UNITED NATIONS, September 1 -- The UN has become even less transparent in the past three years. Take for example the Host Country Committee, which deals with complaints about the treatments of diplomats in their missions by the United States. In 2007, Inner City Press attended the committee and wrote about it.
In 2008, Chairman Andreas Mavroyiannis of Cyprus barred Inner City Press, but allowed the UN itself it issue a press release summarizing the meeting. Mavroyiannis also offered to do a press briefing summarizing the Committee's work.
On September 1, 2010, Inner City Press went to a meeting of the Host Country Committee. Before it began, Inner City Press was asked to leave. The new chairman, Mavroyannis' successor as Cypriot Ambassador, Minas Hadjimichael, came over and said that instead of opening the meetings to the independent press, the decision had been made to discontinue even the UN's own press releases.
Who made the decision? The Committee by consensus -- that is, without a vote. Inner City Press stood outside the meeting, asking those who came out after the thirty minute session what had transpired inside. Some said it was boring: oral complaints by Nicaragua about denied visas, written complaints along with same lines by Cuba and Iran. Why then make it secret?
Committee secretary Surya Sinha told Inner City Press he will dig up the citations justifying the exclusion of the Press. Would a request from the media to attend be taken up by the Committee? No, was the answer. The request would have to come from one of the 19 countries which are members of the Committee. One member told Inner City Press they will raise it next time. We'll see. Watch this site.
Footnote: Ironically, while Hadjimichael claims that the meetings are closed so that problems can be solved, it was the Press which by asking got the UN to urge the US to loosen travel restrictions on those from Iran, Belarus and others. So who is served by the Committee's secrecy?
