|
At
UN, Algeria's Complaint
Against
NGO Draws US Request for Delay
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
January
19, updated -- A non-government group
critical of
the human
rights record of several Arab country came under fire Monday before the
ECOSOC
committee on NGOs. It began with a speech by the chairman, Sudan's
Deputy
Permanent Representative, emphasizing the irresponsible behavior of
some NGOs
which may, he said, need to suspension or withdrawal of accreditation.
On the
agenda was a complaint by Algeria against an NGO. No one wanted to name
the
complained-of NGO on the record, but two delegates said on background
that it was Alkarama.
The US argued for delay,
emphasizing the Martin Luther King holiday and the next day's
inauguration of
Barack Obama as President. Pakistan spoke and said, let's hear from the
member
states, Algeria. The United Kingdom proposed a "gentleman's agreement,"
to hear the complaint but not reach a decision today. The US spoke
again,
modifying the UK proposal to say, no decision until at earliest on
Thursday.
Sudan
then
gave the floor to "the observer states of Algeria," without ruling on
or even discussion the UK's proposed "gentleman's agreement." Algeria started its complaint, in French,
against "use of the consultative status by certain NGOs... The NGO
which
is the subject of our complaint... associated with an armed terrorist
group...
the details are spelled out in our note verbal." Still no one had named
the complained-of group. We will have more on this.
UN's Ban with Algeria's foreign minister, Alkarama
not shown
In the
basement Inner City Press was approached by the Permanent
Representative of a
European Union member. He called General Assembly President Miguel
d'Escoto
Brockmann's behavior on Friday night, in trying to outmaneuver an EU -
Egyptian
compromise resolution on Gaza "shameful." He said, "That's not
what he was elected for." In the end, d'Escoto had only nine members
states supporting his proposal, beyond his native Nicaragua: Bolivia,
Brunei,
Cuba, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Syria and Venezuela.
One wag
dubbed
this the "axis of as*holes," a reference to outgoing U.S. President
George W. Bush's Axis of Evil formulation. The surprises on the list
were
Indonesia and Brunei, and Ecuador to some degree. Who knew? Question:
why Syria
and not Sudan? Answer: Sudan was
recorded as absent, as were Israel and the United States, who's
Alejandro Wolff
was unmistakably present. Also listed as absent from the Gaza vote was
Algeria...
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
Click here for Inner City
Press Nov. 7 debate on the war in Congo
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017
USA
Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter's mobile (and
weekends):
718-716-3540
Other,
earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright
2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com -
|
