By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 2 --
How many
people have
been killed in
Syria? The
day after New
Years the UN
Office of the
High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights said
the figure has
reached
60,000.
A major UK
newspaper -- The
Independent --
said these
were "UN
figures."
Then
at the US
State
Department's
briefing,
spokesperson
Victoria
Nuland
said, "we've
seen this
report by UN
Rights
Commissioner
Navi
Pillay."
Not
so fast. The
number is from
an outside
contractor
chosen and
presumably
paid by the
OHCHR,
Benetech.
As Inner City
Press reported
earlier
in the day,
on Benetech's
website,
following the
only link
for "Human
Rights," there
are eight
funders
listed,
including the
National
Endowment for
Democracy and,
yes, the US
Department of
State.
Inner
City Press
immediately
asked Pillay's
spokesperson
Rupert
Colville
to
"please
describe when
and how it was
decided to
commission this
study, how
much was paid,
and how the
selection /
procurement
process
settled on
Benetech.
"And
please comment
on the idea
that choosing
a
firm which
lists the US
State
Department and
the National
Endowment
for Democracy
among its
eight funders
might call
into question
its
impartiality
or
objectivity."
One
would think
the UN's
Office of the
High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights
would answer
this question,
would want
to address
this question.
But
eight hours
later, no
response had
been received.
Inner
City Press
asked
Benetech, "how
was Benetech
selected to do
this
work? When?
Was there a
Request for
Proposals?
What other
work has
Benetech done
for the UN
system in the
past? Are the
eight funders
listed
Benetech's
only eight
funder? Eight
largest
funders?
"Were
these
all grants, or
payment for
work done?
Separately,
and if you
can say, is
Benetech
currently at
work on any
comparable
study,
whether for
example about
the DR Congo,
Sri Lanka,
Libya,
Colombia,
etc?"
The
question was
referred
around within
Benetech and
finally this
answer
arrived, from
Patrick Ball
of Benetech:
Subject:
Inner City
Press
questions
From: Patrick
Ball [at]
benetech.org
Date:
Wed, Jan 2,
2013 at 6:26
PM
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Cc: Megan
Price [at]
benetech.org,
Ann Harrison
[at]
benetech.org
Hello
Matthew, to
your
questions:
--
The Human
Rights Data
Analysis Group
(HRDAG) is the
part of
Benetech
that did this
report.
HRDAG's donors
are the Sigrid
Rausing Trust,
the Oak
Foundation, an
anonymous
private
foundation,
and the Open
Society
Foundations.
--
There are a
number of
smaller HRDAG
projects that
get
project-specific
funding, for
example our
work with the
Historical
Archive of the
National
Police in
Guatemala is
supported by
the
National
Endowment for
Democracy.
--
None of
HRDAG's (or
Benetech's)
donors knew of
this project
(except
OHCHR) knew of
this project
until today.
It has been
strictly
embargoed.
--
Other parts of
Benetech
receive
funding from
many other
places,
including the
Skoll
Foundation and
the Omidyar
Network; the
Department of
Education
supports the
Bookshare
project; the
MacArthur
Foundation,
the Department
of State, and
Radio Free
Asia support
the
Martus
project.
--
Yes, there was
an RFP for
this project.
For the
specific
selection
mechanism, you
should contact
OHCHR who can
provide the
details.
--
We have worked
for the UN
system as
individual
consultants
(via UNDP)
in several
capacities. I
spent most of
2010 designing
new
information
systems for
the MONUSCO
mission in the
DRC, for
example.
--
Perhaps more
relevantly,
we've provided
software and
statistical
support -- at
no cost, I
want to point
out -- to a
number of
UN-sponsored
truth
commissions,
most
importantly,
the Commission
for
Historical
Clarification
in Guatemala,
and to UN
criminal
tribunals,
including the
International
Criminal
Tribunal for
the Former
Yugoslavia.
--
Over the last
13 years,
we've done
analysis like
this for
projects in
Guatemala,
Peru, Kosovo,
Colombia, and
Timor-Leste...
There are a
few
ongoing
projects, but
they're
confidential
until we
release them.
The
detailed
answer is
appreciated.
Ball states
that "Yes,
there was
an RFP for
this project.
For the
specific
selection
mechanism, you
should contact
OHCHR who can
provide the
details."
But in the
eight hours
since OHCHR
was asked, on
the morning
they released
"their"
report, no
answer has
been provided.
Is
the "Data
Analysis
Group" really
so separate
that the US
State
Department /
Radio Free
Asia funding
is not
relevant?
Given the
issues at
stake here,
what of
OHCHR's
contractor
being funded
by an "
anonymous
private
foundation"?
And,
rather than
Benetech,
isn't it the
OHCHR and the
UN which
should be
answering
these
questions?
Watch this
site.
, 
