On
Eritrea, ICP
Asks UN Rapporteur
Keetharut of
Impact of
Sanctions,
Trafficking
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 29
-- When
the UN Special
Rapporteur on
Eritrea Sheila
B. Keetharut
and the
Chairperson of
the Commission
of Inquiry on
Eritrea Mike
Smith held a
press
conference at
the UN on
October 29,
Inner City
Press asked
them about the
human rights
impacts of
sanctions on
Eritrea, and
about human
trafficking. Video here.
Keetharut said
the sanctions
are “specific”
and do not
have an
impact. The
basis of the
statement was
unclear. Smith
said they were
good questions
but that he
could not
speak to
sanctions. Who
does?
Well,
the UN's
Rapporteur on
Iran Ahmed
Shaheed does,
this week
telling Inner
City Press how
exclusion from
SWIFT makes it
impossible for
Iranian's to
buy cancer
medicine.
On October 26
when Idriss
Jazairy,
Special
Rapporteur on
the negative
impact of
unilateral
coercive
measures on
the enjoyment
of human
rights held a
UN press
conference,
Inner City
Press asked
him about
sanctions on
Sudan and
Eritrea, his
proposal for a
registry, and
about the use
of SWIFT to in
essence impose
sanctions. Tweeted
photo here.
Idriss
Jazairy
declined to
comment on
Eritrea,
saying
Security
Council
sanctions are
being his
jurisdiction.
He was
critical of
unilateral
measures on
Sudan, which
he said he
will visit in
November. He
likened his
registry
proposal to
that in place
for
conventional
arms.
On
SWIFT, he said
he its use
makes it
impossible,
for example,
for cancer
patients in
Iran to get
medicine.
Earlier on
October 26,
the past
president of
UNCA, now the
UN Censorship
Alliance,
bragged about
UN Rapporteur
Ahdmed
Shaheed's
"preview" of
his
presentation
on Iran, which
Reuters later
channeled
without saying
where Shaheed
spoke. Inner
City Press for
the Free UN
Coalition for
Access asked
the OHCHR
spokesperson,
who said he
didn't know.
We'll have
more on this.
On October 20
when the UN
Special
Rapporteur on
torture Juan
E. Méndez held
a press
conference,
Inner City
Press asked
him for his
view of the
only partial
release of the
US Senate's
report on CIA
torture, about
Guantanamo Bay
and whether he
thought
President
Barack Obama's
visit to a
prison might
make his
long-pending
request to
visit US
prisons move
faster. Video
here.
Mendez said
there should
be more
release(s),
and
accountability.
He said he had
had to request
the US'
conditional
offers to
visit
Guantanamo Bay
and US
prisons, as he
would not be
allowed to
speak with all
prisoners. He
praise Obama's
visit, but
still - Mendez
can't get in.
On October 16
when the Chair
of the UN
Committee on
the Rights of
the Child
Benyam Dawit
Mezmur held a
press
conference at
the UN, Inner
City Press
asked him
about US
President
Barack Obama's
decision to
continue to
provide
military aid
to the
Democratic
Republic of
Congo,
Nigeria,
Somalia, and
South Sudan,
despite all
four being on
the UN's (and
US') lists on
children and
armed
conflict. Video here.
Benyam Dawit
Mezmur said
that while the
US is the lone
holdout on the
Convention on
the Rights of
the Child, the
issue can
still be
gotten-at
under the
Optional
Protocol.
Inner City
Press asked
about the
sexual abuse
of children in
the Central
African
Republic by
French and UN
peacekeepers.
Benyam Dawit
Mezmur replied
that the
Committee is
asking France
about the
alleged sexual
abuse of
children, and
will conduct a
review in
January. We
aim to have
more on this.
At the
press
conference,
there were
only two
correspondents,
as there was
an emergency
UN Security
Council
meeting on
Palestine at
the same time.
Inner City
Press on
behalf of the
Free UN
Coalition for
Access thanked
Benyam Dawit
Mezmur for the
briefing but
suggested that
in the future
postponement
of briefings,
so that more
journalists
could attend,
be considered.
UNCA wasn't
present at
all; nor has
it disclosed
the extend of
funding and
connection by
indicted David
Ng and Frank
Lorenzo and
their
affiliates.
Also on
the UN, when
the UN find a
staff member
using the UN's
email system
to trafficking
in sexual
images of
minors, a
crime, what
does it do? On
October 16,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about this
paragraph from
a UN
report it had
dug up:
“49. A staff
member sent,
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system,
pornographic
material,
including
pornographic
material
involving a
minor, and
failed to
report that
another staff
member had
sent the staff
member
inappropriate
material
though the
Organization’s
e-mail system.
Disposition:
dismissal.”
Inner
City Press
asked, was
that all that
happened,
dismissal?
Such that the
person could,
for example,
work in a day
care center?
Haq said in
instances the
UN waives
immunity.
Inner
City Press
asked, how
would law
enforcement
know that the
person had
used the UN's
email system
for child
porn? Haq said
there have
been cases in
which the UN
told local
authorities.
Inner City
Press asked,
did it do so
in this case?
Apparently,
the UN will
not answer
this. For now.
Here are other
paragraphs:
46. A staff
member stored
pornographic
material,
including
pornography
involving a
minor, on the
staff member’s
United Nations
computer,
distributed
other
pornographic
material
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system
and failed to
report that
another staff
member had
sent the staff
member
inappropriate
material
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system.
Disposition:
dismissal.
47. A staff
member sent,
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system,
and stored on
the staff
member’s
United Nations
computer,
pornographic
material
involving a
minor and, on
other
occasions,
distributed,
through the
Organization’s
e -mail
system, other
pornographic
material.
Disposition:
dismissal.
48. A
staff member
sent, through
the
Organization’s
e-mail system,
pornographic
material
involving a
minor and, on
three other
occasions,
distributed
other
pornographic
material
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system
and stored
pornographic
material on
the staff
member’s
United Nations
computer.
Disposition:
dismissal.
The
report is
entitled
"Practice of
the
Secretary-General
in
disciplinary
matters and
cases of
criminal
behaviour, 1
July 2014 to
30 June 2015."
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