Santo Domingo.- UN Program for Development (UNPD) representative Valerie Julliand   affirmed yesterday that the contracts with Human Development Office (HDO) coordinators of the often vocal Miguel Ceara and Pavel Isa weren’t renewed because they broke the rules on public statements which jeopardize that entity’s independence.

Julliand said the decision to terminate the contracts, which expire June 30, was based on "their repeated breach of the rules of conduct related to declarations that could jeopardize the independence and impartiality of this organization." However she didn’t specify the statements.

The UN official affirmed that the HDO continues operating and that "there’s no dismantling, dismemberment, disarticulation or closing as erroneously informed."

Julliand, in a press conference where reporters’ questions weren’t allowed, denied taking the decision on alleged pressures. “Its work (UNPD) doesn’t respond to any particular interests, or economic, partisan parcel, or of any other type."

In a statement yesterday, Isa affirmed that the UN Office "carried out an academic work that sought to contribute to the design of public policies and issues of a political, economic and social nature… The actions of the management of the UNPD in Dominican Republic try to silence those analyses and their publication, and the team wasn’t willing to submit itself to a self-censure."