UNGA
Ends With
Accusations of
“Trash Info,”
UNresolved
Disputes, Ban
on the Run
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 26
-- While
outgoing UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
described the
2016 UN
General
Assembly
debate as a
tribute to
multilateralism,
it ended
Monday
afternoon with
Indonesia
accusing the
Solomon
Islands of
ignorance and
using “trash
information”
about West
Papua.
India
and Pakistan
went two
rounds on
Kashmir;
Guatemala
replied to
Belize about a
territorial
dispute.
While
in Washington
US State
Department
deputy
spokesman Mark
Toner talked
on and about a
“Plan B” on
Syria, in the
UNGA hall Iran
said of the
United Arab
Emirates that
it bombs Yemen
and exports
extremists.
Ban
Ki-moon, who
spent the week
handing out
copies of his
vanity press
book
“Highlights of
the Tenure of
Ban Ki-moon,”
was already
out of town.
His
spokespeople
have yet to
provide a copy
of the book,
or to say who
was on the
panel that
“recommended”
to Ban that he
appoint his
own son in law
Siddharth
Chatterjee to
the top UN job
in Kenya.
Earlier
in the day,
Eritrea said,
“we have
suffered the
occupation of
our territory
in violation
of binding
international
arbitration.”
Then
it was over,
UN staff took
selfies and
jazz fusion
came up on the
UN sound
system. Inner
City Press,
which
live-streamed
Periscope of
this final
session, was
urged to move
on. But it is
covering the
UN, ever more
closely. Watch
this site.
While
there was much
talk about the
UN during its
General Debate
on Saturday,
September 25,
there were strikingly
few people
actually *at*
the UN.
Inner
City Press
went to cover
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
meeting with
Burundi, where
even UN
experts say
there is a
risk of
genocide. But
Ban's meeting
with the
country's
foreign
minister
lasted less
than 20
minute.
Afterward, Ban
stood chatting
with his chief
of staff
Edmond Mulet,
waiting to
repeat the
process with
the president
of Guyana.
Inner City
Press stayed
upstairs for
the next few
photo ops,
held not in
Ban's
conference
room on the
38th floor,
where earlier
in the week it
first reported
on Ban handing
signed copies
of his vanity
press book
“Highlights of
the Tenure of
Ban Ki-moon”
to visiting
dignitaries,
but rather on
the near-empty
27th floor.
The previous
day on 27,
when Inner
City Press
live-streamed
Yemen's
president in
exile Hadi has
stumbled
and turned the
wrong way,
only to be
turned around
by Ban -
physically,
not on his
continued
calling for
airstrikes by
the Saudi led
Coalition - in
the shadows
were two
lobbyists from
Human Rights
Watch, one of
whom scurried
away when seen
by the press.
Does
it make Ban
feel better,
having these
token insiders
around while
he sells out
the children
of Yemen, or
phones it in
on Burundi?
Saturday there
was almost no
one on the
27th floor.
Even UNTV did
not film the photo
op with Kosovo
-- “they're
not a
country,” it
was said -- so
Inner City
Press went
back upstairs
to do it.
Ban
asked Inner
City Press,
“Working on a
Saturday?” Yes
- no thanks to
Ban Ki-moon
and his head
of “public
information”
Cristina
Gallach who
evicted Inner
City Press and
reduced its
accreditation
and access to
retaliate for
UN corruption
coverage.
In the less
than half full
GA Hall,
Burundi's
foreign
minister was
denying
genocide; the
day's session
ended ended
with rights of
reply by
Turkey
(against
Syria),
Indonesia (on
Papua) and two
rounds between
China and the
Philippines --
things are
heating up.
Inner
City Press was
told by
sources there
would be a
Security
Council
meeting about
Aleppo in
Syria on
Sunday.
Inquiries with
the
spokespeople
of the
Council's
president for
September, New
Zealand, did
not yield an
answer; later
the UN itself
announced an 11 am
meeting in the
Council
Chamber.
We'll be
there. Watch
this site.
As Ban
Ki-moon's time
at the UN
winds down and
he prepares
coyly to run
for President
in South
Korea, his
packaging of
his legacy has
become a
vanity amateur
operation.
Take
for example
the hard
cover book on
his conference
table when
he met
on September
18 with Donald
Tusk,
President,
European
Council and
Frans
Timmermans,
First
Vice-President,
European
Commission.
Inner City
Press
subsequently
went and saw
it give to
Poland, Chad
and it seems
clear (all)
others.
It is
called
“Highlights of
the tenure of
Ban Ki-moon,
2007-2016.”
Inner City
Press asks:
who wrote it?
