US Praises Sri Lanka "Anti-Terrorism" Work as Nisha Biswal Meets Some in Tamil Diaspora Then Ambassador

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 30 -- In the US State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 submitted to the US Congress today, the section on Sri Lanka makes no mention of the war crimes and human rights issues others in the State Department say are so important. 

   Instead, the report praises Sri Lanka programs with Australia, Canada and the European Union, as well as with US Homeland Security:

"in 2013 the Sri Lankan government was a proactive partner with the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense, and Energy on securing its maritime border. The U.S. Coast Guard, under the Department of State’s Export Control and Related Border Security program, continued to train Sri Lankan Coast Guard and Navy personnel on border and export control matters, and the government of Sri Lanka continued to cooperate with U.S. Customs and Border Protection through the Container Security Initiative.

"Border security remained a significant issue for the Sri Lankan Government in 2013. In 2013, the U.S. State Department trained 25 Sri Lankan immigration officials on fraudulent document recognition, while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) trained 40 immigration officers in techniques to improve border surveillance and combat human trafficking. IOM also continued to work with the Australian government to provide specialized training to Sri Lankan immigration personnel on profiling, identification of violators, and arrests and prosecutions, among other border control-related training.

"Beginning in late 2012, the Sri Lankan government began partnering with the Canadian Counterterrorism Program on two border security related projects: the Interpol Database system, used to store and share profiling information in real time, and the Lost and Stolen Passport program, which addresses the large-scale border control issues the Sri Lankan government faces.

"Also in 2013, the Sri Lankan government collaborated with the EU Immigration Department on the Advanced Passenger Information system, which transmits passenger information to Government of Sri Lanka immigration officials upon arrival."

  The report comes a day after Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal attended a reception in honor of Sri Lankan Ambassador to the U.S. Jaliya Wickramasuriya -- and met before that, behind closed doors, with Tamil Diaspora groups.

  The US anti-terror report does not mention for example the increase in rapes of Tamils in Sri Lanka, on which Inner City Press has been asking at the UN, story here.

  In Washington amid talk of accountability in Syria, on January 28 lobbyists for Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa government were making a pitch on Capitol Hill, in advance of the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva.

  Registered foreign agents Thompson Advisory Group has invited members of Congress and staffers to hear President Mahinda Rajapaska's chief of staff or Permanent Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal at an hour and a half lunch in the Members' Dining Room on January 28.

  Former Congressman from Oklahoma Ernest Istook will be helping them make the (impunity) pitch, along with anothergovernment video, "Sri Lanka: Rebuilding and Reconciling," narrated by a former CNN anchor, Gene Randall. Inner City Press obtained (or intercepted) the pitch and is putting it online here.

  At the US State Department's briefing on January 27, spokesperson Jen Psaki asked about the visit, and said she'd venture to send something around after the briefing:

MS. PSAKI: You had one on Sri Lanka?

QUESTION: I do, yeah. Apparently, there’s a delegation in town today, and they’re – one of the things I believe they’re talking about is a potential U.S. plan to sponsor a resolution in the UN Human Rights Council this March. I believe it has something to do with concerns about calls for an international inquiry into allegations of war crimes during their civil war. And so I’m wondering if the U.S. is planning some kind of resolution, and if the U.S. does support an inquiry for war crimes.

MS. PSAKI: I believe – I know I’ve seen that report. Let me see if I have anything on that in particular. And if not, I’m happy to get you all something on where we stand after the briefing....Unfortunately, I don’t have anything new on that here, but let us venture to send something all around to all of you.

  Inner City Press asked; a polite interim response was received. But as of 7 pm on January 27, no real answer. This comes after US Ambassador on international justice Charles Rapp visited Sri Lanka and faced government organized protests.

  At the UN, now-gone US Ambassador for reform and management Joe Torsella worked behind the scenes on the outrage of Sri Lankan military figure Shavendra Silva being accept by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous as an advisory on peacekeeping operations. Torsella is now gone, his replacement not yet in place.

  Inner City Press has submitted to the State Department aFreedom of Information Act request about the Administration's Atrocities Prevention Board -- expedited processing was denied, but responses and disclosures should be coming, surely, some day. Watch this site.

   

A Tale of Two Ambassadors: From A to Z, French PR Gerard Araud & Jordan's Prince Zeid Leaving UN Security Council, "Not a Place for Real Negotiation," Araud Said

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 30 -- Two Permanent Representatives are set to leave the UN Security Council and UN at the end of June or July: France's Gerard Araud and Jordan Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid. They are a study in contrasts.

