Source: http://www.un.int/usa/06_029.htm http://www.un.int/usa/06_029.htm
Date: February 17, 2006
Statement by Ambassador John R. Bolton, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on the Elections in Haiti, as President of the Security Council, and Remarks on UN Procurement, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN Peacekeepers, Iran's Nuclear Program and other matters, in his National Capacity, at the Security Council Stakeout, February 17, 2006 
Ambassador Bolton:  Ok I have first, a press statement that the Security Council agreed to this morning on Haiti, and so first I will read that and will be happy to answer any questions.  This will be the Security Council press statement on Haiti, adopted this morning:
“The Members of the Security Council applaud the Haitian people for their patience and continuing commitment to democracy.  Based on the announcement made by the provisional electoral council, the members of the Council congratulate Rene Preval on his victory in Haiti’s presidential election, and look forward to working with the new government to help Haitians build a better future for their country.  The members of the Council urge all Haitians to redouble their efforts to promote political dialogue and national reconciliation, including participation in the second round of parliamentary elections and municipal and local elections.”
That concludes the press statement on Haiti, and now I would be happy to answer questions on anything else that you might be interested in.
Reporter: Mr. Ambassador, do you foresee any specific actions that the Security Council is going to encourage the United Nations to take to help the new Haitian government?  Obviously there is a pretty big UN mission there.  And as a second quick question, Monday is a US holiday but not a UN holiday, is the daily briefing on?
Ambassador Bolton: Well, on the subject of Haiti, as you all know, we have just recently extended the mandate of MINUSTAH for another 6 months.  Obviously, there is both a second round of parliamentary elections and the municipal and local elections coming up. Those are very important, and I think making sure that the Haitian people continue their active participation in the political process is going to be important.  We have agreed that we are going to review MINUSTAH’s role as the new government is put in power and we will see what is appropriate at that point.  In terms of Monday, you will recall that last Monday, earlier this week which was not a US holiday, we also did not have a briefing.  I don’t know if that will be a precedent since I anticipate on February 27 we probably will have a briefing, but you know, we all want to be culturally sensitive here at the UN, including the US holidays.  So there will be no a briefing on Monday unless there is a development that warrants it, and if there is, I will be ready to call a meeting.  As I said, cultural sensitivity.
Reporter: Malaysia (inaudible) has accused the Security Council of encroaching on the functions and powers of the General Assembly, the issue was this week at the same time you are president of the Council and I wonder if the accusation was directed at you for pushing the agenda in the Council and whether you are trying to take over the work of the General Assembly?
Ambassador Bolton:  I don’t think we are trying to take over the work of the General Assembly at all.  The two public meetings that we will have next week on procurement, waste, fraud and abuse, and peacekeeping operations, and on sexual exploitation and abuse and peacekeeping operations are matters where I think both the General Assembly and the Security Council have legitimate equities.   It is after all, the Security Council, that authorizes peacekeeping operations, and it is important for the Council, it’s particularly important for the United States, which pays 27% of the costs of peacekeeping operations to make sure they are run efficiently and up to the highest standards.  So we have undertaken this initiative, I have spoken with General Assembly President Eliasson on the subject and have said that it would be our view that we would encourage the General Assembly also to have public meetings on procurement fraud and peacekeeping, and procurement fraud and waste and abuse generally.  It would also be appropriate for the General Assembly to consider the question of sexual exploitation and abuse throughout the UN system.  So, I think it is incumbent on the Security Council to act, to make sure the peacekeeping operations perform according to the highest standards but I certainly acknowledge the General Assembly has a role too.
Reporter: Ambassador, would you be releasing new information on procurement since the investigation isn’t finished yet?
Ambassador Bolton: I don’t anticipate it.
Reporter:  Or everyone saying this is terrible, and secondly is the oil for food…?
Ambassador Bolton:  Doesn’t President Bush have a rule about questions with more than one part, go ahead Evelyn, it’s ok.
Reporter: (Laughter) Well, on the same subject, is the Oil for Food scandal going to come up in the Assembly or the Council?
Ambassador Bolton: The discussion, as I envisioned it anyway, in the Council on procurement fraud waste and abuse subject, will be on the OIOS report, which has been issued and is public; and on listening to the observations of the department of peacekeeping operations on what they think of the report listening to OIOS explain the basis of the report and listen to member governments comment.  I don’t think that there is any view that we are going to turn the Security Council into an investigative body for those employees who have been suspended.  I think there is a question of broad themes here where OIOS has issued a report, that if it is accurate, indicates hundred of millions of dollars of tax payers funds, 27% of which tax payers dollars come from the United States on the subject of waste, fraud and abuse.  So it is discussing the themes, it’s not discussing the questions of individual responsibility at this point.  And what was your second question?  
Reporter:  (Inaudible)
Ambassador Bolton: Well, if my presidency were more than a mere 28 days, I would probably be willing to schedule another meeting on that, but I think the question of difficulties in UN procurement, whether in the context of oil for food, or in the context of the ongoing operation of the organization, is a matter of great concern. Not just to the US government but to many governments, because this represents money that is wasted, squandered, that is not, in the case of peacekeeping, being used for the protection of the very people that the peacekeepers were sent out to help.  Sir?
Reporter: The letter that was sent from Congress yesterday, from Representatives Hyde and Lantos. The G77 is pretty peeved about this thing; do you have any response? They’re sort of saying they think parliaments should butt out; they deal with governments and parliaments play no role and they’re quite upset about it.
Ambassador Bolton: Well, I have this to say, until the Secretary-General read me part of the letter yesterday evening I was completely unaware of it. I have not seen it to this date. Members of Congress are free to write to whomever they want to write to. The United States Constitution is a constitution of separated powers, and I’m sure that Congressman Hyde and Congressman Lantos, who as you know visited the UN last fall and I hope will be coming again next month, decided to write the letter based on their own judgment and people can react to it as they will, but I don’t think this is a matter where the Executive Branch can tell members of Congress not to write letters. 
Reporter: Given the confluence of the U.S.’s Presidency of the Council, we’ve got the NAM letter, the G77 letter, these issues of procurement, who has what authority to discuss what, are relations between other UN member states and the US in a bit of a strain right now?
Ambassador Bolton: I don’t think so at all. We’ve had a complete discussion of the holding of the two public meetings on procurement fraud, waste, and abuse, and sexual exploitation and abuse, agreed on by consensus in the Security Council; I consulted again yesterday with members of the Council the question was not raised this morning; I’ve spoken with Jan Eliasson. I would say this, the United States believes in taking action and being effective, and we don’t apologize to anybody for that. I think it’s important that the United States and like-minded countries, which I would hope would include the whole membership, are determined that peacekeeping operations be run according to the highest standards. As I said earlier, perhaps before you arrived, I don’t dispute at all that the General Assembly has legitimate equities in fulfilling its responsibilities on both waste, fraud, and abuse in peacekeeping and sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping, and I would welcome the General Assembly acting within its sphere of responsibility and the United States would play an active role in General Assembly considerations. So this is a question that, as with other questions where more than one body of the United Nations has competence. The Security Council is acting and other bodies can act as well.
Reporter: Do you have any comments on the latest Saddam audiotapes in which he and his entourage admit they are cheating the inspectors and that they warned the United States of a terrorist attack with weapons of mass destruction?
Ambassador Bolton: I’ve never doubted Saddam was cheating the inspectors but I don’t have any comment specifically on the tapes.
Reporter: When it comes to sexual exploitation and abuse, you’re talking about taking action, which kind of action can the Security Council take, because nothing has been done yet.
Ambassador Bolton: Well, I expect that one of the participants in the meeting next Thursday will be Prince Zaid, the permanent representative of Jordan, who wrote a very thorough report on the subject. I’d like to hear his opinion on how the Secretariat has responded. We’ve asked for representatives of both the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the management side of the Secretariat to speak as well. I’m meeting today in fact with Mr. Miller, the United States Ambassador at-large responsible for trafficking in persons and related matters to discuss what position we’ll take next week. The stated policy of the UN Secretariat on sexual exploitation and abuse is zero tolerance and that’s our policy as well. So I think it’s important. I think the way you solve problems is by having open discussions of them and coming to agreement, and that’s what I’m proposing to do.
Reporter: Iran has begun trying to learn how to enrich uranium essentially.
Ambassador Bolton: I don’t think they’ve just begun. I think they been working at it for quite some time.
Reporter: Well now that they’ve actually begun the machines and the all the rest of it going, some analysts would suggest that it really is only a matter of months from clicking these kits together and spinning them around to make them work effectively and once you’ve mastered the technology then you’ve lost the battle. Now in that context how significant do you consider a one-month delay at this stage or two weeks, what is the significance of the delays that we’re seeing to deal with the question of the resumption of enrichment activities?
Ambassador Bolton: Well I think with respect to the decision of the Foreign Ministers in London on the 30th of January to wait until the March 6th meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, that that remains the position. I think as a general proposition delay benefits the Iranians in two respects. One, it allows them to increase the sophistication and extent of their knowledge about enrichment activities, and second it gives them time to make use of the oil weapon which they have with a number of countries that have high and growing energy demands. That’s why it’s been the position of the United States for three and a half years - three and a half years - that the matter should come before the Security Council. So we’re pleased that it’s here and we’ll abide obviously by the decision of the Perm 5 Foreign Ministers in London, and when its appropriate, we’ll be prepared to act here in New York.
Reporter: Could one step be to make things that were voluntary under agreement terms mandatory in the Security Council, and to jack up the IAEA’s powers with an increase in inspectors and so forth? Are these things under consideration?
Ambassador Bolton: There are lots of things under consideration. We in the United States together with the EU3 and other countries have been considering for a number of years what steps might be taken in the Security Council, but at this point I don’t want to speculate.
Reporter: If a deal is made with Russia, will this stop research that is 30 meters underground?
Ambassador Bolton: We’re going to await the discussions in Moscow on President’s Day and we’ll see what happens. But I have watched the Iranian program for years. Their effort consistently is to throw sand in the eyes of those who are concerned about their pursuit of nuclear weapons. They’ve done it consistently, I’m sure they’ll continue to do it. I’m sure that delay and obfuscation and concealment will remain elements of their policy, and I think we will simply continue to work diplomatically to make it clear that it is unacceptable for the Iranians to achieve a nuclear weapons capability.
Reporter: Have you had a chance to read the Canadian paper on the selection of the Secretary General?
Ambassador Bolton: Alan Rock is going to be distressed I’m sure when I say that I’ve not read the letter, but I have a nice schedule for the rest of today, it’s on my desk, and I’m going to give it very careful consideration because I take his efforts and thoughts seriously. That’s why I’m waiting for a chance when I can read and actually reflect on it as I read. Any other questions? OK ladies and gentlemen, have a nice weekend, and I’ll probably be here at 10 o’clock on Monday morning anyway just out of habit.
Reporter: So will we celebrate the Queen’s birthday?
Ambassador Bolton: I’m a culturally sensitive person. Let’s consider it.