Who paid for
it? Why was
this done?
What are the
contents?
Team
Ban has
refused to
show a copy to
the Press,
even though
we've
discovered it
is listed in
the UN
Department of
Public
Information
catalog as
finished in
August, for
sale for $45.
Click
here for photo
Inner City
Press tweeted.
Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric and
for three
days, nothing.
Then this:
"You
asked me about
the book the
Secretary-General
has been
giving to
visiting
dignitaries.
The genesis of
this reflects
the
Secretary-General's
efforts to
ensure a
smooth
handover to
his
successor.
In addition to
the usual
issue briefs
on the full
a-to-z agenda,
the
Secretary-General
felt that it
would be
beneficial for
the
Secretariat as
a whole to
assess in an
open, broader,
more thematic
way the
challenges
that were
faced, to
explain the
approaches
that were
taken to
address them,
and to
catalogue the
obstacles that
were
encountered
along the way
and how they
were -- or
were not --
overcome.
This exercise
was undertaken
by small
working groups
across the
Secretariat,
funds and
programmes. It
was also an
important
exercise in
teamwork
across the
Secretariat
and a useful
exercise for
staff members
at all levels
who
participated,
providing the
opportunity to
pause and look
back at what
has been
achieved in
each of their
areas of
competency.
While the
insights
provided
should help
inform the
next
administration,
it was also
decided, in
line with
Secretary-General's
general policy
on
transparency,
that it may be
of interest to
a wider
audience and
as such, it
was decided to
issue it for
publication.
In this
regard, there
will be an
initial print
run for book
of 500
paperback
editions and
1,000
hardcovers. It
will be sold
in the
Bookshop and
through our
other
distribution
channels and
be published
through DPI’s
publication
unit."
So it
IS a vanity
press
publication.
How much did
it cost? Why
has Ban's
office been
unwilling to
show a copy,
if it is such
an "open"
approach? What
does it say
about Yemen?
Haiti cholera?
Sri Lanka? The
John Ashe / Ng
Lap Seng case?
Burundi? Ng
Lap Seng and
the promotion
of Ban's son
in law?
On
September 22,
Inner City
Press asked
Dujarric, transcript here:
Inner
City Press:
Earlier today,
you sent me an
answer about
this… the book
that the
Secretary-General
has been
signing and
giving to
Heads of
State.
What I wanted
know… I mean,
I'd asked you
in writing how
much it cost
and to see a
copy of the
content,
because it
seems to be
called
Highlights of
the Tenure of…
I've seen the
cover.
And then
you've said
that it's sort
of an open
review,
including…
does it have
self-criticism
or…?
Spokesman:
The book… you
know, you will
be able to see
the book when
it hits the UN
Bookstore
shortly.
I don't have a
copy on my
desk,
unfortunately.
As I said,
it's an open
exercise
reflecting on
what went
well, what
went wrong
during the
last 10
years. I
think any time
in this
organization
where we can
take the time
to stop, pause
and look back
is very
useful.
It's something
that we don't
do often
enough.
Obviously, the
Secretary-General
will give his
successor
direct
personal
advice.
There will be
handovers of…
kind of
handover
briefs of
papers that
will be
internal.
But, I think
an open and
transparent
look back on
the tenure, as
I said, with
what went well
and what went
wrong will be…
I think is
useful to all,
is useful to
the next
Secretary-General
and his team,
is useful to
Member
States.
As I said, the
book should be
available
soon, and it
will be… it's
the same
version that
the
Secretary-General
is giving
visiting heads
of delegation
as a gift.
ICP
Question:
How many were
printed?
You said that
there will be
1,000… 500
paperback and
1,000 hard
cover… have
they already
been printed?
Spokesman:
They're in the
process of
being printed
and some
advanced
copies…
ICP
Question:
Okay.
Just… people
that have seen
this answer
have asked me
this, so I
wanted to ask
you
this. Do
you see a
contradiction…
if the people
writing the
book are, in
fact, UN staff
whose job is
dependant on
the UN, how
open a review
is it? I
mean…
Are there
anonymous
chapters?
Spokesman:
I think,
before… I
would
encourage you
to review the
book once
you've read
the
book.
And I would
encourage
everybody to
do that.
On
September 23,
Inner City
Press asked
Dujarric, UN transcript
here:
Inner
City Press:
about the
book, but I
did want to
just… I'd
asked you how
much it cost,
and I don't
know if
there's an
estimate of
the cost of
the book and
what budget…
at a minimum
what budget…
was it
authorized by
the GA?
Which
department
paid for it?
Spokesman:
The Department
of Public
Information
publishes…
regularly
publishes
books on all
sorts of
issues.