  Zeid at this week's Sexual Violence in Conflict debate asked an honest, self-deprecatory question: are UN ambassadors hypocrites to call for accountability for rape in some places while failing to hold to account the "peacekeepers" they send out into the world?

  Meanwhile Araud insists that everything that he and France do is beyond reproach, even opposing a human rights monitoring mechanism for Western Sahara, or hypocritically going forward with Mistral warship sales to Russia even as Araud speechifies against Russia's action in Crimea and Ukraine.

  Another difference: Zeid has always answered questions, on camera and on the steps as he leaves the Security Council. Araud, meanwhile, refused to answer the Press question on Mistrals, and in mid April while allowing a single critical question during his press conference told the critical questioner, "You are not a journalist, you are an agent." Video here.

  (The Free UN Coalition for Access has asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric to convey to the French Mission the stated UN position that correspondent should be treated with respect; he has yet to do so. Even as Araud leaves, the issue as precedent must and will be pursued.)

  Zeid has specialized in the issue of sexual abuse by peacekeepers and has persistently pushed forward on the issue. Likewise, when a controversial Sri Lankan military figure Shavendra Silva was put onto the UN's Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations, Zaid spoke out. What did France or Araud do or even say?

  Perhaps because Araud is leaving, to be replaced by Jacques Audibert, he is now letting it all hang out. He recently said, "The UN has never been a place for 'real' negotiation. It legitimizes or implements agreements reached elsewhere." Where does this leave the countries who run to serve on the Security Council?

  Jordan filled in for Saudi Arabia when they refused the 2014-15 Security Council seat they ran for without opposition, and Zeid boned up and filled in admirably. (His replacement is rumored to be Bishr al-Khasawneh.)

  While some scribes, ignoring Araud's open attack on their ostensible colleague, fawn around Araud, ultimately which of these two served the UN, human rights and accountability better, even without a Mistral behind him? Watch this site.

   

On Ukraine, Russia Cites Right Sector, US Cites Baseball Bats, Trilateral Echo

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 29 -- Ukraine was the UN Security Council's topic late on April 29, after an already full day of speeches on another less than successful mediation, Israel and Palestine.

   US Ambassador Samantha Power cited "pro-Russian thugs with baseball bats."

  Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin countered that after the April 17 deal in Geneva, the Right Sector headed to East Ukraine and has not disarmed. He asked, why should the separatists? 

  Churkin said the Vienna Document monitors taken captive had no proof of their status with them and called this a provocation. One expected a reply, perhaps from France's snarky outgoing Ambassador Araud -- but no.

  In Washington there is a controversy: when Secretary of State John Kerry told the Trilateral Commission about intelligence showing Russian involvement with the separatists, did he mean US eavesdropping or, as spokesperson Jen Psaki specified on April 29, Ukrainian intelligence?

  (That is, did the US "obtain" the tapes just as the tape of Kerry at the Trilateral, including the use of the word apartheid and Israel, was said to be obtained? The Free UN Coalition for Access supports and salutes that ongoing reporting.)

  When Ukraine's long time Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev spoke, he referred to Russian military vehicles up against his country's border, with signs in Russian and Ukrainian saying "Peacekeepers" - like in the Caucuses in 2008, he said.

  But when the meeting ended, he did not come to the UNTV stakeout as he used to do. Nor did Churkin, or Power. Tomorrow, Syria is the topic. This is how the UN works, or doesn't.

 And when the meeting was over one wag, not this one, asked who plays baseball in Ukraine? What are bats doing there?

  Back on April 28 when the US announced new sanctions on Russia, senior Obama administration officials or "SAOs" were asked about the stock price of Russian banks actually going up since they were not on the list, and if the US has given up on Crimea.

   On Crimea, one SAO cited the UN General Assembly's overwhelming condemnation. But as Inner City Press reported the day of that vote, there were 58 abstentions.

   The US officials were directly asked about France's still-proposed sale of Mistral warships to Russia, on which Inner City Press asked US State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf on March 14. On April 28, one SAO said this issues wasn't in their bailiwick; a second SAO the Europeans are looking into this.

   At the UN, outgoing French Ambassador Gerard Araud has refused to answer Press questions about the Mistral. In France, foreign minister Laurent Fabius has said it would only be reconsidered if other European countries committed to similar losses for themselves, which seems unlikely.

   A questioner calling in from Moscow asked the US officials about the captive "OSCE observers." Since even one of the SAO had called them "Vienna Document observers," one waited to see it would be specified to clarify the record. But now. The SAO who cited "Vienna Document" observers said their mistreatment makes sectoral sanctions more likely. Well, four of the seven ARE German...

