UNITED NATIONS,
July 3 – After Inner City
Press repeatedly asked UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres and his spokesman
about Cameroon's Internet
cut-off and abuses, the UN's
answer after its Resident
Coordinator Najat Rochdi was
shown to block the Press and
then left for the Central
African Republic was that the
UN Office on Central Africa
(UNOCA) envoy Francois
Lounceny Fall would be
visiting in May. This turned
out to be misleading like so
much with today's UN system,
including UNESCO. Meanwhile,
there is bragging about La
Republique de Cameroun's
export of hydrocarbons from
Southern Cameroons, soon via a
liquified natural gas platform
off Kribi: "Keppel Offshore
& Marine's subsidiary,
Keppel Shipyard will soon
deliver the world’s first
converted Floating
Liquefaction Vessel (FLNGV),
which has been named Hilli
Episeyo at a ceremony today.
Hilli Episeyo is owned by
Golar Hilli Corporation, a
subsidiary of Golar LNG. Upon
its completion, the vessel
will be put in operation
offshore Kribi, Cameroon for
Société Nationale des
Hydrocarbures and Perenco
Cameroon SA." This is
disgusting. As is this:
today's UN doesn't even stand
up for its own former staff in
Cameroon. On June 29, Inner
City Press asked UN Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press: I wanted to
know whether the
Secretary-General has
considered speaking with
President Paul Biya. And
I ask because I’ve seen, as
I’m sure you have, the reports
that he did reach out to Iran
about a former UN staff
member, Baqer Namazi, asking
for humanitarian
release. And there’s a
UN staff member who’s on trial
with the death penalty in
Cameroon called Agbor
Balla. So I’m just
wondering, one, can you… will
you… what can you confirm or
say about his… his
communications to Iran?
And, two, is this a policy on
his part?
Spokesman: No, I’m not
going to get into the details
of private conversations; the
Secretary-General may have
private communications.
The welfare of UN staff that
is… that are detained, that
may be detained anywhere, is
of concern to us.
Really?
During a UN event on Education
on June 28, UNESCO's Irina
Bokova was scheduled to give a
press conference; Inner City
Press went with a question
about Cameroon's GCE education
system. But Bokova did not
come, sending instead her
deputy Qian Tang. Inner City
Press asked him about the
Internet cut-off, the
undermining of the GCE system.
UNESCO's Tang replied that
UNESCO talks with governments.
Video here.
But what have they done about
Cameroon? The UN in Cameroon
maintains a website that is
all in French, and still lists
Rochdi as Resident
Coordinator. Now amid reports
that La Republic de Cameroun
has locked up American citizen
Fabian Fomuki, the UN through
UN Women is "partnering" with
Coca-Cola in Yaounde, saying
it will empower women. Women
in Southern Cameroons? Seems
not: Yaounde and Douala only.
Meanwhile the Ambazonia Doves
took part, along with West
Papua and others, in the UNPO
football pools in The Hague.
Tweeted photo
here. After Guterres'
holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric refused to even
answer Inner City Press if
failing Fall would take
questions - he didn't, even
after meeting Guterres on June
16 - we find that the UN's
website for Cameroon STILL on
June 17 lists Rochdi as
Resident Coordinator, with an
"a.i." (ad interim) from Congo
Brazzaville, Félicité
Tchibindat. Tweeted photo
here. Despite the
issues, the website has no
link for English. This is
diplomatic malpractice. Who
will be held accountable?
Should be Dujarric, Fall,
Guterres and his team. On June
15, Inner City Press asked
France's Permanent
Representative to the UN
Frnacois Delattre about the
briefing - he answered that he
had not attended it, nor was
he ready to comment on the
report, which was dated May
31. Video
here. Tellingly,
the French Mission to the UN
omitted this Cameroon Q&A
from its transcript, even
though it's on UNTV, from
Minute 2:26, here.
