By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, March
2 – When the UN
falsely
accuses an
investigative
journalist of
using quotes,
from a session
the journalist
said openly
and loudly was
“on the
record,” what
should happen?
One
might expect
the UN
official who
sent the false
allegation in
writing, and
was
immediately
asked for an
explanation
including of
the purpose of
the letter and
the procedures
for rebutting
and
striking it,
to explain.
But in this
case the
sender, the
boss of UN
Media
Accreditation
Stephane
Dujarric, has
not responded
in more than
two days.
The
UN maintains
and favors a
so-called
United Nations
Correspondents
Association,
all the way
back to the
time of the
League of
Nations,
which it
claims
represents and
even defends
the interests
of
journalists.
But
in this case,
the apparently
embarrassing
quotes the
UN's Dujarric
was
complaining
were used were
from UNCA
President
Pamela Falk of
CBS
(who yelled
that Inner
City Press is
a “mugger” and
bellowed,
“you call
yourself a
journalist”)
and UNCA First
Vice President
Louis
Charbonneau of
Reuters.
Click
here for audio
where Inner
City
Press tells
them “you are
on the
record.”
UNCA
is the source
of the attack
on lawful
reporting, not
the solution.
This was the
case in 2012
as well, when
as reflected
by documents
obtained
from Voice of
America
under the US
Freedom of
Information
Act UNCA
met with the
UN “very
quietly”
to move to get
Inner City
Press thrown
out.
Inner
City Press has
asked Dujarric
several times,
including in response to
his false
February 27
letter, to
describe his
knowledge and
role in
the referenced
meeting with
UNCA --
without
response.
At
the
reported-on
February 22
meeting, Inner
City Press yet
again
directly asked
Charbonneau to
describe his
knowledge of
and role in
the meetings
with the UN to
get Inner City
Press thrown
out.
Charbonneau
refused to
answer.
Instead,
Charbonneau
along with
saying to
Inner City
Press “the
fundamental
problem is
your website”
also told
Dujarric and
others present
that
unnamed
diplomats
asked him,
given Inner
City Press'
reporting, if
he
is not
concerned for
his “personal
safety.” Audio
here.
Inner
City Press
immediately
assured
Charbonneau
that he had
absolutely no
basis for
concern, if
his concern /
complaint to
Dujarric was
genuine
-- a big if.
Since
seeing the VOA
documents
showing that
Reuters among
other things
was moving
toward the
same route
of throwing
Inner City
Press out of
the
UN, Inner City
Press has not
spoken with
Charbonneau
for six
months.
By
contrast to
Charbonneau's
unnamed
diplomats --
one wonders
which of
the two
Security
Council
spokespeople
who follow the
UNCA leaders'
counterfeit
social media
account it
might be --
Inner City
Press
recounted the
use of another
of the UNCA
leaders'
anonymous
social
media accounts
to malign
Inner City
Press and the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
to a specific
Security
Council
mission's
spokesperson.
Inner
City Press
said the name
of the
mission, then
added that the
name
would continue
to go
unreported, to
protect a
woman who
while there
alleged past
sexual
harassment
(and was
mocked by UNCA
leaders then,
and later in a
flyer they
posted on
Inner City
Press' UN
cubicle
door).
Apparently
Dujarric
-- and / or
UNCA --
latched onto
this one
segment being
without name
to try to
claim that
nothing from
the meeting
should be
quoted.
It's ludicrous
and could
easily have
been disproved
had
Dujarric
simply asked,
for example at
the “brown
bag lunch”
session he
and Inner City
Press both
attended,
hours before
he sent
his complaint
letter.
But Dujarric
said nothing.
Now
others in the
UN say that
the letter “is
not innocent”
and
Dujarric's
goal is to
“build a case”
against Inner
City Press.
There has been
no retraction
or
amplification,
not even any
response.
This
shows ever
more clearly
the need for
rules of due
process for
journalists at
the UN, as the
New
York Civil
Liberties
Union asked
the UN
Department of
Public
Information
about in
mid-2012,
referring
to Voice
of America's
request to
Dujarric to
“review”
Inner City
Press'
accreditation,
which Dujarric
thanked VOA
for but
never told
Inner City
Press about.
When
we he going to
tell Inner
City Press? In
the absence of
any written
answer or
rules, we can
only reply on
the oral
answer given,
yes, on
the record.
That answer
was that only
AFTER
dis-accredition
and
ouster from
the UN would
the underlying
complaint be
shown. That is
a
travesty, as
is the
February 27
letter and
failure for
two days and
counting to
explain,
amplify and
rescind it.
Watch this
site.
