Sir, - Knowing that your readers would be astonished to learn that as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights I had "vetoed" an Irish journalist covering my visit to Tibet, let me put the record straight immediately. There was never any such veto. On the contrary, in the planning of this official visit to China, much effort went into seeking to include all journalists who wished to come, and particularly for the visit to Tibet.
I accept that the matter could have been handled differently, but it was not easy to anticipate the difficulties that would arise. The first problem surfaced some time ago when journalists based in Geneva were informed that they would not be permitted to travel to China to cover the visit as this was not customary. I subsequently learnt that RTE had applied to cover the visit to China and had been refused. I raised both matters with the Permanent Representative of the Chinese Government in Geneva and in due course was informed that permission would be given to RTE to come to China to cover the visit. This experience alerted my office to the fact that, although there was a significant number of foreign journalists based in Beijing, it could be difficult to cover the visit to Tibet. I therefore instructed my press officer, Jose Diaz, to seek to ensure that at least a small pool of journalists could cover that portion of the visit. Every effort was made to secure this, including several direct interventions on my part with the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs of China, Mr Wang, after my arrival in Beijing. Shortly before leaving Geneva for China, I learnt that Conor O'Clery had been given permission to travel to Tibet to cover the visit. This was good news - not least because it indicated that journalists would be able to accompany me. My press officer continued to seek to have other names added to Mr O'Clery's to create a small pool and he ascertained that several journalists based in Beijing wished to travel to Tibet for the visit.
As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights I believed it was fundamentally important to seek to have a pool of journalists, including of course Conor O'Clery, rather than only Irish TV and an Irish journalist accompanying me on the official visit and I emphasised this to the Chinese Assistant Minister. This was also the point I made in a brief and, may I say, very friendly conversation with Conor O'Clery at an Irish Embassy reception last Monday.
I was not aware until today (Wednesday) that our efforts to secure a pool of journalists had failed and that the Chinese authorities had withdrawn the permission relating to Conor O'Clery. Needless to say, I was deeply disappointed at the outcome. - Yours, etc., Mary Robinson,
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Chengdu, China.