Gambia
Coup Bid In
UNSC After
Ban, Reuters
Misreported
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 1 –
After the coup
attempt in The
Gambia, but
before the 10
am UN Security
Council
meeting on the
subject, UN
Secretary Ban
Ki-moon issued
a 123 word
statement
calling for restraint
and an
investigation
of the attempt
in the The
Gambia, albeit
not mentioning
the name of
the target of
the coup,
Yahya Jammeh.
After the
Security
Council's
45-minute
meeting, Inner
City Press
asked the
Council's
president who
is supposed to
do the
investigation
Ban had called
for before the
meeting. He
responded that
UN official Chambas
will go to
Banjul; Inner
City Press
later learned
and published
that this will
take place on
January 2.
Reuters
however reported
that
"Following
brief talks at
the U.N.
Security
Council,
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
called for a
transparent
investigation
into the
events and
also urged
restraint."
This
is false.
Ban's
statement was
at 9:37 am;
the Security
Council meeting
didn't start
until 10 am,
and didn't end
until 10:45
am. (At that
time, Inner
City Press asked
Ban's Under
Secretary
General for Political
Affairs
Jeffrey Feltman
for more
detail; he
replied that
since Ban had
issued a
statement, he
had nothing to
add -- all too
common at the
UN, as pointed
out and
opposed by the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access.)
Reuters was
not present at
the UN
Security
Council
stakeout
before, during
or after the
meeting on Gambia
(Tweeted
photo here),
and apparently
not in the UN
building
either. The crediting
on the above
quoted story is
"Reporting by
David Lewis
and Diadie Ba
in Dakar,
Lesley
Wroughton in
Washington, Louis
Charbonneau
in New York;
Writing by
David Lewis
and Matthew
Mpoke Bigg;
Editing by
Giles Elgood."
Six journalists
listed; one
outright
falsehood.
What does
Reuters do in
these cases?
We've asked
management
including
Stephen J.
Adler before,
amid censorship,
with no
real answer.
#ReutersFail.
Since then,
African Union
commission
chief
Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma
has expressed
"preoccupation"
and rurged deepening
"democracy and
the respect
for human
rights."
By the time of
Ban's 9:37 am
December 31
statement,
later
misrepresented
by Reuters, the
US had already
issued
a statement:
“The United
States is
aware of
reports of a
coup attempt
on December 30
in The Gambia.
We strongly
condemn any
attempt to
seize power
through
extra-constitutional
means. We
regret the
loss of life
and call on
all parties to
refrain from
further
violence.”
Thirteen hours
later when Ban
Ki-moon issued
his statement,
he went a bit
further and
cited calm and
called for an
investigation,
apparently by
Jammeh's
government
itself:
“The
Secretary-General
is following
closely
developments
in The Gambia.
He reiterates
the United
Nations
principled
condemnation
of all
attempts to
seize power
through
unconstitutional
means.
Referring to
reports that
indicate that
the situation
in Banjul is
calm, he calls
for all
parties to
exercise
restraint and
to refrain
from further
violence.
“Noting
the
seriousness of
any attempt to
overthrow
governments by
force, the
Secretary-General
encourages the
establishment
of a
transparent
investigation
into the
events of 30
December, in
compliance
with due
process and
respect for
the rule of
law. In that
regard, he
urges the
Government of
The Gambia,
and its
security and
defense forces
to act in full
respect for
human rights.
The United
Nations will
continue to
closely
monitor the
situation.”
When the UN
Security
Council
meeting on the
topic began at
10:10 am on
December 31,
there were
tumbleweeds at
the stakeout
in front. Some
may denounce
The Gambia,
but at the UN
or at least in
its press
corp, there is
not apparently
much interest.
When the
meeting ended,
in less than
45 minutes,
Inner City
Press asked
Feltman about
it. He said
since the SG
had issued a
statement, he
had nothing to
add. In 2015,
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
will be
pressing for
all UN Under
Secretaries
General to
answer
questions.
Finally, the
Security
Council's
president for
December, from
Chad, came and
summarized the
meeting,
saying that UN
official
Chambas,
previously the
head of UNAMID
in Darfur,
will file a
report. There
have been
problems with
UNAMID's
reporting.
(Again
in terms of
micro-news,
Inner City
Press is
exclusively
told by
sources that
Chambas will
go to Gambia
on Friday,
January 2.
Since the UNSC
President was
asked on camera
when Chambas
would go and
only said "soon,"
call it a coup
scooplet.)
Inner City
Press asked
the outgoing
Security
Council
president
about the
December 30
closed door
meeting about
Sudan throwing
out two UN
officials,
Yvonne Helle
and Ali
Al-Za'tari. He
said he
couldn't
speak, nothing
had been agreed
to. Which is
why the UN
Secretariat
should have spoken
and taken
questions, as
FUNCA requested
and will
continue to
request in
2015. Watch
this site.
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