UNITED
NATIONS, June
1 -- Even when
the UN tries
to fix or
"amend"
one
of its errors,
does it
disclose it
and explain
what it
changed?
No.
On
May 31 the UN
News Center said, of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
Myanmar,
that "Ban
welcomes
ceasefire
agreement in
Kachin."
As
Inner City
Press wrote
and published
on May 31,
there was a
problem:
no ceasefire
has been
agreed to.
Inner City
Press obtained
and put
online
the actual
agreement,
here.
On
June 1,
without
further
explanation,
UN News Center
changed its
statement, adding
that "This
article has
been amended
as of
1 June 2013."
Changed
how?
Why? The UN
does not say.
Compare June
1 online
version, here,
to
version
Inner City
Press saved
on May 31,
here.
Screen shots
shouldn't be
necessary to
avoid being
deceived by
the UN.
UN
News Center is
run by the UN
Department of
Public
Information,
whose
official
Stephane
Dujarric has,
among other
things, demanded
explanations
of a single on
the record
tweet by
Inner City
Press while doing
nothing about
others'.
Dujarric told
Inner City
Press how it
should and
should not
cover and
refer to
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
his chief of
Peacekeeping
Herve Ladsous.
That
was attempted
censorship,
particularly
when done by
the UN
official
in charge of
UN Media
Accreditation.
It
is amazing
that a
Department of
Public
Information
which seeks to
give such
"lessons" in
journalism
would make a
major change
to an
erroneous
report --
there WAS no
ceasefire
agreement --
without
disclosing
what was
changed and
why.
This
same DPI and
Dujarric are
in the process
of eliminating
media
workspace and
a media table
in front of
the UN
Security
Council for
years.
Inner City
Press and the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
have
questioned and
opposed the
planned
reduction in
media access
since
they were
shown the
rules, on May
20.
Before
addressing
FUNCA's track
change
comments,
Dujarric
replied that
there
will be no
table. No one
will say when
the rules go
into effect,
or
who beyond the
old UN
Correspondents
Association
Executive
Committee
agreed to
them.
On May
31, DPI
finally tried
to justify the
refusal
to allow a
table where it
would fit by
saying diplomats
in the
so-called
Turkish Lounge
would think
the press was
eavesdropping
on
them. Some
respect for
the media, and
principles.
We'll have
more on
this.
There's
more
to report on
Myanmar --
we'd prefer
that to be the
focus here,
rather than
having to
spend time
fighting to
maintain was
media
workspace and
access existed
before Ban
Ki-moon and
this DPI --
including that
there have
been, Myanmar
sources tell
Inner City
Press, no UN
aid convoys to
the refugee
camps in areas
controlled by
the Kachin
Independence
Organization
since
February.
Ban's
envoy Vijay
Nambiar is
supposed to be
advocating for
this but it
appears he has
done little
about it, the
sources say.
Meanwhile
humanitarian
conditions in
the camps in
KIO controlled
areas remain
poor. It is
now rainy
season so
water borne
disease will
definitely be
more of a
problem.
What
a good job
this UN does -
reduce aid and
media
workspace to
report on it,
cover up
mistakes.
Watch this
site.
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