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At
UN,
Ouattara Says Jailed Journalist Aboa “Paid by Gbagbo to Buy
Arms”
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 27, updated -- When Alassane Ouattara of Cote
d'Ivoire offered
thanks to the press at the UN on Wednesday, it raised questions about
media freedom since he has been in power. Inner City Press asked
Ouattara about the case of Hermann Aboa, a pro-Gbagbo journalist now
facing life in prison for, among other things, “endangering state
security.”
Ouattara
began by
referring to the precedent of Radio Mille Collines in Rwanda, saying
that Aboa “called on hate, hatred.” Video here,
from Minute 13:56. But press freedom experts
have rejected this analogy, after viewing RTI
footage like this.
Ouattara
went on
to say Aboa got money from Gbagbo “to buy arms, to distribute arms
to mercenaries.” Then why focus on Aboa's speech?
Inner
City Press
asked about the FRCI, under Guillaume Soro, taking over pro-Gbagbo
media organizations in Abidjan, and also reportedly shaking down
miners and others.
Ouattara said
Soro's Forces Nouvelles are being
“merged” with “Mister Gbagbo's Army” and that commanders will
be held responsible. So what about Douekoue?
Inner
City Press
asked the spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who met
with Ouattara on Wednesday morning, if as requested he had raise the
case of Hermann Aboa. Spokesman Martin Nesirky said he didn't know,
even if the request had been received. We will continue on this.
Update of 3:20 pm -
Ban's acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq has just "squawked" that Ban
"was made aware" of the letter
about Hermann Aboa and press freedom. But still
not answered: did Ban raise the issues to Ouattara? There's only
a read out that doesn't mention the issue, click here to view.
* * *
In
Cote
d'Ivoire,
Choi Wants to Leave, Delayed
Elections & Douekoue Process
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July
18 -- After Choi Young-jin briefed
the Security Council
Monday about Ivory Coast, he did an interview with Korea
Broadcasting. Then he took five questions from Inner City Press at
the regular UN Television camera. He essentially confirmed that he is
leaving, saying that he'd told Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that it
makes more sense to have a new envoy in place for the “next chapter
in Cote d'Ivoire.”
Choi
had
previously
said he would stay through the parliamentary elections,
but that seems to no longer hold. Inner City Press asked about these;
Choi said they were slated for the end of the year but face a number
of challenges, including looted electoral offices and consideration
of adding 50 to 75 seats.
Inner
City
Press
asked Choi about the the continued “house arrest” of Laurent
Gbagbo: does the UN think that he should be charged? Choi described
his visit to Gbagbo, including Gbagbo jokingly asking his doctor if
he's healthy, but did not opine on detention without charge.
Pressed,
Choi
said
that there are processes underway at the International Criminal Court
and in Cote d'Ivoire, but they are in “preliminary” stages. So
much for the UN and habeus corpus.
Choi & Ban Ki-moon: hello, now goodbye?
Nor
has action
been taking on the killings in Douekoue, which Choi said were “two
thirds” committed by forces supporting Ouattara. Inner City Press
asked Choi what has been done and he described meeting with Ouattara,
who in turn called in the prime minister and zone commanders and
promised no impunity. We'll see.
Footnote: as Choi
left the Security Council stakeout, Inner City Press joked to him that
since Ban Ki-moon ran for a second term without any alternative
candidate, he hadn't needed anyone to run his campaign as Choi did in
2006. Choi and his two aides laughed and then were gone.
Inner City
Press asked the Korea Broadcasting crew, thinking they might have
insight into Choi's next assignment, in Seoul or for the UN, "what do
you think he'll be doing next?" One said, "Having lunch."
* * *
Leaked
French
Memos
Discuss
Destablizing
Gbagbo, Coup Plots & Leaders
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee,
2d
in Exclusive series
UNITED
NATIONS,
April
13
--
French government memos obtained by Inner City
Press reflect, as far back as 2005, France and the UN wanted to “put
in place a plan of action to destablize Laurent Gbagbo.” See
document here,
under the rubric “From New York: Departure of Gbagbo.”
The
French were
monitoring, to say the least, plans for a coup d'etat against Gbagbo,
that would result in Gbagbo's “displacement”
outside of Cote
d'Ivoire. See document here.
France's
internal
reporting
on
military
forces
and
leaders in Cote d'Ivoire is here.
Also
obtained
by
Inner
City
Press is the French analysis of the “failure” of
African leaders Tandja,
Mbeki
of
South
Africa and Obasanjo of
Nigeria -- later given UN mandates and pay elsewhere. Click here and
here
for
French analyses of the three heres, and here again for
a French memo on the intentions of Guillaume Soro, referring to
another childhood friend of Gbagbo and his “ethnie Bete” -- Bete
ethnicity.
After
Inner
City
Press'
publication
on
April
8
of the first installment in this series,
which endeavors to use primary documents as background to recent
action in Cote d'Ivoire -- as well as to question why a
French
diplomat, Romain Serman, arrested in New York for attempt purchase of
cocaine and resisting arrest, has resurfaced as France's general
consul in San Francisco -- Yousoufou Bamba, who has represented the
forces of Alassane Ouattara at the UN for months, called Inner City
Press.
Bamba,
who
has
always
been
amiable and on the record, complained he thought Inner
City Press is “being used,” adding that in Ivory Coast, these
French documents are seen as helping Gbagbo. But question then the
contents of the documents.
And
on l'affaire
Serman, France has not come forward with any explanation of
re-sending Serman or of the other documents -- such explantions or
comment would of course be published here -- and the US
Mission to the UN has yet to answer questions it confirms it received
from Inner City Press over the weekend, to know
as
quickly
as
possible,
whether
the US was informed / aware of French
diplomat Romain Serman's arrest in New York in 2006 for attempted
purchase of cocaine and resisting arrest before Serman re-appeared in
the US as France's current general consul in San Francisco.
See,
e.g., http://www.innercitypress.com/nypd1serman.pdf
Separately,
please
comment
on
the
applicability of US law and precedent to this
case, l'affaire Serman.
This
is
something
the
US
State Department should be able to answer. Watch this site.
Click for Mar 1, '11
BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption
Click
here
for an Inner City Press YouTube channel video, mostly UN Headquarters
footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12
debate
on
Sri
Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis
here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
UN
Office:
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Tel:
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Reporter's
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(and
weekends):
718-716-3540
Other,
earlier
Inner
City
Press
are
listed
here,
and
some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright
2006-08
Inner
City
Press,
Inc.
To
request
reprint
or
other
permission,
e-contact
Editorial
[at]
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