UN Debate Ends With Whimper, Kashmir to Nagorno-Karabakh, Circus Leaving

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 1 -- The week-long UN General Debate, which began with Barack Obama as second speaker Tuesday twice citing KFC but not once Sudan, Haiti or Congo, ended with a whimper and not a bang on Monday night.

  Monday in the morning Syria and Sri Lanka spoke of double standards. By the afternoon it was Palau talking of sharks, Portugal saying we are "impotent witnesses" to what Canada's John Baird called the "crimson tide" in Syria.

  In the UN Media Center, which had been standing room only during Obama's speech, a dozen scribes remained. But the UN couldn't wait to the end to throw them out. "After Venezuela we're shutting it down and calling security," Inner City Press was told. And so it closed, even as Dominica gave its speech.

Over in a photo booth above the GA Hall, Inner City Press watched the final 10 rights of reply play out. Pakistan's Deputy Permanent Representative said Jammu and Kashmir are not an integral part of India; the Indian political coordinator insisted that they were.

Azerbaijan's Permanent Representative said Armenia had abused its right to speak, and left the hall before the Armenian duo's second reply.

Eritrea downplayed its 2008 skirmish with Djibouti; Iran defended its right to peaceful nuclear use. In the end, new President of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremic of Serbia offered up a summary, smiling as he said how many spoke of territorial integrity. One thought of Kosovo, which does not have a seat. Nor does Somaliland, nor the apparently soon to be re-conquered Azawad in northern Mali.

Much of the week's action took place outside the UN, for example at the Waldorf Astoria where the Friends of Syria met on Friday. In the side hallways of the lobby, European and African diplomats talked in a hush about the M23 rebels, then went their separate ways. Deals were cut, then diplomats cut out. Only the bitterness remained, the backwash of conflicts, the rights of reply. But it will continue. Watch this site.

Canada Cites Principled End of Relations with Iran, Merges Other Embassies

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 1 -- When Canada's foreign minister John Baird delivered his country's annual UN General Debate speech Monday morning, the General Assembly Hall had many empty seats. 

  In the UN Media Center there were less than a dozen journalists, most of them paying no attention to Baird speaking on one of six screens projected in the front of the room.

  How far Canada has fallen, in the UN world, since its loud and unsuccessful run for a Security Council seat two years ago. It came in behind Germany and then Portugal, despite many arguing that the Council had and has too many European members.

   A number of diplomats from countries in the Arab and wider Muslim worlds said Canada's position on Palestine made their votes against Canada a "no-brainer," as one put it to Inner City Press.

   Baird on Monday focused on Syria, citing the"crimson tide of this bloody assault," then Iran, explaining that Canada broke off diplomatic relations "on principle." 

  But since Canada is closing embassies and/or merging them into UK embassies, some see principal - money - as well as ideology.

   Canada still says it is the seventh largest donor to the UN.Baird is not on Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's scheduled on October 1, and there was no read out of a meeting last week. Watch this site.

Pre-Coup Guinea Bissau Leader Blocked, Post-Coup Leader No UN Contacts?

By Matthew Russell Lee

 

UNITED NATIONS, September 29 -- The UN or two groups within it are are cross purposes on Guinea Bissua.

  As Inner City Press elicited from UN Under Secretary General Yuri Fedotov on September 27, his UN Office of Drugs and Crime will not work with or have contacts with the post-coup leaders including Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo.

    But on September 28, while the second speaker for the UN General Debates' afternoon 

session was listed as pre-coup president Raimundo Pereira, when his turn came he did not speak. He was blocked by the West African regional group ECOWAS, which recognizes the post-coup leaders, sources say, with the help of the US.

   As even the next day's debate on Saturday reached its end, Guinea Bissau had not spoken, There is only one more day: October 1.