   This returns to the question of Russian bank stocks. Sanctions on the financial and energy sector are described as the US' ace in the hole. When would it be played? Would it? Watch this site.

Back on March 14, Inner City Press asked US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf on March 14 about France's Mistral deal, about a pending UN Security Council resolution and an analogy raised earlier in the day by Russian foreign minister Lavrov: the French-run referendum that split Mayotte off from the Comoros.

  On the Mistral sale, Harf replied that ""Decisions about these kind of sales are obviously a matter for each sovereign state... We would hope that any country would exercise judgment and restraint when it comes to transferring military equipment that could exacerbate tensions in any conflict region.. That certainly applies here." Video here, from Minute 18:34.

  Hart said she would check if the US has discussed the Mistral sale with France.

   From the State Department transcript:

Inner City Press: on Ukraine, one question that’s come up is, in terms of sanctions is France has this big deal where it’s selling Mistral warships to Russia, and it’s said that it’s going forward. What does the United States think of that sale of military hardware?

MS. HARF: Well, decisions about these kind of sales are obviously a matter for each sovereign state to take into account including a host of factors – obviously, international law, regional stability. We would hope that any country would exercise judgment and restraint when it comes to transferring military equipment that could exacerbate tensions in any conflict region. In general, I think that certainly applies here.

 
  French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, who like his Permanent Representative to the UN Gerard Araud has declined comment on the Mistral sale, has said he may travel to Russia on March 18.

On the Mayotte analogy, Harf said "In general, it's very clear under Ukraine's constitution how this legally could take place... a countrywide referendum. She said of "any comparisons, they just don't have relevancy here."

  Inner City Press also asked Harf about South Sudan: Riek Machar's rejection of the proposed deployments of regional forces by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development,and of the Salva Kiir government's information minister saying that broadcasting interviews with rebels in South Sudan would be illegal. 

  Harf noted that she had begun the briefing with a statement condemning crackdowns on the press in Russia, and that would apply here. But would it? Watch this site.

   

On South Sudan, UN's Ban Ki-moon Urges Salva Kiir to Tell People to Like the UN -- But Where Are Ladsous' Reports on Ghana Arms and Cluster Bombs?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 29 -- After back to back mass killings in Bentiu and Bor in South Sudan, on April 29 the UN said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke with Salva Kiir and urged him to "intervene personally to stop the negative campaign against UNMISS staff and issue a public statement to this end."

    But, some ask, where is the UN's report into its transportation by land of weapons to Bentiu, assertedly for 450 Ghanaian troops only 44 of whom were there even by April 24, without explanation? Where is the UN's report into the use of cluster bombs?

   With UN Peacekeeping being far from transparent under Herve Ladsous, who has repeatedly refused to answer basic questions about South Sudan and other topics, is the UN in the position to urge a head of state to issue a statement telling people to like it?  Here is the UN's read-out:

The Secretary-General called for an immediate halt to the vicious fighting and the appalling killing of South Sudanese civilians. He stressed the need to ensure that the perpetrators of the completely unacceptable attack on the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound in Bor and the ethnically motivated killings in Bentiu are swiftly brought to justice. He welcomed the pardoning of detainees and hoped that this would have a positive impact on the peace talks led by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). He urged the President to intervene personally to stop the negative campaign against UNMISS staff and issue a public statement to this end.

The Secretary-General called for an immediate halt to the vicious fighting and the appalling killing of South Sudanese civilians. He stressed the need to ensure that the perpetrators of the completely unacceptable attack on the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound in Bor and the ethnically motivated killings in Bentiu are swiftly brought to justice. He welcomed the pardoning of detainees and hoped that this would have a positive impact on the peace talks led by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). He urged the President to intervene personally to stop the negative campaign against UNMISS staff and issue a public statement to this end.

   Back on April 26, US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Salva Kiir. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki gave this read-out: 

Secretary Kerry spoke today with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir to express grave concern about the ongoing conflict in South Sudan, including recent violence in Bentiu and Bor and the deliberate targeting of civilians by armed groups on both sides of the conflict. Secretary Kerry welcomed the Government of South Sudan’s decision to release the four senior political officials who had been in detention since December. He urged President Kiir to stop military offensives and to adhere to the Cessation of Hostilities agreement, and noted U.S. demands that anti-government forces do the same. Both Secretary Kerry and President Kiir expressed their support for the IGAD-led peace process. Secretary Kerry noted the important role played by the UN Mission in South Sudan, denounced recent attacks on UNMISS bases and personnel, and encouraged President Kiir to ensure full and unfettered access throughout South Sudan for UNMISS, the African Union Commission of Inquiry, and the IGAD Monitoring and Verification Mechanism.

