On Myanmar, UN "Amends" Ceasefire Error After Inner City Press Report, No Explanation, Banning Press

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 1 -- Even when the UN tries to fix or "amend" one of its errors, does it disclose it and explain what it changed? No.

On May 31 the UN News Center said, of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Myanmar, that "Ban welcomes ceasefire agreement in Kachin."

As Inner City Press wrote and published on May 31, there was a problem: no ceasefire has been agreed to. Inner City Press obtained and put online the actual agreement, here.

On June 1, without further explanation, UN News Center changed its statement, adding that "This article has been amended as of 1 June 2013."

Changed how? Why? The UN does not say. Compare June 1online version, here, to version Inner City Press saved on May 31, here. Screen shots shouldn't be necessary to avoid being deceived by the UN.

  UN News Center is run by the UN Department of Public Information, whose official Stephane Dujarric has, among other things, demanded explanations of a single on the record tweet by Inner City Press while doing nothing about others'. 

  Dujarric told Inner City Press how it should and should not cover and refer to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his chief of Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous. That was attempted censorship, particularly when done by the UN official in charge of UN Media Accreditation.

  It is amazing that a Department of Public Information which seeks to give such "lessons" in journalism would make a major change to an erroneous report -- there WAS no ceasefire agreement -- without disclosing what was changed and why.

  This same DPI and Dujarric are in the process ofeliminating media workspace and a media table in front of the UN Security Council for years. Inner City Press and the Free UN Coalition for Access have questioned and opposed the planned reduction in media access since they were shown the rules, on May 20.

  Before addressing FUNCA's track change comments, Dujarric replied that there will be no table. No one will say when the rules go into effect, or who beyond the old UN Correspondents Association Executive Committee agreed to them. 

  On May 31, DPI finally tried to justify the refusal to allow a table where it would fit by saying diplomats in the so-called Turkish Lounge would think the press was eavesdropping on them. Some respect for the media, and principles. We'll have more on this.

  There's more to report on Myanmar -- we'd prefer that to be the focus here, rather than having to spend time fighting to maintain was media workspace and access existed before Ban Ki-moon and this DPI -- including that there have been, Myanmar sources tell Inner City Press, no UN aid convoys to the refugee camps in areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization since February.

Ban's envoy Vijay Nambiar is supposed to be advocating for this but it appears he has done little about it, the sources say. Meanwhile humanitarian conditions in the camps in KIO controlled areas remain poor. It is now rainy season so water borne disease will definitely be more of a problem. 

 What a good job this UN does - reduce aid and media workspace to report on it, cover up mistakes. Watch this site.

As UN's Ban Ki-moon Welcomes Myanmar Ceasefire, Firing Continues, Don't Rely on UN News?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 21 -- The UN through Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised a Myanmar ceasefire that was never implemented. On January 21 Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman:

Inner City Press: a UN News Service piece yesterday, in which the Secretary-General, welcomed the ceasefire in Kachin State by Myanmar, it seems like there were reports that in fact fighting continues. Is that, I’m sorry, I see you’re looking puzzled, maybe I am asking it wrong --

Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: The simple… Well, finish your question.

Inner City Press: I understand a ceasefire could be announced and not fully implemented, but what does the UN say of reports that fighting and death continues? Is it as some say that the Government wants there to be a ceasefire and hasn’t reached its troops somehow, or is the UN troubled by the public announcement and the continuing fighting?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, a couple of things: I don’t think you need to look for a statement by the Secretary-General on the News Centre, a fine place though that maybe. The statement was issued last night and you should have received it. If you didn’t, let me know, and we will check to make sure that you do receive the statements in the future.

I would draw your attention to the first sentence of that statement, which says: The Secretary-General welcomed the announcement by the Government of Myanmar on Friday of a ceasefire in Kachin and has been following the various reports from the ground on its implementation. And then it does say: He calls upon both sides to make serious effort to create conditions for sustained peace in Kachin through enhanced confidence-building measures and political dialogue. So, also there is the question of access to civilian populations, and we continue to call for that.

Mr. Nambiar was, as you saw just last week, in the region, and indeed not just in Myanmar, but in Kachin. And he did put out a statement on his return that was quite detailed, I think.

   But the reality on the ground was quite different. As recounted to Inner City Press by an informed observer:

It's pretty clear that the government's ceasefire announcement was a public relations move aimed to please the international community and perhaps Ban Ki Moon himself  While the army has scaled down its attacks on Laja Yang, a key area less than 6 miles from Laiza (KIO capital) that had been the focus of a lot of fighting over the past three weeks, heavy fighting continued not very far away over the weekend and on Monday.

For the last 72 hours since the 'ceasefire' announcement the army continued to hit KIO position in other areas very close to Laiza, to the north and to the west.  The army has also continued to hit areas near Mai Ja Yang, the KIO's second largest town, where the UN teams delivered relief supplies to IDP camps from April until June when the government stopped them from doing this.

Why Ban Ki Moon's office chose to release a statement on Jan 20 heralding the ceasefire announcement when its pretty obvious there is no ceasefire raises a number of questions. 
It would be interesting to see what on earth Nambiar is doing about this whole thing.  As you know he did little if anything to bring about a peaceful solution in Sri Lanka and facilitated the dreadful white flag incident.  Nambiar's statement released last week following his trip to Burma was pretty bland and didn't mention him meeting with anybody other than government officials. The press release did say he met with the President's chief negotiator Aung Min, whom the KIO have repeatedly and very publicly said they that no longer trust.

  But the questions raised... will not be covered in UN News Service. Inner City Press is informed that they and UN Radio can only rely on the UN's own statements, facts on the ground be damned. We will seek answers, including for correspodents not physically present in the UN Headquarters, from Nambiar and beyond. Watch this site.