Search WWW Search innercitypress.com

On WFP, Annan and Ban Ki-Moon Hear and See No Evil, While Resume of Josette Sheeran Shiner Is Edited

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

UNITED NATIONS, November 7 -- In the hours after Josette Sheeran Shiner was "confirmed" as the new head of the UN World Food Program, questions continued to arise.

   At the UN spokesman's noon briefing, reporters asked about Ms. Sheeran Shiner's now-UN resume, which omits previous claims of status as  Pulitzer Prize finalist and as promoter of the interests of U.S. agribusiness, and about the involvement of the U.S. and of Ban Ki-Moon (and another Moon, see below) in choosing Ms. Sheeran Shiner.

            At a 10 a.m. stakeout interview, Inner City Press asked U.S. Amb. Bolton: "On WFP, did the U.S. reach out to the incoming secretary- general, Ban Ki-Moon, in order to get his position on it? Video on UNTV, from Minute 2:48.

            Ambassador Bolton replied, as transcribed by the U.S. Mission, "My understanding is that the secretary-general consulted Ban Ki-Moon's office, and we certainly supported that and supported the decision to go ahead with Josette Sheeran's announcement. As I've said to you before, this is almost exactly what happened in late 1991, when Javier Perez de Cuellar and the then- director general of the FAO [Edward Saouma] when they appointed Cathy Bertini to be the executive director of the World Food Program."

            At the UN's noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Kofi Annan's spokesman Stephane Dujarric when Mr. Annan had communicated with Ban Ki-Moon, and if the decision on Ms. Sheeran Shiner had already been made before they spoke.

            Mr. Dujarric replied that that the two had spoken "in the past few days," after Mr. Annan had interviewed Ms. Sheeran Shiner, and characterized the process as "consultative" and "rigorous."

            Inner City Press asked if Ms. Sheeran Shiner had been asked, by Mr. Annan or the other outgoing UN official who interviewed her, including Mark Malloch Brown and Jan Egeland, about her 20-year affiliation with Sun Myung Moon and for her position on his stated views, including that the UN should be destroyed, or merged with the U.S..

            As reported by Associated Press, Mr. Dujarric replied that "People's religious affiliation is their own. People are not judged on their religious affiliation."

            Mr. Dujarric also said, "People's religious affiliation is not a matter of concern." Video on UNTV, Minute 22:26 to 23:17.

S-G and Diouf

            Sun Myung Moon's speeches, proudly online, deal not infrequently with the United Nations, including for example his statement that

"After sending out our missionaries to 120 nations, we can influence those nations, and by having the youth of those nations mobilize, we can form a new United Nations." http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon74/SM741028.htm

  Later, Sun Myung Moon said:

"All five organizations will integrate into a new UN. Until today the United Nations has represented only the political realm... Through the United Nations, we can connect to the whole world and unite the whole world. The world is the extension of the family. Students, centering on True Mother, will form a big plus in relationship to the big minus formed by the IRFWP and FWP. Centering on True Mother, mind and body must be completely united, and on that foundation True Mother goes to unite with True Father; then all children, young and old, will all be completely unified, resulting in the unification of the whole world." http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon95/SM950207.htm

Earlier, Time magazine's "Statements of 'Master' Moon" included:

"The present U.N. must be annihilated by our power."  

Josette Sheeran Shiner on State.gov

            Reuters reported that "she joined Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church in 1975 and was married in a mass wedding but left the church in 1997." The Times of London went further:

"Ms Sheeran joined Rev Sun Myung Moon’s South Korea-based Unification Church in 1975 and married in a mass wedding before leaving the church about 1997. UN officials said that Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, had been reluctant to appoint Ms Sheeran, Washington’s official candidate, fearing that she lacked logistical experience."

            And The Guardian phrased it in the form of a question:

"in Rome, where WFP has its headquarters, some officials privately expressed concern. 'She has never distanced herself from the views of this group which, given its extreme nature, you would think was appropriate,' said one. He referred to Mr Moon's claims that the Holocaust was a result of the death of Jesus. 'It's sufficiently bizarre to warrant an explanation - that, and the duration of her involvement.'"

            According to the UN spokesman, no question was asked, by Kofi Annan, Mark Malloch Brown, Jan Egeland -- nor apparently Ban Ki-Moon. Perhaps the answers to these questions, pre-Rome, are to be found in Washington, DC. Developing...

Would Moon Followers Trail Josette Sheeran Shiner into WFP, As to U.S. State Dep't?

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

UNITED NATIONS, November 6 -- As the race to head the UN World Food Program enters what appears to be its final week, issues concerning the official U.S. candidates at least 20-year affiliation with Rev. Sun Myung Moon's organizations have resurfaced. Josette Sheeran Shiner does not dispute that she joined the Moon organizations in 1975. She states that she left in 1996, after serving as the editor of the Moon-owned Washington Times.

