On Sri
Lanka, UN Pays
Petrie
Part-Time, No
Review of
Others'
Payments?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 19 --
In September
2011, UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
announced that
the UN's acts
and omissions
during the
killing of
thousands of
civilians in
Sri Lanka in
2009 would be
investigated
by UN
official
Thoraya Obaid
who
would issue a
report in four
months time.
Nine
months later,
no report had
been issued.
Inner City
Press asked
why not. Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
said for the
first time
that Obaid had
not been able
to do the
report, but
that another
on-again
off-again UN
official, Charles
Petrie,
was now on the
case and would
issue a report
shortly.
While
Inner City
Press has
heard that the
report is
finished --
being buried?
-- it has not
been released.
And Inner City
Press learned
that Petrie
has another
job, with the
Norway
government
funded Myanmar
Peace Support
Initiative
(MPSI), which
is also
controversial.
It
made Inner
City Press
wonder: how
could Petrie
do two jobs at
once? How he
work for the
UN and,
essentially,
for the
Norwegian
government at
the same time,
in seeming
violation of
Article 100 of
the UN
Charter?
Inner City
Press first
wrote about
this; then
when the Irrawaddy
asked Petrie
he answered
that he
supervised
three other UN
officials --
which ones?
Were they
full time? --
and was paid
"When Actually
Employed."
This has been
noted in Sri
Lanka's Nation
on Sunday
and Daily
Mirror.
Inner
City Press
asked, on October 11
and then again
on October 12:
Inner
City Press:
Something I
have been
looking more
into what I
asked you
about
yesterday,
this
Norwegian-Myanmar
peace
initiative.
There is
controversy
around it,
about whether
it should
continue to
fund the
project when
some are
saying it’s
sort of taking
sides within
the Karen
area. What’s
the role of
the UN in this
project, and
what is
Charles
Petrie’s
status with
the UN? Is
there a
precedent for
working for
the aid
initiative of
a Government
and also being
a UN official
at the same
time?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: I
think I
addressed this
yesterday and
if I have
anything
further, I
will let you
know.
Inner
City Press:
No. I guess
you said he is
still ongoing.
That implies
to me he is
still working
for the UN,
but he is also
working for
the Government
of Norway. So
how is that
consistent
with Article
100 of the
Charter?
Spokesperson:
As I said to
you, I did go
into this
yesterday. If
I have
anything
further, then
I will let you
know.
For
nearly a week,
Inner City
Press heard
nothing back.
Then on the
evening of
October 18,
the UN
Spokesperson's
office sent
this:
Subject:
Your
question on
Charles
Petrie.
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Thu, Oct
18, 2012 at
7:40 PM
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Mr.
Petrie was
appointed by
the
Secretary-General
to undertake
an internal
review of UN
actions in the
final stages
and aftermath
of the
conflict in
Sri Lanka, a
review
recommended by
the
Secretary-General's
Panel of
Experts on
Accountability
in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Petrie
agreed to
conduct this
internal
review on a
part-time
basis, with
the
understanding
that he would
continue to
serve on a
part-time
basis as
Coordinator of
the
Norwegian-led
Myanmar Peace
Support
Initiative.
Under
the terms of
his contract,
Mr. Petrie is
employed part
time - on a
"when actually
employed"
basis - as a
United Nations
staff member.
Accordingly,
the
Organization’s
Staff
Regulations
and Staff
Rules are
applicable
only during
the days of
his service.
When he is
actually
employed by
the UN, he is
not performing
other
functions.
There
remains a
problem with
this formal
answer -- it
implies that
as long as a
person doing
work for the
UN is called
"When Actually
Employed" --
even if
reviewing the
UN's own
inaction
during a
country's
presumptive
war crimes --
there is NO
review by the
UN of possible
conflicts of
interest in
the person's
other work.
That is, by
this logic,
the person
could be
employed by
the country
itself, during
the days or
hours the UN
is not paying
him.
Beyond
this
structural
problem, more
concretely and
pressingly,
where is the
report on the
UN in Sri
Lanka? Watch
this site.
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