Is there blood on his hands? (Kofi Annan)

The bodies were still warm when Lieutenant Ron Rutten found them: nine corpses in civilian clothes lying crumpled by a stream, each shot in the back at close range. It was July 12, 1995, and the UN-declared “safe area” of Srebrenica had fallen the previous day. The lush pastures of eastern Bosnia were about to become Europe’s bloodiest killing fields since 1945.

Refugees poured into the UN compound. But the Dutch peacekeepers (Dutchbat) were overwhelmed and the Serbs confiscated their weapons. “From the moment I found those bodies, it was obvious to me that the Bosnian Serbs planned to kill all the men,” Rutten said. He watched horrified as Dutch troops guided the men and boys onto the Serb buses.

Srebrenica is rarely mentioned nowadays in Annan’s offices on the 38th floor of the UN secretariat building in New York. He steps down in December after a decade as secretary-general. His retirement will be marked by plaudits. But behind the honorifics and the accolades lies a darker story: of incompetence, mismanagement and worse. Annan was the head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) between March 1993 and December 1996. The Srebrenica massacre of up to 8,000 men and boys and the slaughter of 800,000 people in Rwanda happened on his watch. In Bosnia and Rwanda, UN officials directed peacekeepers to stand back from the killing, their concern apparently to guard the UN’s status as a neutral observer. This was a shock to those who believed the UN was there to help them.

Annan’s term has also been marked by scandal: from the sexual abuse of women and children in the Congo by UN peacekeepers to the greatest financial scam in history, the UN-administered oil-for-food programme. Arguably, a trial of the UN would be more apt than a leaving party.

Indeed, it is a sad story. Magnified still further by the lavish life-style we permit these stooges with our tax dollars (also from the article):

Who runs it?
Kofi Annan
Secretary-general
Born: Ghana, 1938.
Salary: $397,245 gross, plus use of luxury villa and $25,000 entertaining allowance. All expenses paid while travelling.
First secretariat official to get top job. Took office in January 1997, thanks mostly to strong support of US, a love affair long since soured. Has worked for the UN since 1962, apart from a brief spell as Ghana’s director of tourism. Led UN team negotiating oil-for-food after first Gulf war in early 1990s. Head of peacekeeping from 1993 to 1996.
Mark Malloch-Brown
Deputy secretary-general
Born: Rhodesia, 1953.
Salary: $258,394, plus $73,600 non-pensionable allowance and $4,000 entertainment allowance. All expenses paid while travelling.
Former Economist journalist, previously Annan’s chief of cabinet and head of the UN development programme. Has also worked for the World Bank and the UN high commissioner for refugees. Probably Annan’s most trusted associate. Holds a first-class degree from Cambridge. Likely to leave UN once Annan’s term is over.
Jan Egeland
Under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator
Born: Norway, 1957.
Salary: $258,394.
High-profile expert in conflict resolution. Twenty-five years of humanitarian experience with the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, Amnesty International, the UN and others. Helped organise the secret contacts between Israel and the PLO that led to the 1993 Oslo accords. Outspoken on Darfur, and was the first UN official to brief security council on the extent of the carnage.
There are 58 undersecretary-generals, paid $176,877 a year, and 57 assistant secretary-generals, paid $160,574. These are the highest grades, but after several years of service a UN staffer in a middle-ranking position can expect to make between $80,000 and $120,000 a year. Most UN staff do not pay income tax, but between 25% and 30% of their salary is deducted at source. The ‘post-adjustment’ index boosts wages in line with local cost of living. A UN staffer posted to New York, earning $59,132 a year, will receive an annual post-adjustment of $37,667. UN staff are also eligible for rent subsidies of up to 40%, and education allowances. Danger zones bring hazard pay of $1,000 a month, and peacekeeping operations also pay a mission subsistence allowance. The position of envoy of the secretary-general is keenly sought after. It brings a UN laissez-passer for official travel, with diplomatic status, opportunities for tax-free purchases and per-diems to pay for five-star hotels.
What it costs
The UN’s basic annual operating budget for 2006 is $1.9 billion, covering staff, basic activities and infrastructures at the UN headquarters around the world.
This excludes UN peacekeeping operations, UN programmes and funds, and satellite organisations. There are more than 80,000 UN staff working on 15 peacekeeping missions including Kosovo, Georgia, Cyprus, the Congo and Liberia. The peacekeeping budget is likely to reach $5 billion in 2006. UN programmes and funds, including Unicef, the World Food Programme and the UN Development Programme, have a budget of around $10 billion.
Satellite organisations such as the International Labour, Unesco and the World Health Organization have a budget of about $3.7 billion. The UN is funded by mandatory contributions from its member states, and these are calculated according to their gross national income. The US is the biggest contributor, at 22% of the annual operating budget – about $420m. The UK pays the following: 6% of the annual operating budget – Â£58m; 7.4% of the peacekeeping budget – Â£171m; and Â£10.2m towards war-crimes tribunals.
Total annual UN budget: around $20.5 billion.

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