UN
Grapples with Somalia, While UNDP Funds Mugabe's Human Rights Unit, Without
Explanation
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the U.N.
UNITED
NATIONS, July 11 --Somalia as crisis, Somalia as politics: both were discussed
at the UN on Tuesday. Jan Egeland of UN humanitarian affairs
said that
talks with the Islamic Courts Union are progressing, toward re-establishing
programs in Mogadishu, despite the looting of UN vehicles and a journalist's
killing. Inner City Press asked about Puntland, only nominally controlled by
those in Baidoa or Mogadishu; Jan Egeland said access there has been better.
Half an
hour later, Kofi Annan's envoy for Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall,
answered reporters' questions
with patience but evasion. He said the Security Council is still considering a
draft Presidential Statement. Inner City Press held up a copy of the draft, and
asked about paragraph 12, in which the Council would express "its readiness to
consider modifying the arms embargo to enable the Transitional Federal
Institutions, on the basis of a sustainable peace process, to develop Somalia's
security sector."
"Do you
favor this?" Inner City Press asked.
"It is up
to the Council," Mr. Fall replied.
"Do you
think it will pass?"
Mr. Fall
smiled but gave no prediction.
Somali
refugees per UNHCR
Outside in the
hallway, a spinmeister from Somalia's Transitional Federal Government said the
Council is onboard to lift the arms embargo. On July 17th, the International
Contract Group is slated to meet again in Brussels. As with the North Korean
missiles and the upcoming G-8 summit, the UN may be rendered less than relevant.
Sometimes a failure to speak is a failure to lead.
Some
diagnosis this in Kofi Annan's failure to speak on the North Korea missile
launches on July 4. Now a week later, there are still dueling press statements
outside the Security Council, but no action. The UN is otherwise silent on North
Korea, too.
Inner City Press asked Mr.
Egeland about the UN's access to the DPRK. "We were thrown out in December of
last year," Mr. Egeland said. Unlike several other issues, that was all kept
surprisingly quiet. Here is
OCHA's discontinued website.
After Mr.
Egeland's briefing, Inner City Press spoke with him about
forcible disarmament in Eastern Uganda.
"I've heard of that," Mr. Egeland said. "We are against that. We think it has to
be voluntary." Mr. Egeland expressed surprise at the lack of transparency
exhibited by the UN Development Programme; he committed to keeping the issue,
and the Karimojong, in mind. The staff of French Ambassador De La Sabliere
approached Inner City Press at the stakeout to say, "We are working on putting
Uganda on the Security Council agenda, we don't have a date yet, but we're
working on it."
On the
matter of refusal to speak or explain, Inner City Press had to
inquire again at the noon briefing if
Kofi Annan's spokesman's office has had any better luck in getting answers from
the UN Development Programme. After facing stonewalling and insults while
inquiring into
UNDP's since-halted disarmament programs
in Uganda, now Inner City
Press' questions are ignored by UNDP. Last week the request was for an
explanation of UNDP's program to help Uzbekistan's Karimov regime collect taxes.
There has been no response; Kofi Annan's spokeswoman said, "They are looking
into it." But it is their program!
Now,
Inner City Press has asked UNDP to explain its
funding of a "Human Rights Council"
controlled by Robert Mugabe,
who among other things has been lambasted by UN-Habitat for politically
motivated mass evictions. What standards does UNDP have for such program? There
has been no answer. Inner City Press on Tuesday formally asked for UNDP's
Administrator to come and answer questions.
"We will
ask," the spokeswoman. "But you're free to ask as well."
Inner
City Press has, and in writing. The silence is hard to understand, not only
given the UN's and UNDP's stated missions, but also, politically, given that the
UNDP's current administrator
Kemal Dervis
is described by some in UN Headquarters as a candidate to be the next
Secretary-General. Make that, SECRET-ary...
Feedback: editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-453A,
UN, NY 10017 USA Tel: 718-716-3540
In
North Korean War of Words, Abuses in Uganda and Impunity Go Largely Ignored
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the U.N.
UNITED NATIONS, July
10 -- Monday at the UN Security Council stakeout, the Ambassadors of the
Permanent Five traded sound bytes until almost six p.m.. China's Ambassador Wang
Guangya said things should not be enflamed, Chapter 7 should not be invoked in
light of other "situations still ongoing." (The reference was to Iraq, reporters
surmised.)