We'll have more on this. For
two days, Antonio Guterres'
holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric refused to answer
questions. Lonseny Fall
refused to do a question and
answer stakeout. On June 14,
Inner City Press asked
Dujarric, UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: And can I
ask you, on Cameroon, I'd
emailed you this in advance of
the thing yesterday. I
wanted to know whether…
whether Mr. [Francois]
Louncény Fall… because, in
reading the written report, it
referred to things as if the
turning on of the Internet
ended the issues, and in fact,
things continue, that there's
a bishop, Jean-Marie Benoît
Bala, people there says he was
murdered. So, I'm
wondering, did this come up in
the closed-door briefing by
Mr. Fall? Can Mr. Fall
have a press conference or a
stakeout as Parfait
[Onanga-Anyanga] did? Is
there some way to know…?
Spokesman Dujarric:
We'll see what we can
get.
As the day
ended and Dujarric's office
closed, nothing. Nothing
again. The UN is a fraud. The
two days before, Inner City
Press asked in writing: "
on the UNOCA report, please state who WERE the leaders Paul
Biya was 'willing to dialogue
with' either – the ones in
detention or the interim
ones." No answer at all. A
review of UNOCA's website
finds its most recent magazine
is from 2015, photo
here, and the link to
its May 31, 2017 report
(excerpted below) doesn't
work. Fall's report implies
that restoring the Internet he
cut off resolves the issues-
it hasn't - while vaguely
alluding to "
historical
discrimination
against the
anglophone
population." In
fact, as in so many places the
UN has been failing for a long
time: it allowed the Northern
and Southern Cameroons to be
cut in two for purposes of a
plebiscite, then failed to
stand up for the federalism
that had been committed to by
Ahmadou Ahidjo. Paul Biya, who
took over power in 1982 - yes,
1982 - without a vote colluded
in the broken promises of
federalism, then and since. He
was, it's said, chosen by
French oil company ELF. We'll
have more on that history -
and this.
Inner City Press put the full
report online, here.
Here's what it says, from
Paragraphs 7 to 11: "In
Cameroon, social unrest
continued in the North-West
and South-West
regions over the imposition of
the French language in
judicial, educational and
other fields. While the
initial protests in late 2016
were related to grievances
expressed by unions
representing lawyers and
teachers, accusations expanded
to include historical,
political and economic
discrimination against the
anglophone population.
Numerous clashes with security
forces took place, along with
ongoing general strikes (also
referred to as “ghost towns”),
arrests of anglophone
activists and an Internet
blackout in the two regions
(from 17 January to 20 April
2017). 8. Government efforts
to appease those tensions at
the outset were not
successful. On 17 January, it
banned the activities of the
Cameroon Anglophone Civil
Society
Consortium and the
secessionist movement, the
Southern Cameroons National
Council, accusing them of
conducting actions contrary to
the Constitution and
aimed at undermining State
security. Leaders of the
Consortium, Nkongho Felix
Agbor-Balla and Fontem
Aforteka’a Neba, were also
arrested on 17 January, and
journalist and activist Mancho
Bibixy on 20 January. All
three face charges of
terrorism and, if convicted,
could face the death penalty
under the country’s
anti-terrorism law of February
2014. The trial of the three
lead activists and five
others, all civilians,
commenced on 13 February at
the Yaoundé military tribunal.
On 7 April, the court adjoined
the case of 25 other
defendants. Meanwhile, another
military tribunal was held, in
the case of a reporter for
Radio France Internationale,
Ahmed Abba, whom the
Government alleges to have
colluded with Boko Haram. He
had been in detention since 30
July 2015. The defendant, who
pleaded not guilty,
was sentenced to 10 years in
prison on 20 April 2017.
9. On 15 March, the President
of Cameroon, Paul Biya,
appointed the president and 13
representatives of the
National Commission for the
Promotion of Bilingualism and
Multiculturalism, which he
established on 23 January.
