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A 1998 NY Times article about blanket legal immunity given to thousands on UN business in Switzerland. The same may be true of such persons in NY City as 'host' of the UN.
8/9/1998, "A Challenge To Immunity Of Lobbyists At the U.N.," NY Times, Elizabeth Olson
"Ms. Ghose (India's envoy to the United Nations) began a campaign to alert United Nations and Swiss
officials to the danger of suspected criminals and terrorists taking
advantage of the legal immunity granted to certain interest groups while
in Switzerland on United Nations business.
Thousands of such
nongovernmental representatives enter the United Nations headquarters in
Geneva and New York
each year. Switzerland automatically provides visas
to members of groups accredited by the United Nations. So far, Ms.
Ghose has succeeded in getting United Nations and Swiss officials to
take another look at their 52-year-old agreement, which has been
interpreted in practice as requiring neither side to take action against
possible criminals.
United Nations officials maintain that
Switzerland, as the host country, gives immunity to nongovernmental
organizations' staff members to carry out their business, but that this
should not shield these people from accountability for crimes.
Swiss
officials, for their part, argue that legitimate nongovernmental staff
members have immunity from arrest, and that the Swiss police are not
permitted to enter United Nations grounds to make arrests....
Nongovernmental staff members ''need to be able to travel to and from
the host country to be able to speak freely at meetings,'' said a
United Nations legal adviser. ''Otherwise, you would open the door to
abuse for anyone who criticizes a government at any meeting.''...
At
recent human-rights sessions, Iraq has been represented by Saddam
Hussein's half brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, who was head of Iraq's
intelligence services before he became the country's envoy to the United
Nations. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who are seeking a
separate homeland in Sri Lanka, and the Tupac Amaru, the leftist rebels
from Peru, regularly attend human-rights sessions....
In
May, Algeria's United Nations delegate formally complained that he had
been approached inside the United Nations building here by three men
''who accosted me in a violent manner and uttered insults, abuse and
death threats.'' One of the men was identified as a member of a
nongovernmental organization.
Accreditation requests from nongovernmental organizations are
screened and approved by a United Nations panel, with 19 member
countries serving rotating terms, said Raymonde Martineau, head of the
panel's office in Geneva. Armed groups are barred, she said. To keep
matters even-handed, she noted, ''no country alone has the right to veto
an application.''
Nongovernmental organizations insist that they have sole responsibility for determining who is eligible for membership."
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Despite acknowledged fraud by UN personnel, US federal prosecutors couldn't pursue either criminal or civil charges. As the article states, UN personnel can put US taxpayer dollars given to them in personal bank accounts:
4/16/09, “Federal prosecutors in New York City were forced to drop criminal and civil cases because the U.N. officials have immunity,”…The Afghanistan country director for the U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which served as the contractor on the project for the U.N. Development Program (UNDP)
spent about $200,000
in U.S. money to renovate his guesthouse.
Witness names were withheld by USAID.”
4/16/09, “Report: U.N. spent U.S. funds on shoddy projects,” USA Today, Ken Dilanian
Do UN “agencies have immunity if they siphon (their U.S. grants) all off into Swiss banks? Is that accurate? They will be totally immune, no matter what they do with the money?” “My understanding is, yes,” Gambatesa replied.” (near end of article)
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Comment: This is obviously a crime. Not even one politician will stop it.
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