After Benghazi Killings, US Proposed Criticizing Denigration of Religion, France Said No: Likes Denigrating

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

 

UNITED NATIONS, September 14, updated below -- Two days after the UN Security Council issued a press statement on the "Attacks against U.S. Diplomatic Personnel" in Libya, Inner City Press has learned of a telling back-and-forth in the Council prior to adoption of the statement.

   The US Mission to the UN proposed the initial draft, which included a phrase against the denigration of religion, Inner City Press has exclusively been informed, then France opposed inclusion of that phrase, arguing among other things that the French constitution is secular.

  While this action too will have its reaction -- three Council members paraphrased French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud that he likes and takes pride in the freedom to denigrate religion, and two called this outrageous -- the Council Press Statement was issued on September 12 without anything on denigration of religion.

   It is newsworthy, Council members emphasize to Inner City Press, both that this US Mission to the UN proposed the phrase criticizing denigration of religion, and that France -- where the Sarkozy-era spats about religious jewelry and even halal butchers are apparently not over -- opposed it.

   "There are other statements coming," a Security Council member told Inner City Press at 4 pm on Friday. Watch this site.

Update of 7 pm -- Council members tell Inner City Press there IS another press statement under the silence procedure.  Meanwhile the US had Vice President Biden call Sudanese Vice President Taha. President Omar al-Bashir, of course, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide. But that didn't stop Ban Ki-moon from greeting, if not meeting, Bashir. Priorities...

UN's D'Escoto Favors Banning Defamation of Religion, But Hasn't Seen the Resolution

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/pga1religion111108.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 11 -- On the eve of a UN conference about the "Culture of Peace," General Assembly President Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann was asked for his views on a pending, controversial and one thought well-known resolution targeted at the defamation of religion. First, Mr. d'Escoto admitted that he'd never heard of the resolution. Then, when nevertheless asked if he favored such a resolution despite freedom of expression concerns, he said "Defamation of religion should be banned." Video here, from Minute 35:52.

Thus, d'Escoto blithely waded into a major UN controversy, pitting free speech advocates against, in this case, the Organization of the Islamic Conference. D'Escoto said that Islam and "the religion of my country" -- Roman Catholicism -- should be respected and protected from defamation. Nicaragua at present has a near total ban on abortion, seemingly even in cases of rape. Would questioning that prohibition be a defamation of religion?

Inner City Press began d'Escoto's press conference by welcoming and thanking him, urging him to "speak freely." Of Inner City Press' three inter-related questions, only the first one was responded to, at great length. Video here, from Minute 0:48.

Questions about why the meeting with Ban Ki-moon to which d'Escoto invited member states had been closed to the press and public, and what member states had said, were left answered. So too a question about the role in the Culture of Peace conference of Ban's envoy Terje Roed Larsen. D'Escoto did let drop that he himself didn't come up with the idea, that it was first raised by Ban after he met with Saudi officials. Since Roed Larsen accepts Saudi funding and often does their bidding, his fingerprints are all over this one. But he does not disclose his finances, even those which are a conflict.

D'Escoto said that we are all morally bankrupt, and that there is a need to "bail out humanity." He said that being in New York when the financial crisis broke, he was surprised to hear greed being cited, since that is a moral concept.

D'Escoto praised Obama, and even more so a group of Cuban "heroes" who infiltrated Miami's anti-Castro groups and were imprisoned by the U.S. for their troubles. This last had not been asked for. A reporter had asked about the U.S. bombings in Pakistan and Syria; d'Escoto responded that "torture and jails, that will be on the tenth."

A recent and velvet-glove interview of d'Escoto that appears in The Nation magazine notes an ear condition he has. That perhaps explains some of the disjointed answers. But not knowing about a major controversial General Assembly resolution coming down the pike is striking. His spokesman works hard, but someone on his staff should have better prepared d'Escoto Brockmanm. We will have more on this.

News analysis: many reporters at the UN like d'Escoto as a good quote; some other for his politics. But if he is supposed to be the check and balance on Ban Ki-moon and the Secretariat, Tuesday's performance was troubling. All many fronts, things must improve at the UN.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/pga1religion111108.html