  On whether UNODC works with the post-coup government, Fedotov told Inner City Press that it "obviously" does not even have any contacts with what he called the "military junta." Fedotov said:

 

"So far we keep our profile very low. We keep alive facilities we helped to install in Guinea Bissau, including transnational crime unit. Obviously as you understand we don't have any contacts with members of the military junta in Guinea Bissau. But we are keeping the modest assets we built, in close coordination with all UN programs and fund present there... That is an issue we are discussion with colleagues. I've had several meeting in New York. We'll continue to pursue matter and we'll see what could be done in this particular context."

 

One wonders, with Raimundo Pereira blocked, might post-coup leader Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo still somehow take Guinea Bissau's spot? Watch this site.

As China and Japan Duel at 11 pm on Islands, UN Makes Difficult to Cover

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 27 -- Past 11 pm on Thursday in the UN General Assembly, China and Japan traded speeches about the islands China calls Diaoju Dao. It was a major UN moment, but as is typical, the UN botched it, making it more difficult to cover.

  Yang Jiechi the foreign minister of China, a Permanent Five member of the Security Council, began his speech after 9 pm. In his penultimate paragraph he mentioned the islands. Then Inner City Press was told to leave the already near-empty UN Media Center.

  But the Japanese mission, too, was telling journalists that it would reply to China's statement. So why was the Media Center being closed?

Don't worry, Inner City Press was told, there is a live feed up on the third floor. To not keep workers later, Inner City Press agreed and followed, up a darkened ramp and past two cut-outs of Ban Ki-moon: one with a head and one without.

Viewed from a photo booth, the GA hall was nearly empty as Guinea and then Peru delivered their once a year speeches. Then came the rights to reply.

Iran went first, lambasting Bibi Netanyahu's earlier cartoon about nuclear bombs. Then Japan took the floor. Since they were in the front row, the speaker's face could not be seen, at least from the booth. It seemed clear, however, that it was not the country's Permanent Representative Nishida; it seemed from the voice to be Deputy Kodama.

Near the back row of the hall, China's Permanent Representative Li Baodong raised his country's flag, as the name plates are called at the UN. He went back to 1895, and Japan's loss in World War II.

When Japen re-took the floor, they said they wouldn't reply in detail. Why not? China got the last word, invoking 1.3 billion people, and history. Then it was over.

The workers in the UN breathed a sign of relief and headed down to the B1 level. Through the garage and out to the street, still blocked with cement blocks. "I Instagramed it," a staffer said, showing Inner City Press his photograph. It was a moment in time, perhaps a moment of history. But even this, the UN botched and made difficult to cover. And so it goes with this UN.

UN's Ban Ki-moon Has No Comment on Bahrain Jailing Zainab al-Khawaja

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 27 -- With all the talk at the UN General Assembly about the Arab Spring and freedom of expression, the UN's and others' failure to speak out again Bahrain jailing Zainab al-Khawaja for tearing up a photo of the King, even when asked, is noteworthy.

  On September 26, the day after US President Obama's speech about freedom of expression and after months of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon statements about the right to non-violent protest, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky:

Inner City Press: The daughter of a very prominent Bahrain activist — the daughter’s name is Zainab al-Khawaja — has been sentenced to two months in jail for tearing up the picture of a Bahraini royal, and I am wondering, does the Secretary-General or the Secretariat have any view of this arrest in terms of freedom of speech, or in terms of the right to oppose one's Government?

Spokesperson Nesirky: No specific comment on this specific case. If that changes, I will let you know.

  Twenty-one hours later, no statement had been issued.Nesirky went on to point backward:

Spokesperson Nesirky: But you will have seen that the Secretary-General met already with the Foreign Minister from Bahrain. And I would refer you to the readout that we gave on that.

But here was that readout:

The Secretary-General today met with H. E. Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister reviewed the situation in the region. They also discussed current developments in Bahrain, including the human rights situation. The Secretary-General welcomed the commitment made by His Majesty King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, to dialogue, good governance and genuine democracy and called on the Government to complete the implementations of the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review. He also emphasized that a genuine, all-inclusive dialogue that addresses the legitimate aspirations of all Bahraini communities is the best way to promote lasting peace, stability, justice and economic progress in Bahrain.

