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UN Dodges on Afghan Crimes and Galbraith Delay, Kosovo Corruption

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Muse

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 -- As civilians are killed in attacks on the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the UN in New York last week dodged questions on the former. Inner City Press asked, did the UN's Kai Eide urge Hamid Karzai not to appoint an alleged war criminal as his running mate? The UN would not answer.

  Why hasn't Eide's new American-suggested deputy deployed yet? The UN claimed that he'd begun on a delay: but that's not what his appointment press release said. The UN dodged on Congo, too, where it works with an indicted war criminal, and on the blocking of cash into Gaza. Same on the cancellation of investigations in Kosovo. It was just another week at the UN.

On Monday May 4, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe:

Inner City Press: On Afghanistan, there are these reports that Kai Eide met with Hamid Karzai and asked him not to appoint Mohammed Farhim as his running mate, given human rights concerns against him. Can you confirm that that Kai Eide did that? It quotes a UN, a diplomatic source near Eide as saying that.

Deputy Spokesperson Okabe: I have seen the press reports, but I don’t have anything on that.

    Through the rest of the week, nothing else was said. See below on the non-appearance of Eide's deputy Peter Galbraith.

UN's Kai Eide, war criminals and deputy Galbraith not shown

  On Wednesday, May 6, Inner City Press asked Spokesperson Michele Montas:

Inner City Press: On UNRWA as well, in his meeting, did the issue... UNRWA has said that Israel doesn’t allow cash to UNRWA to pay its own staff members and to give small grants to Palestinians in Gaza Strips and also imposes, I think a tax; does not allow them to bring in materials as they do elsewhere in the world. I’ve been told that the Secretary-General has raised this issue with Israel. Did this issue come up, and what was Israel’s response?

Spokesperson Montas: Not in this meeting, no. Not that I know of.

Inner City Press: And can we find out, from UNRWA I guess, whether this is still, this remains the case; the difficulty of getting... [inaudible]?

Spokesperson: Of course, we can try to get that information for you.

   But nothing, in fact, was ever provided. Also on May 6, Inner City Press asked closer to home

Inner City Press: a letter has emerged from Mr. Adlerstein of the Capital Master Plan confirming something that had been earlier, I think, denied by the Secretariat that these security risk assessments that were supposed to be produced for the swing spaces and for this building, in fact have not been produced. But now they claim they will be done by the end of June. What’s the explanation of the earlier statement that these were either done or were not necessary? And there is a reference to the CEB meeting of 4 April in one of the letters. Can you confirm that this issue came up and how does this impact...[interrupted]?

Spokesperson Montas: I cannot confirm it at this point. I can ask, of course, Mr. Adlerstein to answer your question.

   While Inner City Press later, by waiting for an hour outside a meeting closed to the Press, managed to ask Adlerstein some questions, he said that the Spokesperson's Office had never passed the question along. On Thursday May 7, Inner City Press asked Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq

Inner City Press: There are these reports that the UN has decided to drop any investigation of irregularities in privatizations in Kosovo during UNMIK’s [United Nations Mission in Kosovo] time. I am sure you’ve seen these reports. I wonder, the reports said that the UN investigators had recommended criminal investigation, but now it’s all being dropped without anything. And I wanted also, related to that, to know whether the UN is tracking the involvement in privatizations of its former envoys to Kosovo such as Steven Schook and others. Or is that part of the UN’s...(inaudible)?

Associate Spokesperson Haq: Well, first of all there were a certain number of investigations that took place by a group, the Investigative Task Force, which was established through UNMIK regulations and was comprised of representatives of the UN, through the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the European Anti-Fraud Office, and the Financial Investigation Unit.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General acted appropriately on all of the recommendations of the Task Force, which issued its last report in June 2008. The actions taken by the Special Representative included referring cases to the Department of Justice and forwarding recommendations to Pillar IV of UNMIK. As a result of the Investigative Task Force’s recommendations, criminal investigations were conducted and proceedings were initiated against personnel who were found to have committed criminal offenses. The Department of Justice ceased operations and all of the Department’s case files have been handed over to the European Union Mission in Kosovo. Any further criminal sanctions would have to be pursued by that mission's investigators and prosecutors.

   Sounds nice, but there's nothing on the UN's own involvement. Inner City Press asked again about Afghanistan

Inner City Press: I also wanted to know, you mentioned Kai Eide. It’s a small thing, but Mr. [Peter] Galbraith, who was named his Deputy, is speaking at some commencement on 16 May in New England. When is he going to actually deploy to Afghanistan? When is his beginning day? Is he already a UN staff, and if so, why isn’t he in Afghanistan at this moment?

Associate Spokesperson Haq: I believe when we mentioned the announcement we mentioned when he would start his duties. He’s already participated in preparation for taking up his duties; he almost immediately participated in some of the meetings on Afghanistan that took place about a month ago. So he’s already taken up some of his duties in that regard.

Inner City Press: I guess what I am saying is, has he already made the transition? Does he have a UN pass, privileges and immunities, Laissez-Passer, is he being paid?

Associate Spokesperson: I believe we mentioned his starting time at the announcement, so you’d have to go back to our announcement and that would let you know. And with that, I wish you a good afternoon.

   But the press release at the time of Galbraith's appointment didn't mention any delayed start time. On Friday, May 8 Inner City Press asked

Inner City Press: Marie, on this issue of whether the UN and its Mission in the Congo, MONUC, are aware of indicted war criminal Bosco Ntaganda working with the Congolese Army, the minutes have come out of an 4 April meeting of the Congolese Army in which it is said that Bosco Ntaganda participated in the meeting, took the floor as adjunct coordinator of this operation, and spoke. And so I am wondering, is… earlier, I think on 29 April, Farhan Haq had said “well, we haven’t seen the document, but we have been given assurances…” Now that these minutes… Does the UN dispute that minutes from the Congolese Army show that Bosco Ntaganda is the adjunct coordinator of the operation?

Deputy Spokesperson: I don’t have anything beyond what was already said on the subject.

[The correspondent was later reminded that he had already been given the following guidance last week: “The United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has not seen the documents referenced in the media report allegedly showing that Jean-Bosco Ntanganda is a part of the joint operation. On the contrary, the Democratic Republic of the Congo authorities have shown MONUC relevant documents defining the operation’s command structure, which does not make any mention of Mr. Ntanganda.

“MONUC has clearly stated that it will not conduct or support joint operations in which Mr. Ntaganda plays a part. This has been communicated directly to the DRC Minister of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Staff, who in turn have assured MONUC that Mr. Ntanganda is not a part of any joint operation’s command structure. MONUC leadership continues to engage with our Congolese interlocutors on this matter.”]

Click here for that story, and here for Sri Lanka. And so it goes at the UN...

On Sri Lanka, Channel 4 allegations of rape and disappearance

  Click here for an Inner City Press YouTube channel video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian deaths in Sri Lanka.

Click here for Inner City Press' March 27 UN debate

Click here for Inner City Press' Feb 26 UN debate

Click here for Inner City Press' review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate

Click here from Inner City Press' December 12 debate on UN double standards

and this October 17 debate, on Security Council and Obama and the UN.

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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

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