Overview of IO Watch Archive Quotes XIII,

March - April 2008 

634.      “Abyei is on the edge of southern Sudan, in a region that is supposed to be at peace. …  The Sudanese government is now chipping away at the 2005 peace treaty that ended the north-south war in Sudan.  If war erupts, as many expect, … [it] will probably be here in Abyei, where the northern government is pumping oil from wells it refuses to give up. …

            Since late November, there have been repeated clashes in the Abyei area between South Sudan’s armed forces and a large tribe of Arab nomads, the Misseriya, which is armed and backed by the Sudanese government in Khartoum. … This is almost exactly the same approach that President Omar al-Bashir has taken in Darfur: arm the janjaweed and unleash them on a black African population, then dismiss the slaughter as just ‘tribal fighting.’ …

            It is still possible to avert a new slaughter here, but only if there is a major international effort … to ensure that Bashir will pay a price for attacking the south. … [Abyei is] the tinderbox for Africa’s next war, which will probably resemble Darfur but be carried out on a much wider scale.”

Nicholas D. Kristof, “A new threat in Sudan”, International Herald Tribune, March 3, 2008.                                                                                             

635.      “The UN secretary  general, Ban Ki Moon, warned the global body’s rights council on Monday against attempts to take control of the office of the UN high commissioner for human rights.  Moon said the UN General Assembly had intentionally set up ‘independent and distinct mandates’ to protect human rights around the world.’ …

            He was clearly referring to attempts by African countries in the council to rein in the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, and any of her successors. … Arbour’s office has released critical reports of major hot spots like Darfur, … has accused the Sudanese government of failing to investigate … crimes … [and] has condemned the arrest and reported beating and torture of senior opposition leaders in Zimbabwe. …

            The council, which lacks enforcement powers, replaced the widely discredited and highly politicized Human Rights Commission in June 2006.   The new body has suffered from similar criticism, including that it spends an excessive amount of time focusing on Israel, which it has denounced in a series of resolutions.

            Western countries, which hold seven seats on the council, are heavily outvoted by African and Asian countries, with a total of 27 seats.”

“UN chief moves to protect its office of human rights”, Associated Press, in the International Herald Tribune, March 4, 2008.

636a.    “With crude oil at $100 a barrel, there is going to be a massive transfer of global financial wealth from oil consuming countries to oil exporters. …  Indeed, a petrodollar tsunami is coming, with significant consequences for global financial markets. 

            At $100 a barrel, the total proven reserves of the oil exporting countries is about $104 [trillion], equivalent to the combined total value of publicly-traded equities and bonds in the world. … Oil exporters are [also] projected to earn a total of $2.1 [trillion] in oil export receipts annually.  …

            About half of the petrodollar receipts may be invested through [sovereign wealth funds], and close to three-quarters of all assets under management by SWFs are derived from petrodollars. ….  Thus, an [oil] exporter should be expected to embark on a multi-generational transformation from crude oil to equities. …

            While many observers focus on the shift in reserves between dollars and euros, deployment of petrodollar investments is likely to tilt the balance in favour of emerging market currencies, at the expense of both the dollar and the euro.”

Stephen Jen, “Petrodollar tsunami will be at expense of euro and dollar”, Financial Times (UK),  March 4, 2008.    [Note: This major shift in long-term financial market power could also lead to major changes in the funding patterns and programmes of international organizations, as suggested by a proposal just a day later – see the following item.]

636b.    “The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has called on the oil producing countries of the Middle East to invest more of their oil windfalls in developing agriculture in their region, in order to address the serious threat to food security posed by water scarcity and climate change.

            Jacques Diouf, FAO director-general, told … [ministers at an FAO] Near East regional conference in Cairo that oil-producing countries,  most of which are net importers of food, would benefit from investing in agriculture in neighbours such as Sudan and other north African countries, which have both land and water resources. …

            ‘Hence the importance for these countries … [to consider investing] in some of their sister countries … to ensure the security of their supply … and in the same vein to help the agricultural development of these countries, which would be a win-win situation.’ … Mr. Diouf said investment in agriculture remained low in most of the Near East region [which FAO considers to include] 32 countries from Morocco eastwards to central Asia.  He said it was crucial that more resources should to go agriculture and that the level of external aid to the sector had been falling since 1995.”