   On April 24, Kerry said he would travel to the country, as stated at an event with Norway's foreign minister:

FOREIGN MINISTER BRENDE: Also, our work in South Sudan is now in the top of our agenda and the troika work there. The UN Security Council will hopefully make clear statements on this, because it’s unacceptable what we’re seeing of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding. So thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well said. I forgot – I’ll be there next week, as a matter of fact.

FOREIGN MINISTER BRENDE: Me too. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY KERRY: So we’ll talk about it. (Laughter.) See?

  Kerry's statement came after US President Barack Obama threatened sanctions against not only former vice president and now opposition leader Riek Machar's forces but also those of president Salva Kiir. 

  The question arose: would Kerry meet not only Kiir but also Machar while in Juba? US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki on April 24 said there could be more details about Kerry's Africa trip in the next 24 to 48 hours. After Kerry's statement beside Norway's Foreign Minister Borge Brende, that timetable became 24 hours.

  Inner City Press suggested that Kerry might also want to visit Burundi, where a leaked April 3 cable about the government arming a youth wing, published by Inner City Press on April 10, now appears in the process of being hushed-up in the UN, click here for that.

 But on April 25, the State Department put out an itinerary listing only Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. What does this mean?

Secretary Kerry Travels to Addis Ababa, Kinshasa and Luanda

Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Luanda, Angola, on April 29-May 5 to encourage democratic development, promote respect for human rights, advance peace and security, engage with civil society and young African leaders who will shape the continent’s future, and promote trade, investment and development partnerships in Africa.

The Secretary’s trip will also highlight U.S. investments in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

In Addis Ababa, Secretary Kerry will co-convene the Fourth Session of the U.S.-AU High-Level Dialogue and discuss a range of issues on which we partner with the African Union (AU). Secretary Kerry will meet with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom to discuss efforts to advance peace and democracy in the region, and strengthen important areas of bilateral cooperation with Ethiopia.

In Kinshasa, Secretary Kerry will meet with President Joseph Kabila and will discuss how the DRC government’s progress in neutralizing some of the dozens of dangerous armed groups that victimize the Congolese people can be consolidated and how to best advance the DRC’s democratization and long-term stability, including through a timely and transparent electoral process.

In Luanda, Secretary Kerry will commend President José Eduardo dos Santos for Angola’s leadership of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and encourage the President’s continued personal engagement in the Great Lakes peace process. The Secretary will also discuss bilateral policy and trade issues with Foreign Minister Chikoti.

Secretary Kerry will also be accompanied by Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Special Envoy for the Great Lakes and the Democratic Republic of the Congo Russell Feingold, Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Donald Booth, and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issue Catherine Russell.

   Donald Booth going on the trip might indicate an unscheduled stop in Juba -- or just, talks in Addis.

 At the April 25 State Department briefing, spokesperson Jen Psaki said, "trips are always subject to change, as you all know who have traveled with us.  But I don’t have any other stops to announce today."

   As to South Sudan, in the wake of the April 15-16 mass killing in Bentiu,UN official Mary Cummins said "we need the Ghanaian contingent to come soon."

  This was troubling and strange, since it was ostensibly to ship weapons to the Ghanaians that the UN moved trucks of weapons by road to Bentiu. Weapons without soldiers?

  So Inner City Press asked at the April 22 UN noon briefing and was promised an answer that never arrived. At the UN Security Council stakeout on April 23, Inner City Press put the question to UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous who refuses Press questions. Even at the April 24 noon briefing, when Inner City Press asked for a third time, there was no answer. Now this belated response:

Subject: Your question on South Sudan.
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 4:51 PM
To: Matthew Russell Lee [at] innercitypress.com

The Department of Peacekeeping Operations says that, as of now, 44 members of the Ghanaian Battalion are in Bentiu.

  But that doesn't answer about the Ghanaian Battalion's (non) presence during the April 15-16 killings. And shipping containers of weapons for a mere 44 members? Compare this to the 350 troops from Ghana's continent in Cote d'Ivoire that the UN told Inner City Press about in January, here. We hope to have more on this.

    The UN Security Council belatedly met about Bentiu on April 24. Afterward UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations chief Herve Ladsous came out and took three questions, curtly.