  And days after Ban "welcomed the commitment made by His Majesty King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, to dialogue, good governance and genuine democracy," a prominent democracy activist was sentences to prison for tearing up the King's photograph. Now Ban, and others, have "no specific comment on this specific case." So it goes at the UN.

At UN, Obama Twice Cites KFC, No Congo, Mali or Sudan, Nor UN Reform

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 25 -- Twice in US President Barack Obama's speech to the UN General Assembly he cited the destruction of restaurants, by fire and smashing.

  Among with these two apparent references to the attack on Kentucky Fried Chicken in Lebanon (KFC has since closed its stores in Pakistan), Obama delivered a 3900 word speech which did not mention Sudan, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or Haiti, or the need for UN reform.

  As Inner City Press noted yesterday, quoting a UN official that it was "insulting or depressing," Obama will not stay after his speech to give the toast at Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's luncheon for heads of state, which it's said American Presidents have gone since 1986.

  Obama will head crosstown to the Clinton Global Initiative -- a fifteen minute appearance he appeared to plug in his UN speech, saying he would talk about human trafficking later in the day -- and then to the airport and back to Washington. The campaign is calling. But what are the events?

  Obama drew applause, after saying he was Christian, by saying he supports the right to be harshly critical of him. In a portion of the speech that Ban Ki-moon, notably, has not echoed Obama defended freedom of speech. He chided Iranian leader(s), it seems clear, for Holocaust denial, and called for criticism of attacks on Shiite pilgrims and Sufi shrines.

  

 But what about mausoleums in Timbuktu? The words Sahel or Mali did not appear in Obama's speech. 

 Earlier, Ban Ki-moon had said that "the crisis in the Sahelis not getting sufficient attention." Ya don't say. But on September 19 when Ban Ki-moon held a pre-GA press conference, of the 10 questions chosen none were on Africa.

  

Africa is over 50% of the world of the Security Council and UN, but it featured little not only in Ban Ki-moon's press conference but also in Obama's speech. Syria is the big one: but what will these speeches accomplish? Watch this site.

In UNGA "Insult," Obama Slated to Leave NYC 10 Minutes Into UN Luncheon

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- Reflecting either President Barack Obama's lack of interest -- or of "respect," as one United Nations official put it to Inner City Press -- in the the UN, his schedule for September 25 does not include the annual "Luncheon hosted by the Secretary-General in honor of Heads of State and Government."

  The President of the U.S., as host country, traditionally attends and gives the toast at the S-G's lunch. 

   But according to Obama's schedule, after first paying tribute to Bill Clinton by speaking at his corporate Clinton Global Initiative gathering at the Sheraton at 12:10, Obama will "depart New York City en route to Washington DC" from JFK Airport at 1:25 -- ten minutes after Ban Ki-moon's lunch begins.

   Less than an hour later, Obama is slated to arrive at Joint Base Andrews. "That the lunch isn't listed on his schedule is insulting, or really, depressing," a high UN official exclusive told Inner City Press, asking not to be named given what he called the "inordinate power" of the US over the UN, and of "Obama over Ban Ki-moon."

  Last year, the ritual remarks by Ban and then Obama at the luncheon began at 1:54 pm and ended at 2:03 pm. By this year's schedule, Obama will be over DC by then.

  The UN's Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit's night-before Media Alert lists a Ban Ki-moon photo op with Obama at 10:50 am, before an 11:20 am photo with the Amir of Qatar, with at 1:15 pm in the General Assembly lobby the "luncheon hosted by the Secretary-General in honor of Heads of State and Government."

  Maybe the UN schedule is wrong; as Inner City Press has noted, it also lists a 3:30 pm press encounter by "Michael Spindelegger, Prime Minister of Australia" -- it's either Austria, or Julia Gillard. 

