Amid
UN Free Press
Talk, Ban
Still Silent
on Zone 9
Bloggers, Kaye
at IPI
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 12 --
Amid news that
Egypt has
released two
Al Jazeera
journalists
Mohammed Fahmy
and Baher
Mohammed on
bail,
statements are
churning out
from all
corners. UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon may
have one --
but he should
still explain
his silence
while in
Ethiopia for
the recent
African Union
summit about
the terrorism
trial of that
country's Zone
9 Bloggers.
The Free
UN Coalition
for Access
has been
asking Ban's
UN, and those
who pass
through it,
about
#FreeZone9Bloggers,
as it asked
about Peter
Greste and his
colleagues,
for example
here.
But the UN in
New York, and
the UN in
Addis Ababa,
have been silent.
On February 12
across First
Avenue from
the UN there
was a panel
discussion on
protection of
journalists at
the
International
Peace
Institute. Al
Jazeera's
Gabriel
Elizondo
spoke.
Inner
City Press ran
across First
Avenue and
posed a
question: does
the UN system
do for independent
journalists
and bloggers
what it does
for corporate
or state
media?
The panelist
who answered
was David
Kaye, UN
Special
Rapporteur on
the Promotion
and Protection
of the Right
to Freedom of
Opinion and
Expression.
Kaye said, "As
an independent
journalist,
it's good to
see you here.
From different
perspectives,
I think that's
right.
Sometimes the
UN can do so
loudly and
publicly. Some
situation
might call for
a little bit
more of a
quieter
engagement."
Rapporteur
Kaye said that
"from the
OHCHR
perspective,
we have
different
tools. Our
first tool is
to communicate
with
governments on
the quiet side,
send them
allegation
letters or
urgent
appeals, Zone
9 Bloggers
being a good
exampe of
that.
If we don't
get a
response, to
issue press
releases, to
call out bad
behavior. I
agree with the
tenor or your
comment -- we
should be out
there calling
out the bad
behavior at
the moment
that it
happens,
quietly or
more publicly.
Article 19 is
not written to
protect only
journalists,
it protects
everyone's
right to seek,
receive and
impart
information."
The
other
panelists were
Bård Glad
Pedersen,
Deputy
Minister of
Foreign
Affairs of
Norway, Agnes
Callamard,
Director of
the Global
Freedom of
Expression and
Information
Project at
Columbia
University and
former
Executive
Director of
Article 19,
Matthew
Rosenberg,
Foreign
Correspondent
of the New
York Times
(with
interesting
stories of
Afghanistan
but who
declined to
discuss the
NYT's coverage
of Iraq before
the US
invasion) and
Judith Matloff
of Columbia
University
Graduate
School of
Journalism.
There will be
video.
Back on
January 30 when
the UN held a
Social Media
Summit," it
concluded with
a panel about
trends, from
mobile to
analytics to
video and
Facebook's
acquisition of
Snapchat.
But what about
the UN
defending or
at least
speaking up
for freedom of
expression on
the Internet?
Earlier on
January 30,
Inner City
Press for the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric why
Ban while in
Ethiopia for
the African
Union summit
had not raised
the terrorism
charges
brought
against the
Zone 9
Bloggers. Video here.
Dujarric said
Ban has spoken
elsewhere
about freedom
of expression
in Africa, and
that the
(other)
contents of
his AU speech
were
interesting.
So Inner City
Press went to
the #SocialUN
final panel
and asked,
does the UN do
enough to
speak up for
freedom in
social media?
One of the
panelists had
just finished
praising high
tech in Qatar.
What about
arrests for
insulting the
leader? What
about Nabeel
Rajab in
Bahrain?
Video
here.
Panelist Hayes
Brown of
BuzzFeed, who
advised and
practices Be a
Person on
Twitter,
including
baking and
(good) jokes,
said it is
hard for the
UN, since it
has member
states that
pay its bills.
He said he
agreed about
bloggers in
Ethiopia but
wasn't sure
what the UN
could do,
beyond
speaking up.
Well, as to
the Zone 9
Bloggers, the
UN has yet to
speak up. That
would be a
start.
Panelist Liz
Borod Wight,
who moderator
Sree
Sreenivasan
marveled is
paid to do
Instagram for
the BBC, cites
those who
tweeted
#JeSuisCharlie
and said those
who have
freedom of
expression
should use it.
Panelist Adam
Glenn from
CUNY
Journalism
School said,
hoping not to
offend the
hosts the UN,
that the UN
should ensure
that all of
its staff have
training and
can tweet.
Inner City
Press and
FUNCA note,
for example,
that a UN staffer
in South Sudan
abruptly
stopped
tweeting
after she
tweeted this:
"#breaking Lou
Nuer youth are
mobilising in
big numbers
leaving #Akobo
town empty
heading
towards
Dengjok
#Southsudan."
As Inner City
Press reported
at the time,
after Mathilde
Kaalund-Jørgensen
raised this
alarm, the
tweet and her
Twitter
account
profile both
disappeared.
So much for
Rights Up
Front.
At the end of
the panel a UN
staffer took
the floor to
acknowledge
that UN staff
cannot tweet
what they
think. But
can't Ban
Ki-moon say
what he
thinks? Or
doesn't he
think it?
We'll have
more on this.
, 
