UN
Ignores
Corruption at
UNMAS in
Somalia &
In-House, Sri
Lanka
Intimidation
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 3 --
In its race
for relevance
on Syria, the
UN on
Tuesday
canceled its
normal noon
briefing in
deference to a
staged
"Press
Encounter" by
Ban
Ki-moon at
which he took
only two
questions,
both on Syria.
The
UN spends most
of its
multi-billion
dollar budget
in Africa, but
the
Continent gets
dropped like a
hot potato (or
yam) the
moment Ban
Ki-moon sees a
change to be
relevant on a
more telegenic
issue.
The
irony is that
during the US
Senate Foreign
Relations
Committee
hearing on
Tuesday, the
UN barely came
up and when it
did, US
Secretary of
State
John Kerry was
dismissive of
Ban's chemical
weapons
investigation
and its
mandate (which
the US helped
to limit).
On
Africa -- DRC
and Somalia --
Sri Lanka,
access and
lack of
transparency,
Inner City
Press
submitted some
questions to
Ban's two
top
spokespeople
at 12:30 pm on
Tuesday, a
half hour
before Ban's
short press
encounter,
including:
1)
please
provide an
update on
fighting and
any UN /
MONUSCO
involvement
including as
supporter in
Kibumba or
Mabenga or
elsewhere in
North
Kivu.
2)
is
UN country
team aware of,
and what is UN
doing about,
report of
Sri
Lanka
government
harassment of
those who met
or tried to
meet
with UN High
Commissioner
Pillay,
including but
not limited to
Veerasan
Yogeswaran,
who runs the
Centre for
Promotion and
Protection of
Human
Rights, said
five or six
plainclothes
policemen
visited him at
midnight and
before dawn at
his home in
Trincomalee,
just hours
after
the meeting
with Pillay.
3)
please
state the
status of the
UNOPS
investigation
into
complaints
about lack of
impartiality,
sexual
harassment etc
at UN Mine
Action
Service and
other UN in
Mogadishu, and
the current
status of
David
Bax. [Redacted
for now]
4)
As
brought up in
the
most recent
briefing based
on NYT
profile,
please provide
a list of the
S-G's golfing
partners in
the past year
who are
diplomats,
and,
separately, a
summary of
issues
discussed.
Reiterating
unanswered
questions,
such as on
whether Jarba's
appearance was
properly
called a "UN
briefing,"
etc.
The
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
opposes the
cancellation
of the daily
noon briefing,
particularly
for a short
media
encounter on a
single
subject. Other
questions,
particularly
on the DRC and
Great Lakes,
should be
answered.
By
the end of the
day -- in
fact, by 7:30
pm on Tuesday
-- only one of
the questions
had been
answered, and
thusly:
Subject:
Your
question on
the DRC
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at]
un.org
Date: Tue, Sep
3, 2013 at
3:11 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
your
question on
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo: The
UN Mission
in the
Democratic
Republic of
Congo
(MONUSCO)
reports no
major
fighting in
the past few
hours between
the M23 and
the Congolese
Armed Forces
(FARDC) in
North Kivu
province. The
mission is
closely
monitoring the
situation and
remain on high
alert to
protect
civilians.
We'll
return to
this. But what
about Sri
Lanka? What
about Somalia?
What
about access
to Ban, and
the faux "UN
briefing,"
etc? Watch
this site.
, 
