By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 14 --
At Thursday's
UN noon
briefing,
simple
questions were
asked but were
not answered.
Referring to
the Haiti
cholera
lawsuit
against the UN,
Inner City
Press asked if
any UN
Peacekeeping
mission has in
fact
established
one of the
Standing
Claims
Commissions
provided for
in their
Status of
Forces
Agreements.
UN
acting deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
said that
actually
setting these
up depends on
the request of
the mission's
host
government.
But that not
only ignores
the power
relations, it
does not
answer the yes
or no
question: has
any Standing
Claims
Commissions
been set up?
Haq
referred to
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations.
But its chief
Herve Ladsous
has refused to
answer basic
Press
questions,
such as about
the 135 rapes
at Minova by
DPKO's
partners in
the Congolese
Army. Video
here, UK
coverage here.
So when will
this simple
question be
answered?
Likewise,
Haq
was asked for
a
comprehensive
list of UN
Under
Secretaries
Generals and
Assistant
Secretaries
General. He
said these are
announced. But
Inner City
Press asked,
what about
long-standing,
part-time
officials?
Where is the
list?
As a
follow up,
Inner City
Press asked
Haq for the UN
Secretariat's
response to
criticism of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
seeking to
move his close
associate
Robert Orr
from an ASG
position
funded by used
portions of
other empty
budget lines
to a new USG
position,
while seeking
cuts
elsewhere.
Haq
didn't provide
a defense of
this, other
than saying
that any new
position is up
to the General
Assembly and
if created
would be
recruited for
in an open and
transparent
process. An
example of why
some doubt
that is the
refusal to
answer simple
questions
like: does any
DPKO
Peacekeeping
Mission have a
Standing
Claims
Commission?
That should be
answered.
Footnote:
after
Inner City
Press asked
about Haiti
cholera,
including
Stephen Lewis'
statement that
the UN should
admit
responsibility
and try to
make victims
whole, Pamela
Falk the
president of
UNCA, now
known as the
UN's
Censorship
Alliance,
jumped onto
the topic in
essence to
help the UN
out.
She
said that Haq
has been open,
and raised a
reason why the
UN might still
not be
screening
peacekeepers
for cholera
before
deployment:
the World
Health
Organization.
What was the
purpose of
such a
question?
Especially
after when the
UN
mis-answered
Inner City
Press'
first question
on this,
saying that
the UN does
not screen,
then admitted
that it
doesn't
only when
Inner City
Press asked
again. Open?
Keep an eye
out for that
hard-hitting
coverage --
not.
, 
