At the UN, Disabled Are Freed from a Footnote, Murky
Answers from Gbagbo to Kosovo to a Genocidaire
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN
UNITED NATIONS, December 13 -- As the first
international human rights convention of the 21st century, on the rights of the
disabled, was enacted by the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, the focus was on
a footnote. Specifically, coming into the final stretch the draft convention had
included a provision that "In Arabic, Chinese and Russian, the term legal
capacity refers to legal capacity for rights, not legal capacity to act." It
would have been a new low for a purportedly universal declaration of rights to
spell out that in countries speaking Arabic, Chinese or Russian, the rights of
the disabled are defined to a different, lower standard. And so in the run-up to
the vote, the footnote was dropped.
Chairman Don MacKay of New
Zealand spoke of the example of Russia, which had demanded the footnote and then
dropped the demand. Video
here,
from Minute 26:50. The
UN's write-up summarizes
that "Any nuances in
translation would be worked out throughout time and would depend on State
practice."
In response to questions from Inner City
Press, Mr. MacKay acknowledged that the footnote had been less than ideal, but
was a strategic decision made to keep the convention's momentum going.
"Sometimes you need to make strategic decisions, sometimes you get them right,"
he said. Video
here,
Minute 13:50 through 19:40. Afterwards it was pointed out to Mr. MacKay that the
floundering declaration on indigenous people's rights might need his type of
diplomacy.
Earlier on Wednesday Ambassador Ali
Hachani of Tunisia, the president of the UN's Economic and Social Council,
ECOSOC, explained that the time for grand pronouncements was over. "Now it's
time to implement." Inner City Press asked Ambassador Hachani if ECOSOC has a
spokesperson, since an earlier message to the Tunisian mission seeking an answer
on how one or more candidates to head the World Food Program were lobbying the
ECOSOC members of the WFP Board. "I got your message," Amb. Hachani
acknowledged. "But by then, the WFP director had been selected." Next time,
then.
What role did ECOSOC play in
the Peacebuilding Commission's selection of
Burundi and
Sierra Leone as its first two countries? Despite the commitment to use fewer
words, the answer was not entirely clear. Video
here,
from Minute 23:45.
Inner City Press also asked Ambassador
Hachani if ECOSOC plays in any role in reviewing the hiring of personnel of the
UN Millennium Project into the UN Development Program, which UNDP staff say is
happening in violation of UN and UNDP rules. Amb. Hachani gave a long answer,
but it still appears that no one is overseeing this process.
IDPs
in North Kivu, Eastern Congo
At Kofi Annan's spokesman's
noon briefing, questions about Congo and the purported coup plot in Ivory Coast
were raised, but the UN had no comment. From the
transcript:
Inner City Press: South Africa, through
its Defense Minister, has offered to
mediate between General Nkunda and the
Congolese Government. Does
MONUC [United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo] have any view of that? Has it been playing a role in such mediation?
Spokesman: I’d
have to get some answers for you. I don’t have anything with me for you on
that. [The Spokesman later added that South Africa’s mediation was a bilateral
affair although MONUC was monitoring.]
Inner City Press: And also the Gbagbo
Government in Cote d'Ivoire said it had found a coup plot, and
many diplomats in Abidjan say it’s
probably not true, but has
[inaudible -- Messrs. Schori or Stoudmann] has had anything to say on that?
Spokesman: I
have no official statement. Obviously, it’s something the Mission is looking at,
but I have nothing in particular on that.
Read out Wednesday as a
statement, however, in response to Inner City Press' questions from the day
before, was the fact that the UN will now be paying out a full year's salary to
Callixte Mburushimana, a UNDP employee in Rwanda widely described as a
genocidaire. The spokesman began, as the
UN has transcribed:
"And lastly, I think, Matthew, it was you yesterday
that asked me about the case of Callixte Mbarushimana, who you may recall is the
former UN staffer whose contract had not been renewed in 2001 following
allegations relating to activities undertaken during the Rwandan genocide. In
July of this year, the UN Administrative Tribunal upheld its original decision
in favor of Mr Mbarushimana's demand for compensation, resulting from the
non-extension of his contract with UNMIK... the Secretariat has no choice but to
pay Mr. Mbarushimana the one-year salary he had requested. The Secretary-General
had withheld compensation pending this very unusual appeal and was also pending
any possible legal action for alleged crimes against humanity being taken
against Mr. Mbarushimana by either the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda, or judicial authorities in France, where he currently resides. The
Secretary-General has now been forced by our justice system to make this very
unfortunate settlement."