Japanese
Ambassador Kenzo Oshima noted that the Chinese position might be different, if
the North Korean missiles were aimed at China. The US' John Bolton, asked at
noon about Uganda, had nothing on the topic as five p.m. came and past. "If it
takes all night, it's alright," he said, as he did ten days ago at the budget
cap deadline. That night, he left the building at 5. If there are late nights to
come on the North Korean missiles, it will be later in this week or next. Time
is being given for the Chinese mission to the DPRK.
Stakeout
madness
At and
following the noon briefing, two questions about the Democratic Republic of the
Congo were answered. Inner City Press asked regarding the now-freed UN
peacekeepers in the DRC, "were they held by Peter Karim?" Yes, the spokeswoman
answered. She deferred providing further specifics; later in the afternoon, the
following was provided, in writing:
"UN troops in the DRC,
who are stretched thin, are focusing on ensuring countrywide security ahead of
the 30 July elections and continue to seek peaceful means of ensuring the safety
of all Congolese people, including those in the village of Tchei, which as of
today remains in the hands of the militias that took it from DRC troops a week
ago."
Meanwhile in Uganda President Museveni's offer of amnesty to the Lord's
Resistance Army was
reported accepted by Vincent Otti, on behalf of Joseph Kony. At the UN
Monday requests for comment from Kofi Annan and John Bolton were met with maybe
and later, respectively. The UK's Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, after Inner City
Press followed him down the hallway from the stakeout, said plainly that it is
the position of his government that those who are indicted by the International
Criminal Court should face justice by the ICC.
Kony, Otti and three others have been indicted for war crimes by the
UN-affiliated ICC. For that reason, one would expect a comment from Kofi Annan
on Museveni's amnesty offer, even while he extends his trip to attend the G-8
summit in St. Petersburg. At Monday's noon briefing at UN Headquarters, Inner
City Press asked the request for comment be transmitted to Europe, by telephone
or Internet. Just after the briefing, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton spoke to
reporters at the Security Council stakeout, initially about North Korea but then
taking questions on other matters. Inner City Press asked for reaction to
Museveni's amnesty offer to Kony. "I've read press reports," John Bolton
answered, "but I'll have to get back to you with a response." We'll see.
Meanwhile, here's the response from Denmark's embassy in Kampala to Inner City
Press' questions about the Danish role in disarmament in Eastern Uganda. (UNDP,
which has declined to response to any of Inner City Press' questions for more
than a week, had initially named Denmark at the funder of UNDP's
currently-halted disarmament program in Karamoja.)
From: Dorte Broen
[at] um.dk>
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Sent: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:52:55 +0300
Subject: Disarmament in northeastern Uganda
Dear Mr. Lee,
With reference to correspondence between you and Permanent Mission of Denmark to
the United Nations please be informed that the Royal Danish Embassy in Kampala
1. does NOT support forceful disarmament in Northeast Uganda, Karamoja, but
2. has actively supported the Office of the Prime Minister in developing
"Karamoja Integrated Disarmament and Development Programme" (KIDDP), in which
voluntary disarmament is an integrated part.
The Embassy furthermore participates in discussions on implementation of KIDDP,
and it's possible, but not yet decided, that Denmark will support strengthening
of the implementation structures in the region. The Danish support to conflict
resolution in Karamoja is part of the overall "Democracy, Justice and Peace
Programme".
The ongoing forceful
disarmament undertaken by Uganda peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) is not supported
by any donors.
Kind regards
Dorte Broen, Counsellor - Development
Royal Danish Embassy, Kampala, Uganda
The
distinction made between points 1 and 2 is predicated on the Ugandan
government's KIDDP program not including forcible (or "forceful") disarmament.
Developing...
On
North Korea, Blue Words Move to a Saturday Showdown, UNDP Uzbek Stonewall
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the U.N.
UNITED NATIONS, July
7 -- The missiles flew, and at the UN the words turned blue. Friday in the
hallways outside the Security Council, the Japanese and American ambassadors
said their resolution imposing certain sanctions on North Korea is ready for
vote within 24 hours. France's Ambassador De La Sabliere, the Council president
this month, said the vote might or might not happen on Saturday.
