As
US
Shown Spying on UN, In Denial UN in Iraq Under US Protection
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 29 -- The UN's rather pathetic reaction to evidence
that
the US State Department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
has tried to spy on it, from UN officials' computer passwords and
frequently flier codes to the intentions of the Department of
Peacekeeping Operations is indicative of the complex relationship
between the UN and its host country.
On
November 28,
after repeated Press inquiries, Ban's spokesperson's office put out a
statement that “the UN is by its very nature a transparent
organization that makes a great deal of information about its
activities available to the public.”
This is
highly debatable: as
simply one example, after the UN canceled its November 26 noon media
briefing, Inner City Press submitted several questions about ranging
from Haiti and Sudan
through Iran and human rights to Myanmar
and
Iraq, less than half of which were answered.
Tellingly,
even the
Iraq questions which got a one line response was dodged. Inner City
Press asked the UN's top envoy in Iraq “Ad Melkert receive security
protection from the US forces in Iraq” and “if yes, is this a
change from previous procedure,” citing
http://www.nola.com/military/index.ssf/2010/11/louisiana_soldiers_in_iraq_tak.html
“The
soldiers of Alpha Battery, 1/141, started out providing armed troops
and armored vehicles to protect the supply convoys. They now act as
the quick reaction force, which includes providing ground medical
evacuation to area helicopters that cannot reach and secure landing
zones, Fernandez said. They also staff entries to the United Nations
Villa, a compound where UN workers live, and specifically guard the
residence for the special representative for the UN secretary-general
in Iraq. While the UN officials have personal security personnel,
they also are shadowed by Alpha Battery when they travel. 'They’re
not allowed to move without us,' Fernandez said. 'They don’t
want to move without us.'”
To
this question,
UN acting Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq answered “We don't comment
on precise security arrangements, for security reasons.”
If
you have the
UN in Iraq accepting not only security but also orders from the US,
what position is the UN in to complain if Hillary Clinton orders UN
envoy to Iraq Ad Melkert, or even Ban Ki-moon, spied on?
An
interesting
aspect of Clinton's spying memo is its focus on the UN Development
Program's actions on whistleblowers. The highest profile UNDP
whistleblower case has been of the agency's security chief in North
Korea, who exposed among other things that the UN system was allowing
the Kim Jong-il government to choose the UN's staff and take payment
for them.
This
became
associated with the final days of George W. Bush's Republican
Administration, leading one to wonder if there are not a serious of
such spy memos, portions of which were unchanged, dating back to the
previous administration. This would not let the Obama administration
off the hook -- if anything, it would show how much the Obama
administration's UN policy
is on auto-pilot.
US' Hillary Clinton & Susan Rice with UNSC, spying not shown
The
revelations
come at a particularly inconvenient time with the US, as Ambassador
Susan Rice takes over the Presidency of the UN Security Council on
December 1, and will be required or at least expected to stand before
the Press reading out the decisions of the Council.
In
fact, every
other Council President has scheduled a full press conference at the
beginning of their month, to take a range of questions. The UN's
“Week Ahead” scheduled distributed the day before Thanksgiving
does not include any such press conference by Susan Rice. Watch this
site.
S
E
C R E T SECTION 01 OF 24 STATE 080163
NOFORN,
SIPDIS, E.O.
12958: DECL: 07/31/2034
TAGS:
PINR
KSPR ECON KPKO KUNR
SUBJECT:
(S)
REPORTING AND COLLECTION NEEDS: THE UNITED NATIONS REF:
STATE 048489
Classified
By:
MICHAEL OWENS, ACTING DIR, INR/OPS. REASON: 1.4(C).
¶1.
(S/NF)
This cable provides the full text of the new National HUMINT
Collection Directive (NHCD) on the United Nations (paragraph 3-end)
as well as a request for continued DOS reporting of biographic
information relating to the United Nations (paragraph 2).
UN
Management
1)
UN
Leadership Dynamics (FPOL-1).
--
SYG's
management and decision-making style, and his influence on the
Secretariat.
--
Plans,
measures and efforts undertaken by the SYG and subordinates on
US political and bureaucratic objectives for UN management.
--
Role
and influence of Secretariat and other key officials with SYG
and other UN system agencies.
--
Views
of and brokering by key officials on major issues.
--
Changes
in and appointment and selection process for key officials of
Secretariat, specialized agency, committee, commission, and program
officials in New York, Geneva, Vienna, and other UN system cities, to
include special assistants and chiefs of staff.
--
Personalities,
biographic and biometric information, roles,
effectiveness, management styles, and influence of key UN officials,
to include under secretaries, heads of specialized agencies and their
chief advisers, top SYG aides, heads of peace operations and
political field missions, including force commanders.
