Russia
Cites Kyiv
Junta, Ukraine
Pushes Back,
UN Language
Exclusions
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 29 --
After disputes
about spying
and the UN's
failure to
translate or
treat
languages
fairly, the
speeches in
the Committee
on Information
ended on April
29 with
replies by
Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine's
youthful
spokesman
criticized
Russia for
having
referred to
the Kyiv
junta, saying
that all
countries
except Russia
recognize it.
(He did not
state the
basis for this,
after for
example 58
abstentions in
the UN General
Assembly on
the resolution
against the
referendum in
Crimea.)
Russia's
spokesman kept
his reply
light and
briefing,
noting that
he'd spoken of
multi-ligualism
in the
morning, and
now his Ukrainian
colleague had
learned
Russian. Further
speeches
seemed sure to
follow later
on April 29 in
the Security
Council.
On the topic
of language
inequality,
Inner City
Press and the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
at the April
29 noon
briefing asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman Stephane
Dujarric why
the UN's
in-house EZTV
has two French
channels,
France 24 and
TV 5 Monde,
CNN and Fox
News from the
US, Al Jazeera
and BBC, but
no channel in
Chinese or
Russian.
Cost, Dujarric
replied. But
who votes on
or oversees
these budgets?
When Inner
City Press
asked about
(Western) "P3
TV," Dujarric
said, That's
not a
question. No,
it is not:
it's a current
fact.
There are
culture fights
at the UN, and
there
are also
language wars.
Or at least
skirmishes, as
took place on
April 28 in
the Committee
on
Information.
Delegates from
Argentina to
Cuba and China
asked why the
UN Webcast
archives are
not in Spanish
or Chinese,
Russian or
Arabic. At
least the
question was
answered,
but the logic
is not
entirely
clear.
Even
from the UN's
in-house EZTV,
which offers
CNN and Fox,
BBC and Al
Jazaeera, TV 5
Monde and
France 24, the
Chinese and
Russian
channels
have been
removed, Inner
City Press
hereby reports
and the Free
UN
Coalition for
Access dubs
"P3 TV" for
the three
Western
permanent
members of the
UN Security
Council.
There
are two French
channels, and
none in
Chinese or
Russian.
Meanwhile as
Argentina's
delegate
pointed out on
April 28 in
the Committee
on Information,
it is Spanish
and not
French that is
the second
most popular
language for
those visiting
the UN's
website. Que
pasa?
More
insidiously,
France's
outgoing
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Gerard
Araud on April
15 told a UN
accredited
correspondent
(not this
one) who asked
a critical
question,
"You are not a
journalist,
you are an
agent."
Inner City
Press on
behalf of the
Free
UN
Coalition for
Access has
asked
UN Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric to
convey to the
French mission
the UN's
stated
position,
that
correspondents
should be
treated with
respect. So
far it has not
happened.
The
attacked
correspondent
has for days
asked the UN
Correspondents
Association's
Executive
Committee to
take some
action -- as,
we note,
it did with
respect to
another media,
and another
Ambassador.
But the
attacked
journalist
tells Inner
City Press
that UNCA is
"dragging
its feet."
Others are not
surprised.
Amid
all this, the
UN will be
celebrating
World Press
Freedom Day
with
none other
than the
president of
UNCA, which is
dragging its
feet on
defense of
journalists
inside the UN
(after having
attacked
at least
one, then
engaged
in censorship),
and while UNCA
does NOTHING
on more
serious attacks
on press
freedom in
Ethiopia
and Burundi.
World Press
Freedom Day,
indeed.
We'll be
there: watch
this site.
Footnote:
In
fairness,
initiatives
like DPI's
Brown Bag
Lunch series
with for
example UN
Security and
the UN envoy
to Libya were
good. But
Under
Secretaries
General like
Herve Ladsous
still openly
refuses
particular
media's
questions, and
other USGs
rarely if even
take
questions.
Improvements,
including a UN
Freedom of
Information
Act
and improved
UN Media
Alert, are
needed. Watch
this site.
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