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Falk's UNCA Tries to Claim & Use an “UNCA Square” While Censoring Others

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNdisclosed Location, March 21 -- Today at 3 pm, at the same time as the UN Security Council meets on Sudan which used to be a hot topic at the UN, the UN Correspondents Association has invited its members to an event at something called “UNCA Square” on the second floor of the Dag Hammarskjold Library Building.

  Their invitation, not sent to the many UN accredited journalists not in UNCA, is below.

  While UNCA “leaders” as noted will surely try to spin this as proof they are not enemies of free speech -- despite spending most of 2012 trying to get the investigative Press thrown out of the UN, and filing false speech-based complaints since -- the (re) invitations raises several questions, mostly about the inappropriate privileges the UN still allows this partial UN group.

   Where IS “UNCA Square”? In front of the office of the UN's Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit there is a “MALU Square,” where after UNCA refused to open up its glassed in bulletin board to posts by non-UNCA members the UN after advocacy by the new Free UN Coalition for Access put up a non-UNCA board.

UNCA nearly immediately began posting on the non-UNCA board as well, without opening up their own. They posted some events, under the signature of UNCA president Pamela Falk of CBS, but apparently not this one:

UNCA will hold a press briefing TODAY, Thursday, March 21st at 3:00pm at "UNCA Square", Dag Hammarskjold Library Building 2nd Floor. [Signed] UNCA OFFICE

  Again, if the past is any guide, the big media controllers of UNCA will try to spin the protest as proof that they stand for free speech.

  But they don't. The UNCA Executive Committee spent most of its meetings in 2012 trying to get the investigative Press thrown out of the UN.

  Documents obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act from Voice of America show a direct request to the UN's Stephane Dujarric to “review” the accreditation of Inner City Press by VOA, which said it had the support of Reuters and Agence France Presse.

Most recently, when the UN conducted a non-consensual search of Inner City Press' office on March 18, UNCA's Falk was there taking photographs.

  Despite requests for an explanation, at the UN noon briefing of March 19 and from the UK, there has been no explanation.

   Of Falk, Cuba's Permanent Representative Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez has written to Ban, “this anti-Cuba action by the current President of UNCA does not surprise us. Such lady does not have the slightest ethics to separate the discharge of her mandate as President of the UNCA from the fulfillment of her personal interests and motivations.” Falk refuses to answer questions.

   And now, from within UNCA itself, there's begun a call that Pam Falk should resign.

  This is the UN's Censorship Alliance - given UNCA's recent record, any claims that it represents free speech are laughable. And if the UN continues to “partner” with it and give it special status, it further corrupts both organization. Watch this site.