With
UN
Under Fire on 3 Continents, Vacation for Ban Ki-moon's Spokesmen
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 28 -- With the UN under fire on at least three
continents in Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan, Haiti and Sri Lanka, Ban
Ki-moon's spokesman's office appears to have taken a vacation.
On
December 26 and
27, Inner City Press submitted questions about mercenaries and
communications in Cote d'Ivoire, promised UN visits to Sri Lanka, and
the killing of civilians in Darfur.
While
these
questions could easily have been answered by e-mail, the first day UN
acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq provided
only a five word answer:
“UNHQ is closed on Monday.”
Did that mean
there is no support for
example for the UN Mission in Ivory Coast, or that no questions could
be answered?
Inner
City Press
re-submitted questions on the evening of December 27, for a deadline
of 12:30 pm on December 28. Haq had already announced that UN noon
press briefings would be canceled, allegedly because UN
correspondents this week wanted less access to information.
But Haq
said that Ban's main spokesman Martin Nesirky would be back and
answering questions.
The
December 28
deadline came and went without even an acknowledgment that these
questions were received:
What
does
the UN / ONUCI know about, and what has it does about, the
communications used by the Jeunes Patriotes in Cote d'Ivoire to
coordinate the reported attacks?
Please
state
whether or not the UN / UNAMID have participated in any way in
the inquiry into the Tabra / Tabarat killings of September 2010
reportedly being conducted by NCP-appointed special prosecutor for
Darfur Abdel-Dayem Zumrawi. http://www.sudantribune.com/Pursuit-of-justice-in-Darfur,37410
Particularly
in
light of Ban Ki-moon's recent sejour in Cambodia, what if anything
has the UN done about “On December 17, Seng Kunnaka, a Cambodian
employee with the United Nations World Food Program in Phnom Penh,
was arrested on charges of incitement under article 495 of the new
penal code after he shared an article with two co-workers. While the
contents of the article are unclear, it was printed from KI-Media, a
website that publishes news, commentaries, poetry, and cartoons that
are sharply critical of the government, including a recent series of
opinion pieces lambasting senior officials regarding a border dispute
with Vietnam”? http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=23621
Please
state
what if anything the UN has done to seek accountability for the
killing of Charlotte Wilson and 20 other people traveling on Titanic
Express bus in Burundi in 2000.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19158
Haq
had left
questions about Haiti, Somalia and other hotspots unanswered before
he left, setting an auto-responding e-mail to say he would not return
until January 4. Where was Nesirky?
UN's Ban & Nesirky, answers not shown
A
close member of
Ban Ki-moon's team meanwhile wrote to wish Merry Christmas. The
questions were put to him to, to try to get some answers. So far,
none. And so it goes in Ban's UN.
Footnote:
while
it is often argued, not least by South Korea's Mission to the
UN, that Ban Ki-moon works hard, the unprofessional lack of response
and accountability by his two lead spokesman speaks volumes. Watch
this site.
* * *
On
Cote
d'Ivoire,
UN Has Nothing on Mercenaries or Blocked
Broadcasts
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December
27 -- Five days after UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon called for member states to help break the blockade and
deliver supplies to peacekeepers in Abidjan, Ban's Office of the
Spokesperson has stopped answering any questions about the UN in Cote
d'Ivoire.
On
December 23,
Inner City Press asked Ban's acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq why
at this time the UN was planning to suspend all of its noon press
briefings for the week starting December 27. After claiming that it
was journalists who asked to receive less information, Haq said not
to worry, while he was going on vacation until January 4, main
spokesman Martin Nesirky would be in charge and answering questions.
On
December 26,
Inner City Press sent three Cote d'Ivoire questions to Nesirky and
Haq, asking for responses for a 12:30 pm December 27 deadline. These
were and are the questions:
What
has
the
UN done about mercenaries in Cote d'Ivoire since Alain Le Roy
confirmed the UN's sighting of mercenaries in that country?
Please
confirm
or
deny the UN's knowledge of Angolan
fighters
in Cote
d'Ivoire.
Inner
City
Press
had asked Le Roy, when he came out from briefing the Security Council
last week, if he could confirm Liberian and Angolan mercenaries in
Cote d'Ivoire. Yes, Le Roy said, speaking of Liberian mercenaries who
spoke English and not French.
Even
after
Le
Roy's statement, Ban's deputy spokesman Haq denied that the UN had
knowledge of mercenaries. The next day, Ban himself referred to them.
Then the UN stopped answering questions, including about what if
anything they had done. Inner City Press also asked on December 26:
Also
in
Cote
d'Ivoire, confirm or deny any UN involvement in or knowledge
of the blocking of broadcast stations beyind Abidjan. Separately,
plea se provide Ban Ki-moon's and Choi Young-jin's comment on this
article
(link).
Ban
and Le Roy had
called state broadcasting in Cote d'Ivoire hate radio for what it
said of the UN. Then when it went off the air, what did they say?
Apparently, nothing.
UN's Ban and Y.J. Choi, spokespeople's answers not seen
If
and when we
get answers from Ban's office, we will publish another article. Watch
this site.
Footnote:
at
11:30
am Monday, Ban acting Deputy Spokesman sent the following,
in response to the three Cote d'Ivoire and other questions
outstanding since the previous week and before:
From:
Farhan
Haq
[at] un.org
To: Inner City Press, Martin Nesirky [at]
un.org
Date: Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 11:32 AM
Re: Press Qs on Cote
d'Ivoire, Darfur, Sri Lanka and Kosovo (and old questions...
reiterated re [26] days ago
UNHQ
is
closed
on Monday. Thanks.