Iran
Meeting Jan 5 in UNSC,
Kazakh Prez Tells
Only Some, Offers “Delights” To
Others
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Photo
UNITED NATIONS,
January 4 – Iran will be the
subject of a UN Security
Council meeting of some type
on January 5 at 3 pm. There
may be a procedural vote -
Inner City Press on January 4
asked
Russian Ambassador Nebenzia
about any Iran meeting and he
replied, "Not unless they held
one without me." Kazakhstan is
the president of the Security
Council for January, and just
as they refused
on January 2 to take a single
Press question about Africa,
on January 4 they sent notice
only to their favored
correspondents. (Notable,
given press freedom issues
there.) As quickly obtained by
Inner City Press from multiple
sources, they wrote: "Dear
friends, To keep you informed,
tomorrow SC meets on Iran at
3.00PM, open format. And a
short announcement, our
Delegation is delighted to
invite you to a Tea and Coffee
table with Kazakh national
delights, to be served every
Tuesday and Thursday, starting
from 9 January, 9.30 to
11.30AM, in the UNCA Room, 3d
Floor, Secretariat Building.
Alma Konurbayeva, Spokesperson
/ Counsellor, Permanent
Mission of the Republic of
Kazakhstan to the United
Nations." Of what might those
"national delights" consist?
When Kazazhstan held a press
conference about its
Presidency of the UN Security
Council for January,
Ambassador Kairat Umarov began
by noting that the majority of
the agenda involves countries
in Africa: at least seven
peacekeeping missions to be
reviewed in the month, with
Burundi and Cameroon not even
listed. But when the Kazakh
mission spokeswoman took
questions, not a single one
was on anything in Africa.
There was climate change, from
a self-described syndicated
columnist. There were
questions about two
(non-African) countries in the
Program of Work's footnotes.
But not a single one on
anywhere in Africa.
Inner City Press
said loudly, “On the DRC did
anyone even ask for a
statement on the crackdown?”
Video here
from 44:15. But the Ambassador
chose to answer another
question, about an issue he
called close to Kazakhstan's
heart, then ended it.
He had
said, during the press
conference, the Kazakhstan has
energy resources for the next
100 years. They won the Asia
seat over Thailand; apparently
that didn't require political
resources, at least in Africa.
We'll have more on this.
Back in September
2017 with the UN Security
Council presidency being taken
over by Ethiopia's Tekeda
Alemu, Inner City Press on
September 1 asked Ambassador
Alemu four questions, the
answers to which sketch out
the Ethopian government's
worldview. Video here.
In response to Inner City
Press asking why Burundi,
where even the UN says there
is a risk of genocide, is not
on his September Program of
Work nor on the agenda of the
Council's visit to Addis
Ababa, Alemu said that you
can't compare Burundi to
Central African Republic, that
Burundi has “strong state
institutions.” But it is that
very “strength,” which some
say the country shares with
Ethiopia, and with until
recently military-ruled
Myanmar about which Inner City
Press also asked, that has led
to the human rights
violations. In this context,
Inner City Press asked Alemu
about the Oromo protests - and
crackdown - in his country. He
diplomatically chided Inner
City Press for not having
asked in private, saying that
social media has played a
dangerous role. On the other
hand, when Inner City Press
asked Alemu at the end about
the murders of two UN experts
Michael Sharp and Zaida
Catalan, he replied that while
the DR Congo is due to
sovereignty the one to
investigate the murders, the
gruesome nature of the
killings put a “great
responsibility” on the DR
Congo. We'l have more on this.
Alamy photos here.
Earlier on September 1 in
Alemu's briefing to countries
not on the Security Council,
Bangladesh specifically asked
that the Council remain seized
of the situation in Myanmar.
When Inner City Press asked
Alemu about this, he said he
still had to inform himself
more about that situation. The
Security Council is traveling
to Addis from September 5
through 9, when alongside
African Union consultations
the Council's member will meet
for an hour with Prime
Minister Hailemariam Desalegn,
Alemu said. The Council will
receive the “maiden briefings”
late in the month of the new
Under Secretaries General of
OCHA and on Counter-Terrorism.
There will be peacekeeping on
September 20, during the High
Level week of the UN General
Assembly, and Yemen on
September 26. But tellingly,
there will not be Burundi.
Watch this site.
***
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