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After Myanmar “Sick Joke” on Political Prisoners, UN Nambiar Won't Take Questions

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 19 -- Since his return from Myanmar, UN envoy Vijay Nambiar has been asked to take questions from the press about his itinerary and statement there, which has been criticized by human rights groups and others.

  But the UN has insisted that Nambiar will not speak with the press, only with the so-called Group of Friends on Myanmar and, behind closed doors, with the Security Council.

  When UN envoys and officials return come to report to the Security Council, they often take questions from the press, at the UN TV stakeout or, still on the record, in the hall outside the Council.

 Valerie Amos does it on camera, as does Staffan de Mistura, envoy to Kabul. Even Terje Roed Larsen spoke on the record earlier this month, as did Lamberto Zannier, envoy to Kosovo. So why not Nambiar, who doubles as Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff?

On May 17, Inner City Press asked Ban spokesman Martin Nesikry about this:

Inner City Press: Myanmar, since the visit by the Special Adviser and Chief of Staff, Mr. Nambiar, announced a one-year reduction in the prison terms of some prisoners and the release of prisoners that some are calling just the common criminals and that prisoners are staying in. Human Rights Watch has called it, quote, a sick joke. And I am wondering what the UN calls these moves? If they are encouraging, if they are… what’s the UN’s statement on this?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, we’ve obviously seen the reports on this announcement by the Myanmar authorities. The exact scope of what has been announced remains unclear to us so far. What Mr. Nambiar, the Special Adviser, said during his recent visit was that all political prisoners needed to be released, and he stated that publicly and repeatedly in his meetings with officials in Myanmar. Clearly, we would hope that the measures taken by the Myanmar authorities would be consistent both with the new Government’s recent commitments and, importantly, the expectations of the international community.

Inner City Press: Just one follow-up on that. The director of Human Rights Watch has said that, has criticized Mr. Nambiar publicly for not raising the issue of accountability, i.e., a commission of inquiry or the thing that’s been, that event the Special Rapporteur called for, and I wonder, one, if there is a response by Mr. Nambiar? If he will give a briefing and if you could give a readout on the meeting of the Secretary-General with the Director of Human Rights Watch on Friday? Whether this issue was raised and whether Sri Lanka was raised, as well?

Spokesperson: On the latter, no, we will not give a readout on that meeting.

Nambiar last time, Press excluded, new request not shown

They did meet, as the Secretary-General does with representatives of leading non-governmental organizations at various stages. On the first part of the question, as I think you know, Mr. Nambiar is expected to brief Security Council members at some point, and probably the Group of Friends as well, at some point; not yet sure exactly when. And I am sure, however, that as a result of those meetings there will be a little bit more detail about the visit. I don’t have that detail at the moment, including the answer to the question about accountability, although you did ask me about that already — I can’t remember exactly when it was — and as I mentioned, the fact that it’s not explicitly stated in the statement, the press statement that Mr. Nambiar issued and read out, doesn’t necessarily mean that topics were not raised just because they were not mentioned in the statement.

  But why not have Nambiar take a question or two to clarify or amplify his statement? On May 18 Inner City Press asked, “it was the Secretary-General who said he encouraged his highest officials to be accessible to the media to describe the work of the agency. And if his own Chief of Staff is unwilling to do it on a trip he just made to Myanmar, what does it say?”

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