UNITED
NATIONS, May 4
-- In South
Sudan, the
acting editor
of the Juba
Monitor has
been in
detention for
days. One
question is
what has been
the response,
if any, of the
UN since it
maintains a
large
Peacekeeping
mission in the
country, run
by Hilde
Johnson of
Norway
and Herve
Ladsous of
France?
Ladsous
openly
refuses to
answer
Inner City
Press -- that
is his
approach to
media freedom.
Hilde Johnson,
when in New
York, does
take Press
questions. But
when queries
are made in
the UN's noon
briefing, it
takes some
time for
answers to
come back, and
they are
sometimes are
not answers to
the questions
actually
asked.
On
May 2, when
Inner City
Press
questioned
South Sudanese
journalist
Oliver Modi
about a
statement by
President
Salva Kiir
that his
ministers
should not
speak about
government
corruption,
Inner City
Press put the
same question
to UN
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky.
The
answer that
came back was
to a question
previously
asked, about a
threat by
Lakes State's
governor to
"crucify"
critical
journalists.
On
this, the UN
answered that
"UNMISS has
informed
us that it is
not aware of
any direct
threat against
individual
journalists in
Lakes State.
However,
general
statements of
concern
have been made
and this was
raised with
the State
authorities."
Without
much
effect
apparently -
the acting
editor of the
Juba Monitor
remains locked
up without
charge.
On
May 2,
Ladsous'
spokesperson
Kieran Dwyer
justified his
boss' refusal
to answer
questions,
then sought to
avoid a follow
up to false
statement he
made (for
example, that
he gives Inner
City Press
answers to its
questions --
actually,
these are
given first to
scribes who
never asked
the questions,
from Ladsous'
favorite
Agence
France Presse,
Reuters and
even Voice of
America).
To
avoid follow
up,
Dwyer
said let's
focus on
serious
problems in
South Sudan.
Video here, at
end.
Yes,
let's.
What is the
DPKO of
Ladsous, who
himself Bans
critical
journalists,
doing in South
Sudan?
Also
on May 2, the
UN
put on its
"World Press
Freedom Day"
panel
Pamela Falk of
CBS, the
president of
UNCA, an
organization
which
spent most of
its meetings
in 2012 trying
to get the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN.
UNCA
&
Bloomberg,
Voice
of America,
Reuters,
AFP.
This
year under
Falk, UNCA
"leaders"
have descended
to anonymous
trolling on
social media
making false
accusation of
funding by Sri
Lankan
terrorists,
which have led
to
death threats.
The commitment
to Press
Freedom, of
this UN and
its UN
Censorship
Alliance?
Dubious at
best. Watch
this site.
, 
