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By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR PFT NYP

UNITED NATIONS GATE, June 30 –After Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon for 37 years on January 28 had his opponent Maurice Kamto arrested, Inner City Press again asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his spokesmen for their comment and action, if any. This came after Guterres had Inner City Press roughed up on 3 July 2018 after it interviewed Biya's Ambassador about the two men's Budget Committee deals and banned from the UN since - Guterres even tried to get Inner City Press banned from the Park East Synagogue, here, which was denied / dodged by his French spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who put up then took down a podcast in which he brags about his "mutually assured destruction" relationship with journalists, here.

  After Guterres on June 28 tried to erase his failure and failure of credibility on Cameroon by embracing an attempt to mediate by Switzerland, in Geneva Swiss police used tear gas against protesters of Biya's corruption, right in front of the UN. Given Guterres' track records, perhaps it was this that he was welcoming. Meanwhile at least among some Swiss parliamentarians, Biya is no longer welcome:   Sylvain Thévoz, Parliamentarian at the Geneva council launched a petition on Wednesday to declare Biya persona no grata because Biya's body guards assaulted a Swiss journalist at the Intercontinental hotel where Paul Biya stays for $40,000 a day, case. The Parliamentarian says the continuous stay of Paul Biya in Switzerland is "a slap in the face of human rights advocates and a humiliation to the city of Geneva." Perhaps Thévoz should be the mediator. And Guterres should be declared non grata, as he has humilitiated the UN, if that's even possible anymore...

  Guterres' spokesman Dujarric said: "The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement made by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs on 27 June on its efforts to facilitate a resolution of the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon through a dialogue process. He expresses the full backing of the United Nations to this endeavour and reaffirms his readiness to support it as necessary. He encourages all parties to participate in this process and commends the Cameroonian authorities and other stakeholders for this positive step.     The Secretary-General reiterates the need for all Cameroonian stakeholders to engage in an inclusive and genuine political dialogue to address the challenges facing the country.     Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General     New York, 28 June 2019." Both have censored the Press for nearly one year.

  While Switzerland has pulled off some good diplomatic moves, with all due respect its work on Burundi through the UN "Peacebuilding" Configuration has been little more than apologizing for Nkurunziza, at least a younger dictator than Biya. Will things be different here? We'll have more on this.

Banned Inner City Press  asked Guterres and his spokesman Stephane Dujarric (or Eri Kaneko) this, in writing: "June 11-1: On Cameroon, what is the SG's comment and action if any on this report from Chinese state media: "YAOUNDE, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon's House Speaker of National Assembly Cavaye Yeguie Djibril on Monday denounced foreign interference in the country's internal affairs which he referred to as "conspiracy."  "Cameroon has become an object of conspiracy intended to destabilize the country. To justify their interference in internal affairs, the conspirators pretend to denounce it." Again, how many offices / desk does the Secretariat give to Chinese state media inside the UN?"

 On June 4 Guterres' envoy Francois Fall told the UN Security Council, in French, that Paul Biya's government is providing aid. Tellingly, he quoted Guterres on the territorial integrity of Cameroun. Now pro Biya media there has celebrated Guterres' sell out...

On June 4 France through deputy Anne Gueguen said much the same; Belgium, as translated, referred to the "management of trans-humans." The UK's deputy Jonathan Allen said the UK shares Guterres' view. Maybe that's why his Mission withheld Cameroon and Yemen documents from Inner City Press, and minister Liam Fox bragged of UK-based New Age Oil's deal with Biya.

Inner City Press live tweeted the shameful UNSC session and uploaded Fall's failing statement here.

  More here.

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