On
#FreeAJstaff,
US Urges Egypt
to Redress
Verdict - Or
What? UN
Silent
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 13 --
Amid news that
Egypt imposed
prison sentences
on Al Jazeera
journalists
Mohammed Fahmy,
Baher Mohamed
and Peter
Greste, while
the UN had
still said
nothing at
all, the US State
Department said:
"The
United States
is deeply
disappointed
and concerned
by the verdict
handed down by
an Egyptian
court to the
three
Al-Jazeera
journalists -
Mohamed Fahmy,
Baher Mohamed,
and Peter
Greste. The
freedom of the
press to
investigate,
report, and
comment – even
when its
perspective is
unpopular or
disputed – is
fundamental to
any free
society and
essential to
democratic
development.
"We urge the
Government of
Egypt to take
all available
measures to
redress this
verdict, which
undermines the
very freedom
of expression
necessary for
stability and
development."
But what will
the US actually
DO about this?
And the UN? It
remained
silent, just
as it refused
to answer
Press
questions
about the
burning-down
of a radio
station in Burkina
Faso, as raised
by the Free UN
Coalition for
Access (FUNCA).
Back on
February 13,
2015, UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon said:
"The
Secretary-General
welcomes the
decision by
the Egyptian
authorities to
release on
bail the
journalists
Mohamed Fahmy
and Baher
Mohamed. He
hopes that
their cases,
as well as
those of other
journalists in
detention,
will be
resolved
expeditiously
and in
accordance
with Egypt’s
international
obligations to
protect the
freedoms of
expression and
association."
Ban Ki-moon
didn't 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.
On February
12, 2015
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.
, 
