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In
S.
Sudan, UN
Focuses on
Jonglei, not
Unity &
Lakes Firings,
Silencing of
Press
UNITED
NATIONS, July
8, updated --
The UN had its
South Sudan
envoy Hilde
Johnson go
silent during
Monday's
Security
Council
session,
so that what
she
said could not be
heard by the
public.
After
the resulting
consultations,
Inner City
Press asked US
Ambassador
Rosemary
DiCarlo
if the firing
of the
governors of
Lakes and
Unity State
had been
discussed.
No,
Ambassador
DiCarlo
answer, no
specifically.
But she said
SRSG Johnson
had spoken
about
“developing
institutions.”
That's
certainly
important, the
day before
South Sudan's
second
anniversary of
independence
from Sudan.
But does the
UN best serve
it with an
envoy
so closely
aligned with
the
government?
What
has been said,
for example,
about the
closure and
now censoring
of
Good News
Radio in Lakes
State?
Ambassador
DiCarlo said
that did not
come up
either; later
this month the
US will hold a
Council
session
on protection
of
journalists,
What about in
South Sudan?
It's
not just Hilde
Johnson. The Free UN Coalition for Access, much
concerned
about the UN's
waning
commitment to
freedom of
speech and
of the press,
has asked
humanitarian
coordinator
Toby Lanzer
what
about Good
News Radio, in
response to
his upbeat
view of the
UN's
Radio Miraya.
No response.
Maybe after
South Sudan's
second
birthday
party?
The
UN's radio
stations claim
to be
independent.
But as FUNCA
has shown,
Radio
Okapi only
covered the
Congo
sanctions
report exclusively
put
online by
Inner City
Press -- and covered and
credited by
BBC and
Bloomberg
News -- after
the DRC
government
criticized it.
And the
UN's
MinustahFM in
Haiti has yet
to cover Ban
Ki-moon's
letter to
Congress about
denying
cholera
claims.
How can
this UN speak
for free
press when it
doesn't
practice it,
and threatens
to suspend or
withdraw
accreditation
for it even in
UN
Headquarters?
Watch this
site.
Updated
with
US Mission
transcript:
Inner
City Press:
You mentioned
Jonglei, but I
wanted to know
if
whether--these
issues of the
governors of
Lakes State
and Unity
State
will be
relieved of
their
function. Some
people are
saying it’s
kind of a sour
note in terms
of the second
birthday
coming up. And
also some
press freedom
issues.
Something
called
Sudanese Radio
that
was taken off
the air for
criticizing
the government
and any issue
of
sort of the
government’s
own limitation
of allowing
elected
officials to
remain in
governorships
and freedom of
press come up?
Ambassador
DiCarlo:
That issue was
not raised by
the SRSG. She
did raise a
number of
issues,
however, about
the need to
help develop
institutions,
to work with
the South
Sudanese in
this regard—to
develop
capacity. We
spoke a great
deal about
Jonglei –
obviously,
Jonglei State
– and the need
to protect
civilians.
* * *
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