UNITED
NATIONS, June
13 -- For the
Syria death
toll study
released
today,
how did the UN
Office of the
High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights
select the San
Francisco-based
Human Rights
Data Analysis
Group,
which receives
its grants
through a
fiscal
conduit, does
not list a
phone number
on its website
and is funded
by an
"anonymous
US-based
private
foundation"?
Inner
City Press
asked OHCHR,
including in
light of its answers
in January
about the
first study by
Benetech which
listed the US
National
Endowment for
Democracy
among its
funders.
Quickly
quickly, OHCHR
spokesperson
Rupert
Colville has
responded,
comparing
HRDAG to
Benetech:
From:
Rupert
Colville [at]
ohchr.org
Date: Thu, Jun
13, 2013 at
9:31
AM
Subject: Re:
Hi, Press Q on
HRDAG, how
selected, etc,
To:
Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
They
are now a
separate
non-profit
organization,
and they very
kindly
agreed to do
it pro bono
this time
round. Why we
chose them is
very
simple and
very obvious:
they are one
of the leading
groups of
experts in a
very small,
highly
specialized,
field. Some of
their
key people
have more than
20 years'
experience in
doing this
type of
analysis of
casualties in
conflicts, and
other human
rights related
data. They are
also well
known to the
UN, having
worked on
several
important
projects in
the past. They
have also done
work for truth
and
reconciliation
commissions,
and
international
and domestic
criminal
tribunals,
among others.
When
it comes to
Syria, they
now have very
specialized
capabilities
indeed, given
the large
amount of
input from a
Syrian
language
expert
into the
technical
efforts and
computer
programming
designed to
ensure there
is no double
counting,
mistaking of
names etc.
So
the criteria
for choosing
HRDAG were
experience,
expertise and
credibility --
and, of
course,
availability.
The
individuals
working
with HRDAG
have
considerable
experience and
expertise in
this type of
work. Re
funding: we do
not have
concerns about
the fact that
HRDAG
has other
sources of
funding -- as
you must be
aware by now,
that is
totally normal
for most
non-profit
organizations
and NGOs with
whom
we, and many
other UN
organizations,
work on a
regular basis.
But
what about the
anonymous
US-based
private
foundation?
And how does
OHCHR
memorialize
any of this
selection
process if
there is "no
contract"? Is
there at least
a letter of
some kind and
can it be
disclosed?
Since
without a
contract or
documented
selection
process etc
the HRDAG
report was put
on the OHCHR's
web site and
is being
described as a
UN
report, would
you put up a
study
submitted by
another
(non-US-based)
NGO? What
would the
process be?
Does OHCHR
know who the
anonymous
US-based donor
paying for
this work is?
If so, will
OHCHR disclose
the identity?
If not, why
not? OHCHR has
been asked.
Watch this
site.
, 