            Now at the U.S. State Department, Amb. Sheeran Shiner's senior adviser is Paula (Gray) Hunker, long time Moon follower. Click here for the State Department roster, and here for a Moon official's speech, that

"At the Washington Times, we have our professional organization, which is headed by Jim Whelan. But we also have spiritual organization. I am your spiritual leader. I would like to be responsible. And I would like to assign Jonathan to represent me during my absence. You can convey to him all the spiritual counseling and needs. And we have seven key brothers and sisters with key newspaper roles. I would like them to be a spiritual counseling team with Jonathan Slevin as their head. They are Jonathan, Jim Gavin, Paula Gray, Josette Sheeran, Ted Agres, Denny Duggan, and Susan Bergman. This will be the initial committee. They will look after the spiritual well-being of our members." (Emphasis added.)

            If Ms. Sheeran Shiner has bought to the State Department at least one "Moonie" -- as some refer to Rev. Sun Myung Moon's followers -- would she do the same at the World Food Program?  

Josette Sheeran Shiner at far left (or right)

   Of Sun Myung Moon's interest in the UN, there is much to be said. Click here for a 1995 talk by Sun Myung Moon, including

"When Mother was due to address the United Nations, just two hours prior to the event the United Nations still had not given permission. But at the last moment, Father pushed and pushed and within two hours Mother was able to speak there. Through the International Religious Foundation, in the position of Abel, we finally got permission from the United Nations for Mother to speak.... Father organized the Student Federation for World Peace and the Youth Federation for World Peace. These organizations have Cain and Abel relationships existing between college students and religious students.... The United Nations and America can combine. This vertical world can make that friendship. That will be an amazing event. America is going to understand those vertical contents. When they analyze that, they will see that it is a good way for the future. We won't separate. If the United Nations and the United States unite into one, the world unification will come about quickly." http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon95/951210.htm

   Friday Inner City Press called the U.S. State Department to request an opportunity to ask Amb. Sheeran Shiner one or more questions, during what had been announced as a November 6 media availability. Inner City Press was told that it wouldn't be possible, then was asked: "What would your question be?" But isn't at least one of the questions obvious?

            Ms. Gray Hunker's affiliation with the Moon organizations predates Ms. Sheeran Shiner's -- click here for an online history of the organization, 40 years in America, early days:

"The New York church in 1972 was able to provide members with a comfortable center and a healthy menu, but our meager salaries as secretaries, clerks and deliverymen could not fund a growing movement, even when we pooled our incomes. Weekend fundraising was a constant in our schedule. We made candles in the garage on a Coleman stove and then sold them door-to-door. We did well enough that Philip Burley, our church leader, asked several of us to quit our jobs and begin a full-time fundraising 'Team.' This was a gamble, because we had to make at least as much money as our regular jobs had been producing for the center to survive. In fact, Philip said: 'If this works, you'll get the credit, but if it doesn't, I'll get the blame.'  There were 6 or 7 of us, with myself as the team leader and Paula Gray as the team mother. We knew how to go door-to-door on the weekends, but what would we do on the weekdays? New York City was less than an hour from our center in the Bronx." Emphasis added.

            Well, fundraising is one of the roles of a WFP leadership team... Later, Ms. Gray Hunker was a founding partner of the Gold Group, stating online that "as a founding member of Starpoint Solution's Netsuasion division, Paula developed an innovative methodology to marry journalistic discovery with persuasive communication techniques."  Effective campaigning...

            At Monday's noon media briefing at the UN, Inner City Press asked the spokesman why, in the process to find a new director general for the World Health Organization, both the long list of 11 and short list of five candidates were publicly named. The spokesman insists this process is different, and declined to describe the pressure brought on by the U.S.. Video on UNTV.

  The Washington Post's Al Kamen wadded in on l'Affaire Josette today, mentioning both the "other American" Tony Banbury, and Ms. Shiner's 1992 article praising North Korea's Great Leader, and confirming that the U.S. State Department paid for Ms. Sheeran Shiner's brochure (the extent of distribution is still  not clear.)  While the Washington Post still predicts Ms. Sheeran Shiner will win, in UN Headquarters there is renewed talk of Swiss finalist Walter Fust. Has the U.S. called Ban Ki-moon to urge that the fix be put in for Ms. Sheeran Shiner? Developing.

In WFP Race, Josette Sheeran Shiner Praises Mega Corporations from Cornfield While State Spins

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

UNITED NATIONS, November 2 -- With the race to head the World Food Program entering at most its final fortnight, the official U.S. candidate Josette Sheeran Shiner has lauded praise on 12 global corporations from Chevron through Coca-Cola.

