In
UNSC In November UK Has No
Cameroon Meeting Nor
Somaliland As Censors Press
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Photos,
Periscope
UN GATE, Nov 1 –
With the UN Security Council
presidency for November being
taken over by the UK Mission
and its Karen Pierce, she
bragged in his 1 November 2019
press conference that the UK
would have a lot of meetings
about Africa.
But none,
it quickly became clear, about
Cameroon, despite Paul Biya's
killings there. In fact, the
UK has denied Inner City
Press' FOIA request on its
role in Cameroon, and its
Mission and Pierce did nothing
when UNSG Antonio Guterres had
Inner City Press roughed up
and banned now 485 days amid
its questions about Guterres'
Budget Committee deal with
Biya's Tommo Monthe,
procedural favors for silence.
By Africa
Pierce apparently meant only
those countries where
neo-colonial UK still wants to
have a role, if only by
getting its national appointed
to UN roles, like Somalia and
Libya.
While
there were mostly softball
questions about rugby and,
from Chinese state media, on
the UK's supposed love of
mediation and/or
reconciliation, Pierce
pointedly and repeatedly
demanded to know who one
questioning journalist was,
and his media.
Apparently
Inner City Press which would
have her, as it did Jonathan
Allen, about Cameroon was not
enough - she wanted only
friendly questions. She said
UK diplomacy is alive and
well. That's not the story
that FOIA, and the Mission's
continued support of Guterres'
ban on Inner City Press,
tells.
The UK has
have a debate on Africa on
November 4, and reconciliation
on the 19th. There's Libya on
the 18th, and Somalia no less
than twice (but no Somaliland,
Pierce made clear). November
22 is Yemen, on which Pierce
took a question from a Saudi
media she often pals around
with, Jamal Khashoggi
notwithstanding.
Cyprus, of
course, on November 25 - and
Big Tony's Big Lunch on
November 20. Inner City Press
will cover as many of these as
it can, including from the
Delegates Entrance Gate where
the UK Mission watched and did
nothing, or worse, as
censorship of Press took place
right in front of them. Watch
this site.
***
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