Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations

At UN After Group of Friends on Security Council Reform Meet, Tanin Just Laughs, No Probation

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 25 -- A sign outside Conference Room A in the UN's North Lawn building on Monday afternoon was the only clue: Group of Friends on Security Council Reform.

Inside President of the General Assembly Joseph Deiss heard from a range of Ambassadors. Outside when the meeting was over, Inner City Press observed the ambassadors Italy, Jamaica, India, South Africa, Liechtenstein and others.

Inner City Press asked Afghan Permanent Representative Tanin how the process was going and he just laughed. It is understood that the Group of 4, along with the so-called L-69 grouping, have collected 88 signatures for their brand of reform.

Amb. Tanin in the Security Council, reform not shown

It is implied that some of the G-4 are on a form of probation: that is they vote in certain ways it makes permanent seats less likely. But what then, one asks, would be the point of a permanent seat? To be continued.

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As Few Youth Speak at UN Youth Summit, from Mugabe to Maudet of Geneva

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 25 -- At the UN on Monday there was a lot of talk about youth, but not enough talk by young people themselves, at least not in the General Assembly. This was the assessment of the Swiss delegate Oliver Felix.

He told the Press that the outcome document of this High Level Meeting on Youth was agreed to in February, but that actual participation by young people in the event was less than it should be. He said that some of the substantive parts of the World Program for Action on Youth were being opposed the members of the Group of 77.

He was accompanied by the 33 year old mayor of Geneva Pierre Maudet, who began by noting the decidedly non-young participation of some heads of state, including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.

When Inner City Press asked for more about Mugabe, Maudet said it was not his place to judge, that the UN is like “une auberge Espanol” where you decide what to come look for, then find it.

Earlier, Inner City Press spoke with a youth delegate from South Africa in a less formal setting, who extolled the connections between studying chemical engineering and international politics. He had agreed to transport back home a suitcase full of the school books of a South African student at NYU, since they are needed back home.

The UN and these meetings, then, are different things to different people. Of the idea for a new UN Agency for Youth, Maudet was skeptical, calling it the bureaucratic (or “non-youth”) way of burying a problem in a new agency. One wondered what he'd think of the new UN Women.

Ban Ki-moon and Mugabe, previously, youth not shown

Inner City Press asked Maudet about Geneva's relations with the UN and its agencies. He said that it's in Geneva that “norms” are set, in telecommunications, commerce and health. He said Geneva is geographically small, and big businesses like Proctor & Gamble are moving in from London, with problems ranging from parking to affordable housing.

Maudet mentioned CERN's collider. Inner City Press asked if there's been any thought of an alliance of mayors of UN cities -- New York, Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, Addis Ababa, Bonn. Maudet said the idea exists and he's tried to reach out to New York, but Mr. Bloomberg is busy. What about his sister? Busy too, preparing the the 9-11-01 anniversary. Perhaps after that. We'll see.

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As UN Stalls on S. Kordofan Report, Request for Pillay Briefing in Security Council

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 25 -- With Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti now taking back his statement that Sudan would accept foreign troops in Southern Kordofan if the SPML-North agreed, in New York mid Monday the UN still had no comment, nor date on which its detailed report on human rights violations in Kordofan would be finalized. Click here to view the report, put online by Inner City Press last week.

Meanwhile in the Security Council, a request has been made for Navi Pillay, UN High Commission for Human Rights, to be the one to come brief the Council about Southern Kordofan on a day, not yet named, later this week. Her New York representative Ivan Simonovic has reported stopped short of supporting the reports recommendation for referral to the International Criminal Court.

Inner City Press on Monday as Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky if this is indeed Mr. Simonovic's position, and when the report will at least be finalized. On the latter, Nesirky did not know. On the former he said, “Ask Mr. Simonovic.”

On Friday July 22 Inner City Press had asked the UN's Nesirky:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask you a couple of things about South Kordofan. The Government is saying that it has arrested the JEM military commander for South Kordofan there. They’ve said that, which seems to confirm that JEM is fighting there. The Government has also released a report accusing NGOs of supporting the, quote, insurrection of Mr. [Al Hilu] and the SPLM-North, the the Denmark Ecclesiastical Organization and the Norway Ecclesiastical Organization. I wonder, does OCHA…what’s the UN say? It sounds like the UN is not able to monitor or report on Southern Kordofan, but it seems these NGOs are. What’s the UN saying about what’s taking place in Southern Kordofan?