   Those praised include APCO in China, Chevron in Indonesia, Coca-Cola in Mexico, Delta Construction in Vietnam, General Motors in Colombia, Goldman Sachs in Chile, Kerr McGee in Benin, McDonald's in Guatemala, Microsoft in Egypt, Motorola in Iraq, Pfizer in Pakistan, and Sambazon in Brazil.

            These twelve companies are the finalists, whittled from 55 nominations, for the U.S. State Department's Award for Corporate Excellence. While all 12 finalists are named in a press release, the four finalists to head the WFP have not been. Whether the WFP race's lack of transparency to date ends up benefiting Ms. Sheeran Shiner is still not known.

            On Monday November 6, Amb. Sheeran Shiner will name three winners and presumably take questions. Since it says "interactive," one assumes there'll be a link-up with the Foreign Press Center in New York, as for another Assistant Secretary of State, Jendayi Frazer. It is said that transparency and inter-activity are important.

At UN, ready for spotlight? (Afghanistan photos now on display)

            Part of Ms. Sheeran Shiner's campaign to head WFP has been a four-page brochure, now online (though not inter-active). The first page shows a smiling Josette Sheeran, with a wide field behind here, evocative of the American Midwest. In food security circles, many question the U.S. strategy of placing surplus crops with WFP. Many European nations say it is better to give money. Many developing nations say that the inflow of U.S. crops destroys local production and markets, which the UN Food and Agriculture Organization is supposed to support. There is also the controversy about genetically-modified foods. These are all topics on which the four WFP finalists would face questions, and answer publicly, in a more transparent process.

            As to why a five year term's being given, in Kofi Annan's last months, the spokesman on Wednesday said the current WFP head, Jim Morris, is leaving at the end of the year. Since Mr. Morris' term runs through April, Thursday Inner City Press asked when Mr. Morris made known his early departure. Despite a promise of a fast answer to this factual question, as of press time no answer was forthcoming.

            L'affaire Shiner was raised in Washington at Wednesday's U.S. State Department press conference. From the transcript:

QUESTION: While we're up in New York, can you deal with (inaudible) with Josette Shiner seeking the World Food slot?
(Another question asked, discussed Iran…)  

QUESTION: Can we go back to the Shiner?       

MR. MCCORMACK: We can go back to the Shiner question.             

QUESTION: I'm not sure of the issues. No, they -- she wants the job. Another American is a candidate --   

MR. MCCORMACK: And we want her to have the job.       

QUESTION: What about the other American who's --                               
MR. MCCORMACK: Tony Banbury?     

QUESTION: -- does the program in Asia? Yeah.  
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I think he has put himself forward as an independent candidate. Usually the way this happens for these kinds of jobs is that a state will back one candidate. And our candidate for the job, as the Secretary has said, and she has made phone calls in support of Josette's candidacy, is Josette Shereen Shiner. And we think she's the right person for the job. It's not our decision. Secretary General Annan as well as I think head of the World Food Organization has a say in this. So it's out of our hands as to who gets selected, but we very strongly support her candidacy. Tony's a very capable person, a very capable person. He actually was a colleague of mine over at the NSC over at the White House previously before he took this job as, I think, Asia -- Director for Asia in the World Food Program. But the United States Government is backing Josette for the job.

QUESTION: Is there anything peculiar about funding brochures and such or is that part of the support process?    

MR. MCCORMACK: You know, this is very typical in the world of the UN and these kind of UN types of jobs. I think you will find that nominees, candidates for these jobs, will go around and do courtesy calls with every country that they possibly can, a variety of different people, and very often, very often times, more often than not, they'll leave a brochure because essentially it makes the case of this person's qualifications. We have done this before. It's certainly regular practice with us. And it's certainly standard practice within the confines of this UN process.                      

            It should be noted that the UN advertised the WFP opening in The Economist magazine, trolling, it would seem, for "independent candidates." In such a process, one might expect experience, resume and education to prevail. On the latter, it has been pointed out that while for example Mr. Banbury has a graduate degree in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts and another from Geneva, Ms. Sheeran Shiner lists a B.A.. At WFP, a masters degree is required for any P-1 position.

            Others argue that a major job of the head of WFP is fundraising. If so, a transparent process would allow for the question, how successful was Ms. Sheeran Shiner's fundraising at William Bennett's "Empower America" organization? Developing.

In Campaign to Head UN WFP, A Race to Precedents' Depths, A Murky Lame Duck Appointment

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

UNITED NATIONS, November 1 -- Both U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and Kofi Annan's spokesman faced questions Wednesday about the process to select a new executive director for the UN World Food Program. Each cited mixed precedents in defense of a process about which skepticism is growing.

