrears: At
the start of
2012, Sudan
was in arrears
under the
terms of
Article 19 of
the Charter
(loss of vote
in the General
Assembly).
However,
sufficient
payment was
made in 2012
to take Sudan
out of Article
19. As of 4
January 2013,
Sudan has
arrears
(amounts due
for 2012 and
previous
years) of
approximately
$1 million.
But
what about the
United States?
And the other
47 countries
not on the
honor role?
Watch this
site.
Footnotes:
Also
on Sudan,
Inner City
Press on
Friday asked
about
"multiple
rapes by
pro-government
militiamen in
a place called
Karodos in
east Jebel
Mara," and
again for an
update on the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations'
weeks-old
investigation
(or some say
cover up) of 126
Congolese Army
rapes
committed in
Minova in
November.
Nesirky
said
he would check
on the former,
and that the
Minova rapes
are still
under "active"
investigation.
Inner
City Press
also asked,
"is there any
deadline?
Given that
there is this
human rights
due diligence
policy to not
work with
units who were
involved in
this, in the
incidence in
Minova, how
long can it
take to find
out and has
there been any
change in the
list of
brigades that
MONUSCO works
with during
this now
fairly
extended
investigation?"
These
are the questions
that DPKO
chief Herve
Ladsous has
repeatedly
refused to
answer,
going so far
as to direct
his spokesman
to seize the
UNTV
microphone on
December 18, video here. That spokesman was
seen in the UN
cafeteria on
Friday. But
where is
Ladsous? Watch
this site.
Update
of Jan. 7 --
as Inner City
Press was
reporting a
forthcoming
story on
Southern
Kordofan,
Sudanese
Permanent
Representative
Daffa-Alla
Elhag Ali
Osman told
Inner City
Press that
Sudan was not
precluded from
any vote in
2012, and
stands ready
to pay its
2013
assessment.
Call it an
in-person
letter to the
editor, added
to this piece
five minutes
later.
, 