American Public Radio has
reported that
while
"Mbarushimana
recounts braving militia barricades to help deliver food, water and money to his
colleagues at United Nations Development Program (UNDP) who were trapped by the
violence....Survivors and former U.N. colleagues also say Mbarushimana offered
army officers and militia leaders technical assistance that made the killing
even more efficient: U.N. vehicles, satellite phones and personnel files of some
U.N. workers suspected of sympathizing with Tutsis... They also say the U.N.'s
failure to promptly pursue allegations against Mbarushimana allowed him to keep
working off-and-on for the organization for nearly ten years after the
genocide."
Wednesday the spokesman expressed the Secretariat's
heavy heart in paying out this money. Inner City Press asked, "But what could
UNDP have done to take action sooner on Callixte Mburushimana, or to make sure
this doesn't happen again?"
"There is nothing much more I can say at
this point," the spokesman answered. He has seven briefing to go, he has said.
Ban Ki-moon gets pre-sworn in on Thursday morning.
At the Security Council
stakeout, Inner City Press asked Qatar's Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser,
president of the Council for the month of December, for his view of the United
States having brought up Belarus in the Tuesday Council meeting. Russian
Ambassador Churkin left the Tuesday meeting, and Wednesday characterized U.S.
representative William Brencich's raising of the issue as "propaganda." "It is
between the two member states," Amb. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser answered
diplomatically. He similarly dodged a question about Somalia. Video
here.
After 5 o'clock, the Council's
meeting on Kosovo came to a close. Inner City Press asked the UN's envoy Joachim
Rucker and Kosovar prime Minister
Agim Ceku to
respond to reports that the
UN will pass Kosovo to the European Union,
and to Russian threats of veto. Video
here,
from Minute 5:00. Mr. Rucker said that he believes the Contact Group will bring
Russia along. We'll see.
See,
Inner City Press' Ongoing UNDP Series --
Intro
followed by
second,
third,
fourth,
fifth,
sixth,
seventh,
eighth,
ninth,
tenth,
eleventh,
twelfth
Feedback: Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-453A,
UN, NY 10017 USA Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter's mobile
(and weekends): 718-716-3540
At the UN, Indigenous Indignation,
Revolving Door Mysteries and Peace Pipe Belatedly Smoked
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN
UNITED NATIONS, December 12 -- There were
more questions than answers at the UN on Tuesday. At a briefing on the deferral,
at the African group's request, of the draft declaration on the rights of
indigenous people, it was asked how many of the 270 million UN-counted
indigenous are on the Continent of Africa. The answer was not given. Video
here,
Minute 29:29, question, and Minute 31:28, "answer." But dissatisfaction at the
deferral was made very, very clear. Later the spokeswoman for the president of
the General Assembly was asked if the process is dead, and if the GA President
will convene a meeting between the resolution's proponents and the African
Group. From the
transcript:
Inner City
Press: The Mexican Mission held a press conference on the indigenous issues
declaration, saying the African Group expressed outrage over advocates of the
text. Is the General Assembly President involved, is there any process going on
between the African Group and the others? Mexico presented it as if nothing is
going forward. Is that your understanding?
Spokeswoman:
That is one viewpoint, yes. Many in the indigenous groups feel that way.
Before getting to this stage of finalization or the vote actually, the President
was very much involved. At this point, the feeling is that there wasn’t enough
of a broad discussion before it came to the vote and I think this is the hope,
that they’ll now have the opportunity to have that broad discussion. There is a
proviso in the resolution that everything should be completed at the end of the
sixty-first Assembly session. The hope is that that’ll happen. The other view
is the more bleak way of looking at it; but I think many feel that if you open
the discussion you’ll have a richer exchange and you’ll come to a conclusion
sooner, rather than later.
Inner City
Press: Will she convene such a discussion?
Spokeswoman:
She doesn’t have to convene it; the Member States have decided [and they will be
the ones to take the discussions forward.]. They may form a working group.
She’ll only become involved if they ask her to become involved.
We'll see.
Meanwhile Kofi Annan's
spokesman was asked, by Inner City Press, will the anti-revolving door policy
that's been promised by the end of the year include a two-year Ban on lobbying
the UN for decisions? "We'll have to wait and see," the spokesman said. "Who
pulls the trigger?" "The Secretary-General." So while we below have to wait and
see, those at the top already know. Why was the UN's Deputy Secretary General
meeting on Tuesday with a former UN envoy to Kosovo? We're told it was a
courtesy call. What about the case of
Callixte Mbarushimana,
the genocidaire to whom the UN was ordered to pay thirteen months'
salary? The spokesman promises as answer by Wednesday morning.
