Inner City Press -- Investigative Journalism from the United Nations

UN Shy on North Korea, Effusive on Bird Flu and Torture, UNDP Cyprus Runaround, Pronk is Summoned Home

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

UNITED NATIONS, October 23 -- How loud should the UN speak? Two contrary approaches to human rights were on display Monday as the special rapporteurs on North Korea and torture each answered reporters' questions. The UN's expert on torture, Manfred Nowak didn't shy away from expressing disappointment in the U.S. Congress' new torture-fix legislation, nor from repeating, in response to a question from Inner City Press, that there may be more torture now in Iraq than under Saddam Hussein. Video on UNTV.

Mr. Nowak was asked by Inner City Press about torture by Uzbekistan's Karimov government. Mr. Nowak recounted his efforts to block the return to Uzbekistan of asylum seekers, by the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. (He neglected to mention Ukraine.)

But when asked if the UN Development Program should be helping the Karimov government to collect taxes, Mr. Nowak said that "negative conditionalities should be a last resort," and that UN agencies should try to improve countries' human rights records. UNDP has been asked what it is doing in this regard, and has responded most recently via its spokesman that "the UN agencies which have the mandate of reviewing and responding to reports and incidents of the kind you cite-- UNESCO and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-- have spoken out clearly forcefully on such cases on behalf of the Secretary-General and the entire UN system."

But UNESCO recently awarded Karimov a medal (which it later said could be bought in any UN gift shop). And Inner City Press continues to await a response from UNHCR on other pending deportations requests by Uzbekistan, in the United Arab Emirates. Inner City Press has been told that this UAE case is "sensitive," as an explanation for the delay in response and the continuing silence.

Hungarians 1956 per UNHCR (Kissinger not shown, see below)

Speaking but with much caution on Monday was the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, Vitit Muntarbhorn. He has not been allowed to visit North Korea and has compiled his reports from outside the country. Inner City Press asked if he has visited, or has even asked to visit, the Joint Economic Zones that South Korea runs with its neighbor to the north. "I know there are those who are interested in that," Mr. Muntarbhorn told Inner City Press. But apparently requests to visit and check on workers' rights have not been made.

Likewise, while China continues pushing asylum seekers back into North Korea, Mr. Muntarbhorn said he is pleased with China's cooperation. Video on UNTV. One wondered if perhaps the rapporteurs on thematic issues like torture can afford to be candid, while those seeking to enter "hermit states" like North Korea are constrained to say as little as possible -- and if so, at what cost. After the briefing, a long-time human rights experts opined that perhaps Mr. Muntarbhorn was staying quiet in order to later gain access. This same expert opined that the UN's envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, should have been fired before the current blog impasse, for having "discussed a Plan B while Plan A was still on the table." There was also the dust-up with the Office of Internal Oversight Services. Inner City Press on Monday asked UN Peacekeeping's Number Two Hedi Annabi if, despite all this, it would be a bad precedent if Mr. Pronk does not return to Sudan. "There are different views on this," Mr. Annabi replied. Indeed.

A third briefer, the affable bird flu expert Dr. David Nabarro, updated reporters on Monday. He praised the preparations of Myanmar and also North Korea, saying that the central concentration of power is good in this way. He put the number of bird flu deaths at 150. When a reporter asked if, in retrospect, the warnings about bird flu had been overblown, Dr. Nabarro answered, "I'm sure you don't think that." He said the case in Turkey sprung from sleeping with chickens for heat, but there was human-to-human transmission in Indonesia's Sumatra. Video on UNTV. Dr. Nabarro's briefing gave rise to some rare bird flu humor, from the pre-briefing squawking (over the squawk box system to reporters) to allegations that in predicting millions of possible deaths, Dr. Nabarro had been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Those who joked apologized. When public health works, disasters are avoided or at least delayed.

Monday evening in the basement there was a rare Henry Kissigner sighting. It was not much publicized -- to avoid protesters, the theory goes -- but there was a well-behaved crowd celebrating Hungary 1956, shaking hands with the K-man, listening to Bartok. Afterwards there was wine and sandwiches in the lobby. What there was not was any Q&A.

