UN Won't Answer on Sri Lanka NPC Letter to Ban Protesting Gallach's Ouster of ICP By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, March 4 -- On February 19, Inner City Press was thrown out of the UN, on two hours notice, after having put critical questions to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric. On March 3 Dujarric's Deputy Farhan Haq refused for a second day to comment on a protest of the ouster, held at the UN Compound in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka. English; Tamil; UN Q&A; Video. That is today's UN: UNaccountable. Now Ban's UN won't even allow the question to be asked - and speaks for USg Jeffrey Feltman, that he will have no comment on how this thuggish behavior by the UN in New York plays in Sri Lanka, which the UN purports to care about. March 2 video here and embedded below. On March 4, Inner City Press changed tacks and asked Ban's spokesperson Haq about a letter: Inner City Press: I want to ask about Sri Lanka, and I'm asking about a letter, physical letter, that was addressed to the Secretary-General from the Northern Provincial Council, which is a body that Mr. [Jeffrey] Feltman, for example, has met with in the north. The letter says that Inner City Press has been critical of UN-affiliated personalities who are alleged of sidelining or siding with genocidal commanders involved in war crimes against the Tamil people. And finally, it says, we are shocked to learn that, on 19 February, the Under-Secretary-General of DPI (Department of Public Information), Cristina Gallach, signed a letter giving two hours to Mr. Lee, summarily expelling him from the premises, revoking his press pass… Deputy Spokesman: Matthew, Matthew, you're not expelled from the premises. We are in the premises right now. [cross talk] Inner City Press: Right. Right. [What about office and Resident Correspondent pass?] Deputy Spokesman: I see you in front of me. [cross talk] Inner City Press: I know that you like that point. The end of the sentence is revoking his UN resident correspondent pass and access to his office. And so I am asking you, as a response to a letter from the Northern Provincial Council of Sri Lanka, what is your response to the letter? They also say there was no due process... the combination of the two, the lack of coverage of, for example, Mr. [Vijay] Nambiar's dealings in the white flag killings, Mr. Shavendra Silva being a senior peacekeeping adviser to Ban Ki-moon, followed by this act without due process, unprecedented and totally disproportionate penalty... So I'm asking you, what's the response to the letter? Deputy Spokesman: I have no response to the letter, and I have no comment on this. As you're well aware, the concerns that we have about the peace process in Sri Lanka, the… and the end of the fighting are a separate matter from your particular issues with the Department of Public Information, on which I would have no comment. [cross talk] Inner City Press: And what's your concern of a journalist being in this room… That's what I'd like to know. What is so extreme about a journalist being in this room and saying, when DSS (Department of Safety and Security) asked me to leave, I'll leave that justifies the things that are described in this letter? Can you explain? Deputy Spokesman: Matthew, I am not going to get into why you have a problem with your accreditation with the Department of Public information. You have an issue… [cross talk] Inner City Press: Well, they've asked Ban Ki-moon. You speak for Ban Ki-moon. Is Ban Ki-moon going to answer the letter? [cross talk] Deputy Spokesman: The decision on your accreditation is a decision taken by the Department of Public Information. [cross talk] It's based on actions, having to do with actions that you took, indeed, in this very room, that were hindering… [cross talk] Inner City Press: In a meeting that wasn't listed as closed, not in the UN Journal of anywhere else as closed. I'm just asking. Should they write to Cristina Gallach? They've written to the wrong person… [cross talk] Deputy Spokesman: You can say whatever you want, but it's not my place to argue with you about the decision… Inner City Press: It's a letter to Ban Ki-moon. You speak for Ban Ki-moon. So I'm asking you for a response to the letter. Deputy Spokesman: This is a decision taken… you can talk over me as much as you want but it doesn't preclude the reality of it. Question: No, I see you trying to move… if you'll just stay stationary, I'll be quiet. Deputy Spokesman: Okay. Yes. Nabil? On March 3 Inner City Press again endeavored to ask Sri Lanka questions, including about the UN's role in killings there. Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Farhan Haq tried to PRE cut off the questions.

• published: 04 Mar 2016
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