On
Myanmar, UN's Ban "Not Talking About the Trial," Hand Picks
Press Coverage
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS, June 29 -- Myanmar's courts have barred two
of Aung San Suu
Kyi's four witnesses, just as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
announced he will travel to the country on July 3-4. In New York,
Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas if Ban has
any comment on the barring of these two witnesses, Win Tin and Tin Oo
of the National League for Democracy.
Ms. Montas said of Ban, "He's
not talking about the trial right now." Video here,
from Minute
17:23.
Inner
City Press
asked, since in previous trip Ms. Montas' office had informed all UN
resident correspondence of such trips and allow them to ask to
accompany the Secretary General, if that was done in the case of
Myanmar and if not, why not. Montas admitted that it was not done.
She said that from among "people who had expressed interest"
they "picked people willing to pool for others."
Since
Inner City
Press has asked numerous questions about the UN and Myanmar of Ms.
Montas and others in the UN briefing room, one wonders what
"expressing interest" means.
UN's Ban on way to Myanmar, May 2008, this
time fewer, hand picked microphones
Asking
publicly in the
briefing room does not count, Ms. Montas said. "You have to come
to my office and register on a list."
In
fact, Ms.
Montas' Office reached out to media organizations which indicated
they would have staffers from Bangkok and elsewhere in the Far East
accompany Ban and told them that Ban wants only particular reporters
who cover him at the UN.
It
would appear that, faced with negative
press coverage of the first half of his term, particularly of his
pro-government victory tour in Sri Lanka, Team Ban has sought to
control how the Myanmar trip is covered by hand selecting who gets to
cover it. Watch this space.
* * *
UN's
Ban Tells Only Some Media of Myanmar Chance, Bad Press Left Behind?
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS, June 28 -- With UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reportedly
still undecided if he will stop in Myanmar on his upcoming trip to
Japan, Ban's press office has nevertheless quietly selected the
journalists who would be allowed to cover his visit with the
country's military rulers.
Until now, the Office of the Spokesperson
for the Secretary General has informed at least all resident
correspondents at the UN of the possibility of a trip, and to apply
if they are interested in going.
This time, Ban's office refused to
confirm when asked by the Press that he would go to Myanmar, while
behind the scenes pre-selecting which journalists would be allowed to
accompany him.
Some
see this is a
reaction to the increasingly negative media coverage Ban has been
receiving. As
Inner City Press asked Ban during his last press
conference, the Economist rated him three out of ten on speaking
truth to power.
Specifically
raised was his performance in Sri
Lanka
where, as covered by Inner City Press, Ban smiled as Tamil children
detained by the government were made to sing his name. The goal,
some
surmise, is to try to avoid that kind of coverage in the future.
Even
Charlie Rose,
television's friendliest interviewer, last week asked Ban about his
failing grades. Ban responded by saying that he had saved 500,000
people in Myanmar. Inner
City Press asked Ban's Spokesperson Michele
Montas where this figure came from. The number of people in need,
she
said, when Ban last visited Myanmar.
There
was another side to Ban's
agreement, of course: that Than Shwe's regime took 25% of all aid
money by requiring conversion through Foreign Exchange Certificates
whose value the government controlled, as exposed by
Inner City Press and then others.
UN's Ban and Myanmar's Than Shwe, critical press
coverage not welcome
With
Aung San Suu
Kyi being tried for the non-consensual visit of a groupie, facing
extended detention, and amid reports that Myanmar is seeking to
illegally import weapons from North Korea, Ban's current Myanmar
envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Myanmar in order to provide a briefing
to Ban.
African
Ambassadors to the UN have told Inner City Press that
Ban recent offered by Gambari to replace Rodolphe Adada as envoy in
Sudan, calling into question either Ban's or Gambari's commitment
to
Myanmar.
But the
"insides' game" to pre-select the
journalists who would be allowed to cover Ban in Myanmar may further
call into question this UN's commitment to free press.
Those
not
informed of the change included not only Inner City Press, but
another of the three media organizations which Ban's management
chief, spokesperson, speechwriter and Under Secretaries General for
public information and legal affairs met about on May 8, with an eye
toward legal action and constructive censorship, click here
for that story. And watch this site.
Footnote: Some claim that the
UN made the list based off those who asked about Myanmar. During Ban's last
visit to Myanmar, his Office allowed the Than Shwe regime to blacklist
media which the UN had already invited to come. This may be a new
stage, in which the UN asks the regime who they would like to come,
rather than making all UN correspondents aware of the opportunity.
On
June
25, Inner City Press asked Ban's Spokesperson Montas
Inner
City Press:On Myanmar, the Government has said that Mr. [Ibrahim]
Gambari is in the air and will be there. Can you confirm that? And
what is the process, if he is going there... to brief the
Secretary-General? Is it determined that the Secretary-General will
go?
Spokesperson:
The Secretary-General is going to meet with Mr. Gambari, as soon as
Mr. Gambari comes to New York, and this is before the
Secretary-General takes off for Japan next Monday. So he will be
reporting this weekend to the Secretary-General.
Inner
City Press: He was on Charlie Rose last night. Is that correct?
Spokesperson:
Yes.
Inner
City Press: Among other things, I heard him to say in Myanmar, he
saved 500,000 people. What’s the basis for that number?
Spokesperson:
The basis is the number of people that were in need at the time when
he obtained the access for humanitarian workers into Myanmar.
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