At Kofi Annan's spokesman's noon briefing, Inner City Press asked if there was any UN reaction to calls for UN action on the 32 missing Tibetans among the group shot at by China. At deadline, the following rolled in:

In a message dated 10/23/2006 4:38:38 PM Eastern Standard Time, [ ] @un.org writes:

According to UNHCR� UNHCR is aware of the eyewitness accounts. As a member of the UN humanitarian family, UNHCR is naturally concerned by the reports. For over a decade, UNHCR has been assisting Tibetans transiting through Nepal to India for personal / educational / religious purposes. The Tibetans in Nepal are �people of concern� to UNHCR. UNHCR has raised the issue with China.

How loudly has UNHCR raised it is the question. At Monday's noon briefing, most questions dealt with Jan Pronk, "banned for blogging" as the headlines in cyberspace would have it. Video on UNTV. Inner City Press asked if Pronk will meet with the Security Council, or if Kofi Annan will consult them. The answers were non-committal. What was said was this: Pronk will be at the UN on Wednesday, after Tuesday's Eid Al-Fitr holiday.

On the Cyprus scandal involving the UNDP-administered UN Office of Project Services, Kofi Annan's spokesman over the weekend told Inner City Press to ask UNDP. Monday UNDP said to ask UNOPS and... the Secretary-General's Spokesman. The question of Catch-22 has been raised. More on UNDP in coming days. There is hope for answers from the top, before or on Friday.

At the UN, Silence from UNDP on Cyprus, from France on the Chad-Bomb, Jan Pronk's Sudan Blog

UNITED NATIONS, October 20 -- What is the UN's policy on free speech? The policies differ in the UN Development Program, which praises repressive regimes in Turkmenistan and Zimbabwe while criticizing the legislature of Cyprus, and in the Secretariat, which has discussed but not acted as its envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk has run a "personal" blog about events in Darfur.

Jan Pronk's blog hit the world news on Friday, as the al-Bashir government has declared him persona non grata for a mid-October post, still available online, reporting two losses by the Sudanese army to the rebels of the National Redemption Front, NRF, who are not signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement.

Pronk's blog has been an open secret within UN Headquarters; UN staff have referred reporters to the site for information not available on the UN Mission to Sudan website. As senior peacekeeping officials at the UN have said privately that more international criticism is needed of the rebels, and not only of the government, for atrocities in Darfur, the UN has not made this point overly public, perhaps concerned of falling afoul of the mobilized concern symbolized by George Clooney's recent UN appearance. As Inner City Press reported on October 18, nuanced or contrarian voices on Darfur are found among those above or outside the fray, like 92 year old, long-time UN hand Sir Brian Urquhart, or for example on Jan Pronk's blog.

On the topic of blogs, Inner City Press on Friday asked Kofi Annan's spokesman was asked at his regular press conference whether the UN has a policy on blogs, given that UN employees have been fired for writing unauthorized books about such topics as romance amid humanitarian missions. "We have not kept up with technology," the spokesman acknowledged. Pressed by other reporters to stand behind or renounce the content of Jan Pronk's blog, the spokesman repeated again and again, "it is a personal blog." He was asked for a more definitely answer; we'll see.

Also still unanswered are a series of questions Inner City Press has put to the UN Development Program, UNDP. Two weeks ago, Inner City Press asked UNDP's main spokesman William Orme for an update on a UNDP-funded involuntary disarmament program in Uganda which, after Inner City Press' reporting, was suspended earlier this year, see www.InnerCityPress.com/ungc062906.html. In two weeks, UNDP has not provide an answer, despite cajoling from Kofi Annan's spokesman's office, which has repeatedly told Inner City Press that answers would be forthcoming and the delays would be "ironed out."

On October 18, the spokesman said, "I don�t have any of the details of this event involving UNDP and Turkmenistan. I know that you and UNDP have had some issues and you�ve had some trouble talking to them. We will try to negotiate some sort of communication channel between you and UNDP, so you can get your answers to your questions."

