On W.
Sahara, ICP
Asks Ban's
Spox If 25
Staff Back
Would Be
Enough
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, June
21 -- When the
UN Security
Council voted
on a draft
resolution
on Western
Sahara on
April 29,
there were two
no votes -
Venezuela and
Uruguay - and
three
abstentions:
Angola, Russia
and New
Zealand. Then
the UN buried
Polisario's
Q&A with
the Press, and
when Pressed
said, "It is
what it is."
Criticized
outside the
Council was
France's (and
Spain's)
role, seeking
to delay even
reporting on
MINURSO for 90
days -- so as
to impact the
selection of
Next Secretary
General, some
say.
Here is an
article in Spanish
on some of the
process at the
UN; here
is the New
York Times of
May 14 about
the related
eviction. UN
Under
Secretary
General
Cristina
Gallach has
told UN
Special
Rapporteurs
the eviction
was for an
incident or
even
"altercation"
in the UN
Press Briefing
Room. The
video shows
there was no
altercation,
but Gallach
has yet to
answer or be
reversed.
On June 21,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, UN transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: while
the
Secretary-General
was traveling,
the President
of the
Security
Council,
François
Delattre, said
there’s
positive
momentum, and
it will be up
to the
Secretary-General
to
respond.
It said that
the proposal
by Morocco is
to have 25
civilian staff
out of the 80…
more than 80
that were
reject… that
were ejected
return.
Is the
Secretary-General
aware of this
offer that
apparently Mr.
[Hervé]
Ladsous has or
Mr. [Jamal]
Benomar
has? And
what’s his
response, and
what’s the
procedure…?
Spokesman:
As we said,
there was… a
few days ago,
there was a
meeting in El
Aaiún with UN
officials and
Moroccan
officials on a
possible way
forward.
I think the
discussions
were
constructive.
The
discussions
are obviously
continuing
here, but we
look forward
to the return
of the full
functionality
of the
mission, as
requested in
the Security
Council
document.
Meanwhile
there is UN
video, with
the camera
controlled by
Gallach's DPI
and pointedly
NOT showing a
disruption in
the room which
tried to stop
the Polisario
representative
who had been
given the
floor from
speaking.
Instead of, as
would be
natural
anywhere in
the free
world, turning
the camera to
film the
source of the
disruption,
the UNTV
camera focuses
more closely
on the
Polisario
representative,
to downplay
the
disruption. Video
here from
Minute 27:52.
Today's UN and
DPI not only
selectively
use "rules,"
some of which
are not
available on
the Internet,
nor on the
UN's iSeek
intranet nor
even through
its Media
Accreditation
and Liaison
Unit - it
controls what
is shown, and
restricts more
independent
views with
minders. We'll
have more on
this.
Here is a
non-UNTV, that
is, non-DPI, video of a stand off in another UN
room,
where the
Chairperson of
the
Decolonization
Committee
asked
non-members of
the Committee
to leave the
room and the
Ambassador of
Morocco
refused,
saying "Shame,
Shame."
Gallach will
in this case
not do any
eviction,
surely. But
why did she in
the first
case, on Inner
City Press?
We'll have
more on this.
On June 17 as
Inner City
Press was
confined to UN
minders to
cover the
General
Assembly
meeting voting
on the budget
of, among
other things,
MINURSO, Inner
City Press was
told and
Tweeted
that Morocco
had tried to
speak over
Polisario.
Now, this
video.
And this -
what was
described as
"positive
momentum"
would be a
mere 25
returned from
over 80 thrown
out. But Ban
Ki-moon is
trying to
avoid being
further
tainted, so he
gave in to
Saudi Arabia,
evicted Press
to not cover
the
Secretariat's
role in the Ng
Lap Seng
scandal, some
say, and now
might accept
the sell out
of MINURSO,
just to visit
Morocco in
November
before more
formal launch
(of campaign)
in January.
On June 16
Inner City
Press asked
French
Ambassador
Francois
Delattre,
President of
the Security
Council
Inner City
Press: On
Western
Sahara, the
Any Other
Business
agenda item,
what do you
think?
