UN
Has Nothing on
Darfur,
Haiti or DRC,
Zip on CAR,
Arrests of
Poet &
Tweeter
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 24 --
Christmas Eve
was a workday
at the UN. In
the
North Lawn
building then
General
Assembly,
hundreds of
diplomats
milled around
before votes
on the budget,
the
Responsibility
to
Protect and
the
International
Tribunal for
the former
Yugoslavia.
Covering
those,
Inner City
Press e-mailed
some questions
to Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon's
top three
spokespeople.
The most
pressing
involved the
Central
African
Republic,
where rebels
have taken
three more
towns.
Inner
City
Press asked
In
Central
African
Republic, what
is the UN
system
presence if
any in
the
rebel-taken
towns of
Bambari, Ippy
and Ndassima?
In light of
the
Secretary
General's
recent speech
to the
Security
Council about
the
Peacebuilding
Commission,
what is his
comment on the
CAR
Peacebuilding
Configuration
being without
a chair?
D24-2
Does the
Secretary
General have
any comment on
the jailing in
Bahrain
of Said Yousif
al-Muhafda for
his Tweets?
Also, on the poet
sentenced
by Qatar that
I asked about
(and was told
to ask
UNESCO), I got
nothing back
from UNESCO.
Is the S-G
still
following that
case? Does
he have any
comment?
D24-3
Please provide
all available
information on
the killing of
the four
peacekeepers
in Darfur, and
the
long-delayed
update on the
shooting
of the Rwandan
UN police
officer in
Haiti. Also,
the now-2
reports
from Cote
d'Ivoire about
UN action and
inaction in
Niambly IDP
camp
killings.
Also
-- it should
go without
saying -- any
and all
information on
which
Congolese
units were in
Minova during
the 126+
rapes, which
FARDC
units MONUSCO
supports,
and any
suspensions of
support in the
last
year. And
anything on
the budget,
including
salary freeze
proposal. I
am in North
Lawn covering
this.
Happy
holiday(s).
The
budget
session ended
badly,
including for
Ban's mobility
proposal.
And these were
the only
answers
provided by
the end of the
work day:
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Mon, Dec
24,
2012
Subject: Your
questions
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
With
respect to
your questions
on Haiti, the
DRC and
Darfur, we
have
nothing to add
at the present
time. With
respect to you
questions on
Cote d'Ivoire,
we attach two
articles that
are currently
appearing in
the latest
edition of
Fraternite
Matin, which
covers the
issue you
raised.
So,
NOTHING on
Haiti, Darfur
and DRC? And
what about the
Central
African
Republic, and
the EU
"scandal"?
No reaction to
the arrest
of a tweeter,
life
sentence for a
poet? We
will keep
asking. Watch
this site.
, 