Heba Saleh, “Invest oil money in food, UN says”, Financial Times (UK), March 6, 2008.

637.      “Afghanistan’s record poppy crop is fuelling an intensifying drugs emergency in neighbouring countries, a United Nations report published today warns.

            The UN International Narcotics Control Board says the rise in Afghanistan’s opium cultivation is ‘alarming’ and that its effects – including an increase in organized crime, corruption and the incidence of drug use – are spilling over into Iran, Pakistan and the central Asian republics.

            Afghanistan is estimated to supply more than 90 per cent of the world’s illicit opium, from which heroin is made.  … The opium harvest jumped 34 per cent last year. …

            Much of the growth is… taking place in the south of the country, where the Taliban insurgency against the government of [president] Hamid Karzai is most intense.  The issue is the subject of fierce policy disagreement, marked by disputes within Mr. Karzai’s government and with foreign donors and troop contributors. …

            The problems are also being felt farther afield.  The report says drug abuse in Iraq appears to have risen dramatically and opiate use has increased in Russia and eastern Europe.”

Stephen Fidler, “Afghan opium is fuelling drugs crisis in the region, warns UN”, Financial Times (UK), March 5 2008.    

638.      “Eight years ago, the United Nations Security Council … Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security … [recognized] the startling numbers of rapes during conflict … [as] military tactics employed to terrorize and humiliate communities. …

            This unprecedented step … placed women at the heart of peace and security.  Today we can point to a number of positive developments … [but] from Congo to Haiti, rape is too often seen as ‘collateral damage’ of conflicts. … By doing so, we are missing the point: Rape is a crime and must be stopped. 

            By passing  Resolution 1325, the Council signaled that the UN will stand up for women.  But eight years later, women are still waiting.  They are waiting for diligent monitoring of how state parties treat civilians in conflict; for the systematic collection and review of data on violence against women; for serious investigations of perpetrators; for an end to impunity.  

            The Council can require reporting on sexual violence in every country report it receives … [and] it could demand a global report on sexual violence and steps taken to end it. … In doing so, it would make Resolution 1325 real.”

Kathleen Cravero, “Freedom from fear”, International Herald Tribune, March 5, 2008.    [Note: the author is UNDP director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery and chair of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict.] 

639.      “With a new … [methodology] the General Assembly’s Ad Hoc Working Group … [on Mandate Review] voiced tentative agreement to move ‘from format to substance’ in assessing humanitarian assistance mandates. …

            The General Assembly  is faced with the task of reviewing its 9,000 mandates five years old or older (as of September 2005.)  … The co-Chairs hope to complete three [of eight mandate] clusters by July 2008 at the rate of two months per cluster. … [They] anticipate that all decisions ultimately reached in the Working Group will be submitted to [GA President Srgjan] Kerim for his formalization as a Resolution for action in the GA plenary. …

                        The main objective of Mandate Review is ‘to strengthen the UN, to update its programe of work and to improve the effective and efficient allocation of scarce resources.’  … The co-Chairs aimed to develop a … [methodology to] allow for fact-based analysis, provide a transparent process, make information easy for delegations to use in decision-making, and be applicable to all mandates. …

                        A ‘limitation’  to the methodology is that the UN Secretariat’s accounting system does not make it possible to show the total resources being committed to individual mandates.”

            “Mandate review moves to humanitarian cluster with new methodology”,  www.reformtheun.org,  6  March,  2008.    [Note: Member State comments indicate that this process may be laborious and involve many disputes over various mandates.  In addition, it should be noted that the Secretariat has been promising to link its accounting systems with its programming systems for almost two decades without much success.]