            Ambassador Bolton, in a stakeout interview Wednesday afternoon, was asked by Inner City Press why he and the U.S. are pushing to get a five year term for Josette Sheeran Shiner, when Amb. Bolton had previously said that Kofi Annan should not appoint any senior officials to terms beyond December 31, 2006, when Mr. Annan leaves. Video here, at Minute 4:43.

            In response, Amb. Bolton stated that "the precedents have varied." After acknowledging that "there are examples to the contrary," he cited a precedent from late 1991, when Javier Perez de Cuellar gave his blessing to a five year term for Catherine Ann Bertini, then a U.S. Under-Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

            Rarely has Amb. Bolton taken prior UN precedent as proof that a decision is a good one. Inner City Press asked Amb. Bolton whether, as a matter of U.S. reform, he believed that the short list of candidates should be publicly disclosed.

Democracy in DRC but not WFP?

Earlier on Wednesday, Kofi Annan's spokesman had refused numerous reporters' requests for the short list, which Inner City Press then summarized as "Sheeran Shiner, Banbury, Fowler and Fust," see Inner City Press' articles of September 29 and October 27.

            Apparently referring to these, Amb. Bolton said, "I think the short list is already public." Video on UNTV, Minutes 6:30 though 7:40. But transparency of an institution is a choice, and should not be entirely dependent the fortuity of leaks and shoe-leather reporting. Amb. Bolton strode away from the stakeout, leaving many questions unanswered.

            Among these questions are why Bush Administration officials are so insistent that Ms. Sheeran Shiner must be the one. They have reportedly told UN officials up to the level of Mark Malloch Brown that "President Bush wants this."

            Despite the fact that, as a matter of UN reform, short lists of final candidates were made public in the selection processes for UNHCR, UNDP and even the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, Kofi Annan's spokesman on Wednesday insisted the list will not be publicly confirmed in this case, "because this doesn't go in front of the G[eneral] A[ssembly]," he said. Video on UNTV. Following Inner City Press, correspondents from the Washington Post, the New York Sun and the Times of London all followed up, asking the spokesman to explain the difference and then remaining unconvinced.

            Back in April 1999, the prior UN spokesman was quoted about UNDP that "we expect to make a decision in a week or two," but as refusing to comment about the selection process. Under this veil, Mark Malloch-Brown was selected, over Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Poul Nielson, the nominee of the European Union.

            In this WFP case, most observers give the Swiss finalist Walter Fust very little chance. Canada's Robert Fowler, it is said, has credit with Kofi Annan for Canada's help in making and keeping him Secretary-General. Still, it is still widely assumed that given the Bush Administration's insistence, Josette Shiner Sheeran is the favorite for the post, over fellow American (but Democrat) Tony Banbury.

            Returning to Amb. Bolton's 1991 precedent, open source research finds Ms. Bertini's biography on the UN web site, which misstates that she was appointed in 1992, and lists a pre-selection vita more extensive then Ms. Sheeran Shiner's, which pointedly does not mention her at least 20-year association with Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. Further research finds that in February 2006, Ms. Bertini appeared at the U.S. Institute of Peace to speak about North Korea.

            In 1992, Josette Sheeran Shiner wrote a generally laudatory article about North Korea's Great Leader, Kim Il Sung, which appeared on April 15 front page of the Moon-owned Washington Times. Excepts from Ms. Sheeran Shiner's article, available through the Washington Times web site, but only for $2.95 --

Kim Il-sung asks for thaw in ties with the U.S.

By Josette Shiner THE WASHINGTON TIMES  APRIL 15, 1992

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- ... President Kim, appearing relaxed and jovial in a 2 1/2-hour interview, followed by a private luncheon of roast goose and quail-egg soup. He seemed to be in vigorous health on the eve of his 80th birthday, presenting the image of a self-confident, reflective elder statesman... His robust appearance contradicts persistent reports in the West that his health is failing, and he discussed with zest and ease a range of topics, from nuclear weapons and the reunification of Korea to his recent visit with American evangelist Billy Graham, his enthusiasm for tiger hunting and his formula for a long life. The interview, at the Presidential Palace, was granted after a delegation of editors and reporters of The Times, led by Wesley Pruden, the newspaper's Managing Editor and editor-in-chief, had spent 11 days here interviewing highest-ranking government, military and Workers Party officials... "In my country now everybody has housing, nobody is sleeping outside. There are no beggars. There are no opium addicts. There's no unemployment, not a single person is without food and every child has 11 years' compulsory education. Plus we have free medical care and no taxation. I think these are the good points in my country"... "This is my philosophy: Even if the sky is falling down upon us, there will always be a hole for me to rise up through," he said. "When we were fighting against the Japanese imperialists I never felt pessimistic. If one feels optimistic there is nothing that can't be solved."

            It was this last that Ms. Sheeran Shiner later referred to, in a "Unification Speech and Talk," as "this wonderful thing that I published in the newspaper." Whether it is consistent with current U.S. foreign policy is another wonderful question.

