UAE
Lent
UN's Ban a
Private Jet,
Now Disclosed,
No Comment on
Web
Censorship
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 19 --
The United
Arab Emirates
provided UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon with a
private jet
this week,
Ban's office
belated
disclosed on
Thursday after
Inner City
Press had
three times
asked for
disclosure.
The UN
Spokesperson
sent this to
Inner City
Press
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Subject: Your
questions
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
InnerCityPress.com
Date:
Thu, Jan 19,
2012 at 3:00
PM
On
aircraft,
in case you
did not see
the noon
briefing:
-
The UAE
Government
provided an
aircraft to
fly the
Secretary-General
from Beirut to
Abu Dhabi
because of
time
constraints.
-
National
governments
have provided
similar
assistance in
the past to
this
Secretary-General
and to his
predecessors.
-
As you well
know, most of
the
Secretary-General's
official
travel is
on commercial
flights or
peacekeeping
aircraft.
On
SOPA/PIPA:
This is a
national
legislative
matter. We
don't have a
comment.
On
Yemen
elections: You
will have seen
there are also
reports that
the
Foreign
Minister has
said the
elections are
on track. We
continue to
watch this
closely.
These
last two
answers are
internally
inconsistent:
Ban will not
comment on
"national
legislative
matters" in
the United
States, even
when they
implicate
censorship of
the Internet
-- but the UN
has
commented on
"national
legislation"
in Yemen,
albeit
belatedly.
When
Ban Ki-moon
spoke with
Yemen
strongman Ali
Saleh on
November 23,
Inner City
Press
asked him if
he had raised
to Saleh his
push for the
immunity he is
now in the
process of
obtaining. Ban
replied that
"I have not
discussed in
detail on that
matter." If he
opposed
amnesties,
that was the
time to say
it. Because
now the law is
passing, with
full immunity
for Saleh, and
"political"
immunity for
his
allies.
While
minimizing
the possible
conflict of
interest in
accepting
private jets
and other
assistance
from member
states, Ban
and his office
have yet to
explain
how they
decide when
and from whom
to accept
assistance.
Would they
take a plane
from Syria's
Bashar al
Assad?
Sources
close to
Ban Ki-moon
talk about
Saudi
assistance to
a length trip
by Ban and
his entourage.
Does that make
it more
difficult for
Ban to
criticize
the lack of
women's rights
in Saudi
Arabia, or its
crackdown on
protesters and
opponents?
During the UAE blogger
prosecution,
when Inner
City Press asked for any UN
or Ban
comment, none
was given.
Could this
free plane
represent a
conflict of
interest?
(c) UN Photo
Ban and UAE
FM, free plane
(and comment
on blogger
prosecution)
not shown
In
the past, at
least one
member state
provided air
transport --
then sent the
UN a bill. Has
Ban offered to
reimburse the
UAE? Should
he? We'll have
more on this.
, 
