By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, January 9 -- While corpses are found in Burundi and the government blocks the deployment of both the UN Police and UN Conflict Prevention staff ostensibly called for by the UN Secretariat and Security Council, the government's supporters try to side with either UN censors like Under Secretary General Cristina Gallach, who evicted and restricts the Press which reports on Burundi, or more generally UN staff.
It is more than a little ironic. UN staff are being PNG-ed and having visas denied from Burundi.
A list of some recent finds:
A list of some recent finds:
On 2 January 2017, two( 2) persons namely Gilbert Bandika aka Juma and Nestor Nkeshimana were killed in Nyamaboko in the District of Kanyosha;
On 4 January 2017, a dead body of a person identified as Donatien Ndereyimana was found at the edge of Lake Tanganyika;
On 5 January 2017, a teenager was shot dead and another wounded as police quarreled with farmers in Mahwa in the District of Ryansoro;
On 8 January 2017, a dead body of a 50 year-old Habonimana Cyrille aka Mujos was found in an abandoned house in Musaga, 1st street. Testimonies suggest he was tortured and several parts of his body amputated before his remains were dropped in an abandoned house.
While the UN says little and does nothing about this, they made a point of ordering Inner City Press to stop broadcasting on Periscope, with voice-over, a Town Hall meeting with new Secretary General Antonio Guterres, which was on the UN's public UN Webcast website. And the government supporters, saying Inner City Press entered the meeting (it didn't) and picking up on the anti-Press maze Cristina Gallach of Spain and DPI has created, piled on. The UN of Gallach has brought this on; this is how the UN is perceived and to this has it sunk.
There is also a strange announcement of a 500 Euros loan being arranged from a shadowy, seemingly dormant company “Biz Planners.” We'll have more on this.
When new UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres held his first Town Hall meeting on January 9, Inner City Press went in early to stake it out - that is, stand in front and speak to attendees -- as it has in previous years.
But this year, due to a retaliatory eviction by former Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's head of communications Cristina Gallach and Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric, Inner City Press could not pass through the turnstile on the UN's second floor. And there was no one in Gallach's Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit office. Inner City Press and its coverage were banned.
But the Town Hall was on the UN's own external UN Webcast website, so Inner City Press from in front of MALU then the focus booth it has been reduced to working out of broadcast the screen by Periscope, with voiceover.
Three hours later, holdover spokesman Dujarric insisted in the day's UN noon briefing that it was only on the UN's "internal" website, to which Inner City Press does not have access. Video of Q&A here. It's simple to check, but Dujarric didn't.
And to the belated stakeout in front of the meeting, and an explanation afterward.
And here now some dispatches from the Town Hall meeting. A UN staff representative from Nairobi -- where Ban Ki-moon promoted his own son in law Siddharth Chatterjee to the top UN job -- complained of corruption and a lack of accountability.
Guterres called the comments "tough" and pointed out that some say it is too hard in the UN to fire people for not working. It did not seem he meant Under Secretaries General like Cristina Gallach and Herve Ladsous, but rather lower level UN staff. He spoke about accountability. We'll see: those two particularly Gallach are litmus tests.
A staff member from the UN Department of Management said that some 455 electronic questions or comments had been received. A speaker from the UN in Beirut said the online link should remain open. We agree - and note that one should be set up for the impacted public. Already people are asking Inner City Press and the Free UN Coalition For Access how to reach Guterres, like bkm [at] un.org.
To a speaker from South Sudan, Guterres said that the country would be one of the topics at his lunch with members of the Security Council later in the day. (One wondered if Yemen and Burundi, even Western Sahara, will as well).
UN Spokesperson Dujarric, who answers at best 10% of Press questions, late on Sunday highlight praise by British actor Tom Hiddleston at the Golden Globes award of aid workers in South Sudan. Fine, but why didn't the UN protect them at Terrain in Juba?
As before, Dujarric seems to relish or benefit from absurd censorship threats hanging over the head of the Press. How long, in an ostenstibly new UN administration, will this be allowed?
Inner City Press asked Dujarric at the noon briefing because another UN official came into the focus booth to order it to stop -- which it did -- and sent this:
"Dear Matthew,
Please note that the SG townhall meeting is for UN staff and is not an open meeting.
Therefore, broadcasting it is a breach of the guidelines.
With kind regards,
Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit "
This is censorship: the meeting was on the UN's external website. Not a good start.
Please note that the SG townhall meeting is for UN staff and is not an open meeting.
Therefore, broadcasting it is a breach of the guidelines.
With kind regards,
Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit "
