On
W Sahara, ICP Asks UN Why
Guterres Ignores AI on Rights,
Diplomats Ask Why He's "So Pro
Morocco"
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
April 20 – In the run-up to
next week's UN Security
Council two-step on Western
Sahara, numerous diplomats
have asked Inner City Press
why Secretary General Antonio
Guterres is "so pro Moroccan,"
as one of them put it. The
perception is become
widespread. The answers
proffered include Guterres'
time as Prime Minister of
Portugal, with references to
prior Moroccan King Hassan II
and Abdellatif Youssoufi. On April
20, Inner City Press asked Guterres'
holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric about Amnesty
International urging
the inclusion of human rights
monitoring in the mandate of
the MINURSO mission, and why
Guterres ignored it as he
apparently ignores several
other human rights issues.
Dujarric declined to offer any
explanation, saying instead, I
leave the analysis up to you.
Okay. On April 19 as Guterres
held a rare Q&A session,
about Africa, his holdover
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
had pre-selected questions,
many of them not about Africa
at all. The UN Department of
Public Information under
Guterres has threatened
Inner City Press after a
frivolous complaint from the
Moroccan mission about photos
taken according to the rules
at the UN Security Council
stakeout, while DPI has given
multiple "Resident
Correspondent" badges to
Moroccan state media, some
moonlighting for the UN
itself, while restricting the
UNderdog Press. Meanwhile,
Inner City Press has learned,
the UN's decoloniziation
(C-24) committee is preparing
to visit the Tindouf refugee
camp. We'll have more on this.
While Guterres breezed by the
issue of Western Sahara on
Friday, April 7 as Morocco
tried to get the Press which
covers it further restricted,
Inner City Press was leaked
the email below, from the UN's
Kim Bolduc, amid reports of
Germany's Horst Kohler as new
Personal Envoy. While
Guterres' holdover spokesman
Stephane Dujarric refused to
comment on either,
here (contrary to his
Q&A last week about "Sex
in the City, here),
now Inner City Press has put
on Scribd the full text
of Guterres' first MINURSO
report such as it is, here.
But when Inner City Press
asked the UN's holdover
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
about both on April 10, he
wouldn't answer either
question. Video
here. From the UN
transcript:
Inner City Press:
on Western Sahara, you'd said
to wait for the report, but I
guess I just want to say, this
Kim Bolduc e-mail, which Inner
City Press published, was
directed to, like, many, many
people in UNHCR. So,
5I'm wondering what then, it
talks about a code cable for
Jean-Pierre Lacroix to go
forward and… and… and, you
know, re… bring all 17 people
back. So, I'm sort of
wondering, like, is it that
you know it, but she shouldn't
have written that first?
Is it…?
Spokesman: She's the
master of her e-mails.
She's obviously communicating
what she needs to communicate
with her… with her staff, and
the Secretary-General's
position will be made very
public and updated once the
report comes out in the next
day or so.
[Also:
Question:
Follow-up. There were
some reports also last week
that the Polisario have
threatened to shoot the
MINURSO peacekeepers if they
try to conduct ceasefire
patrols in the areas under
their control. What's
the Secretary-General think
about that and the integrity
of the peacekeeping mission
itself?
Spokesman: Well, it's
incumbent on all the parties
involved to respect the,
respect UN personnel in the
area, whether uniformed or, or
not, in the way they go about
their work on a mandate of the
Security Council.
Correspondent: I'm
sorry. Just a quick
follow-up. The Polisario
also reported that you have
prevented the MINURSO from
patrolling the El-Guerguerat
area after the Moroccan forces
have withdrawn from it…
Spokesman: I think it is
important that all the parties
ensure that MINURSO has full
freedom of movement.
Masood-ji.
Correspondent: Thank
you, Stéphane-ji. ]
Inner City
Press: Will he, by that
time, confirm or deny that
he's nominating Mr. Horst
Kobler as… or Köhler…?
Spokesman: As you know,
whenever we have a nomination
for a high-level person,
there's a lot of the rumours
prior. The Security
Council will have to be
consulted, and once all that
is done, we will announce it
officially and, no doubt, you
will have the information
before it is announced
officially.
Inner City Press: Just
finally, on both this and on
South Sudan, is it possible to
get Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix to
do a stakeout or some type of
Q&A…?
Spokesman: I'm sure Mr
Lacroix will be delighted to
come meet you as soon as it is
possible for him. Good
day.
Inner City Press: Can I
ask a Burundi question?
Spokesman: No.
We're done. Thank you.
This
is today's UN.
***
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