On
Gambia, ICP Asks UN
About Paradise FM Closed, Spox Claims UN Is For Media Freedom
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
January 9 – As in The Gambia
Yahya Jammeh moved on December
1 to shut off the Internet
(and Viber, etc) for the / his
election, there was again a
deafening silence from the UN
and its “communications” / press
eviction chief Cristina
Gallach.
On January
8 a fourth radio station,
Paradise FM, has been closed,
it has announced
- and still from the UN,
nothing.
So on
January 9 Inner City Press
asked holdover UN spokesman Stephane
Dujarric about this,
UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
I asked you before about
Gambia, but now, over the
weekend, a fourth radio
station, Paradise FM, has been
closed. So, it seems
like that Yahya Jammeh is
entrenching himself and
closing down the media.
What steps are being taken, to
the UN's knowledge by the
region and by the UN itself,
and do you have any statement
on the closing of radio
stations in Gambia?
Spokesman: Obviously,
it's clear that we're against
any and all forced closing of
radio stations. The free
media is an important
component to any… any
democracy.
Obviously, the situation in
the Gambia is of continuing
concern to us. I know
the President of Nigeria, I
think, is having a meeting
today. We're trying to
get some sort of update from
our colleagues in the office
of… for West Africa. And
we've been involved in that,
as well. It's important
for the sake of the people of
the Gambia that a peaceful
resolution be found to the
current impasse that we're in.
But goes today's
UN, or at least Dujarric and
DPI's Gallach, really support
freedom of the media, even
inside the UN? The transcript
continued:
Inner City Press:
Sure. And I have a
quick… another question, which
is that there was the
town-hall meeting today by the
sec… by the Secretary-General,
António Guterres, and was it
on the UN's website. It
was on the publicly available
website. And I was
broadcasting it by Periscope,
and I was told to stop, that
this violated
guidelines. I just
wanted to be clear from you:
can it violate guidelines to
broadcast something that's on
the UN's own website?
Spokesman: My… listen,
I'm not sure what the details
of your retail situation
was. What I do know is
that it was not on the website
that was publicly accessible…
Inner City Press: Yes,
it was. It's important.
Spokesman: I understand…
I understand. It was an
event meant for staff. I
think it is only normal that
the Secretary-General be
allowed to speak and have a
frank conversation with his
staff outside of the glare of
the media. I think it
was a very good… it was a very
good meeting from the point of
view of staff. I think
it was a very good meeting for
the Secretary-General to be
able to hear firsthand for the
first time the concerns of
staff around the world.
It was on our internal
webcast.
Inner City Press: I
don't have access to the
internal website, so I saw it
on the public website. I
just want to be clear that
reporting on it… because I
don't disagree with anything
that you've said, but
reporting on it, given that it
was on the public website,
does not…
Spokesman: My
understanding is that it was
not on the public
website. So, you and I
have different views of
reality. We can check…
try to combine those later.
It was on
the UN's public website;
Dujarric didn't even bother to
check, just amplified
Gallach's DPI's threat. This
is today's UN.
On January
5, Inner City Press asked
holdover UN spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, video
here, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
about Gambia. The
electoral commission chief has
gone into hiding, and the
Government has closed three
radio stations, one of which
reopened with no news on
it. So what's the status
of the UN's work on this
holdover presidency?
Spokesman: We've had…
various UN officials have had
contacts with parties
involved, and obviously we
would like to see and are very
keen to see a peaceful
resolution to the current
crisis in the Gambia and,
notably, the… for the
President… the outgoing
President to leave way for the
President that was just
elected.
As of
January 7, new Secretary
General Antonio Guterres had
yet to speak
publicly about Jammeh
and Gambia. Click
here for more on UN
press freedom improvements
needed, including proposals of
the Free
UN Coalition for Access.
Meanwhile the US issued a
travel warning:
"The U.S.
Department of State warns U.S.
citizens against travel to The
Gambia because of the
potential for civil unrest and
violence in the near
future. On January 7,
2017, the Department of State
ordered the departure of
family members and authorized
the departure of all employees
who need to accompany those
individuals from the country.
The security situation in The
Gambia remains uncertain
following December 1, 2016
presidential elections.
On January 10, the Supreme
Court is scheduled to hear the
current president’s petition
contesting the election
results, which is a potential
flashpoint that could lead to
civil unrest. The
sitting government has begun
taking restrictive measures,
which include shutting down
and restricting radio
stations, and making
politically motivated
arrests. The Economic
Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) has stated it
may intervene if the president
does not step down by January
18.
U.S. citizens should consider
departing on commercial
flights and other
transportation options now, as
airports and ferry terminals
may close unexpectedly in the
event of unrest. All
U.S. citizens should have
evacuation plans that do not
rely on U.S. government
assistance. U.S.
citizens should ensure that
travel documents (passports
and visas) are valid and
up-to-date. Consular
services, already limited
throughout the country due to
very poor transportation
infrastructure and security
conditions, may be further
limited, including in Banjul
itself.
U.S. citizens who decide to
remain in The Gambia should
prepare for the possible
deterioration of security."
We'll have
more on this.
***
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