By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 16 -- This UN thinks it can simply ignore or dismiss questions that are raised.
In the big picture, there's the UN saying nothing for 15 months about the legal complaint that it brought cholera to Haiti, killing at least 5,000 people so far.
Then after 15 months, the UN tersely said the claims were “not receivable.”
Since then Inner City Press has asked a half dozen times for the legal reasoning or basis of the ruling. But the UN has refused to answer.
In the smaller picture, Inner City Press for the Free UN Coalition for Access posed nine questions or issues to the chief of the Department of Public Information.
Several had to do with the non-responses and insufficient responses of his subordinate, Media Acceditation and UNTV boss Stephane Dujarric.
But all nine issues were re-referred to Dujarric. Of the nine issues, Dujarric denied two, dodged two, deferred on two and entirely ignored three others.
Welcome to the UN.
FUNCA asked, as the New York Civil Liberties Union did on July 5, 2012, that the UN state or adopt due process rules for journalists. Dujarric, like the chief of DPI to whom the NYCLU wrote, ignored the request.
For Dujarric, this may be understandable, since of his ownproved-false February 27 complained, he after 18 days of silence said “the letter stands.” Is that like, “not receivable”? It is unacceptable.
Inner City Press reported that photographs taken of a visiting UN “partner,” Beyonce, were ordered to be deleted inside the UN's own Studio H. Dujarric response was to quietly raise the issue with Aramark, which is the UN's cafeteria contractor.
This does not address the forced deletion of photos in the UN's Studio H, but Dujarric insists, falsely, that the issue raised by FUNCA has been addressed.
Likewise after UN Peacekeeping boss Herve Ladsous had his spokesman seize the UNTV microphone on December 18 (video) to try to avoid an Inner City Press question about the 126 rapes in Minova by the Congolese Army Ladsous partners with, all Dujarric did was speak quietly to the spokesman.
Now on March 15 Dujarric writes on “the issue of the handling of the microphone by one of the DPKO spokespeople. As I told you, it was an honest mistake and he has been told not to do it again (and has not).”
What has happened, among other things, is the Greek foreign minster's entourage telling UNTV to stop recording and telling journalists not to take photos at the stakeout. DPI has refused to answer on this issue, raised by FUNCA on February 22 and since.
As to Ladsous, his DPKO on March 7 gave a half-answer to friendly scribes other than Inner City Press to a question Inner City Press repeatedly asked Ladsous, and put to Ban Ki-moon on March 5, about the Minova rapes.
Here's #LADSOUS2013 short films 1, 2 (financial), 3 (Too Late)
Here's #LADSOUS2013 short films 1, 2 (financial), 3 (Too Late)
Inner City Press has asked the chief of DPI “to be informed if it is DPI's role, or whose role it is, to ensure that such mis-direction and favoritism in the provision of information and answers by the UN does not continue.”
The chief of DPI referred the question to Dujarric, who answered: “Regarding your concern about wanting more information about UN activities, as you know, this department has made a sustained effort to increase the number of briefings by senior UN officials from both headquarters and the field.”
While some of the referenced "brown bag" sessions are appreciated, this does not respond to what Ladsous has done. When Inner City Press verbally expressed its opinion,Tim Witcher of AFP hissed “lies and distortions,” and Inner City Press replied, “Lapdog.”
Now Inner City Press is being asked to respond to a complaint filed by Witcher and Michele Nichols of Reuters,no copy or even summary of which has been provided to Inner City Press.
On this, Dujarric wrote back at 5 am Saturday New York time, from his “Roman Tablet” no less, to say the DPI has “yet to receive the complaints from DSS,” the Department of Safety and Security.
So what ARE the rules? Inner City Press for FUNCA replied -- from its Russian Pancake, as the saying goes -- but that's for a forthcoming story: the pall cast on freedom of the press by all this will be energetically opposed. Watch this site.
