UN
Censorship Echoes on World
Press Freedom Day, UNAOC
Cancels Event, ICP Asks Why
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
May 2 –
The UN's celebration of World
Press Freedom Day will
ghoulishly feature a UN
official who has refused to
respond for six months to
5,000 petitions
to review her Department's
eviction and restriction of
investigative Inner City
Press, here.
At the same time there was to
be an event of the "UN
Alliance of Civilizations,"
headed by Qatar's former
Ambassador to the UN Nassir
Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser:
"From News Literacy to
‘Newsgames’: Conversations
Celebrating World Press
Freedom Day" - On the occasion
of 2018 World Press Freedom
Day, the United Nations
Alliance of Civilizations
(UNAOC) is collaborating with
the News Literacy Project
(NLP) in organizing two panel
discussions on May
3, 2018. The first panel
will feature prominent
journalists and educators and
it will focus on the role of
press freedom
internationally." But the NFP
says, "The United Nations
Alliance of Civilizations
(UNAOC) indefinitely postponed
an event at the U.N. tomorrow
to observe World Press Freedom
Day after the News Literacy
Project (NLP) refused UNAOC’s
request to remove references
in our presentation to several
countries where press freedom
is limited.
The references are in videos
from a new lesson on
international press freedoms
in our Checkology® virtual
classroom, which I was
planning to introduce at the
event. The videos include
remarks by lesson host Soraya
Sarhaddi Nelson of NPR about
severe restrictions on press
freedom in Turkey, Mexico and
Egypt and comments by Russian
and Pakistani journalists
describing the challenges they
face. NLP submitted the
presentation to UNAOC on
Monday so it would be ready to
be shared with the audience. A
UNAOC official then asked us
to delete the reference to
Turkey — which, along with
Spain, had proposed the
creation of UNAOC in 2005 —
and the official later
insisted that NLP not share
any of the video clips... In
an email today, UNAOC told the
panelists and more than 150
registered attendees that the
long-planned event was being
postponed “until future
notice” because of another
event at the U.N. scheduled at
the same time." Here is the
referenced press release,
about which Inner City Press
has submitted questions to
UNAOC's spokesperson: "Dear
Colleagues, I would like to
inform you that UNAOC’s event,
From news literacy to news
games to journalism cartoons:
Conversations celebrating
World Press Freedom Day,
planned for May 3, 2018
at 10:00 am is postponed
and will be re-scheduled for a
later date. Despite
efforts to change the time of
the event, we cannot proceed
without coming into conflict
with the annually held high
level event hosted by UNESCO
and DPI commemorating World
Press Freedom Day which will
include the participation of
the Secretary-General and the
President of the General
Assembly. We apologize for
this short notice but will
notify you as soon as an
alternative date and time is
identified." Inner City Press
wrote to the spokesperson of
UNAOC: "This is a request on
deadline for your comment /
response that UNAOC asked
that panel delete
mention of press oppression in
Turkey, Egypt, etc - and
separately, that this is
related to the cancellation."
