By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 25 --
Here's how today's
UN deals with
Ukraine: after
its President
Petro
Poroshenko and
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon spoke
on November
25, Ukraine
puts out its
own read-out,
including that
"Ban Ki-moon
assured that
the entire
world
supported
Ukraine."
Inner City
Press tweeted
this quote at
6:44 pm,
noting that
the UN hadn't
put out any
read-out of
the call at
all, while
Ban's spokesman
left the UN.
At
8:36 pm, the
UN Spokesman's
office put out
this read-out:
"The
Secretary-General
spoke by
telephone
today to H.E.
Mr. Petro
Proroshenko,
President of
Ukraine. The
Secretary-General
thanked the
President for
his tireless
efforts to
find a
peaceful and
lasting
solution to
the conflict
in south-east
Ukraine. They
discussed the
severe
challenges
surrounding
the delivery
of funds and
essential
supplies to
parts of
eastern
Ukraine, and
the
President’s
efforts to
find an
adequate
solution.
"The
Secretary-General
and the
President
agreed that
the Minsk
agreements
provided a
clear path
towards peace
and their
implementation
was essential.
The
Secretary-General
informed the
President that
in
continuation
of his good
offices he had
asked
Under-Secretary-General
for Political
Affaris
Jeffrey
Feltman to
return to Kiev
in
mid-December
for further
consultations
with the
Government and
key
stakeholders."
No mention of
the "entire
world"
supporting
Ukraine. And
the euphemism
about "delivery
of funds" seems
to be a
reference to
Prime Minister
Yatsenyuk
cutting off
pension
payments in
Donbas. The
UN's Ivan
Simonovic spun
this issue to
select scribes;
his office has
since said
that
"Indeed
a briefing on
Ukraine was
organised on
Wednesday with
a couple of
journalists on
the Ukraine
report that
was published
earlier
yesterday.
Invitations at
this briefing
were sent on
no scientific
basis and can
certainly be
expanded for
future
occasions.
"Indeed,
following on
your
suggestion at
yesterday's
noon briefing
as well as on
many similar
suggestions,
including from
other
journalists,
we are looking
into the
possibility of
holding wider
briefings on
various human
rights issues,
including in
the press
conference
room. We will
keep you
posted on
those plans."
But
since then, no
information or
"postings," including
to follow up
questions
Inner City
Press on
behalf of the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
asked. This is
how today's UN
is dealing
with Ukraine -
and much else.
Watch this
site.
Back in
October,
Ukraine was
scheduled to
speak at the
UN about its
“Committee on
Information”
on October 21,
but as UN
speeches
usually go
longer than
allowed, its
turn was
postponed
until October
22.
That
didn't stop
the “UN
Radio” Russian
service from
reporting
on the speech
on October 21
as if it had
in fact been
given that
day. As
translated, UN
Radio on
October 21
reported
“The
representative
of Ukraine
accused Russia
of using the
information
strategy of
the Cold War
“One of
the main
prerequisites
of violence in
Ukraine became
a propaganda
information.
This was
stated by the
representative
of the Mission
of Ukraine to
the United
Nations,
speaking at a
meeting of the
Fourth
Committee of
the UN General
Assembly.”
The
UN's Fourth
Committee did
meet on
October 21 -
but Ukraine
didn't speak.
Instead it was
the first
speaker on the
afternoon of
October 22.
Its speech,
delivered in
perfect French
including the
word “rigolo,”
linked Russia
to Joseph
Goebbels.
In
reply, the
Russian
mission's
spokesman
brought up the
recent Human
Rights Watch
report of the
Ukrainian
government
using cluster
bombs in and
against
Donetsk, and
the lack of
clarity on who
called the
snipers shots
in Maidan
Square.
Later
in the Fourth
Committee
meeting,
Bolivia
slammed
“powers” who
use
information
technology to
intervene and
violate
privacy,
bringing to
mind USAID's
“Cuban
Twitter”
and, of
course, the
NSA.
Then
Jordan said it
was first
among Arab
nations to
enact an
Access to
Information
law, in 2007.
The Free
UN Coalition
for Access
has been pressing
for a Freedom
of Information
Act at the UN,
click here
and
here for that.
FUNCA
covers the
Fourth
Committee,
including on
Decolonization,
and the
Committee on
Information,
where at least
theoretically
the UN's
descent into
censorship
could be
raised and
resolved. The
old UN
Correspondents
Association, a
part of this
trend toward privatization
of
briefings
and even
censorship --
ordering
Press articles
off the
Internet,
getting leaked
copies of
their
complaints to
the UN's MALU
banned from
Google's
search, here
-- was nowhere
to be seen.
We'll have
more on this.
, 
