Sweden's
UNSC Month Ends With Call To Be
Frivolous on Cameroon and
Ignoring Press Ban
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video
I, II,
CJR
UNITED NATIONS,
July 31 – While Sweden has
bragged about its month as
president of the UN Security
Council, there has been a
grotesque dark side they have
not acknowledged or addressed.
Inner City Press on July 2
asked Ambassador Olof B. Skoog
why the Council has not met
about the worsening conflict
in Anglophone Cameroon. Skoog
cited to a previous closed
door consultation with UNOWA
chief Francois Longseny Fall -
little to no leverage came out
of that, and on July 31 Skoog
said on Cameroon "we should be
frivolous" (video here)
to a briefing Inner City Press
was banned
from, see below - and to the
luncheon with Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres
on July 20. (Of that lunch,
video here).
But then after Guterres' UN
Security physically ousted
Inner City Press from the UN
on July 3 as it covered the UN
Budget Committee meeting
exactly as it has for years,
and Guterres and his Global
Communicator Alison Smale have
banned Inner City Press 25
days and counting, Sweden did
nothing. Fox
News story here, GAP
blogs I and II; UK
Independent here.
Not
only was the Swedish Mission
informed, in person at the UN
Delegates Entrance and in
writing -- Skoog oversaw an
Orwellian stakeout by
Guterres' West Africa envoy
Mohammed Ibn Chambas after he
had downplayed the "unrest" in
the English speaking areas of
Cameroon, a stakeout from
which Inner City Press was
banned by Guterres. Inner City
Press e-mailed questions for
Chambas to Skoof and his
Deputy Carl Skau but none were
asked. It was a fake-out at
the stakeout: no other
correspondent even bothered to
ask a question. This was
disgusting. So too the
Press-less "end of presidency"
press conference held on July
31. While none of those
allowed in asked about
Cameroon, Skoog himself
brought it up, only to say "we
should be frivolous" about it.
Wouldn't that be, MORE
frivolous? Skoog hasn't seen
the UN's disgusting data dump
of new rape changes from a
full day ago; he called on Al
Jazeera on human rights, and a
Reuters retiree. When a lone
correspondent not in the
in-crowd tried to ask a final
(seventh) question, she got
shouted down by Reuters. This
is the UN then run -
roguelike, to the point of
having the Press roughed up
and banned for critiquing it.
We'll have more on this. The
Swedish Mission had committed
as far back as June 22, when
Guterres' Security ousted
Inner City Press for the first
time during an Eid al Fitr
speech by Guterres, to raise
the matter to Alison Smale.(In
fairness, Sweden's
spokesperson also wrote back
to Inner City Press, here.)
But nothing was done, even
after the more violent July 3
outer and ban. Smale wrote to
the Government Accountability
Project that Inner City Press'
reporter was "uncivil"
by saying loudly "I am a
journalist!" while UN Security
was twisting its arm; then
Smale like Guterres and now
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
went on vacation, leaving
Inner City Press int he
street. From the bus stop in
front of the Delegates
Entrance it covered Sweden's
various Elements to the Press,
from Lebanon
and Syria
to Myanmar.
But it was a disappointing
performance for Sweden, given
its claims. The country's
Prime Minister Stefan
Löfven met
and smiled with Guterres on
July 6, right after Guterres
had the Press roughed up and
banned. Swedish Foreign
Minister Margot Wallstrom, a
former UN official, has yet to
do anything about this
censorship. Ironically, Inner
City Press early on July 3
asked Skoog about the Budget
Committee and he referenced
Cameroon's Tommo Monthe, with
whom Inner City Press had just
spoken before UN Security
grabbed its laptop, tore its
shirt and twisted its arm.
We'll have more on this. Back
on July 2 Inner City Press
would have liked to ask for an
update into the investigation
of the murders of UN experts
Zaida Catalan and Michael
Sharp - watch this site. There
will be three meetings on
Syria, and debates on children
and armed conflict, the
African Union, and climate
change (which, Skoog said,
some opposed). Back on June 1
with that month's presidency
being taken over by Russia and
its Ambassador Vassily
Nebenzia, Inner City Press on
June 1 asked him about Yemen
and if the June 18 briefing
will be open, and about Cyprus
on which there is no movement
on a new UN special envoy,
even an interim one. Nebenzia
replied that he hopes Yemen
envoy Martin Griffiths will
soon meet with the Houthis in
Sana'a; he answered Inner City
Press' Hodeida question by
saying seizing this port would
not be helpful. Tweeted video
here.
