On
Haiti, 700
Word UN
Foundation
Article Silent
on Cholera,
Yes-Men Like
UNCA
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 31 --
Supporters of
the UN who do
not even
acknowledge
its problems
do not, in
fact, help the
UN.
Take
for example a
recent
700 word
article by
an official of
the UN
Foundation, a
UN supporter,
about the UN's
work in Haiti.
The article,
published by
or on
Huffington
Post, does not
even MENTION
the charges
that the UN
introduced
cholera to
Haiti, which
has killed at
least 8000
Haitians.
The charges,
and now
litigation in
New York, are
in the news.
It is
impossible to
believe that
UN Foundation
is not aware
of the issue.
So why not at
least mention
it, even if
only to deny
the charges --
as UN
Peacekeeping
does, while
refusing to
take follow up
questions --
or to argue
that
accountability
would be a bad
precedent?
To not mention
the issue is
telling:
officials in
the UN
Secretariat,
particularly
in UN
Peacekeeping,
surround
themselves
with positive
voices
(yes-men and
-women) and
are
ill-advised by
them. This
includes, as
another
example, UNCA
which has
become the
UN's
Censorship
Alliance.
Background,
with a song
-- On the UN having
brought
cholera to
Haiti, the
UN Secretariat
of Ban Ki-moon
didn't even
"appear" at
the October 23
court hearing.
Inner City
Press asked UN
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
again on
October 24.
Haq replied,
"I can confirm
there was a
hearing
yesterday. In
light of its
immunity, the
UN did not
appear in
court. The US
asserted the
position that
[the UN]
officials are
immune." Video
here (October
24) and here (October 23).
Inner City
Press asked
Haq about U.S.
Attorney Ellen
Blain arguing
to U.S.
District Judge
J. Paul Oetken
that the case
could unleash
a huge set of
claim against
the UN. Why,
Inner City
Press asked,
doesn't Ban
Ki-moon just
waive immunity
in this case,
while
maintaining it
in others? No
answer.
Twenty minutes
later when
pianist Lang
Lang appeared
in the UN
Press Briefing
Room as a UN
Messenger of
Peace
promoting the
evening's UN
Day concert,
Inner City
Press on
behalf of the
Free UN
Coalition for
Access thanked
him and asked
what he
thought of the
UN's impunity
for bringing
cholera to
Haiti, and if
he would think
of any other
ways the UN
should
improve.
Lang Lang
apologized,
saying he
hadn't heard
of the case.
That the UN
Secretariat
tries to
downplay it,
with UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous
refusing Press
questions
about it is
one thing. But
earlier on
October 24 the
so-called UN
Correspondents
Association
took a
briefing that
would and
should have
been in the
same webcast
UN Press
Briefing Room
as Lang Lang
appeared it
and put it,
without
webcast, into
the clubhouse
the UN give to
what has
become its UN
Censorship
Alliance.
UNCA, this UN
Censorship
Alliance,
angled to
privatize this
event after
itself
promoting,
protecting and
having
provided photo
ops to Ban
Ki-moon, and seeking
to get the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN.
One continues
to wonders why
those involved
in this event
and
broadcasters'
film didn't go
to the UN's
Press Briefing
Room,
sponsored by a
member state
like St.
Vincents which
spoke on the
issue, as
covered here
by Inner City
Press. That
way it would
have been
promoted to
and have
included all
journalists at
the UN, not
just that
subset which
pays money to
UNCA. Also,
that way it
would have
been in UNTV
webcast,
viewable
around the
world
including in
Haiti. As
noted, an
important
documentary
and panel, but
the means are
the end:
today's UNCA
gives Ban
Ki-moon's UN
more impunity.
We'll have
more on this.
In the second
case against
Ban Ki-moon
and the UN,
filed in
Federal Court
in Brooklyn,
more than
1,100 more
plaintiffs
have just been
added,
bringing the
total in that
case to 2,600.
The
lawyers in the
second case
affirm that
Ban Ki-moon
was served the
court papers
as he entered
the Asia
Society on
Park Avenue in
Manhattan --
the UN, which
long evaded
service by the
lawyers in the
first case,
denies service
in the second
-- and now the
UN has taken
to publicly
contradicting
itself, then
trying to
censor.
After
Edmond Mulet
was quoted
-- told France
24 in an on-the-record
interview
-- that the
Nepali
peacekeepers
were screened
for cholera
before the UN
sent them to
Haiti, Inner
City Press on
October 10
first asked UN
Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq,
who had previously
made this
claim, if it is in
fact true.
October
10 video here.