Inner City Press asked him
if the vote might be put off pending a Chinese visit to North Korea. "I cannot
tell you the timing," Ambassador De La Sabliere replied. A staffer added that
the resolution's sponsors will let members and reporters know of their Saturday
plans by late Friday afternoon. Russia's ambassador, meanwhile, walked away from
the stakeout with reporters in tow, joking but refusing to comment. "I don't
want to steal the French ambassador's show," he said. As the stakeout
presentation turned to the Central African Republican, most reporters left in
droves.
DPRK a/k/a North Korea
"The vote
will not happen," one Council exiter said, "on Sunday between three and five,"
the time for the World Cup's final game between Italy and France. Another wag,
this one, mused that North Korea might conduct an additional test at just that
time, a sort of half-time show. Inner City Press asked a French staffer if there
was any North Korean commitment to
hold its fire
on Sunday. "Fireworks," the staffer answered. "Perhaps on the 14th of July?"
Bastille Day -- you read it here first. Here's a key paragraph of the proposed
resolution now in blue:
"The Security
Council... 4. Decides that Member States shall take those steps necessary to
prevent the procurement of missiles or missile-related items, materials, goods
and technology from the DPRK, and the transfer of any financial resources to end
users involved in or supplying DPRK's missiles or WMD programmes."
Closer reading by
Inner City Press' bleary-eyed legal team of the gone-blue resolution leads to
this question, among others: who are the targeted "end users... supplying DPRK's
missile or WMD programmes"? Logically, an end user doesn't supply anyone else:
they end use. So, at whom is Paragraph 4 directed?
And
speaking of financial resources, substance over semantics, many observers note
that the crackdown on North Korea's dollar counterfeiting program, and the
seizure of its assets in Macau, precipitated this crisis. And in the darkened
stakeout, a photographer opined that John Bolton needs to get his glasses fixed,
to stop fiddling with them. "Lens Crafters," he recommended. "They're having a
sale."
At the
noon briefing,
the spokeswoman announced that the talk on the small arms conference, scheduled
for 12:30, would now be held at five. Great timing, to get the news out. Having
received no responses from the UN Development Programme's external
communications head, nor UNDP staffers in Zimbabwe and Uzbekistan,
Inner City Press asked
Kofi Annan's spokeswoman about the UNDP program to help the government of
Uzbekistan collect taxes. Given that the UN's Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights' finding that the government of Uzbekistan shot its own people
in Andijan in May 2005, and has demanded the refoulement of all dissidents from
Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Kakakhstan, as critiqued by UNHCR, what safeguards does
UNDP have in place, if any, to ensure that the taxes it helps to collect are not
used for such purposes?
"We'll
try to follow up on the question with UNDP for you," the spokeswoman
said.
While such intersession should not be needed, whatever gets answers...
Interim follow-up: On
Uganda, the UN Department of Political Affairs report circulated to the Security
Council on Monday is still not an "official document," though that slow alchemy
is expected next week, the spokeswoman said. [Post-briefing, she specified by
email that July 12 should be the day.] Then it should move to the Council's
agenda.
Postscript 8:30 p.m.
-- on the North Korea fracas, it's been announced that there'll be no Security
Council meeting over the weekend. The text went blue and for what? In the
interim in the basement, the small arms conference plodded to its end. No text
was agreed on, the main objector being the United States which opposed any
review conference in six years.
In a wan
post-conference sit-down with five reporters in an adjoining room, Chairman
Prasad Kariyawasam of Sri Lanka called the U.S.'s stance "unique." Inner City
Press asked how this compared to the HIV/AIDS conference, and whether he thought
the process could have benefited from more involvement from the General Assembly
president (who will travel mid-July to China wearing two hats, that of Sweden
and the G.A. presidency). While the spin was that this small arms conference was
a victory, that wasn't the review from the floor or audience in the final
proceedings. "Disgusting," an arms-violence expert in the cheap seats said. The
UNDP seat was empty, and past deadline the S-G's spokesman's office had only
this to say: "On your question today about how UNDP can work with the Uzbek
Government on assistance to its tax collection efforts when the UN human rights
officials say the government harms its own people [we're] checking in with UNDP
on this." Inner City Press has been checking in with UNDP on this and other
questions for more than a week. And so, again, it goes...
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