2)
Budget
and Management Reform (FPOL-1).
--
Plans,
measures and efforts undertaken by the SYG and subordinates on
US political and bureaucratic objectives for UN management.
--
Plans
and intentions of UNDP Executive Board members to push for or
block management reform proposals.
--
Plans
and intentions of UNDP Executive Board members or senior UNDP
managers to address potential or actual cases of corruption or
mismanagement by field missions, including efforts to cover up waste,
fraud, or abuse.
--
Internal
complaints by UNDP staff about waste, fraud, or abuse and
efforts by UNDP management to respond to them.
--
Plans
and intentions of Board members, such as Iran, to push for
increased UNDP funding for programs in their own countries or those
of their friends.
--
Degree
of independence from UN headquarters of UNDP Resident
Coordinators in the field and perceptions of field staff on UN aid
consolidation reforms under the "One UN" Program.
--
Efforts
by the G-77 Board members to develop common group platforms,
especially on budget and management reform issues...
--
Impact
and effectiveness of whistle-blowing provisions on the UN
reform process.
--
Attitudes
of UN staff and member states towards extending a common
whistle-blower protection program to all UN funds and programs.
4)
Telecommunications Infrastructure and Information Systems (INFR-5H).
--
Current
technical specifications, physical layout, and planned
upgrades to telecommunications infrastructure and information
systems, networks, and technologies used by top officials and their
support staffs.
--
Details
on commercial and private VIP networks used for official
communications, to include upgrades, security measures, passwords,
personal encryption keys, and types of V P N versions used.
--
Telephone
numbers and e-mail addresses of key officials, as well as
limited distribution telephone numbers/directories and public
switched networks (PSTN) telephone directories; dialing numbers for
voice, datalink, video teleconferencing, wireless communications
systems, cellular systems, personal communications systems, and
wireless facsimiles.
--
Key
personnel and functions of UN entity that maintains UN
communications and computer networks....
--
Information
about current and future use of communications systems
and technologies by officials or organizations, including cellular
phone networks, mobile satellite phones, very small aperture
terminals (VSAT), trunked and mobile radios, pagers, prepaid calling
cards, firewalls, encryption, international connectivity, use of
electronic data interchange, Voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP),
Worldwide interoperability for microwave access (Wi-Max), and cable
and fiber networks.
CLINTON
* * *
On
S.
Sudan Vote & Ban's Panel, UN Dodges Questions of Payment,
Diaspora Visits
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 26 -- With questions mounting about the
registration process for the Southern Sudan secession referendum
scheduled for January 9, the UN is withholding basic information
about the Panel to which Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “outsourced”
key parts of the UN's role.
At
media briefings
by Ban's spokesperson, Inner City Press has asked about
how the Panel
is funded, which registration sites they have visited in the United
States, Canada, Ethiopia and Kenya, and whether they are implicitly
trying to blame the SPML for under-registration of Southern Sudanese
in the Northern part of the country and/or in the eight “diapora”
countries in which polling would be held.
UN
acting Deputy
Spokesman Farhan Haq has declined to
answer many of these questions,
referring instead to a separate spokesperson's office set up for the
panel. While Inner City Press has sent this “outsourced” office
two recent rounds of questions, only one has been answered, and then
only partially.
This seems to
be a pattern at the UN -- to name a Panel and then refuse to answer
questions about the subject matter outsourced to the Panel.
Left
unanswered
for example is when the registration site in four of the diaspora
countries -- Australia, Egypt, Uganda and the United Kingdom -- will
be visited and by whom, how much Panel chair Benjamin Mkapa has been
paid and by whom, and what he meant when he blamed “some
Southerners” for blocking registration in the North of Southern
Sudanese.
Salva Kiir & Benjamin
Mkapa, UN answers on funding & diaspora not shown
Herebelow
in order are
Inner City Press' two rounds of question, both of which were copied
to Ban Ki-moon's two top spokespeople without response, the UN Panel
spokesman's partial response to the first round, and the second round
un-responded to for more than 24 hours:
Hi.
I
would like responses on deadline to the following questions, as
well as those I asked at the OSSG's noon briefings on November 22 and
November 19:
How
many
people work for the Panel?
How
much
has thus far been paid to these people and to each of the three
Panelists?
How
much
of this has come from the Basket Fund, and how much through
UNMIS?
What
is
the status for each donor or pledger to the Basket Fund?
As
asked November 19, has a vote by the Basket Fund group been taken
regarding funding the Panel? If not, why not?
How
much
has been paid from the Basket Fund (or UNMIS) to IOM?
In
which
of the eight diaspora states have registration sites actually
been visited?
Please
provide
updated registration figures or estimates for each diaspora
country, as well as the number and location of registration (and
polling) sites in each.