640.      “[In 1997 the UN] General Assembly decided to hold a World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance … [in 2001] in Durban, Australia. … 

            What started as a seemingly well-intentioned effort to … [fight] racism quickly ran off the rails. … The 2001 Durban conference degenerated into a noxious series of speeches and statements dominated by anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism. … The U.S. and Israeli delegations walked out.  As explained by former [US] Secretary of State Colin Powell … ‘you do not combat racism by conferences that produce declarations containing hateful language.’ …

            [In 2006, the General Assembly … [called] for a “Durban review conference’ … despite the concerns of [various] prominent member states.  A major concern is that … responsibility for organizing Durban II … [is entrusted to the troubled new UN] Human Rights Council. …

            Out of concern … [about] a repeat of the disastrous 2001 conference, … [Canada and Israel] will not attend. The United Kingdom and Germany are rumoured to be considering … [a boycott and] French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently … [warned] that ‘France will not allow a repetition of the excesses and abuses of 2001. Our European partners share France’s concerns.’”

Brett D. Schaefer, “The UN should boycott the U.N.’s Durban II conference on racism”. Heritage Foundation, Backgrounder, No. 2112,  March 6, 2008.     [Note: Mr. Schaefer’s detailed analysis is available at www.heritage.org, under Search for “Foreign Issues” then “UN and International.”  See also:

Barbara Kay, “The anti-semitism and tyranny of Durban II”, nationalpost.com (Canada), February 29, 2008, and

Claudia Rosett, “Time for U.S. to reject U.N.’s anti-democratic conference”, Philadelphia Inquirer (US), March 10, 2008.

641.      “One of the world’s most notorious arms dealers,  suspected of supplying weapons to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and of pouring huge arms shipments into Africa’s civil wars with his own private air fleet, was arrested Thursday by Thai authorities in a [Bangkok] hotel. …

            [Viktor Bout, 41], who is wanted by the police in many countries, is a former Soviet Air Force Officer.  After the breakup of the Soviet Union, he built a network of air cargo companies in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and the United States. …

            A former British minister … has called him ‘Africa’s chief merchant of death.’  In 2005, he was described by Amnesty International as ‘the most prominent foreign businessman’ involved in trafficking arms to nations that are embargoed by the United Nations. …

            Investigators … say he has used his private air network to transport weapons from Soviet-era stockpiles of tanks, helicopters and weapons into international conflicts around the world including in Afghanistan, Angola, Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.  The arrest came on a tip from the United States Drug Enforcement Agency. …  Bout was wanted for ‘the procurement of weapons and explosives for Colombian rebels.’’

Seth Mydans and Raymond Bonner, “Thais seize notorious arms-deal suspect”, International Herald Tribune, March 7, 2008.

642.      “After September 11th 2001, most countries beefed up security at airports and other vulnerable places.  … Is money devoted to counter-terrorism well spent? …

            [A study] commissioned by the Copenhagen Consensus … [calculates] that worldwide spending on homeland security has risen since 2001 by [some] $65 billion … a year (if security is narrowly defined.)  … Terrorism, the authors say, has a comparatively small impact on economic activity, reducing GDP in affected countries by perhaps $17 billion in 2005. …

            The authors conclude that spending is high because it is an insurance policy against a truly devastating operation such as a dirty bomb; and because, since terrorism is global, if one country improves security, so must others. …            [They] think spending is inefficient now and would remain so. … But international co-operation to disrupt terrorist finances would be cost-effective … producing $5-15 of benefits for each $1.

            Given the uncertainties of the calculations such figures can hardly be a blue-print for radically altering spending priorities.  But they are a reminder that throwing money at terrorism works no better than throwing money at anything else, and that some kinds of anti-terrorist spending are more efficient than others.”

“Anti-terrorist spending: Feel safer now?”, The Economist,  March 8^th, 2008, p. 69.   [Note: An interesting new book on the “high-benefit” aspect of disrupting terrorist finances is John B. Taylor, “Global financial warriors: The untold story of international finance in the post-9/11 world”, Norton, 2008.]   

643a.    “‘The press is doing its work, to denounce the scandals,’ African Union chairman Alpha Oumar Konare intoned Monday  … [in a three minute response at a press conference] about development in Africa.  … Inner City Press [had] asked if the African Union was satisfied with … the [UN’s] multi-million peacekeeping contracts in Africa, … [particularly no-bid contracts for Lockheed Martin and proposal ‘tweaking’ for France.]  Chairman Konare called for ‘good governance and transparency, because states are looking at this with particular attention today.’