The Presidency also
contacted the Cameroon
Anglophone Civil Society
Consortium on 17 March,
expressing willingness to
engage in dialogue to address
their grievances. Moreover, on
30 March, the Minister of
Justice unveiled a number of
measures taken by the
Government to address the
crisis, including the creation
of a common law section at the
École nationale de
magistrature, English law
departments at a number of
universities, the redeployment
of magistrates according to
linguistic criteria, and the
appointment of additional
anglophone magistrates at the
High Court. Those steps were
deemed insufficient by the
striking lawyers and the
leadership of the Consortium,
who continued to demand the
immediate release and pardon
of those detained and the
restoration of Internet
service in the two regions
where it had been blocked.
Internet service was restored
on 20 April." Failing Fall
doesn't mention Agbor Balla
history as a UN legal adviser,
now facing the death penalty
for non-violent opposition,
nor this:
"the report fails to mention
how the President contacted
the Consortium (which by March
had long been outlawed by
Biya’s government) and also
given that its leaders were
abruptly arrested in the
middle of talks with the
government on January 17. It
also does not mention who were
the leaders President Biya was
“willing to dialogue with”
either – the ones in detention
or the interim ones." Three
months after Inner City Press
publicly asked
the UN at its noon briefing
about Rochdi blocking the
Press on Twitter, she has
replied: "if it was done it
was not on purpose." This is
absurd: to block is a choice,
and it was publicly asked
about at the UN's own noon
briefing. (Much) worse, Rochdi
now says she worked very hard
on the "Anglopphone" [sic]
crisis. Photo
here. There is no
evidence at all of that. This
is today's UN. On June 8,
Inner City Press asked UN
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: in Cameroon,
which I've asked you about
before, those Anglophone
region protest leaders were
held over for trial.
They face the death
penalty. One of them is
a former UN legal adviser, Mr.
Felix Agbor Balla. I
know it took about a week to
get the comment from
[Francois] Louncény
Fall. Is there any more
rapid response to the holding
over of these leaders?
Spokesman: I think we
believe that all parties need
to address the current issues
in a spirit of dialogue, and
I'll try to get a bit more
from Mr. Fall.
A bit
more? In Cameroon, minister
Hele Pierre babbled about
gardens and protecting flora
and fauna. But for example the
FrancAfrique firm Bollore and
its 71% subsidiary SocFin
destroy the environment in
Cameroon, DRC and Gabon, as
recently protested in Paris
and sued including as far away
as Cameroon. Amnesty says "
Workers and residents have
denounced in particular
non-compliance with their
customary land rights, the low
levels of compensation
granted, the harshness of
working conditions for
agricultural workers and the
threat to their food
security." But the UN ignores
all this in Cameroon, similar
to their approach to Paul
Biya's Internet cut and abuses.
Lonseny Fall's visit it turns
out it would be in (early)
June, and it would mostly be
about Boko Haram. This is now
confirmed, despite a separate
side read-out the UN sent
Inner City Press. Contrary to
the UN's vague and
unsubstantiated claim that
Lonseny Fall's visit dealt
with human rights concerns,
here's the non-tailored
read-out: "The 44th meeting of
ministers in the United
Nations Standing Advisory
Committee on security in
Central Africa (Unsac) started
on 29 May and will close on 02
June in Yaoundé, the capital
of Cameroon. The group noted
that the situation
particularly in CAR is still
alarming. There were also
discussions on, among other
things, political governance
and the multiple factors
menacing peace and stability
in the sub-region.
Participants emphasised the
ways and means to reinforce
the fight against phenomena
such as armed violence and
terrorism, naval insecurity in
the Gulf of Guinea, poaching
and illegal traffic of wild
species, electoral tensions,
proliferation of light and
small calibre weapons, etc. In
this regard, the experts
recommended more collaboration
on intelligence between the
Central African States."
Collaboration on intelligence?