Rwandan
aftermath
Also at the noon briefing on
Tuesday, Mr. Annan's spokesman graciously made nice with Inner City Press,
contrary to UNDP's anti-press positions. As
quoted in the UN's transcript,
the spokesman told Inner City Press, "because
I had singled you out, I wanted you to know that, despite a few heated words
last week, that we do appreciate the work you do as a journalist, and since
you've come here, you’ve made it your business to pursue topics that might
otherwise be ignored." Like UNDP. Also at the briefing on Tuesday questions were
raised, and not only by Inner City Press, about whether the Secretariat's
spokesman can answer for UNDP, and why UNDP doesn't send a spokesman to the
briefings at least once a week. This was answered by referring to a briefing
sometime later in December, but some high level UNDP officials. Since it was
already announced, Kermal Dervis on December 18, this new vituperation may
indicate further backsliding. We'll see.
At the UN, Questions of Congo Mass
Graves and Kazana, Mugabe and Forests and Rich German Ships
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN
UNITED NATIONS, December 11 -- The UN's
deputy envoy to the Congo, Ross Mountain, said Monday that "outlaw" Laurent
Nkunda in fact has popular support in Eastern Congo, the underlying causes of
which must be dealt with. Asked about the recent discovery of mass graves in
Bavi in Irumu territory, and about the UN's knowledge and role in the
destruction of the village of Kazana on April 21, 2006 -- click
here for
previous story on this. On the latter, Mr. Mountain acknowledged that he'd
failed before to provide promised information to Inner City Press, and said he
will do so shortly.
On the
mass graves discovered
last month, Mr. Mountain emphasized that the victims hadn't been killed
recently, but rather "during the war." Video
here,
from Minute 33:44.
Inner City Press previously asked for and obtained some information about the
mass graves find:
Subject: Yr
questions at noon yesterday: DRC mass grave
From: [ at]
un.org
To: Inner City
Press
Matthew,
please find below a Q&A, provided by Monuc, on the discovery on the mass grave
in the DRC:
Q: When were
the graves discovered?
The graves were discovered the 22nd of November. A multidisciplinary
mission went to Bavi (Human Rights, MONUC Security, Military Prosecutor’s office
and a representative of the 1st integrated Brigade).
Q Any estimates
as to when the executions took place?
They were four different executions (18, 9, 2, 1 people), according to two
witnesses, including one of two suspects currently under arrest for this.
They were carried out between July and November.
Q: How were the
victims killed: firearms, machetes, other weapons?
They used
barres a mines, a tool used by gold diggers [a crow bar].
Q Any estimate on how many perpetrators were involved?
One is responsible for giving the order, the Commander of the Bavi Battalion who
was put under arrest the 15th of November. As for the direct perpetrators, there
are many, but we don't have yet the numbers. There is also the case of the
accomplices, those who tried subsequently to cover up the killings by having the
bodies moved to a different location.
Q Have any
other arrests been made or are planned?
Two soldiers are under arrest are both Army captains. We believe that all the
officers of the Etat Major should be arrested, including the 2nd in command.
We are also trying to identify the direct perpetrators. We want to verify
if there is a peloton d'execution [a firing squad]. The detained captain
asserted that the 2 bodyguards of the Battalion Commander participated in the
killings.
Q Any details
on which unit(s) of the 1st brigade was/were involved?
The
Bataillon d'intervention.
To be sure,
MONUC forces have in the worked with the first integrated brigade since it was
the first that was deployed in Ituri. However UN peacekeepers never were and are
currently not deployed in Bavi at this particular location with this unit. The
closest MONUC deployment area is Aveba, some 15 to 20 kilometers away.
Q Has the
preliminary enquiry provided any details on the motives of these executions?
According to the statements of the witnesses, they were killed because they were
Ngiti, and Ngiti for them means militia.
This last, on motive, is reminiscent of the Congolese Army's operations with
MONUC that resulted in the
torching of Kazana in
April.
Justice
under MONUC's gun
As another Inner City Press source in the region has
pointed out:
"The FARDC
troops involved in these killings are from the very same units that took part in
the combined ops with MONUC earlier this year. The civilians being murdered are
the same as the inhabitants of Kazana and the locations are also very close.
This statement tells you plenty: 'According to the statements of the witnesses,
they were killed because they were Ngiti, and Ngiti for them means militia.'
This is exactly what happened in Kazana. The FARDC have been behaving like this
throughout, so the question remains: why does MONUC combine operations with
them? One major factor in FARDC abuses has to be lack of training. MONUC claimed
it was training the Congolese prior to operations, but they often didn't and
even if they did the efforts were cursory."
