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With UN's Ban in
Laos, Silence on Thai Unrest and Rights, Sri Lanka and Missile
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS, April 11 -- With the Thai government having been forced by
protests to call off today's ASEAN summit in Pattaya, from Laos UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's issued an “urgent” statement that
“I
deeply regret the postponement of the ASEAN and related summits and
the consequent postponement of my attendance to the events. I
understand the circumstances that led the Thai Government to take
this difficult decision.”
Days
earlier in New
York, Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas had been asked if she or Ban
had any views or comments on the already mounting protests in
Thailand. On April
8 at the UN's noon briefing, Inner City Press
asked Ms. Montas, video here
--
Inner
City Press: with the Secretary-General attending the [Association of
Southeast Asian Nations] ASEAN trip in Thailand, does he have any
comment on the unrest that’s taking place there? Does he have any
kind of, I guess either guidance, I mean I know on Moldova he said
things should be done peacefully. Why in Moldova and not Thailand? Is
there some, is the Thailand street violence less serious or what’s
the distinction?
Spokesperson: Well, in
the case of Moldova, we had people who were killed, so he’s
not going to say anything about what is happening right now in
Thailand. As far as we know, everything is set for him for the ASEAN
summit and the ASEAN-UN summit. So he is going to go there.
Inner City Press: Is
there any chance that… There have been some discussions,
including by some UN officials that he might go to Myanmar either
before or after the ASEAN summit. Is that now…?
Spokesperson: He is not.
The previous
day, Ban had
issued a statement that he “strongly
believes that any disagreements regarding election results should be
resolved by peaceful means and calls on all parties to refrain from
violence and maintain calm.” It was directed, not at Thailand, the
country he was about to visit, but at Moldova.
UN's Ban at previous ASEAN conference on
Myanmar, human rights not shown
Also on April
7, Inner City Press asked Ms. Montas what Ban
would raise in the only other stop on his Asian tour, Laos:
Inner City Press:
yesterday, you
announced that the Secretary-General is going to make an official
visit to Lao People’s Democratic Republic on his way to the
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting. There are a
lot of reports right now about Hmong people being pushed out of
Thailand into Laos. Human Rights Watch for example has put out a
report saying that this is a violation of human rights. Is this one
of the issues he is going to raise in Laos?
Spokesperson:
Most probably that
issue will be discussed. (Video).
But
by all accounts, Ban's visit to Laos was “human rights free.” The
lone AP headline was “UN Hopeful on Future of Laos” and reported
that Ban “cited improvements in health, education, life spans and
infant mortality rates as well as greater integration with the global
economy. He said the Laotian government was committed to achieving
the millennium goals... He also said Laos would have to focus greater
attention on the environment.”
So
much for human rights. What about MDGs and the militarized
“environment” for the Hmong? With time on his hands, Ban could
personally try to have an impact on the “bloodbath” in Sri Lanka,
but since he has of late declined to even call for a suspension of
fighting, it seems unlikely. While several countries plan to go ahead
with meetings in Pattaya about North Korea's missile launch, Ban's
announcement said his entire visit to Thailand has been postponed in
light of calling off the Pattaya ASEAN meeting, which he "deeply
regrets." "deeply. By contrast, he only "regretted" North
Korea's missile test...
Click here
for a new YouTube video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
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