Haq on October
10 didn't
directly deny
it - but
MINUSTAH
spokesman
Vincenzo
Pugliese when
asked about it
by Jonathan
Katz
directly
denied Mulet's
claim of
screening.
Then on
October 13
Inner City
Press asked
Haq about this
direct
divergence in
UN statements,
between Mulet
and MINUSTAH's
Pugliese. To
this, Haq said
that given
pending
litigation he
did not want
to "prejudice"
the case by
saying
anything. Video here and embedded below.
The France 24
report
noted that
"shortly after
the interview,
Mulet’s press
officer asked
FRANCE 24 not
to air the
recording." On
October 14
France 24's Jessica
Le Masurier
read out the
specifics of
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations'
spokesman's
email asking
France 24 to
confirm that
the Haiti
portion of the
interview
would not be
aired. Video
here and
embedded
below.
Inner City
Press asked
Haq if this
attempt at
censorship is
appropriate,
if it is now
UN practice.
Haq said that
his
Peacekeeping
colleagues
thought Mulet
about "be more
secure" if he
re-did the
interview at
some later
date after
being
prepared. Haq
encouraged
France 24 to
give Mulet
this do-over.
On behalf of
the new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
which has
opposed this
type of
selective or
privatized UN
communication,
particularly
by UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous, Inner
City Press
asked that
Mulet now do a
real press
conference for
all
correspondents,
to answer
questions.
Haq laughed
and said all
France 24 was
asking for was
an interview.
But that's not
the only
request.
In fact, it
was the
big-wigs of
the UN's
Censorship
Alliance who
sought to
get Inner City
Press thrown
out of the UN,
initially
at the behalf
of UN
Peacekeeping's
Ladsous
and the Sri
Lankan
government,
and have not
reformed
since. Here is
current UNCA
president's on the
record "presentation"
to Inner City
Press and FUNCA, audio
here, and
here,
and here.
They market
themselves as
a cheap way to
get into the
UN -- as they
marketed or
sold
themselves to
the Sri Lankan
government.
Why aren't
those trying
to achieve
change at the
UN more
circumspect?
Apparently the
UN causes this
(bad)
reaction.
The Free
UN Coalition
for Access
has identified
and is
opposing a
range of
censorship at
and by the UN.
Sample
Vine here.
Haq on October
13 insisted
this was not
censorship,
only that UN
Peacekeeping
(who's
communications
chief under
Herve Ladsous
is Nick
Birnback) has
understood the
interview with
Mulet to be
about Mali and
the Central
African
Republic and
then offered
Mulet on Haiti
after he had
been
"prepared."
But, Inner
City Press
pointed out,
Mulet was the
head of
MINUSTAH when
cholera
entered Haiti
- isn't that
preparation
enough?
Haq said Inner
City Press
since it has
been in
journalist
should
understand
what being
prepared for
an interview
is. Video
here.
Frankly, it
sounds
perilously
close to being
coached.
Haq went on to
claim that the
France 24
reporter
afterward
indicated
awareness or
even agreement
that the
interview was
supposed to be
limited to
Mali and CAR.
We'll await
some
correction of
this:
peacekeeping,
as a topic,
obviously
includes the
UN
peacekeeping
mission in
Haiti which
Mulet headed.
We'll have
more on this.
The UN still
has not
answered Inner
City Press'
repeated
question
whether the UN
will be
sending any
representative
to the October
23 oral
argument in
Federal court
on the topic.
This is
impunity.
On October 9,
Ban Ki-moon
gave a speech
at the World
Bank about
water and
cholera in
Haiti, without
mentioning the
question of
how cholera
was brought to
Haiti, much
less the
litigation
against
himself.
So at the
October 9 UN
noon briefing
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
Associate
Spokesperson
Vannina
Maestracci if
Ban's
statement that
his "heart
ached at the
losses that so
many thousands
of people have
had to suffer
and die" was a
reference to
the UN
bringing
cholera to
Haiti. Video
here.
Maestracci
responded
about the UN
trying to
raise money
for sanitation
in Haiti.
Inner City
Press waited
to re-phrase
what it had
asked, about
accountability.
Maestracci
said "I can
see that you
really don't
care about my
answer, you
just want to
ask another
question."
But it
was the same
question,
about
accountability
and the rule
of law. And
neither it nor
the factual
question of
whether the UN
will sent
anyone to the
October 23
court hearing
has been
answered.
On
October 8,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric if
the UN, which
has dodged
service of the
legal papers,
will at least
appear in
court. Video
here.
Dujarric said
the UN's legal
position
remains
unchanged.
Maestracci
repeated this
on October 9.
One might
assume it
means the UN
will ignore
the court
hearing. But
that would be
an assumption.
