After
Ban
Ki-moon Said Stood Behind UN Rights Rep in Cambodia, His Leaving Draws
No
Reaction, like ECCC
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 9 -- When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited
Cambodia last October, Prime Minister Hun Sen “ordered” him to
remove the head of the UN human rights office in Phnom Penh,
Christophe
Peschoux.
Inner
City Press asked
Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky about it. Nesirky
called it an “internal personnel matter,” then added that Ban
stands behind the office and, by implication, its staff.
Now
six months later, Peschoux
has been chased from the country. Human
rights groups call it “worrying.” Mr. Peschoux
himself has said
that in Cambodia
“human
rights are tolerated to the extent that they do not challenge the
political, economic and financial interests of the ruling elite.
That’s where the red line runs. If you cross that line, trouble
starts... Of course I’m leaving because it has become impossible
for me to continue to operate in this environment.”
Given
this, one might have expected Ban Ki-moon to have some follow up
comment, if not to have actually defended Mr. Peschoux. But when
Inner City Press on May 9 asked Ban's acting deputy spokeman Farhan
Haq about Peschoux's leaving Cambodia, Haq said “we do not have any
comment at this stage,” nor “any reaction.”
Ban in Cambodia, Peschoux
and Ban follow through on human rights not shown
Back
on April 12, Inner City Press had asked
Haq about Cambodia:
Inner
City
Press: there is a lot of controversy about the UN-backed Court
[Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia] there. Some are
saying that the President told Ban Ki-moon that there should be no
more prosecutions and that the Court should be wound down. And
advocates are saying that the UN hasn’t spoken up in defence of the
Court’s mandate. Does the Secretary-General have a view on whether
this Court should go on in a non-politicized fashion, or, as many
say, should be moving to dismiss future cases beyond those it has?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson Haq: The Secretary-General fully supports the
work of the Extraordinary Chambers in Cambodia, and he believes that
it is up, ultimately, to the senior officials of the Extraordinary
Chambers to proceed with their work as they see fit.
Since
then, concerns
have only grown. Ban Ki-moon and human rights: que pasa? Watch
this site.
* * *
At
UN,
President of GA Has No Comment on Syria & Human Rights
Council
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 9 -- When the UN General Assembly voted on March 1 to
suspend Libya from the Human Rights Council, GA “President Joseph
Deiss agreed, emphasizing the importance of a strong Human Rights
Council whose members were committed to strengthening the protection
and promotion of fundamental rights — including by upholding the
highest standards and by 'proscribing double standards.'”
But
when in the
run up to the May 20 vote for new Human Rights Council members, with
Syria so far running without formal opposition for a seat, Inner City
Press asked Deiss' spokesman for his view, he said that Deiss will
have no comment until after the member states have spoken.
So
while Deiss
after the fact “agreed” with member states suspending Libya (and
before that, stripping the UN credentials Cote d'Ivoire / Laurent
Gbagbo Permanent Representative Djedje), in this case he claims he
cannot or will not speak in advance.
This
seems to some
to be the very “double standards” decried by Deiss, or to reflect
that he waits to see which side wins, then he “agrees.”
Beyond
seeking
Deiss' view, Inner City Press asked the PGA spokesman to describe the
process on and before May 20: how are write-in candidates considered,
when will it be known if another candidate will formally contest the
seat with Syria? These questions were not answered.
There
are routine
complaints that the General Assembly, the so-called G-192, doesn't
get enough press coverage. But when its own President takes no
position, and his Office holds back from providing even logistical
information, is it any wonder?
Likewise,
at
another UN press conference Monday morning about the Commission on
Sustainable Development, Inner City Press asked CSD chair
László
Borbélyn and Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General of the
Department
of Economic and Social Affairs why nearly all of the sessions of the
CSD in New York last week were “closed.”
The
response was
that while the press is excluded, otherwise representation is very
diverse. Reference was made to “civil society.” If other than
member states are allowed in, why not the press? Is sustainability so
secret?
Apparently
so:
Inner City Press asked Sha Zukang about a company he praised in a
speech, Suntech, now bragging about a $180 million contract with UN
Peacekeeping. Mr. Sha said to ask Department of Management chief
Angela Kane or “Mr. Choi.” But which one? The head of Information
and Communications Technology or Ban Ki-moon's close ally Choi
Young-jin, currently at the UN Mission in Ivory Coast but soon, some
say, to leave?
Footnote:
Mr.
Sha remains, however, a refreshingly independent thinker in the
UN system. Inner City Press asked him about Ban Ki-moon' proposed
budget cuts, and while saying as UNDER Secretary General he must
implement them, he said they are difficult, will involve cutting
staff, and one can only go so far. Watch this site.
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