At UN, Press Banned From Covering UN Security Council, Free UN Coalition for Access Fights, Scribes Cavort with Herve "The Censor" Ladsous

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 1 -- Press access at the UN has continued to decline under Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. 

  On October 1, with the General Debate over, Inner City Press went to cover the Security Council's bilateral meetings which begin the new month, presidency passing from the US to Argentina.

  But UN Security told Inner City Press it and any other media - none other tried - could not enter the second floor of the Conference Building without a "secondary pass" that the media cannot obtain.

  For the Free UN Coalition for Access, Inner City Press called the UN Media and Accreditation and Liaison Unit, which had the day before said the second floor would re-open. MALU came and told Inner City Press it could stay. But as soon as MALU left, UN Security ordered the Press to leave, just as US Ambassador Samantha Power approached the Security Council. No questions.

  This is the lack of press freedom and access in today's UN which FUNCA, UNlike others, is fighting.

  On September 27, Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous blocked Inner City Press' camera filming from the General Assembly media stakeout then got MALU to tell Inner City Press to stop filming.Video here. Scribes including Reuters followed Ladsous down the hall for a private briefing; Ladsous canceled his announced public Q&A stakeout about Mali.

 On both September 29 and 30, the Free UN Coalition for Access asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about Ladsous' censorship and issued and posted a flier, here. The old UN Correspondents Association did nothing - in fact, the head of UNCA and the Reuters bureau chief, himself a habitue of censorship by misusing copyright, here, were seen cavorting with Ladsous. This is not defense of press freedom - this is capitulation and collaboration in censorship.

   During the week of the General Debate, journalists weren't even able to go to the General Assembly stakeout without an escort from the UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit -- an escort that often did not come on time, or come at all.

  On September 25, the office of Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced there would be a question and answer stakeout at 3 pm. Inner City Press immediately ran there, but was banned from getting in. As the Free UN Coalition for Access, the problem was tweeted, and not only journalists but diplomats have been responding to it. But nothing from Dujarric or MALU.

  In fact Dujarric played a part in, at least defending, a French-only briefing in the UN Press Briefing Room.

On September 23, the entourage of French President Francois Hollande repeatedly but unsuccessfully ordered the UN accredited Press to leave the UN's Press Briefing Room.  Video here.

  On September 25 when the Free UN Coalition for Accessasked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who peaked out from the VIP / Green Room behind the Press Briefing Room, about the incident, he said sometimes countries try to reserve the Room.

   Asked if other countries had done so during this General Assembly, Dujarric said yes.

   Inner City Press then asked Dujarric which other countries, beyond his native France:

“based on your answer at today's noon briefing, please state which countries during this UNGA have used the UN Press Briefing Room for briefing not open to all UN correspondents, other than France at 11 am on September 23. Also, what was your role on September 23 around 11 am in the room behind the Press Briefing Room podium?”

 This has been Dujarric's response:

Subject: please state which countries..
From: Stephane Dujarric [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Sep 25, 2014 at 1:06 PM
To: Inner City Press
Cc: funca

I don't have the information on the first point for you. On the second, I'm not sure that I understand it except that I was just looking into the room. I tend to be a curious person.

Stephane Dujarric (Mr.)
Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations Headquarters

   FUNCA is left wondering: ARE there any other countries? The question has been asked again by FUNCA, elsewhere. And it has been on HuffPost Live, here. Watch this site.

Footnote: the old UN Correspondents Association, which is given privileged status and set-aside first questions nearly always used for softballs, has done nothing to improve or even defend press access. In fact, members of UNCA's Executive Committee have tried to get the investigative Press thrown out of the UN, and there have been no reforms since. It's become the UN's Censorship Alliance. They provide Ban Ki-moon with photo ops playing soccer with them. This is today's UN - andFUNCA is fighting to hold the UN to its stated principles.

   

At UN, Pillay Testifies Over Objection of Syria, Which Invokes Al Qaeda

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 13 -- When the General Assembly session on Syria began Monday morning, Syrian Permanent Representative Bashar Ja'afari made an objection or point of order, that the session was merely on the whim of the Qatari President of the GA, and not in accordance with GA rules.

He asked for an "independent" legal opinion from the UN, presumably from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's top lawyer Patricia O'Brien.

Not responding to the legal argument, the PGA asked the Syrian if he wanted to object under Rule 71 and have a vote. To some, it was akin to a judge responding to an objection by saying, shall we poll those in the courtroom? And so the meeting proceeded.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay recounted what her office has found. Afterward, Inner City Press asked Pillay what she made of Ja'afari's statements about Al Qaeda killings. She said that can be reviewed by Commission of Inquiry.

Ja'afari also asked why the PGA hadn't made any statements about Al Qaeda attacks. It is a strange situation, with the US, France and UK sharing with Al Qaeda at least the position that Assad should go. Then again, Syria's supporters in the morning session were Iran and North Korea.

Russian Permanent Representative Vitaly Churkin said that peacekeepers, as proposed Sunday by the Arab League, would require not only peace - not necessarily true if one considered the mission in Darfur, where there still is not peace -- and "the consent" of Syria. That seems unlikely.

France, represented by its political coordinator, spoke of Ban Ki-moon's links with the Arab League. But at the day's noon briefing, after Inner City Press asked about the Arab League nominating Al Khatib who clashed with some in the UN while Libya envoy, Ban's spokesman said it is up to the Security Council, he has no mandate.

On Friday Inner City Press obtained and published the draft GA resolution Syria. But now it must be tweaked, as some put it, after the Arab League. Will it go around tonight, for a vote tomorrow? The PGA is scheduled to leave on a trip on Wednesday. Watch this site.