For the record, Inner City Press has taken the same approach to UNDP as other agencies of the UN and of governments, and even corporations: questions about issues, and a request that answers be provided in less than two weeks, and without agita or insults.

The questions about UNDP has Inner City Press has asked in the past months have included UNDP's public praise of repressive governments in Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan, UNDP's funding to the judiciary of Sudan's al-Bashir government, and UNDP's acceptance of funding from Shell to produce a report about the Niger Delta. UNDP's spokesman has expressed outrage that certain questions have been asked, and has then refused to answer any more questions. Meanwhile UNDP's director Kemal Dervis has not appeared for a press conference in the UN Headquarters building for fourteen months.

Friday the issue of UNDP's controversial funding of materials in Cyprus supporting "the Annan plan" was raised to Mr. Annan's spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Video's on UNTV, and for a pro-UNDP narration of the Cyprus issue, click here. There are check stubs reflecting payment to journalists, and requests in to the U.S. State Department. Inner City Press will be following these documents where they lead and, wider, the UN Office of Project Services.

In the Cyprus controversy, the activity was undertaken by the UNDP-administered UN Office of Project Services, UNOPS, with money provided directly to UNOPS by USAID, an arm of the U.S. State Department. A wider question raised is what standards this UNDP-administered UNOPS has.

Friday at the UN on these UNDP-Cyprus issues, Kofi Annan's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that "Bill Orme will get back to you." Skepticism was expressed by another reporter covering the Cyprus issue -- "UNDP never answers questions," he told Inner City Press -- and later by another longtime UN correspondent, who recounts a vituperative response by the same Bill Orme, which he told Kofi Annan's spokesman about. If there are special issues, they are UNDP's lack of standards, and lack of accountability and transparency.

At dusk fell Friday on Turtle Bay, UNDP's Bill Orme was seen inside the UN Spokesman's glass-walled office. Despite this time spent trying to excuse, explain or mischaracterize UNDP's delay in providing answers and basic information, not even an answer to the Uganda disarmament question posted two weeks ago in writing was provided. There is something wrong at UNDP, and it is noteworthy that the Secretariat purports to be unable to address it. This is a developing story.

Also Friday at the UN, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie took a half-dozen questions from reporters. Video's on UNTV. Inner City Press asked two questions: for France's view on the European Union force's plan to pull out of the Democratic Republic of Congo on November 30, even before the president to be elected on October 29 is sworn in, and for an explanation of the legality of the bomb France dropped in Chad earlier this year. Minister Alliot-Marie answered only the Congo question, implying that while the pull-out could start on November 30, it could take a month, and thus not be completed before the presidential swearing-in. She did not answer the Chad question, although a French general who accompanied her smiled at Inner City Press for the rest of the press conference. Perhaps that was the answer: we did it because we could. Minister Alliot-Marie also said, about Ivory Coast, that France has few economic ties remaining with its former colony. One wag in the audience muttered, "Not by choice," and noted that China has largely replaced France as economic partner in Ivory Coast and elsewhere in Africa, including Chad.

Finally for this end-of-week report, Rogelio Pfirter, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons briefed both the General Assembly and reporters on Friday. The materials he passed out stated that six countries have declared they have chemical weapons: Russia, the U.S., Albania, Libya, India and "an unidentified State party." Inner City Press asked Mr. Pfirter to explain the process for a State holding chemical weapons to have its identity concealed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Mr. Pfirter said it was agreed to, and that this unnamed state is performing well. Mr. Pfirter went on to denounce North Korea, and to dodge a question about Paragraph 8 of the UN Security Council's recent Resolution 1718. More to follow, we're sure, in coming days.

As Turkmenistan Cracks Down on Journalists, Hospitals and Romance, UNDP Works With the Niyazov Regime

UNITED NATIONS, October 18 -- The European Union reacted to the torture murder of Turkmen journalist Ogulsapar Muradova while in state custody, and other excesses by Turkmenistan�s Saparmurat Niyazov, by declining the invitation to enter a trade agreement with the Central Asian coungtry. The UN Development Program has taken a different approach, and recently offered praise of Niyazov's government.