Also on
October 8, and
also on UN
impunity,
Inner City
Press asked
spokesman
Dujarric about
a detailed
report of
rapes in Haiti
by UN
peacekeepers,
for which the
UN also
refused to
waive
immunity.
Dujarric said
he hadn't
heard of it,
but would be
happy to look
for it -- it
is here.
We'll see.
Back on August
28, the
plaintiffs in
the Haiti
cholera case
against the
UN, Ban and
Mulet filed
their
sur-reply,
which Inner
City Press put
online here.
On
September 17,
the Institute
for Justice
&
Democracy in
Haiti held a
conference
call about the
status and
background of
the case.
IJDH's
executive
director Brian
Concannon said
that cholera
was introduced
to Haiti in
October 2010
by UN
peacekeepers.
Concannon said
the UN waited
15 months then
called the
claims "not
receivable" --
the same
phrase the UN
used as to
whistleblowers
in a belated
answer it sent
to Inner City
Press during
the IJDH call,
click
here for that.
He described
serving the
legal papers
on Ban Ki-moon
and Edmond
Mulet, the
head of the
MINUSTAH
mission (and,
also on
September 17,
briefing the
Security
Council about
peacekeepers
giving over
their weapons,
vehicles and
even uniforms
to the Jabhat
al Nusra
rebels in the
Golan Heights).
IJDH Legal
Fellow Shannon
Jonsson
described how
the UN failed
to provide any
out of court
process to
consider
claims, in
violation of
two treaties
(and the UN's
Status of
Forces
Agreement.)
Finally, IJDH
Staff Attorney
Beatrice
Lindstrom
described
broader
advocacy , in
Congress and
among UN
member states,
to get justice
for those
harmed by the
UN's
introduction
of cholera to
Haiti. She
quoted Martin
Luther King
that the arc
of history is
long but bends
toward
justice. There
will be an
upcoming
demonstration
at the UN's
logistics base
in Haiti.
We'll have
more on this.
The US'
15-page letter
cited in
support of UN
immunity the
case of
Cynthia Brzak,
regarding
sexual
harassment by
UNHCR's Ruud
Lubber, and a
letter to US
Ambassador
Samantha Power
from the UN's
counsel Miguel
de Serpa
Soares, which
Inner City
Press is
putting
online, here.
The US
letter to the
court is here.
Beyond
supporting
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
dodging the
service of
legal papers
-- on which
Ban's
spokespeople
have
themselves
dodged and
more --
the US letter
cited the UN -
Haiti program
on cholera on
which the UN's Pedro
Medrano has still to take Press questions.
The US letter
says, "The
General
Convention and
the SOFA
provide that
any dispute
between a
state party
and the UN
shall be
submitted to
the
International
Court of
Justice, see
General
Convention,
art. VIII, §
30; SOFA art.
VIII, § 58;
and the SOFA
provides that
any dispute
between
MINUTSAH [sic]
and the
Government of
Haiti shall be
submitted to
arbitration,
see SOFA art.
VIII, § 57."
So much for
"we the
peoples."
The
sur-reply
filed August
28 states that
"under the
doctrine
of unclean
hands, the
request for
immunity
should be
refused.
The Government
fails
to present any
response to
this
argument."
Back on May
15, opposition
to the US'
first
iteration of
its position
was filed,
with amicus
support from a
bevy of law
professors, an
ex judge of
the
International
Criminal
Tribunal for
the Former
Yugoslavia and
former UN
human rights
rapporteur on
torture
Manfred Nowak.
Nowak said,
"the UN needs
to understand
that immunity
cannot mean
impunity. If
it refuses to
provide people
alleging harm
with a path to
justice,
courts will
refuse to
uphold its
immunity.”
But then as
now, the UN
under
Ban Ki-moon
wouldn't even
bring its
envoy on
cholera Pedro
Medrano
forward for
questioning.
Inner City
Press has
asked, for
example on
April 21:
Inner
City Press: …
seemed to
quote Mr.
Medrano as
predicting in
advance that
this panel he
would be on
with the
Government may
provide
assistance,
but he said,
like, the word
“compensation”
won’t be used.
So I wanted to
know, is that
a UN position?
Is it his
prediction of
that the
Government
doesn’t want
the word
“compensation”
used? And is
there some way
that we can
have by video
or otherwise,
a kind of,
some kind of
presentation
by Mr.
Medrano?