            Viewing the above functions, it is reported that "when the Seoul-based Joon Ang Daily would wonder how Moon’s Pyeonghwa Motor Corporation had won a $55 million exclusive deal to manufacture vehicles for the regime. The Seoul paper quoted Hwang Sun-Jo, a Unification Church leader and head of Moon’s Tongil industrial conglomerate, who revealed that their good fortune became possible after Moon 'sent a Washington Times reporter to the North and made the country known to the West with a better image... Since then the North has confided in the church.'"

            Does this counter-intuitively provide support for Ms. Sheeran Shiner being anointed head of the UN World Food Program? Developing.

From the U.S. Mission's Nov. 1 transcript:

Other Inner City Press reports are archived on www.InnerCityPress.org - 

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

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

Russia's Vostok Battalion in Lebanon Despite Resolution 1701, Assembly Stays Deadlocked and UNDP Stays Missing

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

At the UN, Darfur Discussed, Annan Eulogized and Oil For Food Confined to a Documentary Footnote

With All Eyes on Council Seat, UN is Distracted from Myanmar Absolution and Congo Conflagration

As Venezuela and Guatemala Square Off, Dominicans In Default and F.C. Barcelona De-Listed

At the UN, North Korea Sanctions Agreed On, Naval Searches and Murky Weapons Sales

At the UN, Georgia Speaks of Ethnic Cleansing While Russia Complains of Visas Denied by the U.S.

At the UN, Deference to the Congo's Kabila and Tank-Sales to North Korea, of Slippery Eels and Sun Microsystems

At the UN, Annan's Africa Advisor Welcome Chinese Investment, Dodges Zimbabwe, Nods to Darfur

Georgia on its Mind, Russia Delays North Korea Nuclear Resolution with Abkhazia Allusions

At the UN, Richard Goldstone Presses Enforcement on Joseph Kony, Reflecting Back on Karadzic

The UN Shrugs on Congolese Warlords, While UNDP Assists Sudanese Justice, and OIOS Is In Hiding

Hungarian Revolutions Past and Present, Kissinger to UN and Ban Ki-Moon Speaks, Of Needs and Refugees

UN Defers on Anti-Terror Safeguards to Member States, Even in Pakistan and Somalia

Afghanistan as Black Hole for Info and Torture Tales, Photos and Talk Mogadishu, the UN Afterhours

Amid UN's Korean Uproar, Russia Silent on Murder of Anna Politkovskaya, Chechnya Exposer

UN Envoy Makes Excuses for Gambian Strongman, Whitewashing Fraud- and Threat-Filled Election

U.S. Calls for Annan and Ban Ki-moon to Publicly Disclose Finances, As U.S. Angles for 5-Year WFP Appointment

Sudan's UN Envoy Admits Right to Intervene in Rwanda, UNICEF Response on Terrorist Groups in Pakistan

UN's Annan Dodges Danger and Set-Backs in Gabon, Geneva, Tibet, Sudan, Disclosure Form Also for Successor?

At the UN, Ban Ki-Moon's Track Record on Myanmar Criticized by ASEAN Parliamentarians on Human Rights

At the UN, Cagey Council President of the GA on the Bottom of the Sea, of Stolen Chairs, Uzbek Human Rights and Georgia

At the UN, As Next S-G is Chosen, Annan Claims Power to Make 5-Year Appointments, Quiet Filing and Ivory Coast Concessions

Chaos in UN's Somalia Policy, Working With Islamists Under Sanctions While Meeting with Private Military Contractors

U.S. Candidate for UN's World Food Program May Get Lame Duck Appointment, Despite Korean Issues

At the UN, U.S. Versus Axis of Airport, While Serge Brammertz Measures Non-Lebanese Teeth

Exclusion from Water Is Called Progress, of Straw Polls and WFP Succession

William Swing Sings Songs of Congo's Crisis, No Safeguards on Coltan Says Chairman of Intel

Warlord in the Waldorf and Other Congo Questions Dodged by the UN in the Time Between Elections

In Some New Orleans, Questions Echo from the South Bronx and South Lebanon

In New Orleans, While Bone Is Thrown in Superdome, Parishes Still In Distress

At the UN, Tales of Media Muzzled in Yemen, Penned in at the Waldorf on Darfur, While Copters Grounded

US's Frazer Accuses Al-Bashir of Sabotage, Arab League of Stinginess, Chavez of Buying Leaders - Click here for video file by Inner City Press.

