At
UN, With Asbestos Unsealed in Library, Interpreters Fight UN Capital
Master Plan
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS, May 28 -- At the UN, asbestos removal has begun in
Headquarters library, with doors unsealed between the asbestos and
where UN staff are working. While experts tell Inner City Press these
conditions would not be accepted anywhere else in New York, or the
United States, since the UN is international territory, the proximity
of asbestos and unprotected workers has taken place this week.
In a
closed door meeting with UN interpreters concerned about conditions,
the UN's and its contractors' defense is that workers are protected
by "negative pressure." Some predict a boomerang-ing of
this negative pressure against the asbestos removal.
It
is part of the UN's Capital Master Plan, whose director Michael
Adlerstein reported met last week with UN interpreters who are
worried about working in the Security Council once the rest of the
building is emptied out and the asbestos work is going on. The UN's
asbestos contractor, ATC
Associates which, as Inner City Press
exclusively reported, has been hit for Clean Air Act violations,
sent
a representative named Roney Rivero to the meeting, who is reported
to have said there is no link between asbestos and cancer, while
speaking of negative pressure.
One
interpreter who works in the Security Council, speaking on condition
of anonymity due to fear of UN retaliation, predicted that while for
now UN staff are subjected to asbestos, when it becomes clear to the
member states' Permanent Representatives who serve on the Security
Council, especially the Permanent Five, how the abatement and removal
are being done, "there will be big changes. Even though we're
there more than the Perm Reps, they're more sensitive, you know."
Meanwhile
in the UN Library, where staff continues to work, asbestos removal
has been done on the first and second floors, where the UN Staff
Union complains that the abatement equipment remains stored, and
where, they say, there is a film of dust on many surfaces. Asbestos
work is slated for the third floor of the library this coming
weekend.
Entrance to UN Libary, notice says "Call 311," the City of New York's #
At
the UN's noon briefing on May 28, Inner City Press asked Deputy
Spokesperson Marie Okabe for the UN's response to its staff's concern
about safety. Ms. Okabe said that Adlerstein and the UN have "every
confidence" in those doing the work, despite the
asbestos
litigation against both ATC and general contractor Skanska. She
said
Adlerstein would hold a Town Hall meeting with staff on May 29. Video
here,
from Minute 15:33.
At
his last "Town Hall" meeting, Adlerstein's spokesman had
Inner City Press removed from the meeting, saying it was closed to
Press coverage. After the meeting was over, Adlerstein said that the
next Town Hall, Inner City Press could attend. We'll see.
Earlier,
CMP's Adlerstein had claimed that asbestos related charges against
the UN's general contractor, Skanska, has all been dropped. Later he
conceded that a civil case remains ongoing against Skanska, from
alleged deficiencies in asbestos work on a courthouse in California.
Adlerstein also acknowledged that people injured by asbestos or
Skanska will not be able to sue in U.S. court, but only to arbitrate.
Could that explain the lax practices exhibited in the UN library this
week?
At
UN, Draft Resolution on North Korea Leaked to Inner City Press,
Paragraph 8 Discussed
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS, May 28 -- Five days after North Korea conducted an
underground nuclear test, a draft
resolution emerged behind closed
doors at the UN Security Council. The three-page
draft, a copy of
which Inner City Press has exclusively obtained and puts online here,
has 14 operative paragraphs, one of which, Paragraph 8, is still
subject to discussion.
Paragraph
6, for example, calls on "all Member States immediately to
enforce the measures that were put in place by resolution 1718
(2006)" and in the Presidential Statement earlier this year,
after North Korea's launch of a rocket that it called a satellite.
Paragraph 2 "demands that [North Korea] not conduct any further
nuclear test or launch."
While
the draft resolution seems unlikely to change North Korea's course,
it has been the subject of intense journalistic interest at the UN in
New York, particularly by Japanese media, who have remained camped
out in front of the Security Council during meetings on Abkhazia,
Somalia, and on May 28, Bosnia and the Congo.
Japan's Amb. Takasu and media scrum, draft
resolution not shown
On May 27, wire
service
stories were published quoting an anonymous
"UN" diplomat that there was an agreement in
principle but that no draft would be circulated until next week.
On
the morning of May 28, Inner City
Press obtained the draft resolution
that, as a must-credit exclusive, it puts online here, and in text
version below. Watch this
site.
