UNITED
NATIONS, June
7 -- Mali and
the
preservation
of cultural
heritage
there are very
photogenic
issue for the
United Nations
system.
The UN
would
certainly
rather talk,
if not answer
questions,
about that
rather than
abuses by the
Malian Army
they propose
to partner
with,
or the
inclusion in
the UN Mission
MINUSMA of
armies which
are on the
UN's own child
soldier
recruitment
list.
And
so Friday's UN
noon briefing
was to include
a video feed
from Bamako.
These are
often useful.
Here, there
were four
initial
speakers who
went over the
30 minutes
which the UN
rules say is
the maximum
for
press
conferences.
Then
they announced
15 minutes of
questions,
including both
Bamako and New
York. After 15
minutes and
three or four
Bamako
questions,
they
turned to New
York.
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
and his
colleague from
UNESCO chose
three
questions:
AP, Voice
of America
and "TV from
Lebanon"
(actually, Al
Mayadeen).
Nesirky tried
to call on AFP
Agence
France Presse,
even though
its
correspondent
had no question.
Video
here from
Minute 43:50.
But
even these
questions
could not be
heard over the
video hook-up.
Nesirky said
he would call
Bamako and get
answers --
apparently,
only
to the three
questions
selected.
The
presentations
included
praise of
French
president Francois
Hollande,
to whom UNESCO
recently gave
an Africa
prize, of
Bert
Koenders who
did France's
bidding for
the UN mission
in Cote
d'Ivoire,
refusing to
probe killing
of perceived
supporters of
Laurent Gbagbo
at Nahibly,
and of Irina
Bokova, see
below. This
praise was
perhaps the
purpose
of the press
conference.
During
what remained
of the noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
(as it had
wanted to ask
the Malian
minister who
spoke on the
UN webcast
about
"terrorists")
about Malian
Army abuses in
Sourango and
Tenekou.
Nesirky
said, on this
and Inner City
Press'
question about
Chad and other
listed soldier
recruiters
serving in
MINUSMA - and
on
a Syria
question Inner
City Press
re-asked from
June 4 -- that
he
would check
with DPKO, the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations.
But
DPKO's
spokesman
Kieran Dwyer
was right
there in the
briefing room.
Dwyer has, on
camera,
justified DPKO
chief Herve
Ladsous'
refusal to
answer Inner
City Press
questions - video here - and has no provided
the update on
the 135 Minova
raped by the
Congolese Army
Inner City
Press asked
Ladsous for on
May 29.
Ladsous said,
"You
know I do not
respond to
you." Nor has
DPKO or the
UN, since.
Zero
tolerance,
indeed.
Why
did the
UN go so "all
in" for Mali
and culture?
Some think
it's a push to
line up UNESCO
chief Irina
Bokova to
succeed Ban
Ki-moon as
Secretary
General. She
speaks on many
topics; she
flew in
Francois
Hollande's
plane to Mali,
appropriate or
not.
There
are many
questions
beyond culture
that the UN
system should
answer
about Mali.
But on Friday
they wouldn't
even answer or
take those.
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
Since
the UN doesn't
enforce or
live up to its
own "rule"
about
30 minute
press
conferences,
it's hard to
see how they
could
legitimately
seek to
enforce the bogus "no
media
workspace at
the Security
Council" rule
some in the
Department of
Public
Information
and their UN
Censorship
Alliance are
trying to
enact.
But
the UN
practicing
what it
preaches -
cited by
another SG
candidate -
is often the
exception, not
the rule. More
on rules to
follow.
, 