Third Day of UN General Debate Gets Surreal, Canapes and Killings, Questions on Iran and Montenegro and Still Somalia

On Darfur, Hugo Chavez Asks for More Time to Study, While Planning West Africa Oil Refinery

At the UN, Ivory Coast Discussed Without Decision on Toxic Politics, the Silence of Somalia

Evo Morales Blames Strike on Mobbed-Up Parasites, Sings Praise of Coca Leaf and Jabs at Coca-Cola

Musharraf Says Unrest in Baluchistan Is Waning, While Dodging Question on Restoring Civilian Rule

At the UN, Cyprus Confirms 'Paramilitary' Investigation, Denies Connection to Def Min Resignation, CBTB Update

A Tale of Three Leaders, Liberia Comes to Praise and Iran and Sudan to Bury the UN

Behind the UN Speeches, A Thai Coup, Somali Assassins and Hit-and-Run Chirac Ignoring Ivory Coast

Annan Pitches UN With No Mention of Reform; EU President Dodges Human Rights and Micro-States

UN Round-up: Poland's President Says Iraq Is Ever-More Tense While Amb. Bolton Talks Burmese Drugs, Spin on Ivory Coast

As UN's Annan Now Says He Will Disclose, When and Whether It Will Be to the Public and Why It Took So Long Go Unasked

At the UN, Stonewalling Continues on Financial Disclosure and Letter(s) U.S. Mission Has, While Zimbabwe Goes Ignored

At the UN, Financial Disclosure Are Withheld While Freedom of Information Is Promised, Of Hollywood and Dictators' Gift Shops

UN's Annan Says Dig Into Toxic Dumping, While Declining to Discuss Financial Disclosure

A Still-Unnamed Senior UN Official in NY Takes Free Housing from His Government, Contrary to UN Staff Regulations

UN Admits To Errors in its Report on Destruction of Congolese Village of Kazana, Safeguards Not In Place

As UN Checks Toxins in Abidjan, the Dumper Trafigura Figured in Oil for Food Scandal, Funded by RBS and BNP Paribas

Targeting of African Americans For High Cost Mortgages Grew Worse in 2005, While Fed Downplays Its Own Findings

The UN and Nagorno-Karabakh: Flurries of Activity Leave Frozen Conflicts Unchanged; Updates on Gaza, Gavels and Gbagbo

The UN Cries Poor on Lawless Somalia, While Its Ex-Security Chief Does Business Through Ruleless Revolving Door

At the UN, Micro-States Simmer Under the Assembly's Surface, While Incoming Council President Dodges Most Questions

"Horror Struck" is How UN Officials Getting Free Housing from Governments Would Leave U.S., Referral on Burma But Not Uzbekistan

Security Council President Condemns UN Officials Getting Free Housing from Governments, While UK "Doesn't Do It Any More"

At the UN, Incomplete Reforms Allow for Gifts of Free Housing to UN Officials by Member States

Rare UN Sunshine From If Not In Chad While Blind on Somalia and Zimbabwe, UNDP With Shell in its Ear on Nigeria

Annan Family Ties With Purchaser from Compass, Embroiled in UN Scandal, Raise Unanswered Ethical Questions

At the UN, from Casamance to Transdniestria, Kosovars to Lezgines, Micro-States as Powerful's Playthings

Inquiry Into Housing Subsidies Contrary to UN Charter Goes Ignored for 8 Weeks, As Head UN Peacekeeper Does Not Respond

Congo Shootout Triggers Kofi Annan Call, While Agent Orange Protest Yields Email from Old London

On the UN - Corporate Beat, Dow Chemical Luncheon Chickens Come Home to Roost

UN Bets the House on Lebanon, While Willfully Blind in Somalia and Pinned Down in Kinshasa

Stop Bank Branch Closings and Monopolies in the Katrina Zone, Group Says, Challenging Regions- AmSouth Merger

Ship-Breakers Missed by UN's Budget for Travel and Consultants in Bangladesh, Largest UNIFIL Troop Donor

Sudan Cites Hezbollah, While UN Dances Around Issues of Consent and Sex Abuse in the Congo, Passing the UNIFIL Hat

With Somalia on the Brink of Horn-Wide War, UN Avoids Question of Ethiopian Invasion

In UN's Lebanon Frenzy, Darfur Is Ignored As Are the Disabled, "If You Crave UNIFIL, Can't You Make Do With MONUC?"

UN Decries Uzbekistan's Use of Torture, While Helping It To Tax and Rule; Updates on UNIFIL and UNMIS Off-Message

At the UN, Lebanon Resolution Passes with Loophole, Amb. Gillerman Says It Has All Been Defensive

On Lebanon, Russian Gambit Focuses Franco-American Minds, Short Term Resolution Goes Blue Amid Flashes of Lightening

Africa Can Solve Its Own Problems, Ghanaian Minister Tells Inner City Press, On LRA Peace Talks and Kofi Annan's Views

At the UN, Jay-Z Floats Past Questions on Water Privatization and Sweatshops, Q'Orianka Kilcher in the Basement

In the UN Security Council, Speeches and Stasis as Haiti is Forgotten, for a Shebaa Farms Solution?

