UN
Spox Dujarric
Refuses To Give Press
Even If-Asked Responses He's
Supposed To, Burundi
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
February 22 – What is the bare
minimum a spokesperson should
be expected to do, for an
organization like the UN? Should
it include answering
journalists' written
questions, particularly when
another part of the
organization has given the
spokesperson an if-asked
response? Stephane Dujarric,
entrenched as UN spokesman
since Kofi Annan, does not
meet even this low standard.
Take
February 22, 2017 as an
example. Dujarric, who had not
done a briefing in 13 days
even when his new boss Antonio
Guterres was back, canceled
the day's briefing. Inner City
Press submitted in the morning
some written questions on
Yemen, Myanmar and Burundi,
on which it knew from multiple
sources that Dujarric and his
office had been given if-asked
material, since they are such
cowards even with the Pierre
Nkurunziza regime that they
will only comment "if asked."
But
Dujarric didn't even provide
the if-asked answers that he
had. He has previously laughed
as the nickname "Lazy Spox"
but it is worse that that. In
early 2016, three days after
Inner City Press asked Dujarric
about South Sudan and Burundi,
here,
Dujarric evicted Inner City
Press from the UN Press
Briefing Room then the UN as a
hole, including a grotesque scripted
"if asked" telling Inner City
Press to come in to vacate its
office, here.
Now he has
given himself the freedom to
not answer Inner City Press'
questions even if those above
him in the UN system have
given him an if-asked. Is he
working for the UN? We'll have
more on this.
Earlier (2016) here.
***
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