On S. Sudan, UN's Ladsous Calls Media UNacceptable, Signs Cited
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 18, 2014 -- The UN says it is for press freedom, but
on March 18, UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous
<
http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2013/10/meet-matthew-lee
-scourge-united-nations> told the Security Council of "unacceptable
vilification of the UN by some... media articles."
After the meeting, while neither Ladsous nor the UN's envoy to South Sudan
Hilde Johnson came to answer questions, the president of the Security
Council for March, Sylvie Lucas of Luxembourg, did.
Inner City Press asked her about Ladsous' line, and if the UN and Security
Council were now in the business of critiquing articles in countries with
peacekeeping missions.
Lucas, who has held more stakeouts this month by far that recent
presidencies, replied by citing a protest sign depicting Hilde Johnson and a
revolver. Inner City Press has seen a picture of the sign - but it is well
within the bounds of protected First Amendment speech and protest in the US.
Is the UN, or Ladsous and Johnson, promoting a lower standard?
South Sudan's Permanent Representative Francis Deng, himself a former UN
official, said that the government plans to "contain hostile publicity." So
now if the Kiir government shuts down a newspaper, or beats protesters for
holding "bad" signs, are the UN and its Security Council, or Ladsous and
Johnson, complicit?
Already, Ladsous refuses to answer Press questions on topics ranging from
the introduction of cholera in Haiti to rapes by the UN's partners in the
Congolese Army in Minova, video here <
http://youtu.be/rm1V-cY9u40> .
Now when the UN speaks on unacceptable media articles, what does it mean?
Salva Kiir's information minister said that to broadcast interviews with
rebels into South Sudan would be illegal. The UN had no comment
A Kiir adviser admitted his government gives "advise" to journalists on
what and what not to write -- just as Inner City Press has been told, in
connection with UN Accreditation, how to write about Ladsous. This is called
censorship.
Now Ladsous explicitly joins the censors. Some say it's Ladsous who should
be censured -- if, that is, the UN believes in free press.
Though it was UN Peacekeeping own admitted "error" that gave rise to
articles, Ladsous now blames the government for not agreeing to a joint
investigation. He said, "We offered to the Government to conduct a joint
investigation, to prove our good faith and provide full transparency.
Unfortunately, the offer was declined."
Back on March 6, the UN issued a rare admission of error, saying that
contrary to policy weapons were moved by road, not air, in South Sudan for
the Ghana peacekeepers recently arrived from Cote d'Ivoire.
The UN issued this
<
http://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/un-will-investigate-error-transport
-weapons-new-contingent?utm_source=Global+Crisis+Management+Community&utm_me
dium=twitter> :
Juba, 6 March 2014: It is the policy of the United Nations Mission in South
Sudan (UNMISS) that during the crisis in South Sudan all arms and ammunition
for peacekeeping contingents are flown into respective areas of deployment
and not taken by road. This is an important security measure.
In connection with the transport of cargo of general goods belonging to the
Ghanaian battalion on its way to Bentiu, several containers were wrongly
labelled and inadvertently contained weapons and ammunition. This is
regrettable. The Ghanaian troops are part of the surge of UNMISS troops to
assist South Sudan and the goods were en route to Bentiu, passing through
Rumbek.
UN Headquarters intends to dispatch a high level investigation team to look
into this matter on an urgent basis, in cooperation with the Government of
South Sudan.
Pressed for more details, spokesperson Martin Nesirky declined. One
wondered, if the UN can in essence apologize so quickly for weapons
transport in South Sudan, why not for the 8,000 people killed by the cholera
introduced into Haiti?
Then Inner City Press was sent links to the photos of the (UN) trucks
<
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=521442451298675&set=a.3423472625415
29.71940.286957738080482&type=1&theater> , and of the weapons
<
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=521439444632309&set=a.3423472625415
29.71940.286957738080482&type=1&theater> . Click here
<
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=521439444632309&set=a.3423472625415
29.71940.286957738080482&type=1&theater> and here
<
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=521442451298675&set=a.3423472625415
29.71940.286957738080482&type=1&theater> ; h/t
<
https://twitter.com/censk/status/441666215925542913> .
Perhaps it's that the UN was caught red-handed, so to speak. So now what?
Watch this site.
Received on Tue Mar 18 2014 - 19:34:56 EDT