UN Silence on Congo Election and Uranium, Until It's To Iran or After a Ceasefire, and Council Rift on Kony

At the UN Some Middle Eastern Answers, Updates on Congo and Nepal While Silence on Somalia

On Lebanon, Franco-American Resolution Reviewed at UN in Weekend Security Council Meeting

UN Knew of Child Soldier Use by Two Warlords Whose Entry into Congo Army the UN Facilitated

At the UN, Disinterest in Zimbabwe, Secrecy on Chechnya, Congo Polyanna and Ineptitude on Somalia

Impunity's in the Air, at the UN in Kinshasa and NY, for Kony and Karim and MONUC for Kazana

UN Still Silent on Somalia, Despite Reported Invasion, In Lead-Up to More Congo Spin

UN's Guehenno Says Congo Warlord Just Needs Training, and Kazana Probe Continues

With Congo Elections Approaching, UN Issues Hasty Self-Exoneration as Annan Is Distracted

In DR Congo, UN Applauds Entry into Army of Child-Soldier Commander Along with Kidnapper

Spinning the Congo, UN Admits Hostage Deal with Warlord That Put Him in Congolese Army

At the UN, Dow Chemical's Invited In, While Teaming Up With Microsoft is Defended

Kofi Annan Questioned about Congolese Colonel Who Kidnapped Seven UN Soldiers

At the UN, Speeches While Gaza Stays Lightless and Insurance Not Yet Paid

At the UN Poorest Nations Discussed, Disgust at DRC Short Shrift, Future UN Justice?

At the UN Wordsmiths Are At Work on Zimbabwe, Kony,  Ivory Coast and Iran

UN Silent As Congolese Kidnapper of UN Peacekeepers Is Made An Army Colonel: News Analysis

At the UN, New Phrase Passes Resolution called Gangster-Like by North Korea; UK Deputy on the Law(less)

UN's Guehenno Speaks of "Political Overstretch" Undermining Peacekeeping in Lower Profile Zones

In Gaza Power Station, the Role of Enron and the U.S. Government's OPIC Revealed by UN Sources

At UN, North Korean Knot Attacked With Fifty Year Old Precedent, Game Continues Into Weekend

UN's Corporate Partnerships Will Be Reviewed, While New Teaming Up with Microsoft, and UNDP Continues

Gaza Resolution Vetoed by U.S., While North Korea Faces Veto and Chechnya Unread

BTC Briefing, Like Pipeline, Skirts Troublespots, Azeri Revelations

Conflicts of Interest in UNHCR Program with SocGen and Pictet Reveal Reform Rifts

At the UN, A Day of Resolutions on Gaza, North Korea and Iran, Georgia as Side Dish

UN Grapples with Somalia, While UNDP Funds Mugabe's Human Rights Unit, Without Explanation

In North Korean War of Words, Abuses in Uganda and Impunity Go Largely Ignored

On North Korea, Blue Words Move to a Saturday Showdown, UNDP Uzbek Stonewall

As the World Turns in Uganda and Korea, the UN Speaks only on Gaza, from Geneva

North Korea in the UN: Large Arms Supplant the Small, and Confusion on Uganda

UN Gives Mugabe Time with His Friendly Mediator, Refugees Abandoned

At the UN, Friday Night's Alright for Fighting; Annan Meets Mugabe

UN Acknowledges Abuse in Uganda, But What Did Donors Know and When? Kazakh Questions

In Uganda, UNDP to Make Belated Announcement of Program Halt, But Questions Remain (and see The New Vision, offsite).

Disarmament Abuse in Uganda Leads UN Agency to Suspend Its Work and Spending

Disarmament Abuse in Uganda Blamed on UNDP, Still Silent on Finance

Alleged Abuse in Disarmament in Uganda Known by UNDP, But Dollar Figures Still Not Given: What Did UN Know and When?

Strong Arm on Small Arms: Rift Within UN About Uganda's Involuntary Disarmament of Karamojong Villages

UN in Denial on Sudan, While Boldly Predicting the Future of Kosovo/a

UN's Selective Vision on Somalia and Wishful Thinking on Uighurs

UN Habitat Predicts The World Is a Ghetto, But Will Finance Be Addressed at Vancouver World Urban Forum?

At the UN, a Commando Unit to Quickly Stop Genocide is Proposed, by Diplomatic Sir Brian Urquhart

UN's Annan Concerned About Use of Terror's T-Word to Repress, Wants Freedom of Information

UN  Waffles on Human Rights in Central Asia and China; ICC on Kony and a Hero from Algiers

At the UN, Internal Justice Needs Reform, While in Timor Leste, Has Evidence Gone Missing?

