ECOSOC Rejects CPJ Accreditation at the UN
Channel: American Television News
Date: 2016-05-27

UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (Reuters) - The Committee to Protect Journalists, a press freedom watchdog group, was denied consultative status at the United Nations on Thursday, with South Africa, Russia and China among the countries that opposed it.

New York-based CPJ reports on violations of press freedom in countries and conflict zones around the world, reporting and mobilizing action on behalf of journalists who have been targeted. A U.N. panel rejected its application for status that would have given it access to U.N. headquarters and allowed it to participate in many U.N. events.

For years, the 19-member U.N. Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) had delayed action on the group's application for accreditation.

The NGO committee rejected CPJ's application with 10 votes against, six in favor and three abstentions. Normally the committee decides by consensus, but a senior U.S. diplomat requested a vote after South Africa and other committee members kept posing questions that several Western diplomats denounced as a delaying tactic.