Amid UN's Somalia Scam, Envoy Kay Cites Puntland But Not Yet Jubaland, Press Intimidation

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 7 -- On the day the UN belatedly admitted, if only to a friendly scribe, to Inner City Press' exclusive June 22 report on the UN's role in sharing genetic information from Somalia with the US FBI, the UN answered the previous day's Press questions on Puntland and journalists' safety.

  But the UN has still not commented on Jubaland's Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe)'s critique of the government in Mogadishu, delivered at the Kismayo airport, or even disclosed which private military contractor it uses for armed guards.

On August 6, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Martin Nesirky:

Inner City Press: In Somalia, there’s been a pretty high-profile announcement by Puntland that they are severing all relations with the central or federal Government. They say that they violated the power sharing in the Constitution. So since there’s UNSOM [United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia] there, I’m wondering, do they have any response, or are they going to try to put things back on track? And there’s been two incidents with journalists, one being a journalist, Mascud Abdulahi Adan, was blocked in the Mogadishu airport from going to get surgery on a bullet in him, in Kenya, and given the [UNSC] debate and what the Secretary-General said, I’m wondering if the Mission or the Secretary-General was aware of that. And also, a journalist was attempted to be assassinated in Kismayo, Abdikhadar Iman Dhaqane. It seems like a lot of things are taking place there, and I’m wondering what the Mission and Mr. Nicholas Kay have to say about them.

Spokesperson Nesirky: I’ll check.

  And at 11:30 am the next day, half an hour before reading it out at the day's noon briefing, Nesirky's office e-mailed the following responses which we therefore publish in full:

Subject: your questions on Somalia
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 11:30 AM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

Concerning your question on Puntland, we have the following from UNSOM: “SRSG Kay is aware of reports that Puntland's leadership has unilaterally decided to sever ties with the Federal Government of Somalia over a number of concerns including interpretation of constitutional provisions and implementation of federal arrangements. He will use his good offices to continue dialogue with both the Federal Government and the political leadership of Puntland as they seek mutual understanding on these and other key issues."

Regarding the evacuation of the injured journalist who was shot in Kismayo, UNSOM as the following information: "The journalist was evacuated to Nairobi hospital for surgical treatment on Monday 5 August after the National Union of Journalists (NUSOJ) obtained clearance from the Ministry of Information for his travel. UNSOM will follow up with NUSOJ on the condition of the journalist and to better understand why a journalist working with a non-government owned radio station (Radio Dalsan) would need a letter from the Ministry for emergency medical evacuation."

On the attack on a journalist also in Kismayo: as with all similar cases, attacks against journalists are unacceptable and journalists should be able to carry out their work free of intimidation.

This last is a nice statement. While smaller, but inside the UN's own headquarters, consider this UN communication to Inner City Press, about merely hanging the sign on the door of its shared office of the Free UN Coalition for Access, which works on the defense of journalists, in Somaliland,Somalia, in the UN and elsewhere (On August 5, 6 and so far on August 7, the below have not responded to basic press access questions raised) --

Subject: signs on the door
From: Hua Jiang [at] un.org
Date: Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 3:52 PM
To: Inner City Press
Cc: Stephane Dujarric [at] un.org, Isabelle Broyer [at] un.org

Dear Matthew,

We have taken note that you have not until now remove the signs on your office door as per the United Nations Guidelines on Media Access, despite repeated requests communicated to you by emails and verbally by DPI officials.

We reserve the right to take actions according to the Guidelines which stipulate that those violate the rules may have their accreditation withdrawn or suspended.

Best

Hua Jiang
Chief, Press Service, UN DPI

  Of the two individuals cc-ed, the first received and even solicited, including to his private non-UN email address, stealth requests to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN from Louis Charbonneau of Reuters, Agence France Presse,Voice of America and others. 

  The second led a non-consensual raid of Inner City Press' office on March 18, 2013, took photos of the Press' desk and bookshelf and shared them beyond DPI (they later appeared in BuzzFeed, leaked by a “Concerned UN Reporter” account after BuzzFeed called Ban's spokesman for comment on the raid.)

We'll have more on this. Watch this site.

    

As UN Lurches Toward Banning Dissent, It Has Not Explained Its Double Standards, Its UN Censorship Alliance, UNCA

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 18 -- This UN is incompetent, petty and has no commitment to freedom of speech or association. Its Department of Public Information, which in 2012 worked with the UN Correspondents Association to try to silence or throw out the Press, started 2013 in a different way.

  Under a new chief of DPI, it met on January 17 and February 5 with the new Free UN Coalition for Access, on such issues as the due process rights of journalists and access to the Security Council. 

  The new chief expressed openness. His deputy Stephane Dujarric repeatedly expressed a preference for the old UNCA, even saying "it's in everyone's interest that there is one organization... it's not feasible for the UN to deal with three or four federations of journalists." 

  But as the talks continued, he found another way to try to bring this about. A meeting of UNCA and FUNCA was convened, as which UNCA's 2013 president Pamela Falk shouted that Inner City Press is not real journalism. She knew the meeting was on the record and said so; it was, and was written up.

  (At the same meeting, UNCA's first vice president Louis Charbonneau of Reuters refused to explain Reuters' documented support for the campaign to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN, audio here.)

  Then Dujarric issued a letter claiming that a never said "off the record" status was broken, and that FUNCA was not the right interlocutor. DPI negotiated a new set of rules with UNCA, trying to outlaw FUNCA fliers and even its sign, as well as banning press workspace from in front of the Security Council.

  Now -- no thanks to DPI -- some workspace on benches is set to be restored, after advocacy by FUNCA. But Dujarric's plot has borne fruit to this pathetic extent: he has Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit chief Isabelle Broyer pestering Inner City Press on June 14 and June 17 to take down a mere FUNCA sign on its door, by June 19. 

   It's been raised to the chief and he said "Okay, I'll talk to them on Monday," June 17. But the pestering and threats have continued, without explanation.

And so at the UN's June 18 noon briefing Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: This goes to the idea that there can be more than one organization advocating for media access in the UN and I have been told by [the Department of Public Information] that any sign mentioning the Free UN Coalition for Access has to come down, whereas an [United Nations Correspondents Association] sign can remain up. And it seems so inconsistent with the UN’s idea of kind of multi-party systems and freedom of speech... I haven't heard from the individual you usually refer me to [Stephane Dujarric] so I am asking you for a statement of how it is not just a violation of free speech and a sort of a favoritism.

Deputy Spokesperson Del Buey: I’ll have to check with [the Department of Public Information] on that, Matthew, I don’t have the information on that, okay.

Inner City Press: Wednesday seems to be the deadline for them to take it down.

   Despite this interchange, transcribed by the UN, and despite a reiterated request to at least three DPI officials including the chief, there has eight hours later been no response, no explanation. Now some explanation is promised.... on Wednesday. Watch this site.