Delattre :
Well it’s a
bit early,
because it’s a
bit later in
the afternoon
and we have
many other
issues to
discuss until
then. But,
regarding
Western Sahara
we hope we
have come to a
positive
momentum. It
remains to be
confirmed,
it’s up to the
SG to say, but
that’s what
you asked me
so I am
telling you
what I think.
I think we are
about to
confirm a
positive
momentum.
Merci.
Later on June
16, sources
told Inner
City Press the
UN's Herve
Ladsous is
holding this
proposal which
France
describes as
positive.
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, who
cut off
another Inner
City Press
question and
did not
provide a
substantive
answer to this
one, except to
say that Ban
is always well
informed as he
travels.
The Press was
effectively
BANned from
covering the
stakeout
outside the
Western Sahara
meeting of the
Security
Council: the
glass door was
locked, Ban's
Dujarric saw
it and did
nothing. Inner
City Press,
evicted by
Ban's USG
Gallach, has a
reduced pass
which does not
open the
turnstile.
But when the
Western Sahara
meeting broke
up, Council
member Rafael
Ramirez of
Venezuela told
Inner City
Press the
meeting was
not useful,
Ladsous
refused to
provide
information.
Inner City
Press asks if
Ladsous shares
the
information
with his
native France,
leading to the
"positive
momentum"
comment. We'll
have more on
this.
On June 10,
Inner City
Press was
BANned from
attending a
briefing on
Western Sahara
inside the UN,
despite being
invited to it.
The UN has in
2016 confined
Inner City
Press to
minders or
“escorts;” Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric told
the New York
Times, about
Inner City
Press, that
“if he has an
issue, there
is a staff of
media liaisons
to help him
resolve the
problem and
get where he
needs to go.”
That,
like much
else, was not
true. Inner
City Press
went to the
Liaisons,
showed the
email
invitation -
and was told,
we never
escort people
there.
Ultimately
Inner City
Press was
unable to
attend the
briefing,
which before
the pretextual
ouster and
eviction it
would have
been able to.
Dujarric
called on an
attendee first
at the day's
noon briefing,
who asked the
questions
raised by the
briefing. This
is how it
works, or
doesn't at the
UN.
Inner City
Press had
already
reported the
UNexplained
involvement of
another Under
Secretary
General in the
MINURSO
process -- he
was named at
the June 10
briefing,
Jamal Benomar;
the technical
team sent
there is to
return to New
York next
week. Ban
Ki-moon's
capitulation
to Saudi
Arabia puts
all this in a
new light -
the outright
censorship not
UNrelated.
On May 18,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, UN transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: I
wanted to know
if you have
any update not
only of the
talks between
the
Secretariat
and Morocco
but also of
just the
current status
of the UN
Mission for
the Referendum
in Western
Sahara
(MINURSO).
I've heard
that Kim
Bolduc
essentially
has no staff
at all, that
there's a
person who's
an air traffic
controller who
is doubling as
her kind of
factotum.
Is that… how
would you
characterize
the current
staff levels
and what Ms.
Bolduc
actually does
day to day.
Spokesman:
She is there
as a Special
Representative
of the
Secretary-General
and continues
to work and
lead the
mission.
Obviously, the
civilian
staffing
continue… has
not changed,
and the
mission is not
able to fulfil
its mandate as
it was
designed.
The… the work
continues, and
we will report
back to the
Security
Council as
mandated by
the last
resolution.
On
April 29 even
while Uruguay
spoke in the
Security
Council, UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
started up
“his” noon
briefing
(which ended
with a
profanity
directed at
Inner City
Press, sound
later edited
out or
censored on
UNTV).
After that,
finding
Morocco's Omar
Hilale at the
stakeout,
Inner City
Press asked
him to whom
his King
referred, in
criticizing UN
officers: only
Christopher
Ross? Or USg
Jeff Feltman
too? Hilale
said he would
not criticize
by name.
At 3 pm there
was another
UNTV stakeout.
Inner City
Press asked if
Polisario
could speak.
When the
representative
of Polisario
took to the
microphone to
read a
statement (Tweeted
photo of
statement here)
a UN Security
guard came
over, and the
feed and sound
went dark.
More
correspondents
came, and the
sound went up
again. Inner
City Press for
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
asked, You
have a right
to speak here,
right? Yes,
was the
answer.
