As
South Sudan
Grills Press
for Failing to
Praise Kiir,
UN-MISS Plays
Dumb
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 8 --
Some say the
UN Mission in
South Sudan is
too
close to the
authorities
there. And now
they'll say it
more.
After
journalists
were arrested
for failing to
report on
President
Salva
Kiir's visit
and speech in
Wau, Inner
City Press
asked the UN
what it
thought was a
softball
question: does
UNMISS condemn
it? From the
January 7
transcript:
Inner
City Press:
There are
these two
journalists
were arrested
in South
Sudan by the
authorities,
Louis Pasquale
and Ashab
Khamis and
they
were arrested,
it’s reported,
for not
reporting on a
speech by, by
President Kiir
in Wau. So, I
am wondering,
since it
seemed to many
people
including
press freedom
organizations
it seems
pretty
strange,
does the, the,
the, does the
Mission there
or the
Secretariat
here
have any
comment on the
propriety of
journalists
being arrested
for
not covering
what the
Government
wants them to
cover?
Spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky: The
Mission does
have a strong
human rights
component, and
I will ask if
they have any
further
information on
this for us.
But, as a
general
principle, of
course,
journalists
should be
allowed to
carry out
their work
free of
intimidation.
And
that means to
be able to
report freely.
But
the next
morning, after
checking with
UNMISS or
rather the
DPKO of
Herve Ladsous,
here's what
Nesirky's
office sent
Inner City
Press:
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Tue, Jan
8, 2013
at 10:48 AM
Subject: Re:
Your question
on South Sudan
To:
Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Further
to
the
Spokesperson's
comments at
noon yesterday
on journalists
in
South Sudan,
DPKO has this
to add: The
United
Missions in
South Sudan
(UNMISS)
confirms that
four
journalists
were released
by the
security
authorities in
Wau.
UNMISS
has not been
able to
ascertain the
actual reasons
for the
arrests.
As
mandated by
the Security
Council, the
Mission
advocates for
due
process and is
working with
relevant
national
authorities to
end
arbitrary
arrests and
illegal
detentions.
UNMISS,
under
Hilde Johnson,
was not ABLE
to "ascertain
the actual
reasons for
the arrests"?
The Oye Times
reports that
"The
minister said
that the four
officials;
Director of
Radio and TV
Mr.
Louis Pasquale
Aleu, Director
of Radio Mr
Alor Deng
Koor, Chief
News
Editor Mr.
Kamilio
Luciano Jarban
and
Photographer
Michael
Lourance
were arrested
and released
on Wednesday
evening after
the two
stations
failed to
broadcast the
speech of
President
Salva Kiir
when
he was
addressing a
public rally
in Wau.
He
said the
journalists
were only
called for
investigations
to answer
why they
failed to make
productive
records during
the
president’s
speech on 24
December 2012.
"It
was very
disappointing
for the state
government to
notify on that
day
that the whole
government
media in the
state did
nothing in
covering
the
president’s
visit, despite
a lot of
political
vacuum and the
recent issue
on Wau County
dispute. The
state
government has
a right
to question
these
journalists of
why they
failed," said
Oya.
So,
it was for
failing to
provide
"productive"
reporting. But
UNMISS and
DPKO say they
don't know why
the
journalists
were taken
in. Hear no
evil, see no
evil -- in
some places.
Watch this
site.
, 
