UN
Told ICP Ban
Didn't Say He
Flies
Commercial,
Now Says No
Private Jet
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 22 --
Ban Ki-moon's
tenure as UN
Secretary
General became
embroiled in
one scandal
after another
in 2015 -- but
at his
“year-end”
press
conference he
refused to
answer a Press
question
directly on
it. Video
here and
embedded
below. Vine
here.
On
January 5,
after yet more
alleged rapes
by UN
Peacekeepers
were reported
in the Central
African
Republic,
Ban's head of
Peacekeeping
Herve Ladsous
pointedly
refused an
Inner City
Press question
about the
rapes (Vine
here),
which by
contrast the
Ambassadors of
New Zealand
and Uruguay
answered.
What is wrong
with Ban's UN?
Why are there
no answers?
On January 8,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
what numerous
staff members
had told it
that Ban said
in a "Town
Hall" meeting
that morning,
that he flies
commercial.
Since Inner
City Press
previously
exclusively
reported on
Ban accepting
private jet
flight paid
for by Qatar,
Inner City
Press on
January 8
asked, but it
was disproved
video
here.
On
January 22,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Harq
about it:
Inner City
Press: I'd
asked Stéphane
on January 8
about the town
hall meeting
and about
flying and
travel
costs.
And he seemed
to say that
the
Secretary-General
didn't say
that he flies
commercial,
but I've since
seen the video
of the town
hall, and he
did say
that. He
also seemed to
say that some
of his
[Special
Representatives
of the
Secretary-General]
have private
jets, and he
said that some
UN planes
don't have
water in the
toilets.
I mean, this
is on
video.
So, I wanted
to know, which
missions have
Special
Representatives
that have… fly
on jets, and
why is it that
UN planes
don't have
water in the
toilets as the
Secretary-General
said? I
mean, you can
look at the
tape or…?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq: I
don't have to
look at the
tape.
I've been on
the
planes.
Why they don't
have them is
because
sometimes what
we have at our
disposal is
regional jets
that are
donated by
member
Governments.
Sometimes the
facilities on
those jets are
not the best,
so instead of
water, you
have hand
sanitizer, and
it is what it
is. We
don't travel
in luxury at
the UN, and
Special
Representatives
of the
Secretary-General
do not have
private
jets.
Sometimes they
travel on the
planes of UN
peacekeeping
missions.
But, those are
hardly private
planes.
Those are
planes that
are part of
the
peacekeeping
missions' air
assets.
Inner City
Press:
Does UNAMID
[African
Union-United
Nations Hybrid
Operation in
Darfur] still
have a
Gulfstream
jet?
Deputy
Spokesman:
I wouldn't
know what
precise assets
UNAMID
has. It
does have… it
has had
smaller
planes.
And sometimes
when the
Secretary-General
travels, he…
if he can use
those planes
to go to or
from a
peacekeeping
mission, he
uses
those.
So that's not
the same
thing, of
course, as
travelling
commercially.
But, neither
does he have
his own
jet. He
never
has.
Inner City
Press: The
Secretary-General
did this town
hall meeting
earlier today,
and I wanted
to ask, it's,
it's, various
people have
said that he,
among his
statements was
that
apparently
that he said
that he always
flies
commercial or
only flies
commercial.
And I wanted
to know,
since, in this
room, we've
discussed that
the flight on
the Qatari…
Spokesman
Dujarric:
He did not say
that.
Inner City
Press:
Okay.
Spokesman
Dujarric:
He did not say
that.
Inner City
Press: I've
asked before
to say on
particular
trips who's
paying for the
travel, just a
percentage…
you could even
ballpark
it. What
percentage of
his travel is
commercial,
paid out of
the UN budget
and what part
is paid by
Member States
or others?
Spokesman:
I mean, we can
try to help
you out in
that regard.
In the
two weeks
since, there
has been no
help in that
regard. Inner
City Press was
Banned from
the
trip to
cover Burundi,
which is also
asks about.
