UNITED
NATIONS, May
28 -- The
working day
after the
Australian
Lesbian
Medical
Association
won a vote at
the UN for
recommendation
as
special
consultative
status to
ECOSOC,
Austria-based
Homosexuelle
Initative Wien
(HOSI Wien)
won, by
exactly the
same vote.
When
ALMA's
application
came up on May
24, Pakistan
sought to put
it off,
asking for a
copy of a
scientific
paper
mentioned in
its
application.
Bulgaria took
the floor to
call this a
delay tactic,
and called for
a
vote.
On
May 28, it was
Belgium
calling for
the vote on
HOSI Wien.
There
are 19 members
of the NGO
Committee. Two
were again
listed as
"absent" --
Burundi and
Cuba. Of those
listed as
present,
nine voted
yes, six voted
no, and two
abstained.
The
nine "Yes"
votes as
recorded by
Inner City
Press in the
room were the
USA,
Venezuela,
Belgium,
India, Israel,
Nicaragua,
Peru
and Turkey.
The
six "No" votes
were China,
Morocco --
which also
opposed or
questioned
groups dealing
with Western
Sahara --
Pakistan,
Russia,
Senegal and
Sudan.
The
abstainers
were
Kyrgyzstan and
Mozambique,
which
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon
just visited.
Inner
City Press has
asked, does
Ban's
Secretariat
monitor this
NGO
Committee, and
try to assert
leadership?
On
the other
hand, the US
on May 24
alone blocked
or delayed the
Islamic
African Relief
Agency, saying
it funded
Osama Bin
Laden, and
asking
for more
information:
which UN
agencies
funded it?
Sudan
complained
that while the
US question
blocked the
groups,
questions
about ALMA did
not. But ALMA
had the votes.
Did the
Islamic
African
Relief Agency?
Apparently
not.
In
other May 28
morning
action, Russia
noted that the
Assyrian
National
Congress "has
no website,"
and asked for
an update on
its
work.
Syria
-- not
"Assyria" --
spoke on
another item,
offering to
provide
evidence of
abuse of
refugees in
camps in
neighboring
countries. And
so it goes at
the UN. Watch
this site.
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