On
Gabon, Protest
by UN of
Bongo, Father
and Son, Ban's
Nepotism
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 6 --
As in Gabon
Jean Ping
accuses Ali
Bongo of
stealing the
election, in
front of the
UN on
September 6
there was an
anti Ali Bongo
protest, Vine
here, longer YouTube video here. Signs
included 50
years is
enough, a
reference to
Omar Bongo
handing over
the country to
his son, Ali.
More than one
person noted
that the UN
has become
that way: on
August 26, the
day after
Inner City
Press first
asked about
it, Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon gave
the top UN job
in Kenya to
his own son in
law Siddharth
Chatterjee,
without recusing
himself.
Now
Ban's
spokesman
won't say who
was on the
panel that
supposedly
picked Sid Chatterjee;
Inner City
Press is confined
to minders
when it seeks
to cover the
UN's second
floor. This is
censorship in
the UN; in
Gabon, the
Internet is
off (but Inner
City Press' photos
and Vine are
getting hits,
presumably
from the
diaspora or
others concerned
with democracy
and human
rights,
lacking in
Ban's UN
itself).
On
Gabon on September
1 in front of
the UN
Security
Council French
Ambassador
Francois
Delattre told
the press that
his country
“has
pronounced
itself” and
wants the
Security
Council to
condemn
looting and
call to
guarantee the
transparency
of the
election.
Inner City
Press put the
audio
on Soundcloud,
here.
But
what does that
mean? Is it a
code word for
more Bongo?
The US,
meanwhile,
said “we call
on the
Gabonese
Government to
release
results for
each
individual
polling
station.
This will help
give the
people of
Gabon, as well
as the
international
community,
confidence the
announced vote
tallies are
accurate.”
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, on a
two week
junket through
Asia, soon
through his
spokesman
echoed the US:
“The UN
supports the
call of
regional and
international
observers for
a transparent
verification
of election
results.”
Given the long
relationship
of France with
Omar Bongo and
now his son
Ali Bongo, who
“holds the
pen” for the
Security
Council on
this? Watch
this site.
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