At UN, Sweden's Hit & Run Human Rights Attack Lambasted by Cuba in UN General Assembly

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 29, 2010 -- As this UN General Debate reaches what some call its garbage time stage, when all the heads of state and attendant security are gone and the General Assembly Hall is largely empty, the deep fissures in the international community become apparent.

In a near empty GA on September 28, Sweden delivered a high minded speech, barely mentioning its own country but rather critiquing the human rights records of at least ten countries. The speech followed the more modest plea of Tuvalu, largely devoted to the right of Taiwan to participate in the UN's specialized agencies. A cynical called this Tuvalu “singing for its supper” -- saying what was necessary to keep Taiwanese aid following in, as Burkina Faso also did on Tuesday night.

At the end of the proceedings, new GA President and international man of mystery Joseph Deiss -- what are the outside business interests he mentioned but did not disclose? -- opened the floor for the right to reply. Most interventions were predictable.

Iran replied to the claims about three islands by the United Arab Emirates, a dispute between oil rich and well armed states which never seems to end.

Ethiopia issued a litany of complaint, including on behalf of Djibouti, against Eritrea, which in turn responded that the so called international community never enforced the boundary judgment it won.

Then Cuba, moving beyond the parochial, lambasted Sweden's “arrogant” attack on eight states in the Global South (somehow Cuba missed two). Most compellingly, at least to Inner City Press, Cuba said that the Sweden speaker had been asked to stay and hear Cuba's response, but chose not to. Even at the UN this passes for bad form.

UN Television panned over to the Swedish set of seat, in which two young staffers sat, looking outgunned. Neither of them chose to surreply. One imagined the Swedish speaker out to dinner, having gravlax and thinking big thoughts. But at the UN you have to engage. Score one for Cuba, on these grounds alone. Watch this site.

UN Debate Ends with Eritrea vs. Djibouti, N. Korea Abductees Absent, Solar Cattle Prod

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un64ga4m092909.html

UNITED NATIONS, September 29 -- The UN's General Debate ended with a whimper on Tuesday afternoon, with a final speech by the Observer of the Holy See, then two rounds of bickering by Eritrea and Djibouti. The former, speaking in English, accused the major powers of seeking to dominate regions by manufacturing crises and then "managing" them through the Security Council.

It has previously noted that Djibouti has military bases of both the U.S. and France, being used to train the army of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, whom the Al Shabaab insurgent and others call illegitimate invaders.

Djibouti replied that Eritrea, in its short existence, has started wars with Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia and now Djibouti. It characterized Eritrea as being full of "defiance and denial." There was a further round of back and forth, leading to some frowning by President of the General Assembly Ali Treki, who was waiting to give his wrap up speech.

Inner City Press has previously covered Saturday night's fights between Iran and the UAE, and Serbia and Albania. Surprisingly, the perennial issue of Japanese abductees in North Korea didn't give rise to a right of reply back and forth as in previous years. At Tuesday morning's press conference, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:

Inner City Press: Japan had raised to you the issue of the abductees, but then in the readout of your meeting with the DPRK, it didn’t seem that the issue came up. Could you explain if that is the case?

S-G Ban: This abductee issue of Japan has been a long pending issue. I have made my points clear on many occasions, that this should also be resolved within a bilateral context. We said yesterday that the relationship with Japan, which is one of the important participants of the six-party talks, as well as one of the important regional countries, it would be desirable to engage in bilateral talks to improve their bilateral relations.

Inner City Press also asked Mr. Ban about Sri Lanka, but that's another story. Watch this site.

Footnote / analysis: in the absence of world leadership, this General Debate was a playground for crackpots and dictators who crush their opponents while giving speeches about climate change. The item of the Debate, as Inner City Press has coined it, might be a solar powered cattle prod.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un64ga4m092909.html

At UN, North Korea Brags, Kouchner Baffled by Burma, Zelaya by BlackBerry

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un64ga3m092809.html

UNITED NATIONS, September 28 -- The UN's General Debate grew even more surreal on Monday. North Korea said its people are happy and have nothing to envy. The ousted president of Honduras Mel Zelaya spoke to the General Assembly through his foreign minister's BlackBerry, pushed up against the microphone.

Meanwhile, the representative of the coup leader of Guinea spoke unmolested, even as more than 70 protesters of the coup were shot dead in Conakry. Few commented on this, even as a throng of Guinean shouted outside the UN that the dictatorship should not be allowed to speak. When all you have is bauxite, oppression draws little notice.

Myanmar, on the other hand, now has natural gas. This explains the sudden ease of pressure, Hillary Clinton's announcement that the U.S. will "engage" with the junta. Inner City Press is told that at the beginning of last week's meeting of the Group of Friends on Myanmar, France's Bernard Kouchner said, we don't know what to do. Apparently the view of the oil company Total now rule.

About North Korea, the head of the UN's Department of Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe, pursued into the hallway after his briefing by reporters for Japanese media as well as Inner City Press, acknowledged that while Japan had raised to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the issue of the abductees in North Korea, Ban never raised it to North Korea when he met them.

Meanwhile Angola spoke of its basketball team's wins, Timor-Leste spoke pro-Cuba. Namibia spoke pro Western Sahara, as Hugo Chavez has, while Guinea's junta favored Morocco. And Malaysia denounced those who in the run up to the Copenhagen climate change meeting are seeking to "Steal the Deal." On September 29, seemingly the ending day of the Debate, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with speak and, one assumes, take questions for half an hour. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un64ga3m092809.html