UNITED NATIONS,
September 12 – Sudan's Omar al
Bashir, charged at the
International Criminal Court
with genocide in Darfur,
visited Morocco in August,
essentially to shake down the
Saudi King during his
over-the-top Moroccan
vacation. Now the UN is giving
its "team sites" in Darfur to
Bashir's militia, and when
caught only issues statements
of concern, rather than
reversing the transfers. On
September 12 Inner City Press
asked UN spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, UN transcript here
including the statement
Dujarric later read, as if it
were sufficient: Inner City
Press: on Darfur, what I
wanted to ask you, with the
Mission downsizing, I wanted
to know, the allegation… there
are allegations that the team
sites that have been closed
have been turned over to
Government militias, some of
whom have been connected with
the very allegations of
genocide for which the
Government… the… Omar
Al-Bashir was indicted or
supposed to go to the ICC
[International Criminal
Court]. So, I wanted to
know, what is UNAMID [African
Union-United Nations Hybrid
Operation in Darfur] doing to
ensure that the camps and
sites and equip… things that
they're leaving behind in
Darfur don't, in fact, go to
the very forces that brought
the peacekeeping mission there
in the first place?
Spokesman: I will check,
I haven't received anything
from UNAMID today.
[Later] Spokesman: On UNAMID,
my trusted staff has actually
given me some answers
here. UNAMID said this
weekend that it is concerned
about the recent allegations
of improper handover of team
sites in North Darfur as part
of its mandated
reconfiguration. In line
with its mandate, the mission
is reducing the number of
military police and civilian
personnel and has earmarked 11
team sites for closure across
Darfur. Four team sites
have been closed to date, and
seven are yet to be
closed. Closed team
sites have been handed over to
the Government of Sudan or
appropriate private parties as
per lease agreements signed by
the Mission. Inner City Press:
Right, but what… if they're
concerned about it, are they
concerned that the Government
gave it to this militia…?
Spokesman: "Well, I
think that would encompass the
concern." Well, no. Even
if it's about Bashir trying
to shake down Saudi Arabia
for (more) money, there
should be a limit to
Morocco's desperate attempt
to make itself relevant in
Africa, as in CAR,
in order to support its
abuses in Western Sahara. On
Morocco: the
Free UN Coalition for Access
was informed that the
journalist Mr. Elmahdaoui was
transferred to Casablanca
after being condemned to four
months of imprisonment. He was
transferred to Casablanca
court/prison. At the UN, the
Moroccan state media the UN
gives offices and full access
to don't even come into the
building, must less ask
questions. Today's UN is
corrupt - but it is being
opposed. On July 20, before
interviewing Rif activists
outside the UN's gates, here,
Inner City Press asked the UN
about Rif for the 15th time,
UN transcript here...
After several delays, the UN
Security Council renewed for
one year the mandate of its
Western Sahara mission MINURSO
at 6 pm on April 28. Final
resolution put on Scribed by
Inner City Press here.
After the vote when Morocco's
Permanent Representative to
the UN Omar Hilale came to the
UNTV stakeout, and after
questions from Moroccan state
media, Inner City Press asked
Hilale three questions, on
Horst Kohler as possible new
envoy, on the C-24 Committee
visiting the regions, and what
Morocco had accomplished by
ousting the MINURSO
peacekeepers. Hilale rather
than answering used the podium
to, as he put it, give some
statistics. 6-second Vine
Camera video here.
He said that
Inner City Press has asked 225
questions about the conflict
in the past year - quelle
horreur -- and had had
the temerity to write 150
articles about it. Inner City
Press pointed out that it has
written more about other
countries, such as these days
Cameroon. But Hilale went on
from there. Video
here. Three days after
the stakeouts, the UN
Department of Public
Information had put on its
website only two of the three
speakers that evening (May 1
photo here).
So on May 1 Inner City Press
asked the UN's holdover
spokesman Stephane Dujarric,
video
here, UN transcript here...here
is part of the video. What
is wrong with the UN, and its
DPI? It was to the DPI
that Hilale's Moroccan mission
made a frivolous complaint
about Inner City Press
taking photos at the stakeout;
it was this DPI which evicted
Inner City Press and still
keeps it restricted, trying to
give its long time shared
office to an Egyptian state
media which rarely comes in
and never asks questions. This
zero, apparently, is a count
that Hilale, Morocco and its
state media and trolls are
most comfortable with. Up to
death threats have been
received. Here then is a song,
Western Sahara Blues, the
Ballad of Omar Hilale.
And then
there's this: Moroccan trolls,
using Dujarric's (and the
now-gone Gallach's) eviction
of Inner City Press for
covering corruption like this,
that Inner City Press "was
sacked out from the #UN
because he was caught filming
a closed meeting." No, Inner
City Press said openly it
would film, and did, a meeting
in the UN Press Briefing Room
by a group that took dues
money from now indicted Ng Lap
Seng's bribery conduit. The
Moroccan state "media" at the
UN don't even ask questions.
Troll on. On April 19 as
Guterres held a rare Q&A
session, about Africa, his
holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric had pre-selected
questions, many of them not
about Africa at all. The UN
Department of Public
Information under Guterres has
threatened
Inner City Press after a
frivolous complaint from the
Moroccan mission about photos
taken according to the rules
at the UN Security Council
stakeout, while DPI has given
multiple "Resident
Correspondent" badges to
Moroccan state media, some
moonlighting for the UN
itself, while restricting the
UNderdog Press. Meanwhile,
Inner City Press has learned,
the UN's decoloniziation
(C-24) committee is preparing
to visit the Tindouf refugee
camp. We'll have more on this.
While Guterres breezed by the
issue of Western Sahara on
Friday, April 7 as Morocco
tried to get the Press which
covers it further restricted,
Inner City Press was leaked
the email below, from the UN's
Kim Bolduc, amid reports of
Germany's Horst Kohler as new
Personal Envoy. While
Guterres' holdover spokesman
Stephane Dujarric refused to
comment on either,
here (contrary to his
Q&A last week about "Sex
in the City, here),
now Inner City Press has put
on Scribd the full text
of Guterres' first MINURSO
report such as it is, here.
But when Inner City Press
asked the UN's holdover
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
about both on April 10, he
wouldn't answer either
question. Video
here.
***
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