Ban, Nesirky, Nambiar & Orr, action on UN inaction not shown

Spokesperson: Well, again, Matthew, we are not in a position to confirm the details, the first part of your question on a JEM commander for the reasons that we have explained before. We’re just simply not in a position to be able to confirm that at this point. We’ve also said repeatedly, that the United Nations system, from the Secretary-General down, is extremely concerned about what is happening in Kordofan, South Kordofan, and the reports that are emerging. That’s precisely why the Secretary-General believes that it is important to have access, for the international community to have access, and that includes international non-governmental organizations as well as United Nations agencies. That access is not available at the moment, certainly not to the extent that we need to be able to monitor and to be able to provide assistance to those who need it.

Inner City Press: Are the peacekeepers still there, have any actually been withdrawn?

Spokesperson Nesirky: I do not know the details of how many remain, how many have withdrawn already. I’ll see if I can get some details on that.

Three days later, no details have been provided.

Footnote: even in South Sudan, where the UN has a mission UNMISS, the UN on Monday had nothing to say, and could not described any action on the killing of South Sudan rebel Gatluak Gai. A Security Council member asked about it by Inner City Press said this will be a test case. In Southern Kordofan, beyond the NCP it seems the UN is failing the test.

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Sudan Slaughter of 150 Nubans Frozen in UN Edit Room, Rudderless Peacekeeping

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 21 -- While the UN holds a report that that one of its staff members in Sudan saw the piled corpses of 150 people of Nuban descent in South Kordofan, it insists that because the report is a “leaked draft,” it cannot or will not take action on its yet.

On July 21, the day after Inner City Press put the full report online, it asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky about this paragraph:

28. An UNMIS staff member who was detained by SAF at their military facility in Umbattah Locality reported during his detention, that he saw over an estimated 150 dead bodies of persons of Nuban descent scattered on the grounds of the military compound. Some of the bodies appeared to have bullet wounds and he reported a large quantity of blood on the ground. He reported a SAF soldier told them that they had all been shot dead.

But Nesirky cut Inner City Press off in the middle of the paragraph, to insist this is only a draft. From the UN's July 21 transcript:

Inner City Press: I am still looking at this report that was put out by the human rights component of UNMIS [United Nations Mission in Sudan]. One of the many things said in it is that --

Spokesperson Nesirky: Let’s just roll back a bit, and I am sorry to interrupt you, but it is not a report that has been put out by UNMIS, it is an as yet un-finalized report that was leaked. So let’s get the context correct.

Inner City Press: Let’s say this: the leaked report says that an UNMIS staff member witnessed 150 dead bodies of Nuban descent in a military facility in Sudan. So, my question is, even though it’s a leaked report, it seems to be such a serious allegation that it seems strange that the UN would say, we’re going to wait two weeks to finalize it. What is being done, since that 150 dead bodies was witnessed by a UN staff member? What actions have been taken, even while the actual document itself is being finalized?

Spokesperson Nesirky: I am sure that the relevant people, and you’ve heard Ivan Simonovic speaking on this topic, will have been seeking to follow up on it. And as you heard Mr. Simonovic say, there are efforts to gain access, so that there can be the kind of follow-up that you are talking about. And if Mr. Simonovic has any further follow-up on that, then obviously I’d let you know.

Question: And just one more on peacekeeping. Today at the stakeout, Mr. Le Roy said that he’s leaving on 10 August. So that seems to be coming up pretty quickly. Without, I guess, getting into the names, is there are going to be a new Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations on 10 August, or when is the process thought to come to a conclusion? Is there a shortlist, et cetera?

Spokesperson Nesirky: I would doubt that there would be a new Under-Secretary-General in place to take over the day after Mr. Le Roy leaves office. Obviously there are, there is an established procedure for having an officer-in-charge until a new Under-Secretary-General is appointed. And when we get to that stage, an announcement will be made.

At the Security Council stakeout on July 21, Le Roy told Inner City Press that the report would not be finalized by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations until two weeks after Mr. Simonovic spoke to the press last week. That would be the day after Le Roy's final press conference, and just before he leaves with no successor in place.

Meanwhile, as to the future in Southern Kordofan, Inner City Press asked Nesirky:

Inner City Press: there has been this quote by the Foreign Minister of Sudan, Ali Karti, that there is an openness on the part of Khartoum to, quote, “foreign troops” in Southern Kordofan. Has the UN been informed of that? What does the UN think of that statement?

Spokesperson: We are certainly aware of the statement, and we’re following up with the Sudanese authorities to try to understand in greater detail what that means.

But who in the UN is following up with what Sudanese authorities? Watch this site.

Click for July 7, 11 BloggingHeads.tv re Sudan, Libya, Syria, flotilla

Click for Mar 1, '11 BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption

These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund. Video Analysis here

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

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