So far, nothing. Guterres will
in fact not participate, at
least not in person. And
ironically, the event
reference itself has a
censorship component (which
hasn't led to Inner City Press
not reporting the above) -- It
will feature an official of
the UN Correspondents
Association (whose previous
vice president used it to
lobby for Turkey for whom he
now works) -- a state
media scribe who recently
tried to cut off other
journalists so she could get
more quotes praising her
country and its contributions
to UN Peacekeeping. Here's the
program:
Moderator Alison
Smale
Under-Secretary-General for
Global Communications, United
Nations Department of Public
Information (DPI)
Opening Remarks
Mr. António Guterres
United Nations
Secretary-General (Video
Message)
H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajcák
President of the 72nd session
of the United Nations General
Assembly
H.E. Mr. Jan Kickert
Permanent Representative of
Austria to the United Nations
Chair of the United Nations
General Assembly Committee on
Information
Ms. Melissa Kent
CBC Radio-Canada, Second Vice
President of the United
Nations Correspondents
Association (UNCA)
Ms. Nicole Stremlau
Lead Researcher, UNESCO Report
on World Trends in Freedom of
Expression and Media
Development; University of
Oxford and University of
Johannesburg
Opening Remarks
H.E. Mr. François Delattre
Permanent Representative of
France to the United Nations
Moderator
Mr. Ramu Damodaran
Deputy Director for
Partnerships and Public
Engagement
Chief, United Nations Academic
Impact, Outreach Division, DPI
Speakers
Ms. Marie Bourreau
Journalist, Correspondent for
Le Monde and Radio France
Internationale (RFI) at the
United Nations in New York
It
is similar ot the hypocrisy of
the UN preaching about
accountability while refusing
to pay a penny to the victims
of the cholera it brought to
Haiti, and refusing to hold
accountable its peacekeepers
who rape in South Sudan (or
use blue helmets while burning
homes in Cameroon. Amid the
worsening crackdown by the
army of 36-year Cameroon
president Paul Biya in the
country's Anglophone areas, a
video has circulated depicting
soldiers burning down homes.
Click here
for one upload of it. Noted by
many residents and activists:
blue helmet of the type used
by UN peacekeepers. On April
30 Inner City Press asked UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujarric about the video, the
day after publishing a story
about it, in Google News.
Dujarric said he hadn't seen
the video but militaries
should to use UN equipment or
colors, presumably when
burning civilians homes down.
Video here;
from the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: a video
emerged over the weekend from
Cameroon showing or depicting
soldiers burning people's
homes in the Anglophone areas,
and what… what a lot of people
focused on is that one of
them, at least, is wearing a
blue helmet. I don't
think it means the UN is doing
it, but I do wonder, what are
the rules? I wanted to
ask you, what are the rules if
people have served in UN
peacekeeping missions… have
you seen the video?
Spokesman: "I haven't
seen that particular video, so
I can't comment on the
particular helmet, whether it
was just blue or a UN
helmet. We have seen, in
different parts of the world,
various security forces and
army… we've seen reports of
them using equipment that they
own, which had been painted
white or blue and reused
domestically. It is a
responsibility to ensure that
no equipment that has UN
markings is ever used in any
domestic operation. But,
again, I'm not… that's a
matter… that's an issue of
principle. I haven't… I
can't comment on that specific
report." Hours later, still
nothing.
The lack
of confidence in the UN in
these areas, and on this
issue, was inflamed as UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres in October 2017
stopped by Yaounde on his way
from the Central African
Republic (where the UN pays
Biya's government for
peacekeepers who have been
charged with sexual abuse).
Guterres did not meet with any
opposition figures, and
accepted a golden statue from
Biya.
Guterres'
envoy Francois Lounceny Fall
has publicly said that
secessionist are extremists,
the word used by Biya to
justify the scorched earth
strategy exemplified by the
video. Inner City Press asked
UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights Prince Zaid why his
Office hasn't updated the
death figures and he claimed
it was because the UN has no
access.
Guterres'
humanitarian Assistant
Secretary General Ursula
Mueller visited Cameroon, but
not the Anglophone areas.
(Inner City Press asked her
why, here).
Human Rights Watch didn't even
include Cameroon in its 2018
“World Report,” and told
Inner City Press this is
because it does not view it as
among the 90 most serious
problems in the world.
Guterres' Deputy Secretary
General Amina J. Mohammed as
in Abuja in her native Nigeria
when 47 Cameroonians were
illegally sent back by the
Buhari government. Buhari will
be in Washington on April 30
and a protest of Ambazonians
is planned. Earlier in April,
Inner City Press asked
the US State Department about
the refoulement to Cameroon
and received a day later a
statement. But what will
happen on this video, and on
the underlying issues? Watch
this site.
***
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