Continuing U.N. Scandals

[Gravitymaster 0]

Watching the U.N.'s Watchdog
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
By Jonathan Hunt

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nation's anti-corruption department has been rocked by accusations that the office itself is corrupt.

The head of the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services, Undersecretary-General Dileep Nair (search), has been accused of promoting and recruiting people in ways that are not consistent with U.N. rules and regulations. Also, a senior investigator has been suspended and there have been accusations of financial and sexual misconduct.

The scrutiny of Nair and his division comes at a delicate time, as the United Nations is under intense scrutiny for alleged abuse of the Iraqi oil-for-food program. In fact, the Office of Internal Oversight Services is the U.N. agency charged with looking into any abuses within the United Nations and that includes oil-for-food.

Nair has been accused of covering up abuses of the oil-for-food program. So far, his office has carried out 55 internal audits of the process that before the U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein's regime allowed Iraqi oil to be sold so food could be purchased for Iraqis.

Other allegations of impropriety include charges that some inside the OIOS received financial kickbacks in return for promoting people and that some people were promoted in exchange for sexual favors.


One group within the United Nations that has raised concerns about Nair and his office is the United Nations Staff Union. In April, the group called on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to establish an independent investigation of the Office of Internal Oversight Services.


Annan recently wrote to Nair asking him to answer the allegations. Annan's office said the letter went out "a couple of weeks ago" but declined to say what was in the letter except to confirm that recruitment allegations were addressed.

A spokesman for Annan told Fox News it would be irresponsible to ignore such serious accusations. But the secretary-general's office has yet to receive a response from Nair.

Nair, who is currently on sick leave from his position, denied all the accusations to Fox News.

Asked if he would resign if any of the charges are proven true, Nair said, "of course."

"I mean that goes without question because that would mean my integrity is impugned and the only thing I work upon in this office is integrity and the credibility that people have in this office and if that is gone, you might as well pack up and go," Nair told Fox News.

Nair, a former banker and civil servant from Singapore, was picked by Annan in 2000 to run the U.N.'s anti-corruption office. He serves a five-year, non-renewable term.

[billvon 3,116]

>Also, a senior investigator has been suspended and there have been
>accusations of financial and sexual misconduct.

Meanwhile, back in da states . . .

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TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, California (Reuters) -- A key investigator in the espionage case against a Syrian-American translator at the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo has been charged with raping and sodomizing children, officials said on Tuesday.

The charges were made public during a pretrial hearing for Senior Airman Ahmad Al Halabi, who is accused of carrying jail maps, letters and other documents from Guantanamo Bay where he worked an Arabic translator with suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who are being held there.

During a break, Halabi's attorney told reporters that Air Force Sgt. Marc Palmosina, who had overseen the probe against his client, had been charged with raping and sodomizing children, some as young as 11 years old, on numerous occasions, and with mishandling classified documents.
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And in the irony department we have:

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) Attorney General Peter Heed resigned abruptly Tuesday because of an allegation of inappropriate conduct with a woman.

Gov. Craig Benson said the alleged incident occurred at a conference last month in Bretton Woods on preventing sexual and domestic abuse. Benson said he heard about the allegations late last week and received Heed's letter Tuesday afternoon.
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[Gravitymaster 0]

I'd appreciate it if you would stop hijacking threads, Bill. We know how much you love the U.N. and it's pretty obvious you are trying to deflect any criticism by bashing America. Please start your own America bashing threads.

[Jimbo 0]

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I'd appreciate it if you would stop hijacking threads, Bill. We know how much you love the U.N. and it's pretty obvious you are trying to deflect any criticism by bashing America. Please start your own America bashing threads.

I agree. I don't think that we shouldn't be critical of what goes on in the US - we should, absolutely; however, like GM suggested, to deflect criticism of the UN by playing the "We do it, too" card is cheap.

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[freeflydrew 0]

Is this from Fox News?

yawn...

[Gravitymaster 0]

From the BBC.

Sex-for-aid under UN spotlight


Tens of thousands have fled west Africa's conflicts

A United Nations investigation into the sex-for-aid scandal heads for Sierra Leone on Friday after visiting refugee camps in Guinea.
The team from the UN's Refugee Agency, UNHCR, is trying to find out the extent of the abuse of women and children by aid-workers.



All those who sexually exploited refugees will be severely punished

Kamel Morjane
UNHCR
A study by the UNHCR and a UK charity made public last month found that some aid agency employees were exchanging food and other supplies for sex.

The leader of the UNHCR team said on Thursday that those named in the report would be moved, while in future more women would be hired.

"As far as we're concerned, all those who sexually exploited refugees will be severely punished and we even envisage prosecutions," said Kamel Morjane, number three at the UNHCR.

More refugees

He also took a swipe at the international community for cutting aid to African refugees in recent years.

"When an organisation like ours sees its budget cut by 20%, these kind of consequences have to be expected," he told journalists in the Guinean capital, Conakry.



Mr Morjane was speaking after visiting refugee camps in the Kissidougou region, near the borders with Sierra Leone and Liberia.

While some Sierra Leonean refugees are now returning home after the civil war there was declared over in January, the UNHCR warns that thousands of refugees are leaving Liberia.

There has been an upsurge in fighting between government troops and rebels which has led 10,700 Liberians to flee into southern Sierra Leone.

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Its now being called the Sex for Food Scandal.

[airdweller 0]

The UN is a joke with no backbone.

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"From the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant,
who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" C. Montgomery Burns

[Gravitymaster 0]

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The UN is a joke with no backbone.

Apparently something at the U.N. is stiff.

[billvon 3,116]

> I'd appreciate it if you would stop hijacking threads, Bill.

You're absolutely right. Sorry. Go ahead; it makes perfect sense for a country whose troops (and investigators) rape children, torture men and kill political prisoners to criticize a UN investigator for "alleged sexual misconduct." Of course, I hope you remember this paradigm the next time you think about complaining when, say, Syria takes a leadership position on a UN human-rights commission. But I have a feeling you won't. In fact, I have a strong feeling we could uncover a US-run drug smuggling operation (to finance the war on terror, of course) and you'd bash the UN for not stopping poppy cultivation in Afgnanistan.

[Gravitymaster 0]

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> I'd appreciate it if you would stop hijacking threads, Bill.

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You're absolutely right. Sorry. Go ahead; it makes perfect sense for a country whose troops (and investigators) rape children, torture men and kill political prisoners to criticize a UN investigator for "alleged sexual misconduct."

Ummm, Bill. It isn't the U.S. thats accusing the U.N. of misconduct. It's coming from U.N. employess. So how can you equate the two? uhhh.. don't tell me I think I know.


Of course, I hope you remember this paradigm the next time you think about complaining when, say,

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Syria takes a leadership position on a UN human-rights commission. But I have a feeling you won't. In fact, I have a strong feeling we could uncover a US-run drug smuggling operation (to finance the war on terror, of course) and you'd bash the UN for not stopping poppy cultivation in Afgnanistan.

Whose job is it to stop poppy cultivation in Afghanistan anyway? You don't like the U.S. being the worlds policeman, you seem to think the U.N. omnipotent. So tell me who should do something about poppy production and why nothings been done yet?

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