  But unless one of the two schedules is wrong, Bill Clinton and "The View" have definitely eclipsed the United Nations. "Insulting" or "depressing," as the UN official asked Inner City Press? You be the judge. 

  And also of Obama's speech. Earlier Monday at the UN,Inner City Press put the question of whether Obama will mention a ban on testing nuclear weapons to Tibor Toth, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

  Toth replied, "Personally I would wish a one liner... we will have to see." Video here, from Minute 22:15. At "The View" and not the annual UN lunch, apparently. Watch this site.

On Nuclear Test Ban, Toth Hopes for Obama One-Liner, "The View" of Egypt Non-Static

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- With President Barack Obama headed to "The View" television show before delivering a speech Tuesday morning in the UN General Assembly, Inner City Press on Monday put the question of whether Obama will mention a ban on testing nuclear weapons to Tibor Toth, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

  Toth replied, "Personally I would wish a one liner... we will have to see." He went out, in UN-ese, that it is "robust action" that is most important. Video here, from Minute 22:15

  But where? Inner City Press also asked Toth if there had in his view been any movement in the past year toward the US ratifying the CTBT. 

 Toth cited a National Academy of Science report on verifiability, saying it is an "important ingredient for the Senate to resume consideration of the Test Ban Treaty," a review he hopes will be "on the merits." Video here, from Minute 18:06.

   Inner City Press also asked him if events in the past year in Egypt made him think ratification there is any more likely. He answered obliquely, that regions -- he mixes Asia / Pacific with the Middle East -- should be viewed in a "non-static way." Ya don't say. Watch this site.

Low Syria Expectations as Brahimi & Westerwelle Spin & FSA Shifts HQ from Turkey

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- Even before Lakhdar Brahimi briefed the UN Security Council about his three weeks as envoy to Syria, expectation were low. A Council member told Inner City Press, "Don't expect any breakthroughs." 

  In fact, there's been resistance to how to mention Syria in a draft Presidential Statement that Germany, this month's Council president, hopes to have adopted at another ceremonial Council session on September 26.

  When Brahimi emerged to take six questions from the media, he mostly said, give me time, I'm only in the post six months. He quickly agreed that the Syrian National Council or the opposition more generally might be closer to unifying.

  But what impact would that have on the fighting on the ground which is mostly what is pointed to in speeches about Syria?

  Inner City Press, hand up at the stakeout, would have like to ask or have answered what Brahimi thinks of the Free Syrian Army moving its headquarters out of Turkey and into Syria. But this was not selected. The last question concerned Iran, by an Iranian journalist with an Egyptian newspaper.

  German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle emerged and took questions, including these two, paraphrased by a Friend on Inner City Press:

Q: You revived a six point plan that proved it was not implementable, is this not impotence?

Westerwelle: I am not spokesperson for [Mr.] Brahimi and I made this statement in my capacity as German foreign minister… I want to underscore this once again, this is his work and his responsibility and it was important in the briefing what we just had about this, I talked about the substance of six point plan and I would not give up the substance of the 6 point plan as long as we do not see a better alternative. I am frustrated like you are about the situation, but once again, what is the alternative? We have to help the people, support the people, we have to work with all we can and to do our utmost to finish the violence in Syria. But on the other hand it is also important to be wise, that we do not to run into a conflagration in the whole region. This is also something that concerns me, the effects and consequences on some neighboring countries and we all agree we have to avoid when we see this conflict in Syria set on fire one country after another.

Q: Kosovo style?

Westerwelle: I don’t have anything to add to what I just said about this. We have enough meetings, there are many meetings about this week and we have this subject and we will discuss this subject. We have another meting on Friday we had telephone conference last Friday and if you allow me to add one point I think it would be wise and necessary that the opposition unites itself and not only united against regime of Assad but united on a common democratic pluralistic platform because if we want to promote this process of erosion in the regime of Assad, it is necessary that the people who live in the country see that they have perspective in the country and includes pluralistic structures, this includes religious and ethnic tolerance. This inclusive approach, I advise.

