OCHA RESPONDS TO USUN DEMARCHE ON IRIN SHAME OF

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000928 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC KUNR PHUM PREL SUBJECT: OCHA RESPONDS TO USUN DEMARCHE ON IRIN SHAME OF WAR REPORT REF: A. USUN 000714 ¶B. STATE 128337 ¶C. USUN 000798 ¶1. (SBU) As reported in reftel C, on September 24th Amb. Wallace delivered the demarche as instructed in reftel B objecting to the anti-US distortions in the IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) report "The Shame of War: Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Conflict." During the meeting at which the demarche was delivered, OCHA Under-Secretary-General John Holmes accepted responsibility for the IRIN report, agreed that the material in question should not have been included in the report, and said that corrective action would be taken. ¶2. (SBU) USUN has received the following letter dated October 9th from U-SYG Holmes confirming that our concerns were well-founded and that the report has been withdrawn from all distribution outlets and taken off the website. Begin text: I would like to respond formally to you, following our recent meeting in which you raised a number of concerns relating to the IRIN publication, the Shame of War. We have reviewed your concerns with the IRIN Director, who has in turn looked at the details with her senior managers. These investigations lead them and me to conclude that your concerns are in essence well-founded. I very much regret this and any problems our mistakes of judgment have caused. Some of these errors occurred in the final consideration of the text, when information was added shortly before the book was printed at the request of one of the reviewers and, owing to time constraints, this was not subject to the normal, tight editing processes and verification used by IRIN. However this is at best a partial explanation, not an excuse. Following the investigation into what went wrong, I have insisted that oversight of reports and publications be strengthened. As you know, the book has already been withdrawn from all distribution outlets and taken off the website, with appropriate explanations to all concerned. We are looking into the possibility of a re-edit and reprint of the book, with the offending sections removed or re-edited to remove the problems to which you have drawn attention. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration, and renewed apologies. John Holmes Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator End Text. Khalilzad