UNITED
NATIONS, April
28 -- What has
the UN become
on press
freedom? In
Iraq, where
the UN has a
special
political
mission, the
government
has suspended
the licenses
of ten
television
channels. Any
response
by the UN? Not
yet.
If
the past is
any guide,
this UN
Secretariat
will wait to
see what
major powers
-- read, the
US -- has to
say about it.
But what about
Burundi, where
the UN also
has a mission,
and on which
major powers
are unlikely
to say
anything?
Last
week the
Burundian
parliament
passed an
anti-press
law, limiting
the
subjects that
can be covered
and the
protection of
sources. The
UN
Secretariat
said nothing.
Today, a
journalist Patrick-Paggio
Niyonkuru was
shot by
police. Video
here. UN?
Anything? Why
ask why.
The
UN has not
responded to
Inner City
Press'
question at
the April 24
noon briefing
about journalist
Blaise Bahisha
being arrested
in Goma
by the
Congolese
authorities.
There was no
“if-asked”
from the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
under Herve
Ladsous.
On
April 23 in
the UN
Committee on
Information,
UNESCO spoke
of a UN
Plan to
protect
journalists,
which would be
much needed.
Not enough
has been said
about the editor in
Mali facing
charges for
reporting
on the
windfall to
coup leader
Amadou Sanago.
It's
unclear what
the
UN did while a
reporter
was in danger
in Central
African
Republic
recently.
And what of Prageeth,
disappeared in
Sri Lanka?
These are
only examples.
As
noted on May
2, for World
Press Freedom
Day, the UN is
holding an
event. But
beyond the
contradiction
listed above,
the event
itself
has false
notes. On the
panel is the
spokesman for
DPKO chief
Herve
Ladsous,
Kieran Dwyer.
Not
only has Ladsous
openly refused
to answer
Press
questions, for
example about
126 rapes in
Minova by the
Congolese
Army, his
partner --
his spokesman
Kieran Dwyer
has said,
on camera,
that Inner
City Press
questions will
not be
answered. What
respect for
freedom of the
press? Dwyer
and Ladsous
did this again
on April 25. Video here.
Also
on the panel,
seemingly
automatically
but we'd say
inappropriately,
is Pamela Falk
of CBS, the
president of
the UN
Correspondents
Association.
Earlier this
year, while
the UN
conducted a
non-consensual
raid on the
Press' office,
Falk was
ghoulishly
taking
photographs.
Then she issued
a legal
threat,
through her
CBSNews.com
e-mail
account, to
“cease and
desist” even
asking why she
was
taking
photographs.
Freedom of the
press?
The
UN Department
of Public
Information
conducted the
raid;
photographs
taken while it
was in control
of Inner City
Press' office,
including
photos of the
Press' desk
and bookshelf,
were shared
and leaked
to
BuzzFeed right
after that
publication
contacted Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman to
ask about the
raid.
DPI has
been asked by
the Free
UN
Coalition for
Access to
explain and
make full
disclosure on
this, as
a way of
moving
forward. We
continue to
wait.
UNCA,
as noted,
spent much of
2012 trying to
get the Press
thrown
out of
the UN.
Just last
month, one of
its Executive
Committee
members Tim
Witcher filed
a false
complaint with
the UN,
leading with
the claim
that Inner
City Press'
question to
Ladsous on
March 8 about
the
Minova rapes
as “abusive.”
Also on the
May 2 panel is
Joel Simon
of CPJ
- which has a
blind spot.
UNCA
first vice
president Louis
Charbonneau
of Reuters
complained as
well this
year,
about the
content of
Inner City
Press' website
- to UN
Security. To
try to use
Security
forces against
a media for
its content?
This from
UNCA's first
vice
president.
Some freedom
of the press.
Some event.
Also
as we noted,
May 2 will
have a more
reform-minded
event. Now it
can
be said: the
“Small Five”
on Security
Council will
rise again, as
ACT:
Accountability,
Coherence and
Transparency.
We'll have
more on
this.
, 