(On May
2, a UN
Security guard
told Inner
City Press in
front of the
ECOSOC Chamber
where Ban
Ki-moon spoke,
You have no
right to be
here; Inner
City Press was
then told it
could not ask
questions of
diplomats.
This is
today's UN.)
But the
resulting
video was not
put on the
UN's website.
So on May 2
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, video here, UN
transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: for a
time the sound
and picture
went out but
then it came
back up, which
seemed to be
appropriate.
But I'm
noticing now
in terms of
the archive
version, it's
not up.
What is the
UN's position,
you say he has
every right to
be in the
building, if
he is, in
fact, invited
and
accompanied by
the Permanent
Representative
of a Member
State, why is
the video of
his stakeout
not on the UN
archives?
Can you find
out?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
We can check
with DPI
(Department of
Public
Information).
But by
noon on May 3,
nothing. So
Inner City
Press asked
again, UN
transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: on this
World Press
Freedom Day
theme, since
you're saying
that all of
these things
are just small
examples or
personal
examples, I
had asked you
yesterday
about the fact
that the… the…
the stakeout
by the
representative
of Polisario
was not put on
the UN's
website.
You said you
could… we
could check
with
DPI. It
wasn't clear
to me who the
"we" was, but
I want to ask
you, because I
have gone back
and checked
and in 2012
when the same
representative
spoke, the
archive did go
up. It
seems like…
what's the
trend
here?
What is the
reason why a
taped, several
minutes long
Q&A with
Polisario's
representative
was not put on
the UN's
website?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
I think… this
issue… we're
trying to work
through this
issue.
Inner City
Press:
Meaning what?
Somebody's
lobbying to
not put it up?
Spokesman:
I'll leave it
at that.
Inner City
Press:
Okay.
But you will
finally
announce why…
Spokesman
Dujarric:
I will leave
it at that.
On May
4, Inner City
Press asked
yet again -
and while
Dujarric said
it was
archived, as
it turns out
is was added
to the tail
end of the
Algerian
stakeout -
Dujarric
hasn't yet
answers if
that was
(Gallach's)
compromise. UN transcript:
Inner City
Press: On this
question of
Polisario, I
wanted to ask,
I have been
asking a
couple times
but I have
kind of a new…
the question
of the
stakeout that
was recorded
but was
temporarily
stopped, then
began again,
not going into
archives, the
Turkish
Cypriot
community that
you mentioned,
their’s always
go up.
Yesterday MSF
and ICRC,
which are not
Member States…
Spokesman
Dujarric:
It's archived.
Inner City
Press:
It's archived
now,
great.
Can you
explain what
the delay was?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
No.
Inner City
Press:
You won't?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
I don't.
Before
Dujarric
finished "his"
briefing,
Inner City
Press found
that searching
UN Webcast for
Polisario
would not find
the clip - was
was merely
appended to
Algeria,
though it was
a separate
stakeout. Was
this Gallach's
compromise?
Inner City
Press audibly
asked - but
Dujarric did
not answer,
and it was
then not
in the
transcript.
So on
May 6, Inner
City Press
asked again,
UN transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: you
said that the
stakeout of
the
representative
Polisario
[Front] was,
in fact, added
three days
late to the
UN's
website.
But, it was
added sort of
as the tail
end in the
Algerian
Permanent
Representative's
presentation.
And I wonder,
given that
there was a
gap between
the two and
given that
usually when
that's done…
was this a
compromise
reached after
some lobbying?
How was that
reached?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
It is what it
is, as we say.
Yeah -
UN censorship
under Ban
Ki-moon, "it
is what it
is," from
burying this
to evicting
the Press, video here.
Meanwhile
DPI chief
Cristina
Gallach,
Spain's
highest UN
official and
responsible
for UNTV, has
ousted and
evicted Inner
City Press,
and now mulls
handing its
long time
office to
French or
Morocco media.
As is
happens, when
Polisario
spoke on UNTV
in 2012,
before
Gallach's
tenure, it DID
go into UN
archives, here.
This is
censorship and
the decay and
of the UN.
We'll have
more on this.
, 