Today's Turkish Daily News quotes Niyazov that "for some years the state structures and public organizations of Turkmenistan have successfully realized joint programs and projects in collaboration with such organizations as the UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO and many others."

UNESCO, it should be noted, recently "voiced grave concern at the death of Ogulsapar Muradova in jail in Ashgabat," the capital of Turkmenistan. The UN agency's press release, No. 2006-116, cited Reporters Without Borders that "Ms Muradova's children identified Ms Muradova's body in the morgue of Ashgabat on 14 September. Witnesses are reported to have seen a head wound and many other marks on the rest of her body."

A month after Ms. Muradova's body was identified in the morgue, UNDP's resident coordinator in Turkmenistan Mr. Richard Young told two hundred people at a conference on UN - Government of Turkmenistan cooperation that "as a member of the United Nations, Turkmenistan recognizes the importance of working together to meet concrete targets for advancing development. National ownership is a key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and adhering to global human rights values." The quote is from a write-up provided by the UN System in Turkmenistan. The write-up contained no criticism of Niyazov or his regime.

It is not clear what "national ownership" the UN's Richard Young was referring to. In recent years, Niyazov has closed all hospitals outside of the capital, telling the BBC, "Why do we need such hospitals? If people are ill, they can come to Ashgabat."

Niyazov, who has called himself Turkmenbashi, Father of All Turkmen, has also closed all libraries, including those in the capital, on the grounds that "nobody reads books or go to libraries".

In fact, the main book taught in schools in Turkmenistan is one written by Niyazov himself, called Ruhknama. Niyavoz has said Ruhknama, sometimes spelled Ruhnama, "was issued to eliminate all shortcomings." It is available in 22 languages on the Turkmenistan government website, here. A UN staffer who has worked for the UN system in Turkmenistan (and who has read Rukhnama) tells Inner City Press that many of the UN offices in Ashkabat use the government's web servers, which block content objectionable to Niyazov and presumably record and register the communications traveling through them. (The UN staff asked not to be named, as for now still a UN employee.)

Like the Karimov government in Uzbekistan, which UNDP also assists in a range of ways from tax collection to help with open source software, Niyazov is cracking down on and thinning the ranks of non-governmental organizations. Reportedly the human rights group Arkadag "has files full of the most diverse explanations they have received about why they are being turned down � a misplaced comma here, a wrongly ordered paragraph there, or a demand for details of all rank-and-file members even though the law stipulates that only the board members need to be named...Re-registration is also a problem for existing NGOs, in the wake of the Law on Public Associations passed in 2003." A more recent law restricts the ability of citizens of Turkmenistan to marry foreigners.

At UN headquarters on Wednesday, Inner City Press asked Kofi Annan's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about these laws, and to explain the contradiction between UNESCO's and even the Secretary-General's own denunciations of the Turkmenistan government's human rights record and UNDP's statement, on its dedicated Turkmenistan website, www.undptkm.org, that "UNDP provides advisory services to selected government agencies in improvement of institutional and legal frameworks for economic and financial management and social protection, statistical capacity development." Video here.

The spokesman has indicated that while this is a good question, it should be answered by UNDP, rather than the Secretariat. The question was asked at noon, but as of six p.m. no response of any kind had been received. We note that UNDP has now delayed two weeks in providing an update on its previously announced de-funding of violent disarmament in the Karamoja region of Eastern Uganda, and has also delayed in responding to Inner City Press' written request for comment on recent testimony to the Fifth Committee on A/61/5 Add.1, on "UNDP's failure to complete monthly bank account reconciliations," "internal control weaknesses present in the implementation process of UNDP's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system" and "the adverse and qualified opinions on project auditors on the implementation of UNDP program expenditures executed by governments."

To be fair to UNDP, here is another UN agency providing unexplained funding to Turkmenistan's government -- UN/DESA Division for Social Policy and Development providing technical cooperation funds to the Niyazov regime. Other supporters include Deutsche Bank, Turkmenbashi's private banker, and the French construction firm Bouygues, to build another palace. Thus is Turkmenbashi provided UN technical assistance to further the Millennium Development Goals.

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