As UN Host Country Committee Discusses Access, Press is Excluded, by UN Office of Legal Affairs

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1hostclosed042208.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- The UN's Host Country Committee was in an uninviting mood on Tuesday. As a meeting on questions of access to the United States and the UN began, the Committee Secretary, Surya Sinha of the UN's Office of Legal Affairs, approached this reporter. "Inner City Press? You have to leave."

The agenda for the session, which does not say "Closed meeting," had only two items: "entry visas issued by the host country" and "other matters." Previous meeting have allowed reporters, although few have opted to attend. There was a dust-up between Venezuela and the U.S. in September 2006 that BBC, among others, was allowed to cover. Click here for Inner City Press' last article about the Committee, based on openly attending its January 2008 meeting. Now, the Committee Secretary and according to his staff, the Chairman, claim that the committee's meetings have always been closed.

Inner City Press went and got a representative of the UN's Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit, who came and told the staff that the press should be let in. No, the staffer said, adding that the UN 's own Department of Public Information was allowed to attend, and would issue a press release.

"But then the meeting isn't even closed," it was pointed out. "What's the point of excluding independent, non-UN journalists?"

The spokesman for the President of the General Assembly went in and to his credit tried to inquire into the matter. His boss, Srgjan Kerim, has spoken publicly of General Assembly transparent and reform, and of openness to the press. But the spokesman emerged saying that he had not been able to resolve the matter.

The UN's own in-house press release of the last meeting, in January, notes the attendance of officials of the City of New York and of the UN's Office of Legal Affairs. As may or may not be related, the head of OLA is Nicolas Michel, who has said he will not speak with Inner City Press following reports that the $10,000 or more a month he took from the Swiss government while ostensibly working only for the UN were not included in his public financial disclosure. As to the lawless and standardless closing of meetings, an answer has been promised, but the meeting has already been missed. Only at the UN...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1hostclosed042208.html