By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April
14 -- Three
days before
the UN
Security
Council hears
of the North
Korea report
of the Human
Rights
Council,
Japanese
journalist
Ishimaru Jiro
screens his
hard-won
videos of the
country at the
Korea Society
on 57th
Street.
Acknowledging
that he had
paid North
Korean citizen
journalists to
shoot footage
of faux
department
stores in
which nothing
on display is
for sale,
Ishimaru Jiro
provided
anecdotes from
his years
covering the
issue.
Inner City
Press asked
him about the
Commission of
Inquiry not
doing this
dogged
reporting but
rather relying
only on public
public hearing
outside of the
country. He
replied that
he testifying
to the CoI in
Tokyo, but
that most of
its findings
are by now out
of date. Video
here. Just
like the
video, of this
we can say:
through a
glass, darkly.
Back on
February
17,
there was
little
question which
way the UN
Commission of
Inquiry would
come out at
its press
conference in
Geneva.
But in
the hour
before it
began, US
state media
Voice of
America reported
that
"China has
said it will
block the
report from
reaching the
International
Court of
Justice."
Update: after
publication of
this article,
VoA made the
correction,
but never
noted that the
article had
been changed.
The original
is here.
The error was
obvious, or
should have
been to VoA or
its
Broadcasting
Board of
Governors: the
report
urges referral
to the
International
Criminal Court
-- of which
the United
States is not
a member.
When
CoI chair
Michael Kirby
began the
press
conference,
the UN gave
the first
question to
Voice of
America. Kirby
rambled on,
including
among North
Korea's many
sins that
there is no
contact
between
professional
organizations
in North and
South Korea.
Is that a
human rights
violation?
Citing
the "cult of
personality,"
Kirby said
that Kim
Jong-un is
followed
around by
scribes with
"little books
to take note"
of everything
he says. (Also
on February
17, Voice
of America
breathlessly
announced that
"VOA
correspondent
Scott Stearns,
who is
traveling with
Kerry, said
the secretary
wants the
international
community to
use a break in
the talks to
figure out how
best to pursue
a political
solution.")
After
Kirby let it
be known that
in Australia
his mother was
a member of
the Communist
Party, he
referred to
his fellow
panel member
Marzuki
Darusman as
being present.
Darusman
answered no
questions
until Reuters'
contrast with
Syria and
Darfur. Darusman
previously
worked on a
panel about
Sri Lanka,
which has yet
to lead to any
accountability.
Footnote:
By
contrast to
the censors'
circus at the
UN in New
York, there
was no
branding of
the press
conference by
ACUNA there,
unlike the United
Nations
Correspondents
Association
insistence to
say its name
even when
briefed, like
last week, by
the
spokesperson
of the
President of
the General
Assembly.
(Only after
that did the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access do
so - it opposes
censorship.)
During the
webcast
Democratic
People's
Republic of
Korea press
conference, UNCA
president
Pamela Falk
of CBS sent
out tweets
with minimal
information
but
containing, as
promotion, the
name of UNCA.
Cult of
personality?
Update
II: More
than three
hours later a
CBS story
issued,
concluding
that Ban
Ki-moon "has
not yet issued
a statement
but will
probably have
a response,
according to
his pokesman
[sic] Martin
Nesirky." This
is called
insider, with
questions and
answer
withheld even
from other
UNCA members,
and of course
from the
public, and no
hard
questions, click
here for that.
Update
III: by 10 pm
in New York,
Ban Ki-moon
had NOT sent
out any
comment; the
CBS site
without noting
it deleted the
quote from
Ban's
spokesperson
and added as
if the same
thing South
Korea's
ambassador Oh
Joon. When
things are
removed, they
should be
noted; when
UNCA under
Falk, backed
away from
taking the
Samsung TV
from Oh Joon's
mission, they
should have
explained why.
Then again,
they didn't
even
distribute
Ban's Q&A
to their own
members. Watch
this site.
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