            Following the press conference, … European Commissioner Louis Michel sought out Inner City Press to note that the UN’s contracting process is … [being scrutinized] in the European Parliament.  ‘You are right,’ he said, ‘there is a problem. … There will be a debate on this.’

            Under the heading ‘Concern over cases of corruption at the United Nations.’ Spain’s Emilio Menendez del Valle in [a written question, stated] … ‘It is worrying to learn … that the … [UN’s OIOS] is currently investigating, at the request of the General Assembly, … the award, without a tender procedure, of a USD 250 million contract to the US company Lockheed to construct five bases in that region.’’

Matthew Russell Lee, “Press to expose UN’s scandals, African Union’s Konare says, as EC inquires into Lockheed deals”, Inner City Press, at www.innercitypress.com,  March 10, 2008.      

643b.    “Employees of international humanitarian organizations are givers.  Unfortunately, a few are also takers.  Management … unwittingly enables the fraudsters … [to divert] funds from the alleviation of the suffering. …

            Procurement for humanitarian organizations, particularly in emergency field locations, is a high-risk activity.  [Here] are … [some] red flags:

n       Increases in the purchases from certain vendors;

n       Repeated disregard of procurement procedures;

n       Absence of competitive bidding;

n       [Those in charge say they urgently need] the goods because of supposed emergency conditions.

            Management must be vigilant at all times, demonstrate its unwavering commitment to honest conduct, and unequivocally convey the message that ethics and integrity can’t be compromised.  The common threat in … [field fraud cases] was a weak control environment within a ‘culture of urgency’ that allowed the undetected frauds.”

Krishna Menon, “Employee fraud in humanitarian organizations”, FRAUD Magazine, March/April 2008, pp. 22-23, 44.

644a.    “It’s my document, for my perusal,’  chief UN investigator Inga-Britt Ahlenius told Inner City Press on Tuesday by way of explaining her decision to withhold all copies of a report on her agency, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, and its embattled Investigation Division. …

            [She] was exiting a meeting on procurement … [where] the Russian delegate denounced the UN’s no-bid contract with Lockheed Martin for … [Darfur peacekeeping infrastructure. The General Assembly directed this investigation,] … but Ms. Ahlenius has yet to give any substantive update.  Tuesday she appeared not eager to answer any questions.  So much for transparency. …

            And on the most basic of issues, which company has the contract for UN helicopters in Nepal, one of which crashed eight days ago?  The UN has still refused to answer, despite Inner City Press … [questions.]  While the UN to its credit has set up an online condolence book for the ten people killed when the helicopter went down, to stonewall all requests for information underlying the crash is, so far, a troubling memorial.”

Matthew Russell Lee, “As UN’s Ms. Ahlenius withholds ‘her’ report, UN business seminars benefit rich countries”, Inner City Press, March 10, 2008.

644b.    “The 3 March helicopter crash in eastern Nepal was the tenth in ten years.  This time … [there were ten victims.] … The initial reaction by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was … [very disappointing and] very similar to his predecessor’s approach of papering over …  [such suspect situations.] …

            With vigorous talk of new rules of Ethics and zero tolerance with corruption, it is very odd that the Secretary-General did not immediately request an investigation. … With all these newly introduced Procurement oversight groups, it should have been standard procedure to … [make a thorough] review.          … [This] tragic crash is not an isolated incident.  A Special Representative … [was killed in such a crash] nine years ago. … Four years ago, 24 peacekeepers … were killed in a helicopter crash in Sierra Leone.  Again, a widely photographed ceremony at U.N. headquarters, but no announced investigation.          …. There is no doubt that Secretary General Ban is seriously concerned. … He certainly is above machinations by some …operators in the field who still think they can get away with the death of colleagues merely through a bureaucratic gimmick. … Everyone knows that helicopters normally fly.  It is CORRUPTION that kills.”