It is Paul Biya who is
intercepting communications in
Southern Cameroons and putting
people in jail far away in
Yaounde. On June 1, Inner City
Press asked again - still
nothing - and then on June 2,
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
to ask again about this
Cameroon thing, but I wanted
to ask because it was said
that [Francois] Loncény Fall
would be there in late
May. Many people were
kind of waiting to hear what
he had to say.
Yesterday, his whereabouts, I
guess, according to Stéphane,
were not known. What is
his comment now that he's
returned to the country?
Deputy Spokesman: Yes,
we're checking with our DPA
colleagues what we can say
about Mr. Loncény Fall's
travels. Once we have an
update, we'll share it.
And hours
later, this: "To Matthew
Russell Lee, Inner City Press
Re Your Question on Cameroon:
As mentioned previously, the
United Nations Regional Office
for Central Africa (UNOCA) and
the UN Country Team in
Cameroon continue to follow
events in the country closely.
The Special Representative of
the Secretary-General for
Central Africa and Head of
UNOCA, François Louncény Fall,
was in Yaoundé, Cameroon, this
week, for the 44th Ministerial
meeting of the United Nations
Standing Advisory Committee on
Security Questions in Central
Africa (UNSAC), during which
Cameroon took over the
chairmanship of the
Committee. This is SRSG
Fall’s fifth visit to the
country since November 2016.
He took this opportunity to
meet with a wide range of
Cameroonian interlocutors to
address the persisting
tensions and human rights
concerns. SRSG Fall will
continue efforts to engage
with all relevant parties and
to monitor the situation in
close cooperation with the
Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR). "
We'll see.
Representative of the UN
system as a whole, the UN
Committee on the Rights of the
Child when it met about
Cameroon's report on May 30
did not ask a single recorded
question about the Anglophone
areas, the Internet cut-off or
the GCE scam. It seems it is
today's UN that is a scam.
Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa,
Minister for the Promotion of
the Woman and the Family of
Cameroon, sung the praises of
the 34-year Paul Biya
government. The UN's
Rapporteur on Cameroon, the
former Minister of Health from
Togo, Suzanne Aho Assouma,
joined in the praise, as if
like France's Ambassador to
the UN told Inner City Press
the Internet cut off was never
heard of. Call it
FrancAfrique, reaching all the
way into today's UN
Headquarters. Also on May 30
Inner City Press asked
Guterres spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, UN transcript here:
Inner City
Press: I wanted to ask you, on
Cameroon, you'd said that in
May Mr. Francois Loncény Fall
would be going to the
country. I don't know if
that's true. I know that
he's going in early
June. And I just wanted
to make sure that you were
referring to this meeting of
regional security that seems
to be almost entirely about
Boko Haram and [Central
African Republic]. Is
there anything… can you say
what his agenda is there and
if he's going to raise the
Anglophone issue?
Spokesman: I will check.
Eight
hours later, typically,
nothing. Cameroon's UN
Ambassador Tommo Monthe, who
told Inner City Press that
Paul Biya stands ready to cut
the Internet again, and
partied with UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres'
Deputy SG and chief of staff
while singing songs for
Chantal Biya, is already at
the meeting Fall will attend.
Tommo Monthe is quoted, "We
need to exchange views on all
these insecurity situations
before we bring it back to the
UN during its forthcoming
general assembly session." On
May 29 Fall issued this canned
quote: "We will continue to
support efforts of the
subregion in its determination
to prevent, to combat and to
bring an end to the
uncontrolled flow of arms in
Central Africa. This would
strengthen confidence among
states and reassure the
population, the main victims
of this phenomenon, which is
also a hindrance to the
sustainable development of
Central Africa." This is the
focus on Lonseny Fall's
much-hyped visit to Yaounde,
while Guterres' Deputy SG and
chief of staff party with Paul
Biya's representative amid songs for Chantal Biya and
French champagne. We'll have
more on this. Well over a week
ago, Inner City Press asked UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' holdover spokesman
Stephane Dujarric about
Cameroon administering in
areas to which it cut off the
Internet for 94 days a General
Certificate of Education test,
specifically citing UNESCO.
