In
Elections, UN
Asked to
Remove Polling
Station, For
Samsung TV by
Scribes
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 9 --
With the two
elections
scheduled this
week
in the UN, the
one in the UN
Staff Union
features a
request to the
UN to shut
down the
polling
stations,
while the
other in the
UN Correspondents
Association
features a
request for a
Samsung
television and
little
competition --
none for the
top two spots.
The day before
the Union
election,
those who as
Inner City
Press reported
while
publishing the
announcement
purported to
"recall the
polling officers"
asked the UN
to remove the
polling
stations from
the UN lobby:
Dear
ASG Pollard,
In
addition to my
previous
communication,
may I kindly
request that
all
"polling
stations"
being
currently
installed be
taken out.
The Polling
Officers have
been legally
and officially
recalled, so
there will be
no election.
But this is
contested,
with the
requester
being asked:
How
can you
convene a
meeting of
newly
appointed unit
chairs when in
accordance
with our
Statutes and
Regulations
6.14.9 "Each
electoral Unit
shall elect a
Chairperson
and such other
officers as
it may deem
necessary
whose term in
office shall
coincide with
members of the
Council." (
The 44th
Council's term
ended in
June). Where
did these new
additional
Unit Chairs
conveniently
materialize
from?
Furthermore,
the Polling
Officers are
operationally
independent
and neither
the Unit
Chairs or the
Council
have the right
to interfere
with the
election
process. I can
only
say you have
been ill
advised in
proceeding in
this manner.
Finally,
you never
disclosed who
advised you on
the rules or
explained what
rules the
Polling
Officers have
violated that
initiated your
illegal
recall
procedure.
Your actions
in this regard
are just
causing more
confusion
amongst staff.
This back and
forth has
echoes of the
election in
Cote d'Ivoire
that led to
military
intervention.
By contrast,
no Permanent
Five members
of the
Security Council
has enough of
an interest
here for even
a public
relations
intervention,
thus far.
The other
"election" --
though four of
the six top
posts are
clean slates
with no
competition
-- is of
the UN Correspondents
Association,
whose more
than a dozen board
members
participated
in efforts
to get the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN.
Nothing has
been reformed
since; tactics
in 2013 devolved
into anonymous
social media
trolling and
counterfeit
Twitter
accounts of
the new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
and of Inner
City Press.
An argument is
made that the
2013 president
of UNCA,
Pamela Falk of
CBS, is
somehow not
responsible
for this, for
trolling done
under her
watch, and for
heading an
organization
which
functions as
the UN's
Censorship
Alliance. This
is contrary to
the very
"command responsibility"
principles the
two top
candidates
awaiting
coronation have
espoused.
The decision
to accept
"through" the
UN a Samsung
television is
defended by
referring to
some vibrant debate,
although there
is no record
of a vote
being taken or
even who was
present for
the debate.
At the December
9 noon
briefing
Inner City
Press asked:
Inner
City Press: is
there a
comprehensive
place to go to
see what
donations the
UN receives
from
corporations?
In particular,
I’m
asking about
what I
understand to
be a donation
of television
screens
or sets from
Samsung and I
wanted to
know, what are
the rule
applicable to
these
donations? Is
the UN aware,
for example,
of
pretty serious
organizing
drive in South
Korea about occupational
diseases
at Samsung?
What are the
rules
applicable and
is there a
database of
such
contributions?
Spokesperson:
I’ll check,
Matthew.
Thanks very
much. Have a
good
afternoon.
But nine hours
later, there
was still no
answer.
Unaccountability
is
increasingly
pervasive
throughout the
UN, in ways as
small as this
and large, for
example on the
scandal of UN
Peacekeeping
having brought
cholera to
Haiti and now
refusing
to even accept
(or
confirm
denying)
service
of legal
papers.
At
least in the
UN Staff
Union, when it
was claimed
last week that
a vote was
taken to
recall the
poll officers,
a request was
made for the
names of who
voted which
way.
In the
UN's
Censorship
Alliance,
as documented
by ongoing
Freedom of
Information
Act requests
including to
Voice of
America, "UNCA"
reached out to
the UN to seek
the expulsion
of Inner City
Press without
any vote even
having been
taken.
There have
been no
reforms since
-- but again,
a
re-coronation
of Pamela Falk
of CBS as the
2014 president
of UNCA,now
known as the
UN Censorship
Alliance, is
set for next
week.
A midnight
defense has
been mounted,
that Falk has
not "done anything"
to anyone. But
in
2013, she was
asked to reign
in those UNCA
"leaders" who
used the
organization
to try to get
the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN,
as they
descended into
anonymous
trolling
social media
accounts,
counterfeiting
the new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
and
then Inner
City Press.
Falk's
reaction in an
on
the record
meeting
was to demand
that she not
be
written about,
despite having
sought this
position, and
putting
herself
forward at
every
opportunity to
ask softball
questions the
answers to
which are most
often not
published
anywhere. Audio here,
here
and
here.
That
United Nations
Correspondents
Association
election also
involves
indicters and
purported
judges, and
the Reuters
successor to the
scribe who
spied (click
here for that).
That spying for
the UN was
done by UNCA
first vice
president and
has not been
addressed or
acted on in
any way. Such
an
organization
is in no
position to
preach on
ethics,
journalistic
or any other
kind.
This
UN Censorship
Alliance has
just accepted
a free Samsung
TV, hiding
behind the
UN's own
argument that
this is fine.
Here's Falk's
explanation of
UNCA's
November 25
"General
Meeting" with
nowhere near
quorum, as
provided by an
outraged
member (Inner
City
Press quit
UNCA and
co-founded the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
yes,
FUNCA):
"There
was discussion
about whether
or not UNCA
should receive
a donation
from Samsung
and whether or
not a Mission
was involved.
DPI
was able to
clarify the
donation
information,
which does not
involve
a mission.
This note was
received: This
is to confirm
that once we
get the
donations from
Samsung to the
UN,
DPI will loan
a TV screen to
UNCA to
replace one of
your old ones."
Now it's said
a vibrant
debate took
place. But
only a handful
of names are
listed as
attending, and
no vote was taken
because there
was no quorum
for a general
meeting.
Now
this UNCA is
poised to
raise money,
$250 a plate,
for an event
Ban
Ki-moon is set
to attend,
after fielding
softball
questions two
days
earlier from
his hosts (or
censors). Can
you say,
conflict of
interest? And
this is
another way
that senior UN
officials
remain
unaccountable.
Watch this
site.
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