On
N. Korea, VOA
Errs on ICJ,
Darusman Quiet
After Sri
Lanka Failure
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 17,
updated thrice
-- On North
Korea there
was little
question
which way the
UN Commission
of Inquiry
would come out
at its
February
17 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
Kimoon "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.
, 