 Good luck with that. Watch this site.

Amid UN Speeches on Rule of Law, Impunity on Haiti Cholera, No Content Neutral Rules

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- An irony of Monday's series of speeches at the UN on the "Rule of Law" is that the UN puts itself above the law, not only technically immune but resistant even to the faux justice system set up under Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

  In the big picture, the UN has refused to answer detailed allegations that its peacekeepers introduced cholera into Haiti, killing thousands. A legal claim filed with its MINUSTAH mission remains pending in New York before Ban's top lawyer Patricia O'Brien, who refuses to take questions from the Press.

  Even when the UN Dispute Tribunal rules against high UN officials, Ban immediately appeals; his spokesperson's office has repeatedly refused to answer Inner City Press questions about whether Under Secretary General Shaban Shaban ever paid the fine he was ordered to pay for mistreating a staff member.

  On September 21, the last "normal" UN day before today's high-security circus with speeches on not only the Rule of Law but also ironically Haiti and the UN Development Program, Inner City Press asked the chief of Ban's "Rule of Law" office Edric Selous if beyond preaching what countries should do, Ban acknowledged the need for more rule of law within the UN itself. Video here.

  Sure, he said generally. But what about the Haiti cholera claim? What about the UN Dispute Tribunal rulings? What about having the most basic, content-neutral rules? Maybe the speeches will address these. Maybe, but not likely. Watch this site.

As UNGA Starts, Ban Ki-moon's Selective Talk with Mali & Bahrain, Quiet Germany, Corporate CGI

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- Before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon headed crosstown Sunday to the General Assembly's doppelganger, the Clinton Global Initiative, his office issued five read-outs of five meetings that morning.

  Notably, while for four of the meetings the UN purported to summarize what both sides said, for the meeting with German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, there was only a single sentence, on what Ban raise: "The Secretary-General discussed the situations in Syria and Lebanon, as well as the Middle East peace process." 

   No Africa; no Iran. And no Guido.

  Each of the other four read-outs, including Mali and Bahrain as well as Kuwait and Estonia, summarized that "they" discussed. For Mali, which controls less than half its territory, the UN summarized:

"The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister [Cheick Modibo Diarra] exchanged views on the situation in northern Mali...[Ban] reassured him of the United Nations full support to Mali in its efforts to fully re-establish constitutional order and its territorial integrity."

  The last phrase seems to imply that UN automatically supports territorial integrity. Of course, it's variance from that principle that the new President of the General Assembly, Serbia's Vuk Jeremic, has complained for years. But does Ban's summary today mean he will say the same to Georgia? Will he raise the prison abuse scandal there?

  The read-out for Bahrain was lengthy, despite the decidedly different response to crackdown on protesters and bloggers in Bahrain and the rest of the region and world. The UN said Ban

"welcomed the commitment made by His Majesty King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, to dialogue, good governance and genuine democracy... He also emphasized that a genuine, all-inclusive dialogue that addresses the legitimate aspirations of all Bahraini communities is the best way to promote lasting peace, stability, justice and economic progress in Bahrain."

  The read-outs for Estonia and Kuwait were predictable: International Criminal Court and Iraq, respectively. There will be many such read-outs this month (click here for Inner City Press coverage and video of Ban's meetings with the United Arab Emirates and Arab League on September 21.) And a pro-corporate mood: over at the Clinton Global Initiative, Bill Clinton's opening statement veered from praising Suntech and Tom Golisano to Proctor & Gamble, even the Freeport mining firm. 

  Ban Ki-moon, who put the chairman of Bank of America tops his Sustainable Energy for All group, was there, set to rush back to the real (old?) UN to speed-meet with leaders of the Maldives, Malawi, Finland, Bulgaria, Ahmadinejad of Iran, Luis Federico Franco Gómez (and not Lugo) of Paraguay and Dimitris L. Avramopoulos, FM of Greece. We'll be there. Watch this site.