UNITED NATIONS, April 7 -- Two days after the Press was unceremoniously told to move back from the UN Security Council because two Permanent member nations wanted less "involuntary interaction" with reporters, Inner City Press asked last month's Council President from Gabon about the controversy.
He confirmed the complaints, but ascribed them to a lack of any controls when the Council first moved to its new location in the UN basement. Meanwhile the Council's 15 members met Wednesday afternoon and heard a proposal from three representative of the UN Secretariat.
Inner City Press stood alone in the still limited stakeout area when the three emerged at 4:15 on Wednesday. They heard our proposal and are discussing it, Inner City Press was told.
The proposal involves moving the stakeout back up on front of the Security Council, allowing a similar stake out by the first floor Delegates' Entrance, and trying to allow journalists to walk up the same stairs as diplomats. (Imagine that).
One of the Permanent Five ambassadors named as having triggered the restrictions backtracked and expressed support for press use of the stairs. The host country, which on Monday denied having begun the discussion, still refers to safety concerns.
The Committee to Protect Journalists released the following statement on the controversy, through its deputy director Robert Mahoney:
"We fully support the United Nations Correspondents Association in its opposition to proposed new restrictions on press access to UN Security Council members. The public will see straight through the argument that delegates’ safety is enhanced by keeping them shielded from the press. Both diplomats and reporters are already inside a secure zone with visible ID. The United Nations should be a beacon for the human rights it was established to uphold. Those include freedom of expression and a free media. To deny reporters access to public officials would be hypocritical."
But hypocrisy is sometimes the norm at the UN. We'll see -- watch this site.