As
asked
November 22, on the statement “made from the
Secretary-General’s Panel on the referendum. There seems to be a
lot of controversy about the low numbers of Southern registrants in
the North. Some people are putting the number as low as 9,000. So it
seemed like, in your statement, you are saying some Southerners are
encouraging other Southerners — I just want to understand, because
the SPLM [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement] blames it all on
Khartoum.”
When
the
Panel chair referred to “a campaign by some Southern leaders to
encourage people not to register and vote outside Southern Sudan”
was he referring to any SPLM role or not?
Separately,
why is
there no Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
briefing on November 26?
These
were
partially responded to by the Panel's spokesman:
Matthew,
The
Panel will have 38 staff when it reaches full deployment, which
is expected by the end of this month. They are paid regular salaries
just like any other UN staff members.
Any
questions
about the basket fund should be directed to UNDP.
Registration
sites
have been visited in Canada, Ethiopia, Kenya and the United
States. Staff are about to visit sites in Australia, Egypt, Uganda
and the United Kingdom as well.
IOM
is
conducting registration in the diaspora countries, so it will have
the figures on the number of people registering and the number of
sites. The Southern Sudan Referendum Commission will have the
equivalent information for within Sudan.
The
Panel
chair was referring to Southern leaders and not to any specific
SPLM role.
This
response
openly evaded the question for example of how much Benjamin Mkapa has
been paid, as well as declining to answer questions about the Basket
Fund to which the spokesman, and the Office of the Spokesman for Ban
Ki-moon, has repeatedly made reference. And so these follow ups were
submitted more than 24 hours ago to both UN offices:
Thanks
but
I again ask, with emphasis: How much has thus far been paid to
each of the three Panelists? What you sent implies that they are
“like any other UN staff members.” Are the three Panelists paid
“When Actually Employed”? When have they so far been actually
employed? How much have they been paid and by / through which
mechanism: UNMIS or Basket Fund?
Please
specify (with address) the registration sites the Panel has already
visited in Canada, Ethiopia, Kenya and the United States, and will
visit in Australia, Egypt, Uganda and the United Kingdom including
date and who visit(ed).
And
I
am still asking for your (and OSSG/UNMIS) response or update on
para 14 ofUnited Nations A/65/571 of 12 November 2010, Financing
arrangements for the United Nations Mission in the Sudan for the
period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011, Report of the Advisory
Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions
“14.
Concerning the requirements for the Secretary-General’s Panel, the
Committee noted that, in paragraph 78 of his report to the Security
Council on the Sudan (S/2010/528), the Secretary-General had
indicated that it was expected that UNDP would contribute an amount
of $0.9 million. Upon enquiry, the Committee was informed that the
provision of those funds was uncertain, as the UNDP project documents
for the referenda in the Sudan did not include the
activities of the Panel and it would, therefore, require a decision
by the basket fund steering committee. As such, no immediate
disbursements could be made to facilitate the deployment of Panel
support staff. The Committee was informed that should UNDP succeed in
mobilizing resources for supporting the Panel, reimbursement to UNMIS
would be made. The Advisory Committee is of the view that the Mission
should continue to pursue this issue with UNDP and requests that
further information on the status of the contribution be included in
the context of the performance report.”
What
is
the status? What has UNMIS / DPKO / the Secretariat done? On
deadline, thanks.
And
after 24 hours
and counting, no answer at all. Watch this site.
From
the
UN's
November
22
transcript:
Inner
City
Press:
I want to ask about Sudan on the statement that you made
from the Secretary-General’s Panel on the referendum. There seems
to be a lot of controversy about the low numbers of Southern
registrants in the North. Some people are putting the number as low
as 9,000. So it seemed like, in your statement, you are saying some
Southerners are encouraging other Southerners — I just want to
understand, because the SPLM [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement]
blames it all on Khartoum.
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: Well, that was just a summary of a press
conference that President Mkapa held in Khartoum, and I’d just
refer you to the transcript of that. We have that available in our
office.
Inner
City
Press:
And does the Secretary-General’s Panel have any role
in overseeing these sites, these eight Diaspora voting sites in
Africa, the United States, Australia? Are they going to visit any of
those sites? And there is some controversy now about the IOM
[International Organization for Migration] role in it. It’s not
exactly clear to me who is funding the IOM for that work, but what is
the Panel’s role on these other sites?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson:
No, you can check with the Panel itself about
the sites. It’s looking at the whole referenda process, which
includes sites for Southerners to vote in the North.
Inner
City
Press:
But isn’t his Panel — I have had some problem in the
past getting responses from the Panel, so I just wanted to know, it’s
the Secretary-General, he set up the terms of reference, it’s his
delegated Panel, right
, 