“Helicopters fly.  Corruption kills.  Ten crashes.  90 dead – No one accountable”, UN Forum, at www.unforum.com, 15 March 2008.    [Note: a vivid example of this very troubling and long-standing unaccountability in UN field missions is provided in the IO Watch Dark Sides item UN, peacekeeping, 1993-1998, page 3, third item, and see also items 643a and b above.]

645.      “A translator at the United Nations’ New York headquarters has admitted his part in a money-making fraud scheme to obtain US visas for foreign nationals by making false applications on official UN stationery …  [in] the latest of a number of UN-linked scandals that have ended up in the US courts.

            The Manhattan federal court said Vyacheslav Manokhin, a Russian, had pleaded guilty to  … [using[ his position at the UN to make it appear the applications were genuine.  …

            The fake letters requested visas on behalf of foreigners said to be planning to attend UN conferences in the US. … [They]  paid thousands of dollars to obtain the visas, [but] neither attended the conferences nor intended to do so, the court said.  Mr Manokhin signed the applications in the name of … a non-existent official at the UN Development Programme …

            [One applicant admitted] he paid $15,000 to a person in Uzbekistan for the service. … After he entered the US, ostensibly to attend a conference, he moved to Florida where he lived for more than two years.

            The UN waived Mr Manokhin’s diplomatic immunity shortly before he was charged in August last year.”

Harvey Morris, “UN translator admits to visa fraud scam”, Financial Times (UK), March 11, 2008.

646.      “The United Nations Security Council is criticised today for authorising big peacekeeping missions around the world in spite of warnings that demands on troop contributors are overtaking their ability to deliver.   ‘Repeated warnings of overstretch did not forestall the authorization of ambitious new mandates by the Security Council and regional organizations,’ says the New York-based Center on International Cooperation in its annual report on global peace operations. …

            The crisis facing the peace force [in Darfur] last week prompted [some] countries … to form a Friends of Unamid group to discuss how to provide resources to the peacekeepers.  ‘Nobody can be proud of what we have done yet, nobody’ said a US official.  ‘The areas we cannot reach have grown in the last year, not shrunk.  The malnutrition has grown worse, not better.’

            The CIC report said some of the problems … stemmed from decisions to deploy forces in spite of the absence of peace agreements on the ground.  ‘By year-end, peacekeeping was becoming a victim of its own success,’ the report said.  ‘The complexity of operations began to outstrip the ability of international organizations to keep peace.’”

Harvey Morris, “Ambitious UN attacked for overload on peacekeepers”, Financial Times (UK), March 12, 2008.

647a.    “While promising much in Africa, … UN Development Program … [performance] leaves much to be desired, according to the African Development Bank’s internal review of the last two years, obtained by Inner City Press. …    A “Matrix of Ongoing Activities” presented to UNDP in connection with a March 10 … [top-level meeting] issues negative evaluations of UNDP’s follow-up on commitments it made. 

            For an ECOWAS-PADEP project, ‘UNDP has not delivered on its obligations,’ the report notes. … A Tsetse Fly Eradiation Program, ‘UNDP decided not to join.’  The verdict of ‘not implemented’ is rendered on HIV/AIDs projects in South Africa, a Lake Tanganyika bio-diversity project, and a project for ‘UNDP to provide the Bank with a roster of credible NGOs,’ among others.  Beyond the report, AfDB president [Donald] Kaberuka said that UNDP had failed to execute a project in Sierra Leone and it ‘had been a disaster.’ …

            UNDP was not represented at the Africa [Millennium Development Goals] press conference on Monday; … the weaknesses in UNDP’s performance … may explain UNDP’s absence.  The negative grades … may also explain UNDP’s refusal to provide copies of its audits even to its donors and member states on its Executive Board.”

Matthew Russell Lee, “In Africa, UN Development Program is a ‘disaster,’ and security delayed two years, documents show”, Inner City Press, March 12, 2008.

647b.    “As UN attacks on freedom of the press have spread this year from UN Headquarters to the highlands of Nepal, the UN Staff Council on Thursday called on officials of the UN system including funds and programs like the UN Population Fund and the UN Development Program to cease from ‘censorship, harassment, intimidation or punishment, or the threat or implication thereof.’

