On North Korea, CTBTO Said Not Clear Yet, Ban Said Detonation, ICP Asks Why UN Removed Ban's Audio

• Report rights infringement
• published: 06 Jan 2016
• views: 190

On N. Korea, Ban Described Detonation As Fact, Zerbo Said Not Yet, UN Cut Ban's Audio By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, January 6 -- After North Korea announced it had tested a hydrogen bomb, at the UN a Security Council meeting was called for 11 am. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon read a statement at the UNSC stakeout at 10:30 am, taking no question as usual. But earlier at 10 am the UN had fed B-roll of Ban Ki-moon and his (all male) senior advisers meeting about North Korea. Inner City Press filmed the feed, in which Ban Ki-moon audibly referred to the North Korean “detonation... the fourth since 2006” as a fact. Vine here; now video here. But at the January 6 UN noon briefing, Lassino Zerbo of the CTBTO said that it was not yet clear that it was a detonation. Inner City Press asked Zerbo to explain why Ban, in a meeting he had briefed, described the North Korean detonation as a fact. Zerbo explained among other things that the CTBTO has to wait for member states - and more proof. Video here. When Inner City Press asked if Ban is operation under a different standard of proof, Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric cut in to say, among other things, that Zerbo's was the only information that Ban had, and that Ban was in fact only referring to press reports. Then Inner City Press found that in the online version of the day's UN B-roll, eight second of Ban's audio - where he described the detonation as a fact -- had been removed. Video here. In fact, in the downloadable version of the B-roll, the entire segment is cut. What are the implications? We'll have more on this. After 1 pm, Security Council President for January Elbio Rosselli of Uruguay emerged and read out a Press Statement below. Japan's Ambassador Motohide Yoshikawa spoke, and Inner City Press asked him of Ban's moves to visit DPRK. He replied that if such a trip emphasized UN resolutions including on human rights, it could be useful. Video here. But what WAS Ban's trip going to be about? Back on December 10, 2015, for Human Rights Day there was a UN Security Council meeting about human rights in North Korea. This comes as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon canceled a November 25 visit to Western Sahara because he thought he could go to North Korea, which still hasn't happened. After the meeting on December 10, Inner City Press asked UK Deputy Permanent Representative Peter Wilson, and then High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid al Hussein, about a Ban Ki-moon trip. The UK's Wilson said his country would like to see dialogue. When Inner City Press asked Zeid if he'd discussed Ban's trip with him, Zeid said no. So on December 11, Inner City Press asked Ban's Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, transcript here: Inner City Press: At the stakeout after yesterday's meeting on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the question arose to Prince Zeid whether he had discussed with the Secretary-General, the Secretary-General's possible trip to DPRK in terms of a human rights component to it. And he seemed to indicate that the two had not discussed it. What I wanted to ask you is, one, is that the case? And two, what is the place, what would be the place of human rights in not… obviously the trip hasn't taken place yet, but in terms of clearly he has said that negotiations are under way and I saw Mr. Kim quoted to that effect, what is the place of human rights in such a trip? Deputy Spokesman: Human rights has a place in all of the Secretary-General's travels and it would do so in this case as well. Regarding specifics, that will have to wait until when a trip is arranged, and there's nothing further to say about that. We've been trying to make preparations when it's feasible, but there's nothing further to announce at this point. Have a good weekend, everyone. One is left wondering what would be the agenda of a Ban trip to North Korea - and what the US, which sponsored the December 10 meeting, thinks of such a trip. While it is difficult to get a USUN answer to the question, other ambassadors have told Inner City Press that Japan is against such a Ban trip. We'll have more on this.