One week ago, Inner City Press asked Jane Holl Lute of the UN Department of
Peacekeeping Operations for more information about MONUC's findings about
Kazana, beyond the one-page self-exoneration previously released. We're still
waiting.
It
should also be noted that since the above Q&A was provided to Inner City Press
by the UN, two more bodies were found, according to the most recent
human rights report:
"Nine IDPs, initially reported abducted, are believed to be among at least
32 civilians summarily executed by FARDC soldiers of the Intervention
Battalion of the 1st Integrated Brigade in Bavi -- 50 km south of Bunia --
in mid-September. Bodies of at least 32 victims, including women and
children, were found in three mass graves near Bavi, on 22 November 2006.
The bodies had allegedly been moved to Bavi from their original location, on
17 November, after the military involved in the killings found out that
there was an investigation."
Despite the continued killing of civilians in
the Congo, the UN Security Council's recent statement on DRC are nearly all
positive. On the sidelines of the UN Security Council stakeout, Inner City Press
asked Germany's ambassador if how much his country will charge UN Peacekeeping
for its ships patrolling the coast of South Lebanon. "We did not talk about this
in the meeting," he responded. But that's not really an answer...
Monday in
an earlier briefing about the UN Forum on Forests working toward a non-binding
instrument of forest protection, Inner City Press asked about
opposition to
the process. Video
here.
The response, as
written up by the UN, was:
"Asked about criticisms from indigenous groups
over the fact that the instrument would be non-binding and would actually
'enshrine' the sovereignty of nations over forests, Mr. Hoogeveen said even
legally-binding instruments were not always implemented in the ways that had
been intended. For that reason, all such agreements depended on
political commitment to implement them."
So because some laws get broken, non-binding platitudes are not different than
laws? At Monday's UN noon briefing, the visit of the World Food Program's Jim
Morris to Zimbabwe was raised. From
the transcript:
Inner City
Press: Jim Morris of the World Food Program and also the
Secretary-General’s Special Envoy in southern Africa, was in Zimbabwe. Did
he meet with Robert Mugabe, and if so, what did they discuss?
Associate
Spokesman: Yes, Mr. Morris is in Zimbabwe as you noted, and he did meet
with President Mugabe and Zimbabwean Government ministers. Mr. Morris is
on a humanitarian mission. The goal is to urge Governments in the region,
he’s not just going to Zimbabwe but other countries in southern Africa as well,
and the goal of the mission is to urge Governments in the region and the donor
community, to take decisive action to tackle long-term development problems in
that region. He also raised, in his meeting with President Mugabe and
Zimbabwean cabinet officials, the issue of orphans in that country, children
that are otherwise vulnerable and people with HIV/AIDS. Mr. Morris tells
us that he was heartened by the close working relationship between the United
Nations and the non-governmental organization (NGO) community, who are both
working together to assist the people of Zimbabwe and to help avoid a serious
food crisis in that country. So his mission is essentially humanitarian,
and his focus so far in all these discussions has been to stress the
humanitarian concerns of both the United Nations and the international
community.
Inner City
Press: Did the issue of that “operation clean up the trash” or “restore
order”, the mass evictions…did he raise that issue? And also, did the
issue of this Human Rights Council that some in the UN are working with the
Mugabe Government to create, were these discussed?
Associate
Spokesman: I don’t have that specific information on whether or not that
particular point was raised in that meeting with Mr. Mugabe.
Seven hundred thousand people evicted, and the issue is not raised by the UN's
humanitarian envoy? An explanation will be sought of this UN administration's
(in) action on Zimbabwe and other issues, before the end of the year.
Other Inner City
Press reports are available in the ProQuest service and some are archived on
www.InnerCityPress.com --
At the UN,
Indigenous Rights Get Deferred, As U.S. Abstains, Deftly or Deceptively
At the UN,
Threat and Possible Statement on Fiji Spotlights Selection and Payment
of UN Peacekeepers
At the UN, China
and Islamic Dev't Bank Oppose Soros and World Bank On How to Fight
Poverty
At the UN,
Misdirection on Somalia and Myanmar, No Answers from UNDP's Kemal Dervis
UNDP Dodges
Questions of Disarmament Abuse in Uganda and of Loss of Togo AIDS Grant,
Dhaka Snafu
At the UN, The
Swan Song of Jan Egeland and the Third Committee Loop, Somalia Echoes
Congo
UN Silent As
Protesters Tear Gassed in Ivory Coast, As UNMOVIC Plods On and War
Spreads in Somalia
In the UN,
Uzbekistan Gets a Pass on Human Rights As Opposition to U.S. Grows and
War's On in Somalia
At the UN,
Cluster Bombs Unremembered, Uighurs Disappeared and Jay-Z Returns with
Water -- for Life
From the UN,
Silence on War Crimes Enforcement and Conflicts of Interest on Complaint
from Bahrain
En Route to
Deutsche Bank, the UN's Door Revolves, While Ban Ki-moon Arrives and
Moldova Spins
As Two UN
Peacekeepers Are Killed, UN Says Haiti's Improving, Ban Ki-moon on
Zimbabwe?