On Cyprus he agreed there has
been very little movement. He
said that even naming a new
special envoy will only come
after some political events.
Cyprus answer video here.
Inner City Press is separately
informed that Turkey will not
meet proposed interim envoy
Jane Holl Lute after after
elections. Inner City Press
for the Free UN Coalition for
Access asked Nebenzia to come
to the UNTV stakeout after all
Council consultations, and
that the mission send out a
daily email about who
requested meetings and who
will brief. Nebenzia, asked
about the impending Gaza
vote(s) said, "You never know.
He said he is unaware of any
legitimate occupations,
referring the Palestine. He
said Nikki Haley provided a
short briefing on June 1 to
Council members about the
North Korea talks that may
happen on June 12. That
meeting was at the Russian
Mission, with green artificial
turf and a football / soccer
ball, which was also part of
the swag bags the Mission gave
to other Council members.
There will be four TV sets set
up for the World Cup, Nebenzia
said. But since the UN
Secretariat of Antonio
Guterres and USG Alison Smale
still require Inner City Press
unlike others to get a minder
to go down the second floor,
will Inner City Press be able
to reach them? Watch this site
- all month and beyond. Back
on May 3 with the Council's
presidency being taken over by
Poland's Ambassador Joanna
Wronecka, Inner City Press
asked her about UN sexual
abuse and exploitation, with
54 new cases in just the first
quarter of 2018, and about DR
Congo interference in the
investigation of the murders
of UN experts Michael Sharp
and Zaida Catalan. In
response, she cited an Arria
formula meeting on May 7 about
Children and Armed Conflict,
and as an issue of particular
interest to her,
stigmatization in Myanmar. She
described the Council's recent
visit to that country and to
Bangladesh. Inner City Press
would have liked to ask about
any Burundi Arria formula
meeting before the referendum
on May 17, but it was not
possible (yet). For the Free
UN Coalition for Access, FUNCA,
Inner City Press asked that
the Polish Mission send out
daily emails about who has
requested Any Other Business
meetings and who the briefers
are. Back on April 2 Inner
City Press asked the then
incoming UNSC President Peru's
Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra
about Haiti and the cholera
the UN brought, and the
Western Sahara letter filed
with the Council on April 1. Meza-Cuadra said
the Peru had participated
extensively in the UN's now
defunct MINUSTAH mission; he
acknowledged the need for the
UN to raise more funds about
cholera. Video here.
On Western Sahara he
acknowledged receipt of the
letter alleging violations by
the Frente Polisario which the
UN says it has not observed.
He said it has been
circulated, and his political
coordinator after the meeting
denied reports of an "Any
Other Business" briefing about
Western Sahara before the
consultations on April 17.
There may be Council trips to
Iraq and to Myanmar /
Bangladesh. Inner City Press
for the Free
UN Coalition for Access
asked Meza-Cuadra
to revert to
the practice
of at least
purporting to
answer
questions
after closed
consultations
of the
Council. We'll
have more on this. Back on
March 1 with the Council
presidency being taken over by
Dutch Ambassador Karel van
Oosterom, Inner City Press
asked him about Burundi, where
the Council's decision to send
228 UN Police was never
implemented, and about the
(lack of) transparency of the
North Korea sanctions
committee which he chairs. He
replied that each sanctions
committee has its own
transparency procedures. Not
explained is when the votes
were taken, to make
confidential requests for and
rulings on exemptions such as
that involving DPRK Foreign
Trade Bank, see
Inner City Press' credited
scoop here.
We'll have more on this, as
well as on Burundi, where
Inner City Press was told the
day after the February 26
meeting that France, the
penholding, is working on a
press statement. Where is it?
