At
UN, Ban
Conflates AIDS
and Gays, His
Answer to
Murder of
Maxwell is
Hollywood
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 25 -- When
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon held a
Town
Hall staff
meeting on May
24, he was
asked why he
has not
followed up
on the
"murder" in
Kabul of UN
security
officer Louis
Maxwell, by
Afghan
National
Forces. Click
here for one of
Inner City
Press' dozen
stories on the
case,
including a Ban
administration
statement
that it is
hard to push
for one
individual.
Ban's
response was
that he HAS
pursued the
case -- by
urging
Hollywood to
make a movie
about it. But
the follow up
that's lacking
is
accountability
for his
murder.
Maxwell fought
off an attack
on the UN
guest house,
then was
reportedly
shot by Afghan
National
Forces, either
mistaken for a
Taliban or as
retaliation.
Ban's
response
outraged a
number of UN
staff members:
that he
thought it was
enough
to say the
murder should
be made into a
movie. Perhaps
to explain
the lack of
action, Ban
said that the
case has
garnered only
a few
"small"
stories. Well,
this is
another one.
Ban's ever
increasing
interest in
Hollywood
stands in
contrast to
press freedom
at the UN,
where
independent
media is hindered
or even sought
to be ejected
under a double
standard.
In
a similar
vein, the head
of the gay
rights staff
group UN GLOBE
asked Ban why
his UN only
recognizes gay
domestic
partnerships
if the staff
members in
question
come from a
home country
that
recognizes the
unions.
Ban's
first
response on
the question
of gay rights
was what he
has done for
people with
AIDS. To many,
it seemed that
Ban' conflated
the two, as
if all or most
gay people
have AIDS.
Ban
bragged that
he had been
out
in front of US
President
Obama, and
about the
release of a
couple in
Malawi, saying
the
international
community
really
appreciated
his
work. He did
not address
the continuing
disparate
treatment in
his
own UN. As the
questioner
said, equality
begins at
home.
Ban
did stay and
shake a lot of
hands at the
end, even with
the fracture
he suffered
playing
soccer. This
weekend, the
UN is letting
Japanese movie
director Junji
Sakamoto film
"The Human
Trust" inside
the
UN, with UN
extras.
As Inner City
Press got
the UN to
confirm, it
did
NOT allow
Sacha Baron
Cohen to film
The Dictator
inside the UN.
Click
here for that,
and watch this
site.
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