Nagorno-Karabakh President Disputes Fires and Numbers, Oil and UN, in
Exclusive Interview with Inner City Press
Inside the UN,
Blaming Uganda's Victims, Excusing Annan on Mugabe, and U.S. Blocked
Darfur Trip
U.S. Blocked
Council's Trip to Darfur Meeting, Brazzaville Envoy Explains After U.S.
Casts a Veto
At the UN,
Council Works Overtime To Cancel Its Trip About Darfur, While DC Muses
on John Bolton
UN Panel's
"Coherence" Plan Urges More Power to UNDP, Despite Its Silence on Human
Rights
On Water, UNDP
Talks Human Rights, While Enabling Violations in Africa and Asia, With
Shell and Coca-Cola
Will UN's
Revolving Door Keep Human Rights Lost, Like Bush's Call and WFP
Confirmation Questions?
On Somalia,
We Are All Ill-Informed, Says the UN, Same on Uganda, Lurching Toward
UNDP Power Grab
On WFP, Annan and
Ban Ki-Moon Hear and See No Evil, While Resume of Josette Sheeran Shiner
Is Edited
Would Moon
Followers Trail Josette Sheeran Shiner into WFP, As to U.S. State Dep't?
At the UN,
Positions Are Up For the Grabbing, Sun's Silence on Censorship, Advisor
Grabs for Gun
In WFP Race,
Josette Sheeran Shiner Praises Mega Corporations from Cornfield While
State Spins
At the UN,
Housing Subsidy Spin, Puntland Mysteries of UNDP and the Panama Solution
In Campaign to
Head UN WFP, A Race to Precedents' Depths, A Murky Lame Duck Appointment
At the UN,
Gbagbo and his Gbaggage, Toxic Waste and Congolese Sanctions
WFP Brochure-Gate?
John Bolton Has Not Seen Brochure of "Official" U.S. Candidate to Head World
Food Program
Ivory Coast
Stand-Off Shows Security Council Fault Lines: News Analysis
At the UN,
It's Groundhog's Day on Western Sahara, Despite Fishing Deals and
Flaunting of the Law
"Official" U.S.
Candidate to Head WFP Circulates Brochure With Pulitzer Claim, UN Staff
Rules Ignored
Senegal's
President Claims Peace in Casamance and Habre Trial to Come, A Tale of
Two Lamines
A Tale of Two
Americans Vying to Head the World Food Program, Banbury and Sheeran
Shiner
At the UN, the
Unrepentant Blogger Pronk, a Wink on 14 North Korean Days and Silence on
Somalia
At the UN,
Literacy Losses in Chad, Blogless Pronk and Toothless Iran Resolution,
How Our World Turns
Sudan Pans Pronk
While Praising Natsios, UN Silent on Haiti and WFP, Ivorian Fingers
Crossed
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
At the UN,
Richard Goldstone Presses Enforcement on Joseph Kony, Reflecting Back on
Karadzic
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
Sudan's UN
Envoy Admits Right to Intervene in Rwanda, UNICEF Response on Terrorist
Groups in Pakistan
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
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
On the UN -
Corporate Beat, Dow Chemical Luncheon Chickens Come Home to Roost
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
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
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 Knew of Child
Soldier Use by Two Warlords Whose Entry into Congo Army the UN
Facilitated
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
UN Silent As Congolese Kidnapper of UN Peacekeepers Is Made An Army
Colonel: News Analysis
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
UN's Corporate Partnerships Will Be Reviewed, While New Teaming Up with
Microsoft, and UNDP Continues
BTC Briefing, Like Pipeline, Skirts Troublespots, Azeri Revelations
Conflicts of Interest in UNHCR Program with SocGen and Pictet Reveal
Reform Rifts
UN Grapples with Somalia, While UNDP Funds Mugabe's Human Rights Unit,
Without Explanation
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'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?
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
UN
& US, Transparency for Finance But Not Foreign Affairs: Somalia,
Sovereignty and Senator Tom Coburn
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
Corporate Spin on AIDS, Holbrooke's Kudos to Montenegro and its
Independence
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
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
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 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
Citigroup Dissembles at United
Nations Environmental Conference
Other Inner City
Press reports are available in the ProQuest service and some are
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