UN & US, Transparency for Finance But Not Foreign Affairs: Somalia, Sovereignty and Senator Tom Coburn

In Bolton's Wake, Silence and Speech at the UN, Congo and Kony, Let the Games Begin

Pro-Poor Talk and a Critique of the World Trade Organization from a WTO Founder: In UN Lull, Ugandan Fog and Montenegrin Mufti

Human Rights Forgotten in UN's War of Words, Bolton versus Mark Malloch Brown: News Analysis

In Praise of Migration, UN Misses the Net and Bangalore While Going Soft on Financial Exclusion

UN Sees Somalia Through a Glass, Darkly, While Chomsky Speaks on Corporations and Everything But Congo

AIDS Ends at the UN? Side Deals on Patents, Side Notes on Japanese Corporations, Salvadoran and Violence in Burundi

On AIDS at the UN, Who Speaks and Who Remains Unseen

Corporate Spin on AIDS, Holbrooke's Kudos to Montenegro and its Independence (May 31, 2006)

Kinshasa Election Nightmares, from Ituri to Kasai. Au Revoir Allan Rock; the UN's Belly-Dancing

Working with Warlords, Insulated by Latrines: Somalia and Pakistan Addressed at the UN

The Silence of the Congo and Naomi Watts; Between Bolivia and the World Bank

Human Rights Council Has Its Own Hanging Chads; Cocky U.S. State Department Spins from SUVs

Child Labor and Cargill and Nestle; Iran, Darfur and WHO's on First with Bird Flu

Press Freedom? Editor Arrested by Congo-Brazzaville, As It Presides Over Security Council

The Place of the Cost-Cut UN in Europe's Torn-Up Heart;
Deafness to Consumers, Even by the Greens

Background Checks at the UN, But Not the Global Compact; Teaching Statistics from Turkmenbashi's Single Book

Ripped Off Worse in the Big Apple, by Citigroup and Chase: High Cost Mortgages Spread in Outer Boroughs in 2005, Study Finds

Burundi: Chaos at Camp for Congolese Refugees, Silence from UNHCR, While Reform's Debated by Forty Until 4 AM

In Liberia, From Nightmare to Challenge; Lack of Generosity to Egeland's CERF, Which China's Asked About

The Chadian Mirage: Beyond French Bombs, Is Exxon In the Cast? Asylum and the Uzbeks, Shadows of Stories to Come

Through the UN's One-Way Mirror, Sustainable Development To Be Discussed by Corporations, Even Nuclear Areva

Racial Disparities Grew Worse in 2005 at Citigroup, HSBC and Other Large Banks

Mine Your Own Business: Explosive Remnants of War and the Great Powers, Amid the Paparazzi

Human Rights Are Lost in the Mail: DR Congo Got the Letter, But the Process is Still Murky

Iraq's Oil to be Metered by Shell, While Basrah Project Remains Less than Clear

At the UN, Dues Threats and Presidents-Elect, Unanswered Greek Mission Questions

Kofi, Kony, Kagame and Coltan: This Moment in the Congo and Kampala

As Operation Swarmer Begins, UN's Qazi Denies It's Civil War and Has No Answers if Iraq's Oil is Being Metered

Cash Crop: In Nepal, Bhutanese Refugees Prohibited from Income Generation Even in their Camps

The Shorted and Shorting in Humanitarian Aid: From Davos to Darfur, the Numbers Don't Add Up

UN Reform: Transparency Later, Not Now -- At Least Not for AXA - WFP Insurance Contract

In Congolese Chaos, Shots Fired at U.N. Helicopter Gunship

In the Sudanese Crisis, Oil Revenue Goes Missing, UN Says

Empty Words on Money Laundering and Narcotics, from the UN and Georgia

What is the Sound of Eleven Uzbeks Disappearing? A Lack of Seats in Tashkent, a Turf War at UN

Kosovo: Of Collective Punishment and Electricity; Lights Out on Privatization of Ferronikeli Mines

Abkhazia: Cleansing and (Money) Laundering, Says Georgia

Post-Tsunami Human Rights Abuses, including by UNDP in the Maldives

Who Pays for the Global Bird Flu Fight? Not the Corporations, So Far - UN

Citigroup Dissembles at United Nations Environmental Conference

Other Inner City Press reports are archived on www.InnerCityPress.org - 

For reporting about banks, predatory lending, consumer protection, money laundering, mergers or the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), click here for Inner City Press's weekly CRA Report. Inner City Press also reports weekly concerning the Federal Reserve, environmental justice, global inner cities, and more recently on the United Nations, where Inner City Press is accredited media. Follow those links for more of Inner City Press's reporting, or, click here to contact us with or for more information.

            Copyright 2005-2006 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editors [at] innercitypress.com - phone: (718) 716-3540