It's part of
the regular
publishing
budget.
ICP
Question:
Right, because
you'd said…
you made it
appear that
initially it
was going to
be just an
internal
document…
maybe I
misread your
answer…?
Spokesman:
No, I didn't
think… no, it
will have a…
it will be a
book, like… I
think you and
I may disagree
on what a
definition of
a book is, and
it will meet
that
definition.
ICP
Question:
Right, but
it's already
that.
Does it have
an ISBN
number…?
Spokesman:
I haven't
looked on the
back. I
have no doubt
that it will
have an ISB
number.
ICP
Question:
Do you have a
copy?
Spokesman:
I do not have
a copy.
You… you know,
wait… wait to
read the book
before you
review
it. And
as soon as
it's available
in the
bookstore, I'm
sure you can
expense it.
ICP
Question:
Can it be
changed?
What I'm
saying, is it
a final
version?
The printed
copies that
are being
given…?
Spokesman:
It's not
going… no,
it's final.
ICP
Question:
And final
thing, just on
substance… I
saw it.
It's called
Highlights of
the
Tenure.
So, how is
this
consistent
with the idea…
the subtitle
of the book is
Highlights of
the Tenure of
Ban
Ki-moon.
How is that
consistent
with an
objective
self-critical
view that will
help the next
Secretary-General?
Spokesman:
You know, you
could write
10,000 volumes
of just every
day exactly
what happened.
Correspondent:
Highlights
doesn't mean
positive?
Spokesman:
If you're
going to
publish…
highlights is
the important
things.
I mean, we can
disagree on
the definition
of what
"highlights"
means.
So is Sri
Lanka, for
example, a
"highlight" or
a low-light
for Ba
Ki-moon? Watch
this site.
For the next
meeting, with
Denmark's
Prime Minister
Lars Lokke
Rasmussen,
another copy
of the Ban
vanity book
was out, along
with a pen to
sign it.
By the
last meeting
of the day,
after Inner
City Press
tweeted then
first
published this
story, the
copy of the
book for UNASUR's
Ernesto Samper
Pizano was
covered
up with a file
by Ban's
staff. Is this
on the level?
In
the hall was
the office of
Nardos
Bekele-Thomas,
moved out of
the top job in
Kenya so Ban's
son in law
could occupy
it before Ban
leaves.
Legacy,
indeed....
The
Friday before
UN General
Assembly week
starts in
earnest,
reporters at
the UN were
told of some
of the
upcoming
meetings and
how, despite
restrictions,
to cover them.
Inner
City Press
asked the head
of the UN's
Department of
Public
Information
Cristina
Gallach why
DPI says the
non-resident
correspondents,
the vast
majority of
journalists
covering the
UN, will be
placed in
basement
Conference
Room 1 where
no only food
and beverages
but even water
is not
allowed.
(In
Ban's
conference
room there is
water and,
we've noted at
his all-Korean
meeting, tea.)
Gallach's
reply cited to
“professionalism”
and rules,
both of which
she invoked
when she ousted
and then
evicted
Inner City
Press from the
UN earlier
this year.
Ironically,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric less
that an hour
later explained
having
violated the
rules (about
those without
cameras not
attending
photo ops) so
that South
Korean print
journalists
could witness
Ban's speech
to politicians
visiting from
Seoul.
The
UN's rules are
selectively
implied, in
this case to
censor.
Last October
19, 2015 Inner
City Press asked Gallach about her attendance at the South South Awards
of Ng Lap
Seng, the
Macau-based
businessman
under house
arrest for
bribery at the
UN.
On September
16, Inner City
Press asked
Gallach about
the
since-released
Office
of Internal
Oversight
Services audit,
which found
that her DPI
did not due
diligence on
events by Ng
Lap Seng
fundees.
Gallach said
that the
outside event
- the case in
Federal court
- is being
followed. So
Inner City
Press asked
for her
response to
testimony in
the case that
South South
News, which
unlike Inner
City Press the
rule-invoking
Gallach left
in its UN
office
despite or
because of it
not asking any
questions at
the UN, was
named as a
“conduit of
bribery.”
This, she did
not answer.
After the
briefing,
which included
film maker
Richard Curtis
whom Inner
City Press
asked about
the Next SG
race,
Gallach's
staffer asked
for further
information
about the
water(less)
issue.
Inner City
Press added
the exclusion
of
non-resident
correspondents
from access to
the UN's EZTV
which shows
more events
than the UN
webcast. See flier
here of the
Free UN
Coalition for
Access,
also ejected
and sign torn
down under
Gallach. What
will change?
We'll see.
Watch this
site.
, 
