I have posted something similar to this on the big UN thread but because people may not look at the big thread or are confused about where to look for stuff (which happened yesterday), I have decided to post this topic as a separate thread.
There are two big lies that the Watchtower is going to tell the world as seen in the Gillies letter to the Guardian newspaper and the Nov 1, 2001 letter from the WTS head office to all Branches. The one lie is the "we didn't know the criteria" defence. The other lie is the "UN library access" defence. This thread shall deal with the "UN library access" defence.
The Watchtower is going to tell the Witnesses (and the press for that matter) that "the reason why the Watchtower, as an existing NGO, became "associated" with DPI, was that the Watchtower needed to use the United Nations' library for research material on health, social, environmental, population and ecological problems.
The Watchtower will also tell the Rank and File that the Watchtower had been using the UN library before 1991 without associating with DPI but after 1991 the Watchtower's access would have been denied from the UN library unless the Watchtower became "associated" with DPI.
So is this Watchtower explanation true or is this explanation false.
Well lets look at access to "The Dag Hammarskjöld Library". The link can be found here:
( http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/services.htm#access
AccessThe Dag Hammarskjöld Library is a special library whose mandated role is to serve the information needs of United Nations permanent Mission staff and Secretariat staff; however, permission to use the Library is also given for short periods of time to advanced-level researchers (PhD candidates, authors, etc.) who have found that materials required to complete their research are unavailable at depository libraries.
Persons wishing to establish whether the Dag Hammarskjöld Library has the materials required for their research and to request application forms for access may contact the Senior Reference Librarian at the UN/SA Collection Reference Desk. Completed forms, together with required attachments, are forwarded to the United Nations Security and Safety Service for clearance and issuance of a pass. Owing to security requirements, the clearance procedure generally takes two to three weeks. A Help Line has been set up to provide guidance for external researchers needing assistance in tracking down information about the United Nations and its documentation.
Access to the United Nations Bibliographic Information System (UNBIS) databases is freely available through UNBISnet to any Internet user. For further information contact the Data Base Manager. Clearly after reading the above url you will conclude that this Watchtower's reason for "partnering" with DPI is false.
You can access the UN library without "association" to DPI. In fact I am not "associated" with DPI and I got the UN reference librarian to facsimile the 1994 Brochure from DPI (that outlines what NGOs have to do to become "associated" with DPI)(Kent will hopefully publish that for you shortly and it is on the Freeminds web site).
Even worse is that the UN sends out all of its material it publishes to UN depositories. These depositories are so common that there is even one in my home town of Kingston, Ontario, Canada at the Staffers Library at Queen's University.
These UN depositories have everything and anything about the UN including the General Assembly's, Security Council's and ECOSOC's minutes, resolutions and reports. There are all the volumes of the UN Year Books, all the volumes of the UN's human rights books, volumes of trade books, economic books and population statics books. The UN Depository in Kingston makes up a huge area of the library at Staffers. And oh yeah, it contains some of those pesky UN DPI directories that list all NGOs too - hehehehe.
Also there is a thing called interlibrary loans. I use it all the time. This means my UN depository at Queen's Unversity can request any book or magazine from the UN library on a loan basis. Thus, I can access anything I want from the UN library through my library in town. And, oh yeah, I don't have to be "associated" with DPI either. In fact that is how I am getting my hands on the 1993, 1995 and 1997 UN DPI directories on NGOs - hehehehe - and the UN reference librarian even said to me it was no problem and it would take about a week or two for the shipment to arrive.
So if the Watchtower was supposedly banned from the UN library in 1991 the Watchtower researchers could have easily gone to any UN depository in the greater New York City area and received the exact same stuff as was found at the UN main library.
So is there any UN depositories located in the greater New York City area and close to the WTS headquarters?
Well a list of UN depository libraries near the Watchtower's head office is found here:
( http://www.un.org/MoreInfo/Deplib/usa.htm
New York State -- New York City
Columbia University (DL-173EX)
Arthur W. Diamond Law Library
(Attn.: Acquisitions Dept.)
435 West 116th St., Box A-6
New York, NY 10027-7297
Tel: +1 212 854 3743
Fax: +1 212 854 3295
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://library.law.columbia.edu/
DL-173EX (Apr 1948)
Full deposit: Publications and masthead documents in English
Council on Foreign Relations (DL-203EX)
Library
58 E. 68th St.
New York, NY 10021
Tel: +1 212 434 9583
Fax: +1 212 434 9824
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.cfr.org/public/
DL-203EX (Jun 1947)
Partial deposit: Publications in English
New York Public Library (DL-175)
Science, Industry & Business Library
188 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10016
Tel: +1 212 592 7000
Internet: http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/
DL-175 (Jun 1947)
Partial deposit: Publications in English
New York University (DL-500)
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
UN Collection
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012-1091
Tel: +1 212 998 2610
Fax: +1 212 995 4442
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/soc/un-govt/
DL-500 (Nov 1949)
Full deposit: Publications and masthead documents in English
St. John's University School of Law (DL-358)
The Rittenberg Law Library
8000 Utopia Parkway
Jamaica, NY 11439
Tel: +1 718 990 1896
Fax: +1 718 990 6649
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.law.stjohns.edu/law/
DL-358 (Aug 1997)
Full deposit: ODS access and publications in English
So don't let the Watchtower fool you people into thinking that the Watchtower, as an existing Non Governmental Organization (NGO) needed to become "associated" with the Department of Public Information (DPI)in 1991 when regular folks like you or me can access this same UN information all over the world and at the UN library without being "associated" with DPI
hawk