            The injunction on threats of punishment is a direct reference to statements last month to Inner City Press by Assistant Secretary-General Michael Adlerstein about coverage with which he disagreed, ‘How should you be punished?” The reference to censorship echoes the critique of the UN Development Program … levied by the Washington-based Government Accountability Project. …

            It is not clear what safeguards have been instituted to prevent future attempts at censorship, exclusion or punishment.  An event is upcoming in Washington DC on the UN and free press.  Interest is growing on Capitol Hill, as these acts contrary to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are carried out with U.S. taxpayers’ funds.” 

Matthew Russell Lee, “UN’s censorship and press punishment slammed by Staff Union, From Google to photos of the dead”, Inner City Press, March 13, 2008.

647c.    “The UN Staff Council … [resolution strongly condemning] Ban Ki Moon’s and Kemal Dervis’s  attacks on … [and attempts to silence media comes] when the UNDP spending on auto-publicity has gone crazier than ever. …

            [In] January 2008, David Morrison and the department for Public Information within the office of Kemal Dervis approved an additional 28 million dollar fund for ‘media capacity development.’  This slush-fund will and can be used as follows:

1.         18.5 million USD – for any Resident Coordinator/Resident Representative that requires additional funding to ‘publicize the work of UNDP in the field;’

2.         3.5 million USD --  for any Regional Bureau Director  that requires additional funding to publicize the work of UNDP at regional and sub-regional level;

3.         6 million USD – for HQ’s and David Morrison to ‘work’ with the media and ensure that UNDP’s ‘programmes are accurately perceived and reflected.’

            While 28 million USD would have made quite a difference to the poor …  it seems that UNDP leadership is more afraid and concerned about the media attacks and exposures.

            Without any Executive Board mandate, UNDP continues to use and abuse tax-payers’ voluntary contributions, which are earmarked for the poor, for auto-publicity and its spin machine.”

“While Staff Council approves resolution on freedom of speech – at UNDP Kemal Dervis increased illegal spending for spinning the media”, UNDP Watch, at www.undpwatch.blogspot.com, March 14, 2008.

648.      “[A group that has] 2 million people tracking their MPs’ voting records … [at] theyworkforyou.com … [and through]  farmsubsidy.org got the EU to publish full subsidy data, has set up UNdemocracy.com … to shed light on the inner workings of the UN.

            The UN … [puts] its information online at un.org, but … the data published is hardly reusable in any meaningful way.  URL’s are not persistent, and data formats are not open.  A small group led by Julian Todd, a ‘civic hacker’ in Liverpool, is seeking to change all that by laboriously scraping the data out of the site and republishing it with persistent URL’s [so it will be retained online.] …

            The next technical step is … [to create a relational database and tools for action.  Will this effort by itself fix the UN?  [The team thinks that ‘global problems require global hacks’, and that] once people understand how the UN is supposed to work, it ought to be possible to … press representatives to become accountable.  ‘It just needs one guy … [per country and some cash] to clean up the interface and publish data back to 1950.  The heavy lifting – parsing the data – is done.’”

Wendy M. Grossman, “Is it possible for geeks to fix the United Nations?”,  The Guardian (UK), March 13, 2008.    [Note: The project already has some very intriguing structures and information, which are found at www.undemocracy.com.  There is obviously much work to be done, but the potential for “shedding the sunlight of the web” on a secretive UN is enormous.]

649a.    “The UN’s credibility was questioned at an event on Monday in Washington, by the Government Accountability Project, among others.  GAP’s Beatrice Edwards … [cited]  Ban Ki-moon’s ‘huge leap backwards’ last year when he allowed UNDP to escape the jurisdiction of the UN Ethics Office and its protections against retaliation. …

            Both [she] and Claudia Rosett nodded toward UNDP as the likely complainant to Google to get Inner City Press de-listed from Google News … [Google] is said to receive three million complaints daily, so whoever complained about Inner City Press must have had ‘a lot of clout’ to get such action, she said.

            [The GAP], formed in response to the [US] Watergate scandal, has been pushing for a U.N. policy like the [US Freedom of Information Act] and for wider whistleblower protection for U.N. staff. … UN workers regularly leak to Inner City Press precisely because they have no means, such as [US] Federal law imposes, to report abuses without risking retaliation, she said.”

