By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, July 11, 2104 -- Two days after the UN cut from its transcript the advocacy of the Free UN Coalition for Access to get Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to hold more question and answer sessions with the press, Ban's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq denied this censorship.
Inner City Press asked Haq specifically about the omission from the July 9, 2014 transcript of the Free UN Coalition for Access and its comment about taking questions. Haq replied that whatever is audible is included in the transcript. Video here.
Not only is this not the case as to July 9, 2014 -- it was blatantly disproved for example on July 3, 2013. At that day's noon briefing with Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson, before asking about Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, Inner City Press thanked Eliasson “on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access.”
UN video here, from Minute 19:44.
But when the UN put out its transcript, the name of FUNCA was cut out:
“Q: I want to thank you for doing this briefing so soon after you got back, and also I hope that we will have some questions on more general UN items, after, it should be... There is DRC, Haiti and other things going on.”
By contrast, the UN (mis) transcription left in the name of the old UNCA, as recited by its 2013 president Pamela Falk of CBSNews.com:
“Q: Mr. Deputy Secretary-General, welcome on behalf of the UN Correspondents’ Association, welcome back and thank you for the briefing.”
Who in the UN decided what to cut out of what purports to be a transcript? What is the basis of the deletions? If they cut this, would they they cut or change whole questions? Answers? We asked.
How far with the UN go to try to ban dissent and to censor those who question it? And what does it undermine? Watch this site.
