UNITED
NATIONS, June
17 -- That Ban
Ki-moon's
United Nations
has no respect
for the
privacy
guaranteed in
the Fourth
Amendment to
the US
Constitution
was made clear
on March 18,
2013, when his
Department of
Public
Information
(DPI) conducted
a
non-consensual
raid on the
office of
Inner City
Press, rifled
through papers
and took
photographs
including of
Inner City
Press' desk
and bookshelf.
(What
DPI did with
the
photographs it
took will be
addressed,
after three
months review
and restraint,
below in this
article.)
Now
DPI in June
DPI is making
clear it has
no respect for
free speech or
free
association --
principles
protected by
the First
Amendment to
the US
Constitution.
DPI is
trying to ban
even a sign
for the new
Free
UN Coalition
for Access.
The person
ordering the
FUNCA sign
down is the
same one who
led the March
18, and shared
photos of it.
In a
rule DPI
agreed to with
its UN
Correspondents
Association,
the UN now
says:
"Signs
posted on
doors are
limited to
entry
restrictions –
for example,
'do not
disturb' or
'on air.' DPI
will provide a
name-plate for
each
accredited
media
organization."
But,
tellingly, the
UN proposes to
allow two big
signs by its
favored UNCA
-- now known
as the UN
Censorship
Alliance,
which also
colludes in
restricting
smaller
media's access
to the
Security
Council
and in
2012
devoted most
of its
meetings to
trying to get
Inner City
Press
thrown
out of the UN.
DPI
on Friday June
14 wrote, "the
posting of
notices policy
does
apply to the
FUNCA sign...
I am afraid
you will have
to take the
sign
down." The
e-mail came
from Broyer
but she'd said
she would
check above
her.
This
presumably was
with Stephane
Dujarric, a
DPI official
who not only received
but in essence
encouraged
Big Media
requests to
kick Inner
City Press
out, including
to a non-UN
email address
he
maintains for
such
"extra-curricular"
activity.
(There is a
movie title
that comes to
mind, but
Inner City
Press has been
asked
not to use
it.)
When
the obvious
discrepancy
with UNCA's
two signs was
pointed out to
the
head of DPI on
June 14, he
said Okay, I
will talk to
them on
Monday.
But on
Monday morning
as Inner City
Press tried
to cover the
Security
Council
meeting on
Children and
Armed Conflict,
now without
a media
table
which existed
for years
before UNCA
agreed to
rules banning
it, DPI's
Isabelle
Broyer
insisted, "We
are trying to
apply the
posting of
signs policy
to all... UNCA
has its sign
outside the
space
that has been
assigned to
that
organization."
Why
the UN gives a
big space for
private
meetings by a
group that
tries
to get other
media thrown
out of the UN
is a question
that needs
answering. But
by 5 pm on
June 17, other
DPI staff were
outside Inner
City Press'
door asking,
"are they
allowed to
hang anything
on
their door?"
And
Broyer wrote
again: "I
would like to
ask you again
to removed
the FUNCA sign
on your door.
As discussed
with you
before, we
only
allow signs
containing the
name of the
company which
is assigned to
that room. You
can have Inner
City Press on
your door, if
you want."
Oh,
thank you. How
can the UN so
openly favor
one group over
another, and
try
to ban even
the signs of
the newer
group, even
from a media's
office
door?
Broyer,
as
it happens,
was on-site at
the March 18,
2013 raid. She
took
photographs,
and later that
day emailed
them to a
number of
non-DPI
parties, as
well as to
Dujarric.
These are
EXACTLY the photographs
that
were then
leaked to
BuzzFeed on
March 21,
right after
that
publication
contacted Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
to
inquiry about
the raid.
We will have
more, much
more, on all
of this.
Watch this
site.
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