UNITED
NATIONS, March
18 -- With the
UN's envoy to
Afghanistan
Jan Kubis in
New York for
tomorrow's
Security
Council
debate, Inner
City Press
asked him
about UNAMA's
impartiality,
action if any
on the murder
of
UN staff
member Louis
Maxwell by
Afghan
National
Forces, and
corruption in
the UN's Law
and Order
Trust Fund for
Afghanistan.
Video
here.
Contrary
to
analysis only
on March 12 at
Chatham House
in London,
Kubis
claimed that
the UN is
views as
impartial. He
acknowledged
that the
UN is seem as
close to the
NATO forces,
saying the
Afghans “blame
us for certain
deficiencies
and problems.”
On
the corruption
found in LOTFA
-- Inner City
Press last
year published
a series of
damning
internal
audits it
obtained from
whistleblowers
-- Kubis said
to check with
UNDP. He said
they took it
serious,
because the UN
wants to work
not only in
Afghanistan
but more
globally.
“We
cannot be
preaching
something and
doing
something
different,”
Kubis
said.
But
isn't that
exactly what
the UN did
when it
dismissed
claims
it brought
cholera to
Haiti, saying
after 15
months of
silence that
the claims
were “not
receivable”?
How can
the UN preach
the rule
of law and
accountability
after that?
Kubis
was asked if
it is true
that he is a
candidate to
succeed Ban
Ki-moon
as Secretary
General. “Too
early to say,”
he replied. Video here,
at end.
But
perhaps as a
test, what has
he done about
the murder of
UN Security
hero Louis
Maxell, who
defended other
staff during
an attack on a
UN
guest house in
Kabul, only to
be killed by
Afghan
National
Forces?
Kubis
answered, “we
are asking
questions,
unfortunately
we are not
getting any
more specific
information. I
would say our
partners
consider it
closed. Now
and then we
will be
raising this.”
Is that
enough? Watch
this site.
Footnote:
Kubis'
appearance was
one in a
series of on
the record
"brown bag"
sessions set
up by the
Department of
Public
Information.
These are
appreciated,
but do no make
up for the
failure to
have top UN
Peacekeeping
official Herve
Ladsous answer
questions
raised (video
here),
or not dole
out half-answers
to friendlier
media who
never asked
them.
Nor do they
make up for DPI's
Media
Accreditation
chief's own
false
complaint
about quoting
UNCA's Pamela
Falk and Louis
Charbonneau
at a session
where Inner
City Press
said, "you are
on the record"
and Falk said,
"he's going to
write this
up." We will
continue on
this.
, 
