@MinColonna @UNLazzarini 5/ The feelings were mutual. UNRWA hailed “strong support from France” while Colonna was foreign minister. x.com/unrwa/status/1…. UNRWA specifically praised Colonna and Macron “for their continued political and financial commitment alongside UNRWA”:
@MinColonna @UNLazzarini 5/ The feelings were mutual. UNRWA hailed “strong support from France” while Colonna was foreign minister. x.com/unrwa/status/1…. UNRWA specifically praised Colonna and Macron “for their continued political and financial commitment alongside UNRWA”: https://t.co/xVSVv5x5nw
6/ How can Colonna impartially investigate UNRWA when, likewise, France has showered praise on this agency? See: x.com/search?q=from%… “UNRWA plays an important role in regional stability and remains essential,” said France when Colonna was minister. x.com/franceonu/stat…
6/ How can Colonna impartially investigate UNRWA when, likewise, France has showered praise on this agency? See: x.com/search?q=from%… “UNRWA plays an important role in regional stability and remains essential,” said France when Colonna was minister. x.com/franceonu/stat…
7/ On March 4, France declared total support for “crucial” UNRWA, “an essential contributor to stability of the region,” and for years to come, its mandate “will remain relevant until a political settlement is found to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” onu.delegfrance.org/unrwa-is-at-th…
8/ How can Colonna lead an impartial review? Her lifetime serving the foreign policy of France—a major donor and board member of UNRWA—presents a material conflict of interest. Were she to find UNRWA systematically complicit with terror, she would implicate herself—and France.
9/ Any adverse findings in the Colonna Report would retrospectively cast a shadow on Colonna’s decisions and actions as Foreign Minister, where she might have overseen or endorsed French financial and political support for UNRWA. Such findings could also cast a shadow on any decisions and actions by her predecessors and colleagues in the French foreign ministry, and in other levels and departments of the French government, who were involved in overseeing the country’s support for and oversight of UNRWA. This situation places Ms. Colonna in a delicate position where her very recent affiliations with French governmental policies towards UNRWA could influence her current evaluative responsibilities and could lead to potential biases, consciously or subconsciously, in the review's findings. Colonna’s ability to lead an impartial investigation into UNRWA could therefore be compromised, as her professional integrity and historical decisions, as well as those of other diplomats and elected officials in France, could be at stake depending on the outcomes of the review. Colonna’s Conflict of Interest Violates UN Standards of Conduct Catherine Colonna's participation in the Independent Review Group for UNRWA amounts to a gross violation of legal principles relating to conflict of interest and the requirement for impartiality in administrative and legal reviews. 1. Conflict of Interest: According to general principles of administrative law, any individual involved in a decision-making or review process should be free from any conflicts of interest that might influence their judgment. As a former French Foreign Minister, Colonna's prior involvement with policies or decisions relating to UNRWA funding could represent a conflict of interest, particularly if her actions during her tenure could be indirectly assessed as part of the review. 2. Duty of Impartiality: The duty of impartiality is fundamental in international law and administrative procedures, ensuring that decisions are made based on fairness and without bias. The UN itself emphasizes the importance of impartiality in its operations. Because Colonna’s previous role aligned with French foreign policy that is supportive of UNRWA, her impartiality in evaluating the agency is compromised. 3. United Nations Standards of Conduct: The UN has its own standards concerning the conduct of individuals who undertake roles on its behalf, which stress independence, impartiality, and integrity. These standards are meant to ensure that reviews and assessments are conducted without any undue influence from previous affiliations or potential future incentives. Colonna's participation in and leadership of the Review Group violates these principles. Her very recent role in a government that supported UNRWA financially and politically could be seen as a direct conflict with the need for an unbiased review of the agency's conduct, infringing on the legal and ethical standards expected in such reviews.
10/ Secretary-General Guterres could have chosen from any number of prominent figures who do not have these conflicts, or prior prounouncements on the work of UNRWA. But UNRWA chose Colonna precisely because they were certain that her findings will “reassure the donors.”
11/ Now let's take a look at the three Scandinavian institutes that were named to staff Colonna's review group: @cmi_no @RWallenbergInst & @HumanRightsDK. Are they impartial and objective when it comes to investigating how UNRWA handles allegation of its employees' terror ties?
@cmi_no @RWallenbergInst @HumanRightsDK 12/ Let's start with Norway's Chr. Michelsen Institute. Are they qualified to impartially investigate UNRWA's complicity with terrorism and other “neutrality violations”? Take a look below, and you tell me. @cmi_no
@cmi_no @RWallenbergInst @HumanRightsDK 13/ In 2022, CMI published a report on UNRWA alleging “unfounded claims” that it instigates violence at school. So CMI already concluded that claims of incitement— documented in UN Watch reports showing screenshots of UNRWA teachers calling to slaughter Jews—are “unfounded.”
@cmi_no @RWallenbergInst @HumanRightsDK 14/ The author of the report is CMI's @kjerstig_berg, who devotes her life to Palestinians and echoes UNRWA talking points. Her book, “Palestine: Facts on the Ground,” argues for a Palestinian “right of return,” which effectively means the destruction of the State of Israel.
@cmi_no @RWallenbergInst @HumanRightsDK @kjerstig_berg 15/ Must. Get. Sleep. Much more to come in this thread tomorrow! If you can't wait, see some of the material here: unwatch.org/exposed-unrwas…
@cmi_no @RWallenbergInst @HumanRightsDK @kjerstig_berg 16/ Continuing the thread. Still on Kjersti G. Berg, the UNRWA expert at CMI, one of the three institutes running the Independent Review Group. Berg devoted her life to denying UNRWA's terror ties. After we just began to expose her bias, she deleted her account: @kjertstig_berg
@HillelNeuer @cmi_no @RWallenbergInst @HumanRightsDK @kjerstig_berg Dispiriting but we push on.
@HillelNeuer @cmi_no @RWallenbergInst @HumanRightsDK @kjerstig_berg The @UN and @UNRWA and all sister organisations- must be defunded and asked to vacate its offices in NY and relocate to either Sub Saharan Africa or one of the countries in the Levantine region. The US must lead the way in stopping all payments to it .