United Nations has not lived up to the human rights principles in its own Supplier Code of Conduct, much less the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UN Helps Save Civilians in Ukraine but Still Purchases From Russia
By Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist ——Bio and Archives--May 7, 2022
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres returned from his recent trip to Europe and Africa, which included crucial stops in Russia and Ukraine to meet in person with their leaders on a critical humanitarian mission. The Secretary General appealed to both Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky to work cooperatively with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross in evacuating trapped civilians, especially from the devastated city of Mariupol that has continued to endure heavy Russian bombardment.
Secretary General Guterres’ personal intervention has produced positive results. The Ukrainian government has reported that "all women, children and elderly people" have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol following two safe passage convoys that were completed successfully several days ago.
As the Secretary General reported to the UN Security Council on May 5th, the first rescue effort concluded on May 3rd. He said that 101 civilians were safely evacuated from the underground bunkers at the Azovstal steel plant where they had been hiding for at least two months, along with 59 more from a neighboring area. More than 320 civilians were subsequently evacuated from the city of Mariupol and surrounding areas during the second humanitarian convoy.
The humanitarian situation in Ukraine is dire, to say the least. “Over 13 million Ukrainians have now been forced to flee their homes, of whom 7.7 million are internally displaced,” Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the Security Council.
The UN has launched a comprehensive humanitarian relief effort. Mr. Griffiths reported that the UN and its humanitarian partners “have reached more than 4.1 million people with some form of assistance” across Ukraine. “To date, we have been able to stage five inter-agency aid convoys to some of the hardest-hit areas. They have been a lifeline to civilians encircled by fighting, bringing in much needed medical supplies, water, food rations, non-food-items, water repair systems and generators.”
Secretary General Guterres told the Security Council once again that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of its territorial integrity and of the Charter of the United Nations.” However, he has been leery of condemning Putin by name for unleashing the mass killings of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructures throughout Ukraine.
Most likely, Mr. Guterres is reluctant to hold Putin to account personally because he wants to keep the line of communication with Putin open for what Mr. Guterres calls “silent diplomacy.” The UN cannot continue to assist with safe evacuations of civilians and delivery of humanitarian supplies to besieged areas without at least Putin’s acquiescence.
However, this does not explain why the United Nations is still buying goods and services from Russia, propping up its economy with money that the regime is able to use to fund its war machine.
The Inter Press Service (IPS) News Agency has reported that “the UN Secretariat is continuing its multi-million-dollar contracts with a blacklisted Russia,” even as many freedom-loving countries have cut off most commercial ties with the Russian regime.
“According to the latest available figures,” the IPS added, “the UN’s purchases from Russia amounted to about $115.6 million in 2021, with Moscow listed as the 5th largest supplier behind the US, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kenya and Switzerland.”
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According to the IPS report, the UN’s purchases from Russia are primarily for goods and services focusing on “air transportation, mostly helicopters, including maintenance and servicing; information and communication technologies (ICT); and food catering, largely for the UN’s 12 peacekeeping missions.”
For example, the UN’s Procurement Division has a $13,050,000 contract with Russia’s UTair - Helicopter Services, a part of UTair Group, for air transportation services. The contract has a potential end date of January 16, 2024. UTair is among a number of air transport companies blacklisted by the United States and the European Union following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
More than forty Russian companies are listed as UN Secretariat Registered Vendors. One of those companies is IBS Group Holding, the largest Russian IT services company by revenue, whose clients include Russian finance and energy businesses and government institutions Its president, Anatoly Karachinsky, was added to the U.S. list of persons under blocking sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
When asked why the UN Secretariat did not honor Ukraine’s written request to “immediately suspend all non essential procurement cooperation of the UN with the Russian Federation,” the Secretary General’s spokesperson gave a typically bureaucratic answer:
“We responded to the Permanent Mission of Ukraine a few days later that the procuring of goods and services and works by the UN Secretariat, is in accordance with the mandate given to us by the General Assembly and in [conformity] with the Financial Regulations of the UN, which requires such procurement actions to be done on the basis of best value for money, fairness, integrity and transparency, and effective international competition.”
The United Nations has a Supplier Code of Conduct that expects, as one of its moral cornerstones, suppliers “to ensure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet informed the Security Council during her remarks on May 5th of verified international humanitarian and human rights law violations and the need for accountability.
“Reports of deadly incidents, such as attacks on hospital No 3 and the drama theatre in Mariupol, on the railway station in Kramatorsk, on residential areas in Odesa, have become shockingly frequent,” said Ms. Bachelet. “There seems to be no end in sight to the daily reports of civilian deaths and injuries.”
The Russian regime is responsible for these atrocities.
Ms. Bachelet had previously accused Russian military forces of indiscriminately “killing civilians and wrecking hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, actions that may amount to war crimes.”
The UN General Assembly has even gone so far as to suspend Russia from membership in the UN Human Rights Council, which is incredible considering the other human rights-abusing autocracies that are still members of the Council.
While the United Nations has done good humanitarian work by helping to rescue trapped civilians and delivering life-saving supplies, it has not lived up to the human rights principles in its own Supplier Code of Conduct, much less the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Russian entities are complicit in the Putin war machine’s atrocious human rights abuses in Ukraine, which constitute possible war crimes according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Nevertheless, the UN bureaucracy’s bean counters are willing to continue purchasing goods and services from them anyway.
Secretary General Guterres needs to step in and align the UN’s procurement decisions with the human rights values to which the UN claims it is dedicated.
