Monday, August 26, 2013

Swiss police aren't permitted to enter Geneva's UN grounds to make arrests. US courts can't charge UN personnel with crimes

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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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