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In Burkina Faso Another Church Targeted Inner City Press Asked UN Guterres Silent on Lisbon Junket

By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR Letter PFT Q&A, NY Post

UNITED NATIONS GATE, May 27 As things further deteriorated in Burkina Faso on March 22 Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric about it in writing: "March 22-1: On Burkina Faso, what is the SG's comment and action on the execution by Burkinabe security forces of over 115 men accused of supporting or harbouring the armed Islamists?" There has been no answer, despite Dujarric and outgoing censor Alison Smale's promises that questions would be answered. 

Guterres is corrupt, and he is corrupting each and every UN body. On May 26 with Guterres having disappeared for two days, seemingly to his real home in Lisbon spending untold public money on the way, four people were killed on Sunday (May 26) at a Catholic church in northern Burkina. "The Christian community of Toulfe was the target of a terrorist attack which gathered for Sunday prayers. The attack left four of the faithful dead," the Bishop of Ouahigouya, Justin Kientega, said in a statement. But nothing, long long after, from the corrupt Guterres now on the way to pick up an award for himself.

On May 12, "Gunmen killed six people attending mass at the Catholic Church of Dablo in northern Burkina Faso Sunday morning, officials and witnesses said.  The priest and five churchgoers were among the victims, a witness said. "They were about forty on motorcycles," the witness said of the attackers. "They made everyone lie down, executed 5 before torching the church."  The attackers set parts of the church and nearby shops on fire before fleeing the scene roughly an hour and a half after they arrived. Multiple injuries have been reported.  Last week, gunman killed five people in a Protestant church in the small northern town of Silgadji." Many hours later, this, which we publish in full: "The Secretary-General strongly condemns this morning’s attack on a Catholic Church during mass, in the village of Dablo, in the Center-North Region of Burkina Faso.     He expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured.   He recalls the sanctity of all places of worship and hopes the perpetrators can be swiftly brought to justice.     The Secretary-General conveys the solidarity of the United Nations to the Government and people of Burkina Faso in this difficult moment for the nation. He urges all citizens of Burkina Faso to stand firmly with one another across communities and not to succumb to efforts to sow discord and breed further violence.  The UN stands ready to assist in any way it can.      Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General  New York, 12 May 2019." Guterres is headed to Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu...

Inner City Press also asked, "May 1-6: On Burkina Faso and the rule of law, what is the SG's comment and action if any on that a hundred Burkinabe lawyers took to the streets of Ouagadougou on Monday to condemn the shutdown of the judiciary, which they vex has paralysed judicial activities in the country since October 2018.  “The Burkina Faso Bar Association denounces and condemns the blocking of the judicial system, the massive and indiscriminate violation of the rights of users of justice,” said Paulin Salambéré, Bar President, after a march in front of the Ministry of Justice.  He noted that there are currently 808 remand prisoners awaiting trial, 1,640 accused prisoners whose cases are under investigation and 3,641 convicted prisoners in prison whose sentences are hampered by dysfunctions?"

Dujarric, who for Guterres and others got Inner City Press roughed up and banned refused to answer, despite his on camera promise to do so. Gunmen killed six people attending mass at the Catholic Church of Dablo in northern Burkina Faso Sunday morning, officials and witnesses said.  The priest and five churchgoers were among the victims, a witness told VOA Africa.  "They were about forty on motorcycles," the witness said of the attackers. "They made everyone lie down, executed 5 before torching the church."  The attackers set parts of the church and nearby shops on fire before fleeing the scene roughly an hour and a half after they arrived. Multiple injuries have been reported.  Last week, gunman killed five people in a Protestant church in the small northern town of Silgadji. Then a full three days late with things further deteriorated in Benin, Dujarric is said to have answered some undefined other's request for comment by e-mail. Since as usual what Guterres said had no impact, on May 3 Dujarric issued this, citing Ibn Chambas who has sold out Anglophones in Cameroon and ingratiated himself to Buhari in Nigeria: "The Secretary-General has been following closely developments in the Republic of Benin in the run-up to and aftermath of the 28 April legislative elections. He deplores the violence witnessed in the post-electoral period. He calls on all Beninese stakeholders to exercise maximum restraint and seek to resolve their differences through dialogue in line with the democratic tradition of the country.     The United Nations, through the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, will work with all concerned parties, in coordination with the Economic Community of West African States and other partners, to support the Beninese stakeholders in their efforts to find a consensual and peaceful solution to their differences.     Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General."Too late, too corrupt. Dujarric should be fired, and Guterres should be impeached.

Inner City Press on July 5 was banned from entering the UN, the day after it filed a criminal complaint against UN Security for physically removing it from covering the meeting about the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' $6.7 billion peacekeeping budget, as witnessed and essentially cheered on by senior UN official Christian Saunders, tearing its reporter's shirt, painfully and intentionally twisting his arm and slamming shut and damaging his laptop. On August 17, Guterres' Global Communicator Alison Smale issued a letter banning Inner City Press from the UN - for life. With no due process. She and Guterres have put the UN in the US Press Freedom Tracker, here. Smale said, again, that the UN would answer Press questions to the Spokesman Stephane Dujarric and his Office; Dujarric said the same on camera. On April 29 three hours before Dujarric held a UN noon briefing where he joked with his insiders and said there should be a reality show about them at UNCA, Inner City Press submitted 765 questions, including why it continues to be lawlessly banned from entering to ask questions in person: "There are more than 500+ questions UNanswered. And Monday Sept 17, Tuesday Sept 18, Wed Sept 19 and  Thurs and Fri Sept 21, that whole week, no questions answered. Nor Sept 25, nor 28th - nor October 2 nor 3. While appreciating and using what was sent on March 28 in partial request to Inner City Press' questions about the UN bribery sentence of Patrick Ho of CEFC and CEFC's 2018 attempt to buy the oil company of Gulbenkian Foundation which paid the SG, no answers on Dec 17 or 18 or 19 or 20 or 21 - another FIVE days in a row, even as SG's direct conflicts of interest and failure to disclose emerge, and a newest low. No answers on January 30 nor 31 nor February 1 nor 4 nor 5 nor 6 nor 7 nor 11 nor 12 nor 13 nor 14 nor 15 nor 18 nor 19 nor 20 nor 21 nor 22 nor 25 nor 26 nor 27 nor March 1 - 27 (!) And now April 1, 3-26. No answers at all during those four days of the US v Ho trial showing corruption in the UN says it all. This ban is just censorship - and Inner City Press must be allowed back into the noon briefing to ask its questions in person and follow up on them. 

April 29-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action if any on the killing of civilians including children by Paul Biya's arm in the SW village of Ikata on April 26? 

April 4-2: On UN bribery and censorship, what now is the SG's comment and response to the April 3article in Serbia about CEFC which Mr Guterres has refused to audit - and about his refusal to answer, and censorship of Press "Gutereš had and had his own financial link with the CEFC, through the Gulbenkian Foundation. On the orders of Guteres, on June 22 and July 3, 2018, the security came to me, and I was banned from reporting from the UN. In fact, Gutereš took advantage of his security from the UN to distance me from his speech at the Park East Synagogue, and recently physically stopped me while he entered the mosque in 96th Street"  and now this...

More here.

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