Posted: 1:19 am EDT
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State/OIG has posted its schedule of FY2015 inspections. Something we can look forward to reading, although it will probably take months before these reports will be available online. Unless, of course, these reports are designated “classified” like the inspection report on the U.S. Embassy in Asmara, Eritrea (pdf). Some OIG reports have classified annexes. This is the first one we’ve seen in recent memory where the entire report has been designated classified.
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According to history.state.gov, the United States recognized the Republic of Eritrea on April 27, 1993, when the American consulate at Asmara informed Eritrean authorities of this decision on the same date Eritrea declared its independence. Eritrea previously had been under Ethiopian sovereignty. Diplomatic relations were established on June 11, 1993, when the American consulate at Asmara was raised to Embassy status with Joseph P. O’Neill as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim.
There currently is no U.S. Ambassador to Eritrea; the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires is Louis Mazel, career Foreign Service Officer who arrived in Eritrea to take up his posting as Charge d’Affaires on July 10, 2014.
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The upcoming inspection schedule via Office of Inspector General Work Plan 2015:
Fall Cycle: October–November 2014
Post inspections of Astana and Dushanbe, including BBG operations
Post inspections of Riga and Tallinn
Post inspections of Antananarivo and Port Louis
Inspection of the Office of Civil Rights (S/OCR)
Inspection of BBG operations in Kabul
Compliance Follow-up Review of the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO)
Winter Cycle: February–March 2015
Post inspection of Amman
Post inspection of Tokyo and constituent posts
Post inspections of Muscat and Tunis, including BBG operations
Inspection of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
Compliance Follow-up Review of the Accountability Review Board Process
Spring Cycle: May–June 2015
Inspection of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO)
Inspection of the Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing and Innovation (M/PRI)
Inspection of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, International Programs Directorate (DS/IP)
Inspection of the Bureau of Information Resource Management, Vendor Management Office (IRM/OPS/VMO)
Inspection of the Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR)
Inspection of the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services (CGFS)
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Our team tried to inspect Eritrea in 2010, but unlike even Havana, we could not get visas. Frankly, a quality inspection is worth keeping strictly in house lest vulnerabilities be exploited by those inimical to the US