UN
Dodges Press
on Crackdowns
in Sudan,
Seeks To
Cancel Noon
Briefings,
Spokesman Out
for 40 Days?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 10 --
With UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon visit
to
Korea greeted
by artillery
fire from the
North, there
are few
answers
from Ban's
spokespeople
in New York.
They had no
comment on
crackdowns
on the press
in Sudan
and Cote
d'Ivoire,
nor on
protests
of the UN in
Nepal and even
just across
First Avenue
by Haitians
demanding
reparations
for the
introduction
of cholera.
Even
why
Ban gave
out the post
of
"Commissioner-General
of the UN" to
Samuel
Koo in South
Korea did not
get an answer,
twenty hours
after it was
asked at
Tuesday's noon
briefing.
Nor, despite
two requests
from
Inner City
Press, has the
UN been able
to provide any
information
about Deputy
Secretary
General
Asha-Rose
Migiro's
month-long
"official
travel" in
Tanzania.
Now
comes word
that Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
is taking even
more time
off,
reportedly
from now until
September 17.
During this
unheard of
absence by a
lead
spokesman,
Nesirky's
acting deputy
Farhan Haq is
"canvassing"
select
reporters in
order to say
that they
don't actually
want
the UN to hold
noon
briefings,
despite events
ranging from
Syria to Yemen
to Somalia and
Sudan.
Even
though Haq
runs "his"
briefing in
such a way
that it takes
less than
ten minutes a
day -- by
limiting the
Press to three
questions,
most
of which are
not answered
-- even this
is apparently
too much,
despite there
being other
people in the
UN Office of
the
Spokesperson.
Haq at
briefing on
Haiti,
responses to
protests &
Qs &
crackdowns not
shown
Forget
whether
or not the
UN will
comment on
crackdowns in
Cote d'Ivoire
or Bahrain: as
an
organization
that has over
100,000 armed
personnel out
in the field,
is it too much
that they
should stand
and take
questions for
ten
minutes a day,
five days a
week?
Especially
when, as of
today, the UN
has in place
no chief of
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations, as
Alain Le Roy
leaves as long
ago announced,
and the next
Frenchman --
Jerome
Bonnafont,
Inner City
Press reported
six weeks ago
-- is not in
place, not
even
interviewed?
We'll see.
Update:
some Missions
and Permanent
Representative
of the UN,
even among the
Permanent Five
members of the
Security
Council,
somewhat
surprisinly
watch the UN
noon briefing
on UN TV, and
some have
expressed
surprise at
the length of
leave and move
to shut off
even the short
televised
briefings. But
are the member
states being
canvassed? Who
is being
canvassed?
Watch this
site.
* * *
At
UN,
No Answers on
Migiro's
"Official
Travels,"
Budget
Chief Leaving,
Ban's
Job Gift to
Koo
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 9 --
With the UN's
two top
officials both
out of New
York, their
spokespeople
are having
trouble explaining
what they are
doing.
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon is
in South
Korea, while
Deputy
Secretary
General
Asha-Rose
Migiro is
listed on
"official
travel" from
July
18 to August
16.
Yet
despite two
requests from
Inner City
Press for an
explanation of
this
"official"
travel, not a
single
official UN
act has been
described.
Nor does Ban's
spokesperson's
office, when
asked, seem to
know what Ban
is doing in
his native
South Korea.
On August 9,
Inner
City Press asked
Ban's acting
deputy
spokesman
Farhan Haq
about one
of Ban's
actions while
away:
Inner
City
Press: Ban
Ki-moon has
named Samuel
Koo as the UN
Commissioner-General
for the Yeosu
Expo. This was
in the South
Korean press,
and I just
wanted to
know, what is
this
Commissioner-General
position? Is
it a paid
position?
What’s this
all about?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: It’s not
an
announcement
that we have
made from
here. We’d
have to check
what the
report is on
this
particular
thing. It’s
certainly not
an appointment
that we’ve
announced from
here, however.
Have a good
afternoon,
all.
But
for the rest
of the
afternoon, and
evening, no
answer at all
was given. The
Korea
Herald had
reported:
"U.N.
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
appointed
Samuel Koo, a
former U.N.
official and
journalist, as
the U.N.
commissioner-general
for the
2012 Yeosu
Expo... In
Korea, Koo has
also held
posts related
to
culture,
tourism and
convention,
including
culture
ambassador for
the
Foreign
Ministry and
president of
Seoul Tourism.
Koo now chairs
the
culture and
tourism
committee of
the
Presidential
Council on
Nation
Branding."
So
Ban gave out a
grandiose-sounding
UN position
without his
spokespeople
knowing, or
even bothering
to look into
and
provide an
answer on for
sixteen hours
and counting.
Koo was also
at one time a
UN
correspondent,
seeking
information
not without
success from
the Office of
the
Spokesperson
for the
Secretary
General in the
past. And now?
Meanwhile,
Inner
City Press has
twice asked
about DSG
Migiro's
month-long
"official
travel," first
asking Ban's
lead spokesman
Martin
Nesirky, who
said he would
look into it
and provide an
answer, then
when he
didn't, asking
Haq on August
8:
Inner
City
Press: this
was actually
just kind of a
follow-up.
It’s
something I
had asked
Martin last
week, I don’t
have an
answer, so
it’s not
really a
follow-up.
It’s a
reiterated
question.
Everyday in
the
Spokesperson’s
Office there
is a sheet
saying that
the DSG
[Deputy
Secretary-General]
is on official
travel, and
he’d
said he’d look
into it. I
wanted to
know, what is
that official
travel?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: She is on
home leave.
She is on home
leave
in [the United
Republic of]
Tanzania, but
she does have
some official
functions and
we’ll let you
know about
those as they
come.
But
a day and a
half later and
counting, not
a single
official act
has been
reported.
Inner City
Press followed
up:
Inner
City
Press: what’s
the
distinction,
because I have
seen sometimes
things listed
as leave, but
this has been
a full month
stated as
official
travel. What’s
the
distinction?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Like I said,
it is home
leave, but it
does
include some
official
functions.
What
are
those
functions?
Sources tell
Inner City
Press that the
African Group
of
member states
at the UN is
being lobbied
to get Ms.
Migiro a
second
term, like Ban
got. Others
say there is a
European for
that position.
Ban's
Koo per Korean
Herald -
answers from
Ban's OSSG not
shown
When
Ban came in,
through his
now long-time
chief of staff
he said that
the
expectation
was that none
of his
officials
would serve
more than five
years in
their jobs.
But many have
been there
longer now,
with no move
to
replace them.
There
is a near
total lack of
transparency:
Inner City
Press has
twice asked
when
Controller Jun
Yamasaki is
leaving,
without
answer.
His job was
already
advertised in
The Economist;
another UN
source tells
Inner
City Press
Yamazaki is
slated to
leave on
August 18, but
might stay
on for a
month. But why
won't the
Secretariat
answer these
things?
For
the just-filed
Iraq envoy
post, Inner
City Press
reported that
there were
three
candidates,
all German. A
regional
Permanent
Representative
asked
Inner City
Press, "Which
Germany will
get it?" It's
like
Ban's
UN has deemed
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations a
French post,
with three
candidates,
all French.
This is UN
reform?
Watch this
site.
, 