But video of
Ban's Town
Hall meeting
has been
leaked to it
-- and Ban
said "I arrive
with
commercial
airlines." Video here. We'll have
more on, and
of, this. A
staff protest
of Ban's
policies is
set for
January 22 -
but Ban is in
Davos.
Even as
Ban and his
spokespeople
refused to
answer basic
questions
ranging from
Sri Lanka to
Burundi,
corruption
cases to
rapes, his UN
Correspondents
Association
now known as
the UN
Corruption
Association,
having charged
$6000 for
seats next to
Ban,
continues to
promote him -
without
questions,
literally.
UNCA
head Giampaolo
Pioli, who
tried to get
the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN
for accurately
reporting that
Pioli had
accepted rent
money from
Palitha
Kohona, Sri
Lanka's
ambassador,
then gave a
"UN screening"
on a war
crimes denial
film in the
Dag
Hammarskjold
Auditorium,
has issued
this, only to
those who pay
UNCA money,
leaked by a
disgusted UNCA
member:
"Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
would like to
meet with UNCA
members and
all UN
correspondents
for the New
Year's visit
this
Wednesday, Jan
6th, 2016 from
10:35 to 10:50
am in the UNCA
room. It will
be an
opportunity
for him to say
a few words to
all of our
colleagues and
to exchange
his best
wishes. There
will not be a
Q&A
session but as
in every year
it is a great
occasion to be
together.
Please
attend."
Well,
no. Providing
a rah-rah
session with
no Q&A is
pathetic. And,
"all
correspondents"
will not enter
the UN
Corruption
Association,
which charges
money for
access to Ban.
The above, it
seems, has
been
re-scheduled
to January 29.
Ban
should be
asked, and
should answer,
questions such
as those
raised by the
new rape
changes in
CAR,
particularly
now that his
head of
Peacekeeping
has again
refused to
answer. We'll
have more on
this.
Beyond
the
indictments of
the former
President of
the UN General
Assembly John
Ashe, Ng Lap
Seng, Sherri
Yang and
others, on
December 31
Inner City
Press asked
four of Ban's
spokespeople
questions
including:
"Regarding the
report on the
sexual abuse
in CAR and how
the UN handled
it, please
state the
identity of
the senior
officer in the
Executive
Office of the
Secretary
General do
which a
section of the
report is
devoted, or
explain why
your Office
will not
provide the
name, in terms
of
accountability.
"Please
confirm or
deny that
Andrew Gilmour
is seeking
employment
outside of the
EOSG, and
provide the
SG's view of
its senior
official
leaving or
seeking to
leave before
he does."
Ban's
Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq,
while leaving
Inner City
Press
questions on
Burundi and
South Sudan
entirely
UNaddressed,
sent this:
From: Farhan
Haq [at]
un.org
Date: Thu, Dec
31, 2015 at
12:11 PM
Subject: Press
Qs in lieu of
a UN noon
briefing:
Burundi, S.
Sudan, Haiti,
EOSG, still SG
travel, UNOG,
Ohio, Ethiopia
/ free press;
still Jordan,
UNHQ, UN
scandals /
reforms,
Yemen; thanks
in advance
To: Matthew
Lee [at]
InnerCityPress.com
Cc: Stephane
Dujarric [at]
un.org, FUNCA
[at] funca.org
"Regarding
accountability
and the CAR
report, the
panel put out
the
information it
chose to
provide and we
have made
available the
entire report,
without any
redactions.
Follow-up
action is
being studied
at present.
"We have no
comment on
staff
movements.
Staff are free
to seek
employment
opportunities."
This
last would
appear to
apply to yet
another UN
scandal in
2015: envoy to
Libya
Bernardino
Leon
negotiating a
cushy job with
the United
Arab Emirates
while
purporting to
represent the
UN on Libya. On January
6, a UN
official
explicitly “on
background”
told Inner
City Press
that Andrew
Gilmour is not
the EOSG staff
member
mentioned in
the Deschamps
report and
that he is not
looking for
employment
outside of
EOSG, either
passively or
actively.
