UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed "deep disappointment" over the denial of accreditation to a US press freedom advocacy group, saying NGOs need to be given sufficient access to the work of the world body.
The NGO Committee of the United Nations had voted to deny the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) consultative status with the Economic Social Council (ECOSOC).
India, Iran and Turkey abstained from voting while 10 countries including Azerbaijan, Burundi, China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia and Sudan voted against CPJ's application. Greece, Guinea, Israel, Mauritania, Uruguay and United States voted in favour of the group.
Ban's spokesperson said the UN chief has been very supportive of CPJ's work and believes that they do valuable work to defend media rights around the world.
"He is deeply disappointed by this recent decision which, as you know, as it's carried out, it would block access for the Committee to Protect Journalists for a number of UN bodies including access to the Human Rights Council," Ban's Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters yesterday.
Haq said Ban is concerned that media rights need to be respected and that NGOs need to have sufficient access to the work of the United Nations system.
He said journalists are already facing "undue restrictions" on their work across the world and organisations that are dedicated to protecting journalists should not face restrictions at the United Nations.
After the voting, CPJ had said without the consultative status, it would be unable to access UN bodies and processes, notably the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where accredited NGOs can deliver a counter-narrative to states. The vote came after CPJ's application, first made in 2012, was deferred seven times.
"It is sad that the UN, which has taken up the issue of press freedom through Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and through the adoption of the UN Action Plan, has denied accreditation to CPJ, which has deep and useful knowledge that could inform decision making," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon had said.
"A small group of countries with poor press freedom records are using bureaucratic delaying tactics to sabotage and undermine any efforts that call their own abusive policies into high relief," Simon said
CPJ said its application has been deferred for years by persistent, lengthy and repetitive questioning. It said during the session, the NGO Committee "hid behind the pretense" of rules and procedures.