Dujarric said he would look
into it. Having received no
answer even as Guterres'
Deputy and Chief of Staff
appeared at Cameroon's
(boycotted) national day, on
May 23 Inner City Press asked
again about this, and Amnesty
International's press
conference on 10 year
sentences to students (whose
jokes included the GCEs) being
shut down.
Inner City Press: Did
you ever look into the testing
thing? I'd asked you
about administering a test…
Spokesman: Yes, I think…
we were given some guidance by
UNESCO...
Now here it is:
"Your question on the Cameroon
tests: Regarding a previous
query on a test being
administered in the Anglophone
regions of Cameroon despite
the regions being affected by
school closures and a internet
blackout, while this is not an
issue covered by UNOCA, but
rather UNESCO, UNOCA has
informed that there have been
reports of abstentions from
the examinations in the North
West and South-West regions of
the country. We are not aware
of any reports of these tests
being taken at gunpoint.
Nonetheless it is of concern
that these examinations
[General Certificate of
Education] were held, despite
school closures and the
internet blackout for over
three months, which disrupted
normal activities. However
that is an issue for the
relevant national authorities
to respond to. UNOCA, in close
cooperation with the Acting
Resident Coordinator, is
monitoring the situation in
the North West and South West
regions of Cameroon and will
continue to liaise with the
authorities to promote a
peaceful resolution to the
grievances of the Anglophone
population."
While the UN
Security Council visited
Cameroon during the 94 day
Internet cut off and said
nothing publicly about it (but
see below), Inner City Press
has obtained and has
exclusively published
on Patreon and now Scribd,
here Cameroon's "Urgent
and Confidential" letter to
the UN Security Council, about
weapons. On May 23, Inner City
Press went to the New York
event for Cameroon's
"National" Day, which was
boycotted in the Anglophone
regions of the country. In New
York, however, UN Deputy
Secretary General Amina J.
Mohammad and Antonio Guterres'
Chef de Cabinet Maria Luiza
Ribeiro Viotti attended, along
with French Permanent
Representative to the UN
Francois Delattre, Burundi's
Albert Shingiro and others.
Video here.
Periscope
inside was not possible due,
ironically, to a lack of
Internet. There were toasts in
French for Chantalle Biya and
for the UN officials; on the
way out UN staffers told Inner
City Press it was sure to
criticize them. What matters,
as always, is what happens
going forward. Italy is a
member of the Security Council
this year, and on the morning
of May 18 including in light
of Italian President
Mattarella's meetings this
year with Cameroon's 34 year
president Paul Biya, Inner
City Press asked Italy's
Mission to the UN: "your
Mission was part of the
Security Council's trip
including to Cameroon earlier
this year, during the
country's 94-day Internet shut
off to millions of people in
the Northwest and Southwest
(or Anglophone) regions. The
IMF, for what it's worth, told
Inner City Press the
government's Internet cut off
is among other things a
financial risk in 2017. Could
you comment on your Mission's
aware of the issue, during the
Security Council visit to
Cameroon and since, and on
whether you believe the
Secretary General and DPA, as
a matter of prevention of
conflict, may have a greater
role to play in this
long-standing, UN-related
conflict or dispute?" Eight
hours later, the Italian
Mission's spokesperson
Giovanni Davoli replied on
Cameroon that "the situation
you are mentioning was not in
the agenda of the UNSC visit."
To his credit, Swedish
diplomat Carl Skau tells Inner
City Press, "I can confirm
that the issue was raised by
the delegation in meetings."
Now Italy's spokesman insists,
"I confirm: it was not in the
agenda of the visit. Whether
it was raised, it is another
matter on which I have no
elements." Meanwhile, party in
interest France has yet
to respond, while
Emmanuel Macron is in Mali.