Matthew Russell Lee, “UN is grilled in DC, as opponent of free press and bloggers, claims not to lobby”, Inner City Press, March 17.

649b.    “In recent years, the United Nations has come under fire for [many scandals].  …  Matthew Russell Lee said … [at the Washington forum that] he would like to see more coverage of the goings-on at the U.N.  ‘Many of the journalists there are great journalists, but they need access. … There is less investigative work. …

            Article 19 of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights calls on governments to promote freedom of the press.  … [But] Claudia Rosett, who helped break the oil-for-food scandal, …. [said] ‘The United Nations Information Center spends well over $100 million per year – on what they call public information. … It’s largely propaganda.’ 

            Often [UN] investigations are not trustworthy because the U.N. is investigating itself and making its own rules, said Beatrice Edwards of the Government Accountability Project.  The U.N. has new whistleblower rules … ‘[but] the record of whistleblowers being vindicated or prevailing … is very, very poor. … The international bodies have diplomatic immunity and … [when they try] to shut down free press or free speech inside, … we are really talking about very powerful, very wealthy, lawless organizations.’”

Fred Lucas, “Free press stifled at United Nations, reporters say”, CNSNews.com, March 18, 2008.

650a.    “Serb rioters fired weapons and threw grenades Monday at international peacekeepers in the northern Kosovo city of Mitrovica … [as] part of a campaign to make Pristina’s administration of northern Kosovo untenable and to force the de facto partition of the territory. …

            The escalation of violence … has become a test of the international community’s resolve to hold the new state together.  It also poses a quandary for NATO and its 16,000 troops in Kosovo, … which are wary of spilling blood and becoming mired in a conflict that invariably trips over politics. …

            NATO officials said that the wounded included 22 Poles and 15 Ukrainians belonging to the UN police force and 9 French members of the NATO Force.  At least 70 Serb demonstrators … were also wounded. … [The officials also privately express concerns] that the United Nations … does not have adequate resources to deal with the partition threat.  … Many senior EU officials admit privately that if Serbs continue to push for partition, there is little the EU can do to prevent it.”

Dan Bilefsky, “Kosovo Serb rioters clash with UN and NATO forces”, International Herald Tribune, March 18, 2008.

650b.    “When Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on February 17^th, the doomsters predicted political turbulence and spasms of violence.  … [The violence in Mitrovica was]  really about who is in control of Kosovo as the different contenders for power are ‘fighting for turf.’ …

            [The Martti Ahtissaari plan calls for] … the UN mission in Kosovo … after 120 days … [to] hand over its authority to Kosovo’s government and to two new missions sent by the EU. Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign minister and an old Balkan hand sums up the problem: ‘We don’t have a settlement, and the role of the UN remains to be defined.’ …

            But the UN mission in Kosovo has been told nothing by its masters in New York and so has no plans to hand over authority. … According to a senior EU source in Brussels, the plan now is for the UN’s power in Kosovo to be progressively ‘diluted’ and then finished off, ‘not by design, but rather by default.’

            On May 11^th Serbia will hold general and local elections, and fully intends to include Serb areas in Kosovo.  This could be the next flashpoint – if one does not erupt earlier.”

“Kosovo’s riots: Border clashing”, The Economist, March 22d, 2008.

650c.    “While Kosovo has largely won its battle for recognition in Europe [and the US], Serbia is winning over the rest of the world.  The vast majority of the United Nations’ 192 members have withheld recognition, either by silence or explicit rejection … and Russia has become Serbia’s proxy at the U.N. Security Council. …

            Now, in a move that is virtually unprecedented in diplomatic history, Serbia is trying to reverse Kosovo’s declaration of independence.  … As of mid-March, only 32 nations have recognized Kosovo, and … the Serbian government expects a total of just 50 to sign on in the future. … To many nations, … [U.S. ideals of human rights and self determination look] self-defeating in a world of multiplying separatist movements. …

            While Serbia is tied to Russia … little will change for Kosovo.  It can join the ranks of Taiwan and others with a quasi-official diplomatic status. … Much depends on how Serbia resolves its internal confusion. … For now, however … the Serbs are moving: farther from the West, closer to the rest of the world.”

