On
Yemen, UNSC
Cancels
Monthly
Meeting, ICP
Asks UK Why,
UK's DPI
UNresponsive
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Periscope;
Video
UNITED NATIONS,
September 26 – Now the UN
Security Council won't even hold
a single Yemen meeting in
September, despite its members'
professions of concern. On
September 26, Inner City Press
asked Ambassador Jonathan Allen
of the UK, the penholder on
Yemen in the UN Security
Council, why the meeting was
canceled. Periscope video here;
from the UK transcript: Inner
City Press: On Yemen, is it the
case that this month’s Security
Council meeting on Yemen was
either postponed or cancelled
and was anything accomplished on
the political track in the
humanitarian meeting held on
Friday of UNGA week? Amb Allen:
I think you’re referring to the
fact that this afternoon’s
briefing which was scheduled on
the provisional agenda isn’t
happening this afternoon. That
was a decision of the Ethiopian
Presidency. I don’t know what
the motivation was. I assume
they were having trouble getting
briefers to attend or something.
I’m sure it will be rescheduled
in due course so we will look
forward to that when it happens.
In terms of the meeting you
allude to, there was a good
conversation during the
ministerial week, but the
humanitarian situation in Yemen
continues to be of the gravest
concern to the UK and to the
Security Council as a whole. It
is a terrible situation,
particularly with the outbreaks
of cholera that have taken
place. And we have consistently
called on all of those parties
involved to allow aid and to
allow humanitarian relief to get
into all parts of the country
that require it through all
ports and airports without
conditions. And that continues
to be our call. And as for
conversations during ministerial
week I think there was a unity
of believe from all the
conversations I saw people
having that that should be the
case and there needed to be a
political solution." About
that September 22 meeting: new
UN Relief Chief Mark Lowcock
introduced as speakers the
foreign ministers of Sweden and
the Netherlands, representatives
of Japan and the UAE, and the
UN's dubious envoy Ismael Ould
Cheikh Ahmed. While billed as a
humanitarian meeting, the UAE
spoke without irony about
outside interference. (Yemen's
representative spoke in Arabic;
Inner City Press streamed
Periscope video).
To get to the meeting, held in
UN Conference Room 5, Inner City
Press unlike other no-show
reporters like Egypt's Akhbar al
Yom was required to get a UN
escort or minder, who told Inner
City Press it could not ask
questions or speak with anyone.
This despite UN OCHA telling
Inner City Press it could wait
outside and speak to people as
they left. So the UN's
retaliatory eviction of Inner
City Press for covering UN
corruption now results in it,
unlike the Saudi and pro-Saudi
media in the meeting, being
unable to speak to the
participants. This is today's UN
- it has been directly raised to
the new head of DPI, Alison
Smale, without response as she
focuses on the election on her
previous beat, Germany. Now
this, from the UNSC: "The
briefing and consultation on
Yemen is postponed for next
month and we'll have no meeting
scheduled tomorrow afternoon."
Pathetic. As it this: while
Canada joins The Netherlands at
the UN in Geneva in calling for
an investigation of possible war
crimes in Yemen including the
Saudi-led coalition's killing of
civilians, Canada has continued
a $15 billion arms deal with
Saudi Arabia. When Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
held a press conference at the
UN on September 21, Inner City
Press went early, intending to
ask him to explain this
incongruity or seeming
hypocrisy. Trudeau's spokesman
announced that the questioners
had been “pre-determined,” but
did not explain how. So in a
lull after what the spokesman
called the last question - would
Trudeau be a mediator on
Venezuela - Inner City Press
asked about Canadian arms sales
to Saudi while calling for a
probe. At first Trudeau said he
was happy to answer the
question. Then he said no, he
would not reward “bad behavior,”
and instead reached out for
question in French about day
care. (Inner City Press notes
that pre-determining questioners
is bad behavior. Apparently the
CBC journalist who was given the
first question agreed to it; the
organization only the day before
sent an Egyptian state media
correspondent as the lone “pooler”
in Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' meeting with General
Sisi.) Eearlier on September 21
when UK minister Alistair Burt
came in front of the UN Security
Council to speak about
accountability for Daesh in
Iraq, Inner City Press deferred
to a timely question about the
referendum in Kurdistan. Then
during lull - identical to
that in which it put its
question to Trudeau - Inner City
Press asked Burt about his
quote, about accountability for
the bombing of civilians in
Yemen by the Saudi-led Coalition
with UK bombs, that "Our view is
that it is for the Coalition
itself, in the first instance,
to conduct such investigations.
They have the best insight into
their own military procedures
and will be able to conduct the
most thorough and conclusive
investigations.” Inner City
Press asked how he can say this,
given that the Saudis have
investigated less than five
percent of the killings. Video here.
Burt's answer focused on the
peace process - what peace
process? At least Burt answered,
and did not like Trudeau try to
call merely asking the question
in a lull "bad behavior" - we'll
have more on this.
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
Past
(and future?) UN Office: S-303, UN, NY 10017 USA
For now: Box 20047,
Dag Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2017 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for
|
,
