By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 27 -- At the UN everything gets delayed. Not only protecting civilians in Darfur or responding to having brought cholera into Haiti -- that's been delayed forever -- but even the small things, like moving the Security Council back to its traditional second story home.
It was going to happen April 1, the day Rwanda takes over the Presidency from Russia. But Monday UN sources who would have worked last weekend to make the move possible told Inner City Press, it won't happened. Sound system problems were cited at the reason.
Some say the move could take place in two weeks. But does moving it in the middle of a month-long presidency make sense?
Still, tonight's End of Presidency reception by Russia will be, where else, in the renovated Council's Russian Room. A recent visitor described still some holes in the ceiling, some temporary chairs, and with related to the delay, “electronic problems.”
There's also a strange "Turkish Lounge" which seemingly will block Press access.
At an even lower level, the UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit has announced it will move on April 15. It says the press will move later, and pointedly says that no refrigerators no matter how small will be allowed in the new offices.
It was ostensibly to respond orally to written Inner City Press questions on the longer delayed move of the press corps that MALU entered and raided Inner City Press' office on March 18. MALU took pictures and allowed others too.
Pamela Falk of CBS, the president of the UN Correspondents Association, was there ghoulishly taking pictures. But what for?
Falk has sent a legal threat against even asking this question. But we ask it. Who gave pictures to the UNCA “leaders” who passed them anonymously as “Concerned UN Reporter” to BuzzFeed and now comment, also anonymously, on them? They are now up to six anonymous social media accounts. It's nauseating.
Relatedly, why would the UN name even the journalists' pantry in the new space after UNCA? The Free UN Coalition for Access has asked the Department of Public Information, particularly in light of recent UNCA actions, that it be called journalists' pantry, journalists' club, not branded for UNCA. It's literally nauseating. Watch this site.
