Amid
Media Strike
in Mali, UN
Vague on
Detention for
Reporting on
Sanogo's
Salary
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, March
12 -- What
does it mean
for the UN to
focus on a
country like
Mali? Nor
freedom of the
press, it
seems.
Back at the March
7 UN noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's chief
spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky:
Inner
City Press: In
Mali, a
journalist has
been detained
by the
security
agents, his
name is
Boukary Daou,
and his paper
published an
open letter
about the
financial
package given
to Captain
Sanogo, the
coup leader.
Now he has
been
essentially
arrested and
taken in for
questioning.
So I am
wondering,
particularly
given the UN…
I am not sure
of the status
of the UN
presence, I
know that they
are there. Are
they aware of
this arrest of
a journalist
for what seems
to be a pretty
much
free-speech
activity and
do they have
any comment on
it? Have they
spoken to the
Government
about it? What
do they think
of it?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: Well,
I think you
are aware that
we do have a
UN office in
Mali. It is a
multidisciplinary
team that also
includes a
human rights
component. So
I will check
to see what
they have to
say about
that, okay? It
is obvious
that
journalists
should be
allowed to
carry out
their work,
and
particularly
of an
investigative
nature. They
should be
allowed to
carry out that
work. Let me
see what the
mission has to
say on that.
But even
five days
later, the UN
in Mali has
had nothing to
say, even as a
media strike
has been
launched. On
the morning of
March 12 Inner
City Press
e-mailed Ban
Ki-moon's
three top
spokespeople "to
check in on
this one: my
question last
week about the
editor in
Mali. Now that
the issue has
led to a media
strike in the
country, with
its emerging
UN presence, I
want to ask
again if there
is any UN
statement /
action on
this: March
12, 2013,
'Mali Media
Outlets Go
Silent Over
Editor's
Arrest.'"
To this
written
inquiry, there
was no
response. So
Inner City
Press ran to
the March 12
noon briefing,
between UN
Security
Council
stakeouts by
the US and
Russia about
Sudan.
But
even asking
the question
for the third
time, the only
answer was
vague, about
the right to
report within
the rules.
Isn't the UN
supposed to
have more to
say, and
crucially more
to do, to
advance
freedom of the
press in one
of the
countries it
says it is
most concerned
about? Watch
this site.
Footnote:
The UN's Mali
juggernaut is
set to be run
by Mulet's
boss Herve
Ladsous, the
fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head UN
Peacekeeping (Profile;
Short
Film
#LADSOUS2013).
Ladsous has
refused to
answer Inner
City Press
questions
about 126
rapes in
Minova by his
partners in
the Congolese
Army. Finally
on March
7 his DPKO
spoonfed vague
answers to
friendly
journalists.
The answers
were
incomplete, as
it turns out.
But when Inner
City Press was
asked about
Ladsous' modus
spinandi,
AFP's Tim
Witcher cut in
to hiss about
"lies and
deception."
Inner City
Press replied,
"lapdog."
AFP's Witcher
and a Reuters
correspondent
then filed a
complaint,
entirely about
speech, with
UN Security.
Ban's
Department of
Pubilc
Information
has not
provided any
guidance, much
less
assurance,
that the right
to publish and
speak exist in
Ban's UN.
This
is how the
media is dealt
with in this
UN: the
"friendly"
ones are used,
servile on
Serval;
those who
report on
corruption?
See above, and
see false
complaints
to Inner City
Press by
UN Media
Accreditation
boss Stephane
Dujarric.
Watch this
site.
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