At
UN, Morocco
Grills NGOs on
Western
Sahara, Of
Turkey and
Armenians
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 27 --
In the
basement of
the UN in New
York,
countries
raise
questions
about the
applications
of
non-governmental
organizations
that want to
get into the
UN. Often
these are
culture
wars, on
issues like
gay rights. On
January 27,
Morocco
grilled a
number of
applications
for their
positions on
Western
Sahara, for
using the word
"occupation,"
for
interfering in
Moroccan
internal
affairs.
The
US, which last
April proposed
and then
backed off on
including a
human rights
monitoring
component in
the UN
Peacekeeping
mission in
Western
Sahara,
repeatedly
asked Morocco
what its
questions were
for
the groups, so
that they
could be
answered.
Often
in the NGO
Committee, a
country
wanting to
block a group
just keeps
asking
questions,
session after
session.
Belgium chimed
in noting
that several
of the
questions
asked on
January 27
were
inappropriate,
in its view.
In
the final
hour, three
NGOs came up
for
questioning. A
"Western
Armenians"
group was
grilled by
Turkey about
its founding
documents, and
use of the
term
"minority." A
Christian
denomination,
Episcopal, was
grilled by
Sudan. A
Norway-based
human
right and
development
group, GNRD,
was grilled by
both Sudan and
Israel --
quite a feat
-- and then by
India as well.
Israel
wanted to know
what awards
the group gave
out in Africa,
and if the
AU had filed a
complaint
about its
staff
behavior. The
group's
representative
said they are
back in Addis
for the
upcoming AU
meeting (so is
UN Deputy
Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson, and
US
Deputy
Secretary of
State William
Burns and a
large team),
so all
must be well.
But what about
those awards?
India
wanted to know
how a previous
answer had
been stricken;
the answer
was the person
is no longer
with the group
due to "some
incorrect
actions." This
did not
satisfy India,
which asked
the
group's
representative
to reflect on
it before the
next day's
session. The
grilling will
continue, in
the UN's
basement.
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