The four prior rounds of
questions were mostly about
Syria, n which the Council
will meet March 12, 15 and 27,
see Inner City Press' coverage
here. Efforts to visit
Myanmar continue. Western
Sahara and MINURSO will be
disclosed - behind closed
doors - on March 21; the DR
Congo on March 7 and 19 after
OCHA's Lowcock and Sigrid Kaaf
visit the country. Karel van
Oosterom said he lived in
Damascus for four years, and
quoted Yogi Berra on the
difficulty of making
predictions, especially if
they are about the future. He
said the three non-European
parts of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands will sometimes be
in the chair, but not for now
during the month of
presidency. The flame out of
the country's previous foreign
minister for misstating what
he overheard in Moscow did not
come up; afterward Inner City
Press began to make a pitch
that the Netherlands, when it
deploys as in Mali, should
share its protective equipment
to avoid a deadly two-tier
situation of night vision
goggles for example among
different contingents. We'll
have more on this. On behalf
of the Free UN Coalition for
Access, Inner City Press asked
van Oosterom to
come to stakeout after all
closed door consultations,
such as did not happen on
Burundi. He said he'll try.
Watch this site. Back on
February 1 Inner City Press
asked Kuwait's Mansour
Al-Otaibi about Yemen and
about Secretary General
Antonio Guterres' meeting with
Sudan's President Omar al
Bashir, indicted by the
International Criminal Court
for genocide in Darfur. Photos,
Periscope.
On
Yemen, Inner City Press asked
if the name of Martin
Griffiths has been circulated
to Council members as
replacement for Ismael Ould
Cheikh Ahmed as UN envoy. He
said it has not been
circulated, adding that Kuwait
will support whomever the
Secretary General proposes. On
Guterres' meeting, for which
he'd have been required to
inform the ICC Prosecutor in
advance, Al-Otaibi said he
had no information, that Inner
City Press should ask
Guterres. We'll try. Al-Otaibi said
that there will be no Council
trip to Myanmar this month -
the government didn't say no,
he said, but indicated it is
not the right time. Jimmy
Carter may or may not appear
at an Arria formula meeting
Kuwait is organizing. We'll
have more on this - on behalf
of the Free UN Coalition for
Access, Inner City Press asked
Al-Otaibi to hold
question and answer stakeouts
after closed door
consultation. We'll be there.
Back in September to
Ethiopia's Tekeda Alemu, Inner
City Press asked Ambassador
Alemu four questions, the
answers to which sketch out
the Ethopian government's
worldview. Video here.
In response to Inner City
Press asking why Burundi,
where even the UN says there
is a risk of genocide, is not
on his September Program of
Work nor on the agenda of the
Council's visit to Addis
Ababa, Alemu said that you
can't compare Burundi to
Central African Republic, that
Burundi has “strong state
institutions.” But it is that
very “strength,” which some
say the country shares with
Ethiopia, and with until
recently military-ruled
Myanmar about which Inner City
Press also asked, that has led
to the human rights
violations. In this context,
Inner City Press asked Alemu
about the Oromo protests - and
crackdown - in his country. He
diplomatically chided Inner
City Press for not having
asked in private, saying that
social media has played a
dangerous role. On the other
hand, when Inner City Press
asked Alemu at the end about
the murders of two UN experts
Michael Sharp and Zaida
Catalan, he replied that while
the DR Congo is due to
sovereignty the one to
investigate the murders, the
gruesome nature of the
killings put a “great
responsibility” on the DR
Congo. We'l have more on this.
Alamy photos here.
Earlier on September 1 in
Alemu's briefing to countries
not on the Security Council,
Bangladesh specifically asked
that the Council remain seized
of the situation in Myanmar.
When Inner City Press asked
Alemu about this, he said he
still had to inform himself
more about that situation. The
Security Council is traveling
to Addis from September 5
through 9, when alongside
African Union consultations
the Council's member will meet
for an hour with Prime
Minister Hailemariam Desalegn,
Alemu said. The Council will
receive the “maiden briefings”
late in the month of the new
Under Secretaries General of
OCHA and on Counter-Terrorism.
There will be peacekeeping on
September 20, during the High
Level week of the UN General
Assembly, and Yemen on
September 26. But tellingly,
there will not be Burundi.
Watch this site.
***
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