As
obtained by InnerCityPress.com
May 28, 09
----------------------
The Security Council,
Recalling its previous relevant
resolutions, including resolution 825 (1993), resolution 1540 (2004),
resolution 1695 (2006) and, in particular, resolution 1718 (2006), as
well as the statement of its President of 13 April 2009 (S/PRST/2009/7),
Reaffirming that proliferation of
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as their means of
delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security,
Expressing the gravest concern at the test of a nuclear weapon by the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 25 May 2006 (local
time) in flagrant violation of resolution 1718 (2006), and at the
challenge such a test constitutes to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons and to international efforts aimed at strengthening the
global regime of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons towards the 2010
NPT Review conference, and the danger it poses to peace and stability
in the region and beyond,
Stressing its collective support
for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and
commitment to strengthen the Treaty in all its aspects, and recalling
that the DPRK cannot have the status of a nuclear-weapon state in
accordance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
in any case;
Deploring the DPRK's announcement
of withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons and its pursuit of nuclear weapons,
Noting the effective recording of
the 25 May 2009 nuclear test by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Organization's global network of monitoring situations,
Reaffirming its endorsement of the
Joint Statement issued on 19 September 2005 by
China, the DPRK, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation
and the United States,
Underlining once
again the importance that the DPRK respond to other security and
humanitarian concerns of the international community, including the
abduction issue,
Underlining also that measures
taken under this resolution should not adversely affect innocent
residents of the DPRK,
Expressing its gravest concern that
the nuclear test by the DPRK has further generated increased tension in
the region and beyond, and determining therefore that there continues
to exist a clear threat to international peace and security,
Regretting the failure of the DPRK
to report on its implementation of the obligations pursuant to
resolution 1540 (2004),
Acting under
Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,
1. Condemns in the
strongest terms the nuclear test conducted by the DPRK on 25 May 2009
(local time) in flagrant violation and disregard of its relevant
resolutions, in particular resolution 1695(2006) and 1718 (2006) and
the statement of its President of 13 April 2009 (S/PRSTI200917),
2. Demands that the DPRK,
not conduct any further nuclear test or launch,
3. Demands that the DPRK
immediately comply fully with its obligations under Security Council
resolution 1718 (2006),
4. Demands that the DPRK
immediately retract its announcement of withdrawal from the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons;
5. Demands further that
the DPRK return at an early date to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
safeguards, and underlines the need for all States Parties to the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to continue to
comply with their Treaty obligations,
6. Calls upon all Member
States immediately to enforce the measures that were put in place by
resolution 1718 (2006) and under the statement of its President of 13
April 2009 (S/PRSTI200917), including designations made by the
Committee established by resolution 1718;
7. Reiterates its
decision that the DPRK shall abandon all nuclear weapons and existing
nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner,
shall act strictly in accordance with the obligations applicable to
parties under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
and the terms and conditions of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) Safeguards Agreement (IAEA INFCIRC/403) and shall provide the
IAEA transparency measures extending beyond these requirements,
including such access to individuals, documentation, equipment and
facilities as may be required and deemed necessary by individuals.
8. Decides/calls upon:
9. Supports the Six Party
Talks, calls for their early resumption, and urges all the participants
to intensify their efforts on the full and expeditious implementation
of the Joint Statement issued on 19 September 2005 by China, the DPRK,
Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United
States, with a view to achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula and to maintain peace and stability on the Korean
Peninsula and in north-east Asia;
10. Expresses its desire
for a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation and
welcomes efforts by Council members as well as other Member States to
facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue and
to refrain from any actions that might aggravate tensions;
11. Strongly urges the
DPRK to return immediately to the Six-Party Talks without precondition;
12. Affirms that it shall
keep the DPRK's actions under continuous review and that it shall be
prepared to review the appropriateness of the measures contained in
paragraph 8 above, including the strengthening, modification,
suspension or lifting of the measures, as may be needed at that time in
light of the DPRK's compliance with the provisions of resolution 1718
(2006) and this resolution;
13. Underlines that
further decisions will be required, should additional measures be
necessary;
14. Resolves to remain actively seized of the matter.
DISCUSSION OPTIONS FOR POTENTIAL INCLUSION IN RESOLUTION
[future op8]-
, 