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric:
Sure, on
Haiti, over
the weekend,
the terms of
reference on
this high
level
committee on
cholera, which
would be a UN
and Government
of Haiti
committee,
have been
officially
agreed on. And
the aim is
really for the
joint effort
of to fight
cholera
between the UN
and the
Government of
Haiti. The
Committee aims
at further
improving the
coordination
response to
the epidemic
and obviously
we expect to
have an
official
announcement
in the next
couple of
days. But this
is a very
important… the
establishment
of this
committee is a
very important
one in terms
of our
efforts, and
most
importantly
the Government
of Haiti’s
efforts, to
address not
only cholera
but also the
associated
water and
sanitation
issues....
Inner
City Press:
Just on
Medrano, I
will like to
say again if
you could do a
briefing in
this room it
would help.
Spokesman
Dujarric:
I hear you.
But did he?
There has
still been no
briefing. Members
of the US
Congress have
written to
State
Department
diplomats
about this
case in the
past. Based on
this letter,
will they do
so again?
As the first
US answer was
released,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon was
partying with
in-house
scribes,
most of whom
never pursued
this most
outrageous
case of UN
impunity, or
even asked if
Ban Ki-moon
like a scoff
law was hiding
from the
process
server.
Now
on July 8,
these same scribes
are offering
symbiosis,
bread and circuses,
or pretzels
and beer,
in the large
room Ban's UN
gives them,
usually
sitting empty
even
as the News
Agency of
Nigeria was
evicted due to
lack of space.
This is
today's UN.
Inner City
Press, having
twice asked
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokespeople
to confirm Ban
has been
served with
legal papers,
on
February
28 asked
about Gallon's
report:
Inner
City Press: on
Haiti, there
is a recent
report just
out by Gustavo
Gallón, who is
the UN
independent
expert on
human rights
in Haiti, and
he says, as a
direct quote,
that full
compensation
for the damage
suffered by
the Haitian
people by the
introduction
of cholera to
the island
should be paid
as quickly as
possible. So,
I understand
that he is an
independent
expert and
doesn’t work
for the
Secretariat;
at the same
time, it’s a
respected
position and a
mandate formed
by the Human
Rights
Council, so I
wanted to know
what in the
face of this
sort of either
intra-UN or
intra-UN
system
critique, what
is the
response of
the United
Nations?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: Well,
simply, that
you answered
the question
yourself. The
Human Rights
Council-appointed
special
rapporteurs
and other
special
advisers of
various kinds
are
independent
and they are
not appointed
by the
Secretary-General
and I don’t
have anything
further to say
on that.
Inner
City Press:
But does the
UN system
expect, for
example,
countries when
when they are
subject to
these type
recommendations
or criticism
by an
independent
experts of the
Human Rights
Council to
respond in
some way to
them to say:
we agree or
disagree, or
that is why we
disagree?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
That’s for
each
individual
Member State
to decide.
Ah,
leadership.
Meanwhile,
while the UN
has refused to
answer if Ban
was served the
court papers,
beyond this song,
Inner City
Press will now
publish the
sad litany of
attempts to
serve what
could be
described as a
scoff law:
On
December 19,
2013, at
approximately
3:11 PM, a
paralegal for
Plaintiffs’
counsel
contacted OLA
by telephone
and spoke to a
woman who
identified
herself as
“Mae” (who,
upon
information
and belief, is
Mae Arkoncel,
Assistant to
the UN Legal
Counsel). Mae
confirmed that
OLA had
received the
faxed
documents from
Plaintiffs’
counsel and
stated that
the UN was
currently
'reviewing the
documents'...
Service
of
process by
delivery to
Defendant Ban
personally
through the
use of a
private
process
server... was
attempted
again on
January 20,
2014, at
approximately
10:05 AM, at
Defendant
Ban’s
residence
located at
[redacted by
ICP]. A
security guard
informed the
server that
Defendant Ban
was not
present, and
refused to
open the door
or accept
service.
8.
Service of
process by
delivery to
Defendant Ban
personally
through the
use of a
private
process
server... was
perfected on
January 20,
2014, at
approximately
2:00 PM, at
Defendant’s
Ban residence
located at
[redacted by
ICP]. A male
who identified
himself as
'security'
answered the
door and
informed the
server that he
would not
accept service
and that
Defendant Ban
was not
present. The
server affixed
the process to
the front door
with masking
tape and
informed the
security guard
that he was
doing so with
the intention
that the
documents
would be
forwarded to
Defendant Ban.
The server
then mailed
another copy
of the process
to Defendant
Ban at the
same address.
That's
called
"nail-and-mail,"
and it's
what's used
with a
fugitive or
scoff law. Is
that what this
UN has become?
It's the basis
of this lyric,
can't serve
the papers up
in the
townhouse, song here.
Watch this
site.
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