As Mali
Moves To Close 47 Radio
Stations, ICP Asks UN Which “Has
Nothing,” Censorship Spreads
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
April 17 – Amid attacks on and
mismanagement from UN
headquarters of the UN
peacekeeping mission in Mali,
MINUSMA, Inner City Press on
April 17 asked the UN's
holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric whether his new boss
or MINUSMA had any response to
the Malian government moving
to close down 47 radio
stations. Not surprisingly
given Dujarric's and the UN's
censorship right in UN
Headquarters, there was no
comment or action. From the UN
transcript:
Inner City Press: I wanted to
ask you, particularly because
the UN has this, has its
mission in Mali, there’s news
there that up to 47 radio
stations face closure by, by
the Government. They…
many of them are in the
interior of the country.
They have temporary licenses
but not permanent licenses,
and they’ve been told if they
don’t that they face
closure. Does the UN
Mission there…
Spokesman: I…
Inner City Press: … or any
other aspect of the UN…
[inaudible]
Spokesman: I don’t, I
don’t have anything on that.
Typical. Back on
January 27 an "extraordinary"
meeting for troop contributors
to MINUSMA was held. Sri
Lanka, Inner City Press learned
even confined to minders, was
accepted - even after it failed
to discipline any of its
"peacekeepers" engaged in
sexual abuse in the UN's
mission in Haiti, on which
Dujarric also refuse to
answer.
Inner City
Press, which has covered the
disparate treatment in MISUSMA
between for example troops
from Chad and Europe, wanted
to cover it. But due to a
retaliatory eviction
order
by the UN's Cristina Gallach,
it could only do so with the
UN "minder."
Even so,
UN Security officials demanded
to know where its minder was,
cutting off several diplomats
who had approached Inner City
Press to give it information.
As the meeting wound
down, Inner City Press worked
around the minder to learn --
from UN official Atul Khare to
his credit -- that there is
discussion of moving the
Senegalese "quick reaction
force" from Cote d'Ivoire to
Mali.
It was not
possible yet to ask about the
recent mutiny / unrest in Cote
d'Ivoire. Khare had to go, and
Herve Ladsous refused to
answer any Press questions,
having been exposed
linking peacekeepers' rapes
to "R&R."
Other
diplomats, even as Inner City
Press was being told to leave
the second floor where other
journalist were free to stay
(though none were in fact
staking out the Mali meeting),
told Inner City Press that
Egypt is offering a battalion.
Troublingly, to some, Sri
Lanka is being recruited by
Ladsous' UN to provide "convoy
protection," despite its
military's record of killing
in northern Sri Lanka in 2008
and 2009
and abuses since, to say
nothing of sexual
abuse in Haiti.
Inner City
Press wants to do more
reporting into the UN's
engagement with the Sri Lankan
military. But Gallach's minder
ordered Inner City Press to
leave. This is censorship.
To be continued.
As in The Gambia Yahya Jammeh
moved on December 1 to shut
off the Internet (and Viber,
etc) for the / his election,
there was again a deafening
silence from the UN and its
“communications” chief
Cristina Gallach.
On January
5, Inner City Press asked
holdover UN spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, video
here, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
about Gambia. The
electoral commission chief has
gone into hiding, and the
Government has closed three
radio stations, one of which
reopened with no news on
it. So what's the status
of the UN's work on this
holdover presidency?
Spokesman: We've had…
various UN officials have had
contacts with parties
involved, and obviously we
would like to see and are very
keen to see a peaceful
resolution to the current
crisis in the Gambia and,
notably, the… for the
President… the outgoing
President to leave way for the
President that was just
elected.
As of
January 7, new Secretary
General Antonio Guterres had
yet to speak publicly about
Jammeh and Gambia. Meanwhile
the US issued a travel
warning:
"The U.S.
Department of State warns U.S.
citizens against travel to The
Gambia because of the
potential for civil unrest and
violence in the near
future. On January 7,
2017, the Department of State
ordered the departure of
family members and authorized
the departure of all employees
who need to accompany those
individuals from the country.
The security situation in The
Gambia remains uncertain
following December 1, 2016
presidential elections.
On January 10, the Supreme
Court is scheduled to hear the
current president’s petition
contesting the election
results, which is a potential
flashpoint that could lead to
civil unrest. The
sitting government has begun
taking restrictive measures,
which include shutting down
and restricting radio
stations, and making
politically motivated
arrests. The Economic
Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) has stated it
may intervene if the president
does not step down by January
18.
U.S. citizens should consider
departing on commercial
flights and other
transportation options now, as
airports and ferry terminals
may close unexpectedly in the
event of unrest. All
U.S. citizens should have
evacuation plans that do not
rely on U.S. government
assistance. U.S.
citizens should ensure that
travel documents (passports
and visas) are valid and
up-to-date. Consular
services, already limited
throughout the country due to
very poor transportation
infrastructure and security
conditions, may be further
limited, including in Banjul
itself.
U.S. citizens who decide to
remain in The Gambia should
prepare for the possible
deterioration of security."
We'll have
more on this.
***
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