  The UN itself says that the Ghanaian battalion -- the shipment of whose weapons by land to Bentiu triggered an objection by South Sudan's government and a report by Ladsous' DPKO that has yet to be publicly released -- was not in Bentiu to even try to stop the April 15-16 killings.

   Inner City Press put this question to Ladsous both on and off UNTV's camera, but he refused to answer it. Video here and embedded below. Criticisms of his DPKO are spreading, but Ladsous refuses to answer them.

  Back on April 22 Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about the Ghanaian contingent:

Inner City Press: on South Sudan, I saw that Mary Cummins, who is the acting Coordinator for Unity State, really sounded the alarm that they need more forces there. And she said, “we need the Ghanaian battalion to arrive soon”. I thought that was the battalion whose weapons that were found in the boxes--

Spokesman Dujarric: Let me find out.

  But more than 24 hours later Dujarric, or ultimately Ladsous' DPKO, had not provided any answer. So Inner City Press put the question to Ladsous at the stakeout. Ladsous refused to answer it, pointedly calling first onReuters, then Voice of America, then on state-owned France 24. 

  Then Ladsous lumbered from the stakeout microphone and up the stairs, with a retinue of DPKO staff, many of whom worked under Alain Le Roy and even Jean-Marie Guehenno but now enable this decay within UN Peacekeeping.

  From inside the closed consultation, the French mission's spokesperson tweeted that a film was being screened of Bentiu. This was confirmed to Inner City Press by an actual ambassador in the meeting; at the stakeout afterward Inner City Press asked Security Council president Joy Ogwu of Nigeria if the film was only about Bentiu and not Bor and she said Yes, only about Bentiu.

  The April 15-16 killings in Bentiu have been attributed to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in Opposition led by former vice president Riek Machar, who has denied that his forces killed civilians. Likewise, the April 18 murders inside the UN peacekeeping camp in Bor have been attributed to supporters from the Dinka tribe of president Salva Kiir, and statements by his information minister bear this out.

  The UN has alleged that in Bentiu the victims were targeted based not only on tribe but nationality. One response was that Darfur rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement who were fighting along with Kiir's government forces were killed, but not civilians.

  In this environment, for UN Peacekeeping to be run by an official who can't even answer basic questions is a major problem. Watch this site.

   

On US Loose Nukes, South Korea PR Oh Joon Cites Resolution 1540, Fellow UNSC Member Chad Hasn't Reported

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 29 -- When South Korea takes over presidency of the UN Security Council in May, it will hold only one open debate: on the 10th anniversary of Resolution 1540 on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

   South Korean Permanent Representative Oh Joon and Terence Taylor of the 1540 Committee Group of Experts took questions on the topic on April 29 at South Korea's Mission to the UN on 45th Street.

  Taylor began by saying that 22 countries have not filed any reports on compliance with the resolution, including not only the Democratic People's Republic of Korea but also Chad.

  Since Chad is a member of the Security Council, Inner City Press asked if Oh Joon or Terence Taylor had spoken with them. Inner City Press also asked, as it did the CTBTO's Zerbo on April 28, about 60 Minutes' report on negligence in the US' nuclear weapons program, including rotting missiles, old eight-inch floppy disks and nuclear weapons loaded on a plane and left on a tarmac for 36 hours.

   On Chad, Terrance Taylor said it was a problem of resources, citing conflict inside the country. (He did not mention the Central African Republic.)

  On 60 Minutes, Oh Joon gave a long answer about the UN's counter-terrorism architecture and post 9/11 focus on non-proliferation to non-state actors.

   The moderator, Pamela Falk who as president of the UN Correspondents Association tried to brand the briefing like a NASCAR racer's suit, said since 60 Minutes is CBS as she is, she'd give a link. But why didn't she ask about it? Too busy praising this one nation. Would others get this solicitude? No.

  But the South Korean mission, to their credit, replied to Inner City Press for the Free UN Coalition for Access andmade clear that non-UNCA members could attend; only then did UNCA post a flyer to that effect on the glassed-in bulletin board outside the clubhouse the UN gives them. This is not the way to do it: the UN should be opening up, and not favoring censors.

   Back on April 28, when Lassina Zerbo of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization gave a press conference at the UN on April 28, he said he had just been in Ecuador reaching an agreement for a CTBTO monitoring station on the Galapagos Islands.

  Inner City Press asked Zerbo to say more about theCTBTO press release's statement that this monitoring "can also contribute to research of the atmosphere, storm systems and climate change." Zerbo cited volcanoes and "hydro-acoustic" monitoring.

