Ban
Ki-moon Talks
Climate at
City Hall,
Takes No
Questions, No
First
Amendment East
of 1st Av
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 13 --
When Mayor
Bill de
Blasio's
Commissioner
for
International
Affairs Penny
Abeywardena took
questions
about the
United
Nations'
impact on New
York City, she
answered Inner
City Press'
question about
Legionnaires
disease by
saying the UN
works with the
City to comply
with
applicable
local laws.
On
December 7,
Inner City
Press asked
the UN's
deputy
spokesman if
this
compliance
extends to the
US First
Amendment and
due process
guarantees,
both of which
Abeywardena's
co-panelist
Cristina
Gallach of the
UN appears to
have violated.
UN
transcript
here
and
below.
On
December 13,
the second day
in a row on
which Ban
Ki-moon's
spokespeople
canceled the
UN's "daily"
noon briefing
amid mounting
Ban Ki-moon
and family
corruption
questions,
from Myanmar
to Kenya
(where Ban
promoted his
own son in law
to the top UN
post, without
recusal), Ban
went to meet
de Blasio
himself.
Inner City
Press
went to cover
it. After
a wait, it was
ushered into
the Blue
Room,
where de
Blasio spoke
of a 2000 climate
march and Ban
about peace
and security.
There was no
mention of
Haiti, much
less cholera,
and no
questions were
taken. The report
reviewed below
was flashed.
UN
Communications
and Censorship
chief Cristina
Gallach was
there, filming
with her
phone. Inner
City Press
shot
Periscope, so
far with 2,400
viewers (Tweeted
video here).
The City of
New York
should at a
minimum demand
that the UN
not retaliated
against
publications
due to their
coverage - but
so far, NYC
under de
Blasio has
not. For now,
the First
Amendment ends
at First
Avenue.(TM)
From
the December 7
transcript:
Deputy
Spokesman: I
would refer
you back to
what Penny
Abeywardena
said yesterday
in her role as
the New York
City
Commissioner
for
International
Affairs about
the more than
$3.3 billion,
I believe it
was…
Inner
City Press: I
asked her
whether the UN
is subject to
New York City
health rules
like on
Legionnaires'
disease and on
self-inspection,
and she sort
of said, oh,
we work very
closely, the
UN basically
kind of
philosophically
accepts all of
these things
even if it's
not legally
required.
So I'd wanted
to know, one,
things like
the First
Amendment, as
to the freedom
of the press
or due
process, is
there… can you
say that the
UN is… is… is
accepting, in
the same way
she described
as
Legionnaires'
disease and
health
regulations,
of freedom of
the press and
due process
provisions of
its host
country?
Deputy
Spokesman:
It's not about
the laws of
the host
country.
Of course, the
UN also
upholds the
Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights,
and as you
know, that
includes the
freedom of the
media, freedom
of expression,
freedom of
assembly and
many other key
rights.
Then how could
the UN's
Gallach order
Inner City
Press out of
the UN, for
seeking to
cover an event
in the UN
Press Briefing
Room, without
once speaking
to it - i.e.
providing any
due process at
the time, with
no right to
appeal in the
nine months
since?
On December 6,
there was an
initial joke
about parking
tickets, as if
that would be
the extent of
issues New
Yorkers might
care about.
But
while the
City's study
enumerates
people
directly
employed by
the UN
Community,
their lack of
labor and
other rights
due to
immunity was
not
acknowledged
in the study.
Inner City
Press covers
both the UN
and its
headquarters
city, New
York, and
routinely
receives
complaints
from
diplomats'
domestic
workers and
drivers about
work place
abuse and lack
of benefits,
and the lack
of any
recourse. Due
to immunity,
not only
defrauded
workers but
those subject
to physical
abuse are left
without
rights.
What about the
UN having
brought
cholera to
Haiti and
killed 10,000
people,
leaving sorrow
and economic
harm in many
New York City
communities -
does the de
Blasio
administration
have a
position on
that?
Abeywardena
did not
answer,
leaving the
question for
the UN
moderator
Cristina
Gallach.
But Gallach,
as mentioned
even in the
New York Times,
is responsible
for the ouster
and eviction
of the
investigative
Press from the
UN, and its
confinement to
minders to
cover events
on the UN's
second floor
for the past
nine months
and for the
foreseeable
future.
Gallach
is giving
Inner City
Press'
longtime
shared UN
office to an
Egyptian state
media, Akhbar
al Yom, which
rarely comes
into the UN
and never asks
any questions.
Abeywardena
answered Inner
City Press'
second round
of questions
by saying the
City works
with the UN on
such issues as
testing for
Legionnaires
Disease -
something
legally
required for
(other)
buildings in
New
York.
We
question
whether the
City
administration
is doing or
should do
anything to
ensure that
the UN lives
up to the
basic
principles,
applicable
right outside
the UN's
gates, of
press freedom
and due
process.
Gallach's
pretext for
throwing Inner
City Press out
and
restricting it
since was
Inner City
Press' attempt
to cover an
event in the
same UN Press
Briefing Room
on January 29,
as part of its
coverage of
the ongoing Ng
Lap Seng UN
bribery case
set for trial
in the US
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York in
January 2017.
Inner
City Press
left the
briefing room
- which had no
“closed” sign
on it - as
soon as a
single UN
Security
officer said
to, at the
request of UN
spokesman Stephane
Dujarric.
But three
weeks later,
without once
speaking with
Inner City
Press, Gallach
ordered it
out on two
hours notice.
When Inner
City Press was
physically
thrown out
onto First
Avenue on
Gallach's
orders on
February 19,
2016 (audio
here) and
its laptop
thrown onto
the sidewalk,
it called the
New York
Police
Department,
which said it
had no
recourse at
all, the UN
controls even
the sidewalk
in front of
it.
While
the UN certain
does some good
work, is this
censorship and
impunity
something New
Yorkers should
be represented
as supporting?
We'll have
more on this.
, 