Inner City
Press, with
the reason for
anonymity
still
UNexplained,
as asked if
the staffer in
question is
Samir Afridi,
or Ivan Lupis:
but it appears
that Team Ban
believes the
name should
not be given,
even after
additional
alleged rapes
by UN
Peacekeepers
in CAR were
reported on
January 5.
This is
the type of
question that
Ban Ki-moon
should be
asked on
January 6:
watch this
site.
With
Ban off on a
"private"
visit to
Vienna,
tweeted by the
UN Office
there, the UN
has yet to
answer Inner
City Press'
simple
question about
the cost(s):
"With regard
to the
Secretary
General's
current trip
to Vienna,
tweeted by the
UN there, for
purposes of
transparency
including in
light of the
indictment of
ex-UNPGA John
Ashe and the
new PGA's
disclosures,
what are the
costs to the
UN budget, and
what are the
other costs
and who is
paying them?"
Ban's envoy to
Libya Bernardino
Leon was
exposed by
leaks as
having taken
instructions
and then a job
from the
United Arab
Emirates.
And Ban's head
of UN
Peacekeeping,
Herve
Ladsous,
is listed in
UN Dispute
Tribunal
documents as
having tried
to cover up
child rapes in
Central
African
Republic by
peacekeepers
from his
native France.
Inner
City Press,
which Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric did
not call on
despite
calling two
separate times
on the same UN
Correspondents
Association
scribe, asked
audibly, “Do
you have any
update on the
John Ashe
indictment?
Bernardino
Leon? These
were major
developments
this year.” Vine here.
But Ban
refused to
answer the
question. He
walked out of
the briefing
room, shaking
hands scribes.
The press
conference
began with
Dujarric
setting aside
the first
question for
the head of
UNCA, who
thanked Ban
for attending
an event on
Wall Street for
which UNCA
charged $6,000
to sit with
Ban. This
is the UN
Corruption
Association.
A
question on or
to cover up
the sexual
abuse scandal
was arranged,
with Agence
France Presse
congratulating
Ban for this
response to
the sexual
abuse scandal.
(Senegalese
Babacar Gaye
was urged to
resign,
Ladsous who on
camera linked
the rapes to
“R&R," video here, remains in
place.)
Ban read out a
wan answer on
Burundi;
his deputy
spokeperson
refused an
Inner City
Press question
on Burundi at
the previous
day's noon
briefing.
We'll have
more on this.
Ban once
promised
monthly press
conference but
his last one
was three
months before,
then nine
months before
that. On
September 16
with the UN
being less
than
successful in
mediating in Yemen
and Libya,
Syria and
South Sudan,
accused of
rapes in
Central
African
Republic and
killing 8,000
in Haiti with
cholera (after
40,000 died in
Sri
Lanka with
little
response from
the UN),
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon was
asked, What is
your legacy?
Dujarric
himself cut
off Inner City
Press
questions on
what Ladsous
said, and
declined to
answer on
Reddit in an
“Ask Me
Anything.” (He
didn't say
he's ANSWER
everything,
one wag
pointed out.)
But
even beyond
the scandals,
Ban did not in
his opening
statement
mention
Somalia, or
CAR, or
Darfur; none
of the
questions
selected by
Dujarric was
about Africa.
(One wire
points out
Africa was
part of a
UN-at-70
question;
noted.)
Inner City
Press also
tried to ask
about Burundi
-- nothing -
and South
Sudan, on
which we are
preparing a
story.
It was
Voice of
America with
the “What is
your legacy”
question. Ban
said he'd
answer next
year. Inner
City Press
might answer
sooner. Watch
this site. Follow @innercitypressFollow @FUNCA_info
, 
