Ban
Son in Law,
Seeking UN
Job, Writes on
Syria &
SC,
UNCA Asked to
Stop ICP
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 7 --
It could have
passed as
simple good
intentions
when an opinion
piece appeared
on Forbes.com
yesterday
asking "why
has the
well-being of
the children
of Syria
fallen into
the periphery
of the United
Nations (UN)
Security
Council's
consciousness?"
But
the author
is the son in
law of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, who
is
not in the
business of
criticizing
the Security
Council,
particularly
its Permanent
Five members.
And
the son in
law, Siddarth
Chatterjee is
as Inner City
Press got
confirmed
last week
(and see
below)
re-entering
employment in
the UN system,
as the
nominated
country
representative
to Kenya of
the UN
Population
Fund,
UNFPA. Is this
appropriate?
Inner
City Press
previously dug
into Chatterjee
being hired by
UN official
Staffan de
Mistura
then by
the UN Office
of Project
Services
in
Denmark,
questioning
whether these
promotions
created the
perception
of nepotism
and were, on
balance, good
or bad for the
UN.
When
Inner City
Press'
reporting was
picked up in
the media of
Chatterjee's
native India,
Chatterjee
demanded and
obtained the
take-down of
that story,
and asked the
Indian
reporter to
urge Inner
City Press to
take its
reporting off
the Internet.
Inner City
Press
refused.
After
that, Inner
City Press
reported on
war crimes by
Sri Lanka's
government,
then the conflict
of interest of
the United
Nations
Correspondents
Association
screening
inside the UN
the
government's
denial
after UNCA's
president
rented one of
his Manhattan
apartments
to Sri Lanka's
ambassador.
Sri
Lanka wrote to
UNCA
complaining
about
Inner City
Press. UNCA
"leaders"
demanded that
the article
be taken off
the Internet.
Inner City
Press refused,
offering to
publish any
response (none
was
submitted).
Jump
cut to today:
a supporter of
Chatterjee has
written to
none other
than what has
become, under
Ban, the UN's
Censorship
Alliance,
UNCA,
its president
Pamela Falk of
CBS and first
vice president
Louis
Charbonneau of
Reuters,
attaching
Chatterjee's
Forbes
article,
criticizing
Inner City
Press'
reporting on
nepotism,
criticizing
the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
and asking
them to "stop"
it.
Make
it stop how?
Previously, UNCA
"leaders" met
with UN
accreditation
officials
asking them to
throw
Inner City
Press out.
Charbonneau
did
this directly,
to the
personal
non-UN email
address of the
UN's top
accreditation
official,
saying if he
didn't throw
Inner City
Press
out of the UN,
Charbonneau
-- who already
spied for the
UN --
might
himself leave
the UN.
After
that threat,
Charbonneau
and Reuters
were linked by
MediaBistro
with
counterfeit
social media
accounts
impersonating
Inner City
Press, the
type of
trolling
previously
raised to Pam
Falk as UNCA
president back
in February
2013 without
any action
being taken. On the
record audio
here, here
and here.
The UNCA-link
trolling
continued even
on
November 27,
2013, the day
before this
Thanksgiving.
Falk
now stands
without any
competition to
continue
"leading"
this UNCA. She
has defended
accepting for
UNCA a
television
from
Samsung --
heck, the UN
itself told
her there's no
conflict of
interest.
Chatterjee's
own
Forbes bio
cites his
service in the
Indian Army's
Special Forces.
Did this
involve Sri
Lanka, and
killings of
Tamils in the
north? Yes it
did - but
that's another
story.
For
now: when
there is
reporting
about nepotism
concerning Ban
Ki-moon
and his son in
law
Chatterjee,
the supporters
of Chatterjee
(or Ban)
run to the UN
Correspondents
Association
asking them to
"stop"
Inner City
Press. That's
why it's now
called the
UN's
Censorship
Alliance.
Watch this
site.
Here
are the
questions
Inner City
Press has put
to the two top
spokespeople
at UNFPA:
This
is
a request for
UNFPA to
confirm or
deny that
Siddhartha
Chatterjee
has been
selected "as
the new head
of the United
Nations
Population
Fund in
Kenya."
If
so,
please confirm
or deny that
the government
of Kenya has
"delayed
accept[ing]
the
appointment"
and describe
how that
acceptance
process works,
what has
happened so
far and where
it stands.
Also,
please
describe in
detail the
recruitment
and selection
process for
the position
and how the
son in law of
the UN
Secretary
General was
selected, and
please comment
on those who
see the
potential for
nepotism or
favoritism.
The
response,
published in
fairness in full:
Subject:
Re:
Press
questions
about UNFPA,
Siddhartha
Chatterjee and
Kenya, on
deadline,
thanks
From: Omar
Gharzeddine
[at] unfpa.org
Date:
Wed, Dec 4,
2013
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
InnerCityPress.com
Cc:
kibel [at]
unfpa.org,
FUNCA [at[
funca.info
Dear
Mr.
Lee,
Thank
you
for your
message.
Mr.
Siddhart
Chatterjee was
indeed
selected to be
the UNFPA’s
incoming
Kenya
Representative.
This
selection
was conducted
following
established
recruitment
policies
and
procedures.
Mr. Chatterjee
was the
candidate who
emerged as the
most suitable
for the
position,
based on his
qualifications
and vast
experience in
his own
country,
within the
United Nations
-- which he
first joined
in 1997 -- and
with other
reputable
international
organizations.
UNFPA
has
completed its
recruitment.
Acceptance of
such
appointments
is the
preserve of
the Kenyan
Government,
which is
working on the
clearance
process.
As
mentioned
above, the
recruitment
followed
established
policies and
procedures.
That included
advertising
the post
online and in
international
publications,
such as the
Economist.
Working with
an
independent
external
head-hunting
agency,
several
candidates
were
then
interviewed by
a panel, which
recommended
the most
suitable
candidate for
the job.
Best
regards.
Omar
Gharzeddine
UNFPA