Murky
CAR Coverage
Has Zuma
Boosting
Troops to 400,
UN Stakeout
Blackout
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Blog
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 6 --
Why is the
conflict in
the Central
African
Republic so
murky?
Not only
events in the
country north
of Bangui,
but also the
international
community's
responses,
from UNseen
stakeouts at
the United
Nations in New
York to
superseded
South
African counts
of how many
troops that
country is
sending?
First
it was said
South Africa
was sending
120 soldiers.
Then the
numbers
reported
climbed to
150, then 200.
Finally today
President
Jacob Zuma
posted a
statement
putting the
number at 400,
and saying he
gave the
authorization
four days
earlier. Why
the delay?
At
the UN on
January 4,
Security
Council
President
Masood Khan of
Pakistan came
to read a
Council press
statement on
CAR, drafted
by
the French.
Inner City
Press was
there, and at
first was told
there
would be no
on-camera
reading of the
statement,
since "you are
the only one
here."
Inner
City Press
tweeted the
Council
Presidency's
readiness with
the
statement, and
went to visit
the basement
offices of UN
Television.
Finally after
6 pm the
camera was set
up, and two of
the wire
services that
cover the UN
sent reporters
to the
stakeout.
Ambassador
Khan
read the
statement,
then Inner
City Press
asked him how
many
troops each
country was
sending to
defend Bangui
from the
Seleka
rebels. Khan
said the
Council had
received this
information
from UN
Department of
Political
Affairs chief
Jeffrey
Feltman -- who
had
declined to
speak to the
press -- but
that he didn't
have it off
hand.
Inner
City Press
asked about
those arrested
by Bozize, on
ethnic and
even
religious
groups. Khan
pointed to a
portion of the
statement
about
"targeting."
And then he
was gone.
As
Inner City
Press wrote
up the answers
such as they
were,
another
reporter ran
up to the
Council,
saying that
the
"televised"
stakeout had
not been shown
live on UNTV.
Inner City
Press
summarized
it, then uploaded
its informal
video of the
stakeout,
figuring the
UN
would put its
video up soon.
But
now two days
later, at 1 pm
on January 6,
a visit to the
UN
Webcast website
finds the
Central
African
Republic
stakeout video
is still
not
online.
Stories
were written,
including by a
wire
"at" the UN
but not
present at the
stakeout, a
mere retyping
of the
e-mailed press
statement.
"Reporting"
and thus
public
knowledge are
being
undermined by
the UN. This
sounds like a
job for the Free UN Coalition for Access, FUNCA,
which asks:
why are things
so murky?
Watch this
site.
, 