  Afterward, the CTBTO sent Inner City Press and the Free UN Coalition for Access more information about climate change, including this same hydro-acoustic monitor of calving of icebergs.

  Inner City Press also asked Zerbo about a report by CBS' "60 Minutes" the night before, showing decaying US missiles and specifying how nuclear weapons were loaded on a plane by mistake and left on a tarmac, unguarded, for 36 hours.

  Zerbo to his credit didn't dodge the question, instead saying that beyond stopping proliferation there should be efforts to protect nuclear material from the possibility of proliferation. Presumably that means nukes shouldn't be left on the tarmac.

  Strangely, while the first question was automatically given by Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq to Pamela Falk of CBS, she did not ask about the nuclear report critical of the US by CBS' 60 Minutes. Instead she asked, as she had at noon, about North Korea, on the eve of a press event which she had tried to limit only to members of the UN Correspondents Association, and only those that she personally approved. 

  The Free UN Coalition for Access successfully pushed back at that, particularly because some UNCA Executive Board members have been involved in censorship, and will continue to. And it will continue to put questions to the CTBTO. Watch this site.

   

At UN, Russia Cites Kyiv Junta, Ukraine Pushes Back, Of Language Exclusions and P3 TV: FUNCA

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 29 -- After disputes about spying and the UN's failure to translate or treat languages fairly, the speeches in the Committee on Information ended on April 29 with replies by Ukraine and Russia.

  Ukraine's youthful spokesman criticized Russia for having referred to the Kyiv junta, saying that all countries except Russia recognize it. (He did not state the basis for this, after for example 58 abstentions in the UN General Assembly on the resolution against the referendum in Crimea.)

   Russia's spokesman kept his reply light and briefing, noting that he'd spoken of multi-ligualism in the morning, and now his Ukrainian colleague had learned Russian. Further speeches seemed sure to follow later on April 29 in the Security Council.

  On the topic of language inequality, Inner City Press and the Free UN Coalition for Access at the April 29 noon briefing asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric why the UN's in-house EZTV has two French channels, France 24 and TV 5 Monde, CNN and Fox News from the US, Al Jazeera and BBC, but no channel in Chinese or Russian.

  Cost, Dujarric replied. But who votes on or oversees these budgets? When Inner City Press asked about (Western) "P3 TV," Dujarric said, That's not a question. No, it is not: it's a current fact.

    There are culture fights at the UN, and there are also language wars. Or at least skirmishes, as took place on April 28 in the Committee on Information. Delegates from Argentina to Cuba and China asked why the UN Webcast archives are not in Spanish or Chinese, Russian or Arabic. At least the question was answered, but the logic is not entirely clear.

  Even from the UN's in-house EZTV, which offers CNN and Fox, BBC and Al Jazaeera, TV 5 Monde and France 24, the Chinese and Russian channels have been removed, Inner City Press hereby reports and the Free UN Coalition for Access dubs "P3 TV" for the three Western permanent members of the UN Security Council.

  There are two French channels, and none in Chinese or Russian. Meanwhile as Argentina's delegate pointed out on April 28 in the Committee on Information, it is Spanish and not French that is the second most popular language for those visiting the UN's website. Que pasa?

  More insidiously, France's outgoing Permanent Representative to the UN Gerard Araud on April 15 told a UN accredited correspondent (not this one) who asked a critical question, "You are not a journalist, you are an agent." 

  Inner City Press on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access has asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric to convey to the French mission the UN's stated position, that correspondents should be treated with respect. So far it has not happened.

  The attacked correspondent has for days asked the UN Correspondents Association's Executive Committee to take some action -- as, we note, it did with respect to another media, and another Ambassador. But the attacked journalist tells Inner City Press that UNCA is "dragging its feet." Others are not surprised.

  Amid all this, the UN will be celebrating World Press Freedom Day with none other than the president of UNCA, which is dragging its feet on defense of journalists inside the UN (after having attacked at least one, then engaged in censorship), and while UNCA does NOTHING on more serious attacks on press freedom in Ethiopia and Burundi. World Press Freedom Day, indeed. We'll be there: watch this site.

Footnote: In fairness, initiatives like DPI's Brown Bag Lunch series with for example UN Security and the UN envoy to Libya were good. But Under Secretaries General like Herve Ladsous still openly refuses particular media's questions, and other USGs rarely if even take questions. Improvements, including a UN Freedom of Information Act and improved UN Media Alert, are needed. Watch this site.