By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 25 --
The day after
St. Louis
Country
prosecutor Bob
McCulloch
blandly read
out a
justification
of the
non-indictment
of Police
Officer Darren
Wilson for
killing Mike
Brown in
Ferguson,
Missouri, on
November 25 in
New York a
protest march
came
by the United
Nations,
taking over
First Avenue
with
non-violent
chants of
"Hands up,
don't shoot!"
The UN locked
its gates, and
New York City
sent Corrections
Department
busses to
park in front
of the UN
compound.
Inner City
Press joined
the march,
headed to
Times Square.
In Times
Square, amid
the neon glitz,
there were
chants of "we
do this for
Mike Brown"
and
light-up signs
for Justice.
Seventh Avenue
was shut down,
peacefully.
"All Lives
Matter" -- video here. But where is it
headed?
Back on
November 24,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric if
the UN or
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon have
any comment
(not this
evening) and
about
limitations on
the
distribution
of the UN's
report on US
torture and
police
brutality.
Mike Brown's
parents went
to Geneva to
testify at the
UN review of
the US' record
on torture and
police
brutality. The
results of the
review are due
on November
28, but will
only be given
in advance to
media
accredited at
the UN in
Geneva, UNOG.
As noted, the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
opposes that
limitation on
non-corporate
media, and
requested
comment on the
non-indictment
from UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric.
Inner City
Press asked:
"This
is a request
for comment on
the
non-indictment
for the
killing of
Michael Brown
in Ferguson,
Missouri.
Separately but
relatedly,
this is
request on
behalf of the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access
that the
planned
restriction of
the embargoed
release of the
UN's review of
the US' record
on torture and
police
brutality to
media at UN
Geneva. Media
accredited
here at the UN
Headquarters
should have
the same
rights, unless
the UN is
choosing to
favor
corporate /
multinational
media. The
request for
comment should
be responded
to asap; the
request for
equal
treatment on
embargoed copy
should be
addressed
before
November 27,
given the
November 28
public
release."
Dujarric to
his credit
replied
quickly; he
declined
comment for
the evening,
and argued:
"Dear
Matthew,
On your first
question, I
will not have
a comment this
evening.
On your
second, this
is the purview
of my
colleagues in
Geneva. To
your point
about
corporate
media, I think
you misjudge
the press
corps in
Geneva which
is as diverse
as the press
corps in NY.
In fact, there
are probably
more
freelancers in
Geneva than in
New York."
Inner City
Press, for
FUNCA, has
clarified:
"The
point is,
there is as
much or more
interest by
US-based media
in the report
on US torture
and police
brutality as
by media based
in Geneva. But
US-based media
that have
reporters
based in UNOG
are larger,
more corporate
media. So that
particular
embargoed
report should
be released to
all UN system
accredited
media, not
only those
with reporters
based at UNOG.
(FUNCA says
that should go
the other way,
too --
embargoed UN
reports should
not be
restricted to
NY / UNHQ
based media
either.) Will
appreciate a
decision on
this asap,
given the
November 28
release and,
for example,
tonight's Mike
Brown killing
non-indictment,
on which
comment is
still sought."
Dujarric did
not responded
to that, but
on November 25
he said " for
the
Secretary-General,
his thoughts
right now are
with Michael
Brown's family
and with the
Ferguson
community.
I think he
appeals to all
of those in
Ferguson and
throughout the
United States
who felt
disappointment
at the grand
jury's
decision to
make their
voices heard
peacefully and
to refrain
from any
violence.
He also calls
on the US
authorities,
on law
enforcement
authorities,
whether at the
federal, state
or at the
local level,
to protect the
rights of
people to
demonstrate
peacefully and
to express
their opinions
peacefully.
And he echoes
the appeals
made by
Michael
Brown's
parents to
turn this
difficult time
into a
positive
moment for
change."
FUNCA has
spoken up to
Turkish media,
for example,
on an attack
on Turkish
media in
Ferguson. Back
on August
13,
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
the killing
and crackdown.
Video
here.
Dujarric began
by saying that
Ban and the UN
have "no
particular
comment," then
added that "as
in all cases,
the right to
demonstrate
peacefully
needs to be
respected, and
investigations
need to be
conducted."
Okay, then.
There have
been reports
mentioned the
financial
institutions
in the area,
including
nationwide
lenders Bank
of America,
US
Bank and
Fifth Third.
Inner
City Press and
Fair Finance
Watch reviewed
the
demographics
of mortgage
lending by
these three in
the area in
the most
recent year
for which data
is publicly
available,
2012.
In the St.
Louis
Metropolitan
Statistical
Area in 2012,
Bank of
America denied
the
conventional
home purchase
mortgage
applications
of African
Americans 1.81
times more
frequently
then those of
whites.
Fair
Finance Watch
has previously
objected
to US Bank's
stealth branch
closings,
including in
Chicago, here
and here. The
US Community
Reinvestment
Act requires
banks to lend
fairly in all
of their
communities,
but is not
sufficiently
enforced, FFW
has shown.
For US
Bank, the
disparities
was 1.6 to 1;
for Fifth
Third
Mortgage, that
company's
lender, it was
a whopping
4.95 to 1:
African
American
applicants
were denied
4.95 times
more
frequently
than whites,
worse that the
aggregate (all
lenders).
Troublingly,
for all
lenders
Latinos were
denied 3.1
times more
frequently
than than
whites. So
where is the
US headed? And
why has the UN
had nothing to
say so far?
Watch this
site.
, 
