At
UN,
President
of GA Deiss Has No Comment on Syria's Run for Human Rights
Council, Sha Zukang on Ban's Budget Cuts
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May
9 -- When the UN General Assembly voted on March 1 to
suspend Libya from the Human Rights Council, GA “President Joseph
Deiss agreed, emphasizing the importance of a strong Human Rights
Council whose members were committed to strengthening the protection
and promotion of fundamental rights — including by upholding the
highest standards and by 'proscribing double standards.'”
But
when in the
run up to the May 20 vote for new Human Rights Council members, with
Syria so far running without formal opposition for a seat, Inner City
Press asked Deiss' spokesman for his view, he said that Deiss will
have no comment until after the member states have spoken.
So
while Deiss
after the fact “agreed” with member states suspending Libya (and
before that, stripping the UN credentials Cote d'Ivoire / Laurent
Gbagbo Permanent Representative Djedje), in this case he claims he
cannot or will not speak in advance.
This
seems
to some
to be the very “double standards” decried by Deiss, or to reflect
that he waits to see which side wins, then he “agrees.”
Beyond
seeking
Deiss'
view, Inner City Press asked the PGA spokesman to describe the
process on and before May 20: how are write-in candidates considered,
when will it be known if another candidate will formally contest the
seat with Syria? These questions were not answered.
There
are
routine
complaints that the General Assembly, the so-called G-192, doesn't
get enough press coverage. But when its own President takes no
position, and his Office holds back from providing even logistical
information, is it any wonder?
Likewise,
at
another
UN press conference Monday morning about the Commission on
Sustainable Development, Inner City Press asked CSD chair
László
Borbélyn and Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General of the
Department
of Economic and Social Affairs why nearly all of the sessions of the
CSD in New York last week were “closed.”
The
response was
that while the press is excluded, otherwise representation is very
diverse. Reference was made to “civil society.” If other than
member states are allowed in, why not the press? Is sustainability so
secret?
Apparently
so:
Inner
City Press asked Sha Zukang about a company he praised in a
speech, Suntech, now bragging about a $180 million contract with UN
Peacekeeping. Mr. Sha said to ask Department of Management chief
Angela Kane or “Mr. Choi.” But which one? The head of Information
and Communications Technology or Ban Ki-moon's close ally Choi
Young-jin, currently at the UN Mission in Ivory Coast but soon, some
say, to leave?
Footnote:
Mr.
Sha
remains, however, a refreshingly independent thinker in the
UN system. Inner City Press asked him about Ban Ki-moon' proposed
budget cuts, and while saying as UNDER Secretary General he must
implement them, he said they are difficult, will involve cutting
staff, and one can only go so far. Watch this site.
* * *
At
UN,
Opposition
to
EU
Special Rights in GA Grows, CARICOM Memo
Obtained
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April
28,
updated
-- The European Union is again seeking to gain
“special rights” in the UN General Assembly, demanding action on
May 3, representatives of the Caribbean regional group CARICOM and
others have complained to Inner City Press.
Back
in
September
2010,
the
EU's first push failed. Inner City Press interviewed
diplomats outside of the General Assembly hall. Bolivia's Permanent
Representative, for example, said the EU had just pushed too hard,
too fast, without enough consultation.
This
appears
to
be
happening
again. On April 28, Inner City Press asked
the
spokesman
for
General
Assembly President Joseph Deiss of
Switzerland about the controversy:
Inner
City
Press:
I
have
heard there is an upcoming vote on this request by
the European Union for, I don’t know, some people call it special
status for the status of the General Assembly, and I wanted to know
is that true, when is it scheduled to be taken up by the General
Assembly and is it your understanding that CARICOM (Caribbean
Community) and other regional groups have agreed to this, or is
still, is Mr. Deiss involved in any way in trying to resolve this?
Where does it stand?
[The
UN
transcript was updated with this, also explained to Inner City
Press in person:
"The
Spokesperson
for
the President of the General Assembly later clarified
that as Agenda item 120, the draft resolution A/65/L.64/rev.1 sponsored
by Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom on
“Strengthening the United Nations system” and titled “Participation of
the European Union in the work of the United Nations General Assembly”
will be tabled to the General Assembly on 3 May 2011. In the
absence of President Deiss, the meeting will be chaired by Ambassador
Zahir Tanin, the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan, in his
capacity as Acting President of the General Assembly."
The
answer
given
at the noon briefing was:]
Spokesperson:
First,
Mr.
Deiss
is the guardian and implements strictly the
procedures of the General Assembly. He doesn’t go beyond that. He
does exactly what he has to do. With regard to this special status,
I think we have to leave it to where we left it, which is the vote
that was passed in the General Assembly when this question was
formally brought to the floor in a very official fashion. Whatever
will come next, or whatever is being discussed in the corridors, this
is still a matter of speculation.
And
it is being discussed in the
corridors. On April 25, an EU
diplomat told Inner City Press that the EU hoped
for adoption by
consensus of its draft resolution, A/65/L.64/Rev.1 on May 3, and that
the EU
“doesn't understand” the objections of CARICOM.
It
is not that
difficult to understand. Members of CARICOM held a meeting on April 27
with 18
other "like minded states" that have issues with the
current draft of the EU Resolution. The like minded group met at
Venezuela's mission and included states from Latin America, the
Pacific Islands, Middle East, South East Asia, and Eastern Europe.
On
April 29,
CARCIOM will meet with the African Group at its request to explain
its position and to gauge support for/opposition to the EU
Resolution.
Inner
City
Press
has
obtained
an “explanatory
memo”
by
CARICOM that
recounts the process.
Ban Ki-moon & Ashton, special EU rights not shown
Inner
City
Press
is publishing the memo (click here)
, 
