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As Somalis Are Killed by
Peacekeepers, Censorship Urged by UN's Ould Abdallah
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS, February 6 -- In
Mogadishu the week began with Ugandan troops of the AMISOM mission
firing into
a crowd of civilians and killing between 25 and 40, after the explosion
of a
roadside bomb. In New York, UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe read out
dozens
of UN statements, but nothing on Somalia.
Inner
City Press asked, "there
are reports from Somalia that African Union peacekeepers there firing
into a crowd
and killing some say 25, some say 39, is the United Nations aware of
that, does
it have any comment on that?" Deputy Spokesperson Okabe replied,
"I
don’t have any comment on that today, but we can certainly ask them for
you."
Video
here.
But when Ould Abdallah spoke about the incident, he
blamed the media for
reporting it, even comparing them to the radio station in Rwanda
convicted of
stoking up genocidal hatred. Ould Abdallah said
"What
happened is to divert attention from what is going on here, and as
usual to use
the media to repeat Radio Mille Colline, to repeat the genocide in
Rwanda. There
is a need to have a truce, one month truce in reporting on Somalia..
till
there is double, triple checking, because Somalia is exceptional. We
have to
have exceptional checking of the news."
So the UN's top envoy to Somalia, a country the UN
and international
community have mis-served for more than a decade, is calling for
censorship of
reports of Somali civilians killed by international "peacekeepers."
Despite Inner City Press' request at UN headquarters
for the UN's
statement on the shooting, Ould Abdallah's comment have not
been
repeated from the UN podium. Calls are growing for him to retract the
statement, for him to step down.
Inner City Press has obtained a copy of the media
strategy designed by Ould
Abdallah and his spokesperson, a former BBC correspondent named Susanna
Price, and puts it online here.
UN's Ban and Ould Abdallah, calls for
censorship and response not shown
When
Inner
City Press attended the surreal negotiations in Djibouti between the
UN-supported Transitional Federal Government and London-based supposed
opposition leaders in mid- 2008, it left written questions with Ms.
Price about
who had paid for the hotel bills at the Kempinski in Djibouti. The
question was
never effectively answered. Now comes word that the re-invented Sheikh
Sharif
Sheik Ahmed has recently paid with many of his supporters' plane
tickets. With
what money?
The press strategy for the Somali diaspora, which
Inner City Press is
putting online here,
presaged Ould Abdallah's February 3 comments:
"There has been some extremely
negative reporting about the UN for example... with regards to UNDP.
There is a
perception that the UN is partial and is supporting the TFG and that it
is
helping the security services."
The
irony is that comments like Ould Abdallah's on February 3 are a part,
but only one part, of why "there is a perception that th UN is
partial." Rather than modify his partiality, at least to the
extent of acnknowledging
and trying to avoid pro-TFG soldiers' killing of civilians, Ould
Abdallah has
decided to try to silence the media by outrageously mis-playing the
Rwanda
genocide card.
The UNPOS strategy also contradicts Ould Abdallah's
call to censor media
outside of Somalia in praising the impact of pro-UN members of the
Somali
diaspora:
Apart from
their financial input,
the diaspora have important ties back home with their clans and
political
groups and wield much influence on affairs inside Somalia. A number attended
Arte and
Mbagathi conferences and became MPs. Many
of the MPs, and the leaders from the Government and opposition side
in the first round of Djibouti
talks were, like the Prime Minister, UK passport holders.
Their support is extremely important for the
UN and can help to change perceptions.
The largest
numbers of Somalis in
the West are in UK (London, and other cities) and North America (Toronto, Minneapolis,
Columbus Ohio) with slightly
smaller concentrations in the Netherlands,
Norway,
Denmark,
Sweden, Finland
and Australia.
There are also significant numbers in Kenya,
South Africa,
Saudi Arabia
and they are one of the largest
immigrant communities in Dubai
It
is very important to let the
Diaspora know that we value their contribution, support and input and
we want
them to be involved and informed. We also need the Diaspora to
recognize the
work that the UN is doing in Somalia
and to inform them that the UN is working inside Somalia
for the benefit of the
country.
This last may be a definition of propaganda, which
UN Spokesperson
Michele Montas last month said is not allowed in UN press briefings.
What will
happen to UN envoy Ould Abdallah? Watch this space.
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
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
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