Michael Freedman, “Winning the battle of Kosovo”, Newsweek, March 24, 2008.

651.      “The United Nations Staff Union protests the appointment by the Secretary-General of Mr. Johnston Barkat as the Ombudsman of the United Nations.  The decision is the outcome of a flawed process which commenced before General Assembly approval of the new internal justice system, of which the ombudsman is an integral part.  The evaluation of candidates was based upon terms of reference designed for the old discredited system. …

            On 9 January, 2008, the President of the Staff Union lodged a formal objection to the selection process undertaken without the input of the United Nations Staff Union. … No official response was ever received. …

            The United Nations Staff Union has taken a very proactive lead role in championing reform of the internal justice system and has had to confront an administration that seeks every opportunity to marginalize its involvement in order to retain as much control over the internal justice system as it can.  …

            We wish to call again on the Secretary-General that his administration refrains from trying to marginalize United Nations Staff Union involvement in matters directly impacting on the conditions of service and welfare of staff.”

“Staff Union protests appointment of Ombudsman”, Press Release, United Nations Staff Union, 20 March 2008.      [Note: the UN Staff Union, which protects the welfare of UN staff members, has a website which includes ongoing information on this and other matters. It is found at http://u-seek.org/.]

652.      “Denouncing sleaze and kickbacks has long been fashionable among the bosses of the World Bank. … [A January Bank report] concluded that over $500m worth of contracts [to Indian health care projects] may have been tainted by ‘significant indicators of fraud and corruption.’ …

             [The bank says that it has] started nine investigations … [but] not everyone is convinced.  [A 2006 article by Amir Attaran pointed] to apparently falsified results and other deficiencies in health projects. … He is convinced that [Bank] managers are too cosy with their clients in India to conduct a proper investigation: ‘This is a corrupt party investigating itself.’ …

            World Bank spokesmen hotly deny this. … Yet even if the World Bank emerges untainted from this affair, that … may not solve a deeper problem …

            As an institution which is under strong pressure to lend as much as possible, says Francis Fukuyama …, the World Bank is ‘poorly structured to lead a fight against corruption.’  Another problem: the bank mandate forbids it from dabbling in local politics – and that can mean failing to make sober enough assessments about what is really going [on] in the countries where it is pushing out money.”

“The World Bank: Dirty linen”, The Economist, March 22d , 2008.         

653.      “The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG in Spanish) … [is] a United Nations body charged with investigating organized crime and its links to the state.

            Although democracy was restored in Guatemala in 1985 … civilian institutions have struggled to take root. … The justice system has proved powerless to punish, let along prevent, [atrocities.] … Guatemala is one of the world’s most violent countries. …

            [CICIG] does not have the power of subpoena or indictment … [but will] have a broad remit covering almost any violent crime. … [Its] mandate runs for two years … [but it] will not have its full complement of some 60 investigators and 30 lawyers until the middle of this year. …

            Guatemala’s law-enforcement bodies are chronically short of resources. There are only 26,000 police, many without cars and radios, … [in] a country of 12 million people. … But the biggest problem may have been a lack of will.  UN officials see CICIG as a possible model for other countries emerging from civil wars.  A lot in riding on its investigation[s] … and whether it can improve the performance of the local courts.”

“Guatemala: A test of will”, The Economist, March 22d, 2008.     [Note: Guatemala certainly needs help.  But those 60 investigators and 30 lawyers could certainly do a lot to combat the many corruption scandals and the consistent impunity in the UN Secretariat, and the embattled status of  its own investigators (the OIOS).  Once again, the UN seeks to solve accountability and justice problems and scandals in member states while ignoring them in its own operations.  See, for instance, items 644a-b, 649a-b, and 651 above, and item 663 following.]

654.      “Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stirred human rights activists in Eastern Africa when he announced last week that the Security Council was waiting for the chaos in troubled Somalia to subside before deploying 20,000-plus internat