We'll have more on this. On
May 17, Inner City Press asked
UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujuarric what if anything
Guterres is doing about
Cameroon. From the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: there are
people saying that António
Guterres' strategy of being
Secretary-General is to sort
of downplay the peacemaking
powers of it and engage in
quiet diplomacy. And I
guess the reason I'm asking
you is just objectively
speaking, compared to the
previous administration, there
are many fewer readouts,
there's less… there's less
being said. Maybe it's
to the good. But, does
he believe that… that this
approach is bearing fruit, and
if so, what fruit can you
point to?
Spokesman: I think the
Secretary-General is a
believer in the need for
discreet contacts to be had in
order to resolve crisis.
And I think it's something I…
well, I think we've all
observed since he's come into
office. And I think it's
an important tool and not the
only tool, but it's an
important tool in the tools
available to the world's top
diplomat.
Inner City Press: I want
to ask this very specifically
because I've asked you this a
couple of times. I keep
hearing from people at various
high floors that, in fact, the
UN is concerned about Cameroon
and not just the Internet, but
what seems to be a case of
preventive diplomacy.
So, I wanted to ask you, is
there anything actually being
done? Am I missing some
secret work that the UN…?
Spokesman: I think if…
well, if it's secret, it's
secret. Mr. [Francois
Lonceny] Fall has been
following and is the point
person for the UN on this
issue.
Fall is
failing. Or, Fall is the fall
guy for Guterres. Now there is
the use of what residents call
another weapon: the
devaluation and even
destruction of the GCE
education system, by
purporting to administer the
test after a period where no
instruction or learning took
place. UNESCO has said
nothing, just as the UN stayed
quiet during the Internet cut
off. On May 15, Inner City
Press asked the UN's holdover
spokesman Stephane Dujarric,
video here,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: In hearing
UNESCO [United Nations
Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization], I've
been meaning to ask you
this. There's a
controversy in Cameroon where
a school… a test is being
administered today in the
areas that didn't have
internet for 94 days and the
schools were closed. And
a lot of people are saying the
test… it's basically to
destroy the Anglophone
education system, and people
are taking a test at
gunpoint. And many
people there said UNESCO said
nothing. I don't know
whose role it is. Is it
[Francois] Loncény Fall?
Is there anyone in the UN
system that's looking at
what's taking place there…?
Spokesman: I'll take a
look that report. Okay.
Thank you.
We'll see.
Some in UN headquarters
approach Inner City Press
where they can, since the UN
Department of Public
Information still restricts
the Press, and say there's
concern "upstairs" about
events in Cameroon. But
despite the claimed focus on
preventative diplomacy, where
is there UN action on this?
Despite the restrictions,
Inner City Press will be
pushing forward with the
story. Watch this site and this one, where it
is reported that France
blocked any European Union
action on Cameroon and Paul
Biya's 94-day cut off of the
Internet in the Anglophone
regions, in part to keep its
hand in to compete
economically with China in
"its" FrancAfrique. When the
EU's Federica Mogherini came
to the UN Security Council
stakeout on May 9 for
questions, no Press questions
on Cameroon were allowed,
similar to Antonio Guterres'
spokesman disallowing
the question three times at
the recent joint African Union
stakeout. Nor was the Cameroon
question Inner City Press submitted
to Guterres' paid-entrance,
not livestreamed London
Q&A posed. We'll have more
on this.
This comes amid
reports that armaments
Cameroon got ostensibly to
fight Boko Haram have been
spotted in the Anglophone
regions. On May 2 when Inner
City Press told the UN's
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
that it had a question on
Cameroon, he walked off the
podium, as he has done before.
He and the UN Department of
Public Information, whose
Cameroon mis-information is
profiled below, worked
together to evict and still
restrict Inner City
Press.
***
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