UNITED NATIONS,
August 10 – From Cameroon,
officials of Paul Biya's more
than 30 year government August
8 met with the UN's Deputy
Secretary General Amina J.
Mohammed, UN Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric told Inner
City Press on August 7, the
third time Inner City Press
asked him. Amina Mohammed and
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres are also the
recipient of a number of
related communications like
the one below, and this.
On the afternoon of August 8,
Inner City Press asked the
Biya delegation if for example
their imprisonment of ex-UN
legal adviser Felix Agbor
Balla was addressed. No, they
said. It was not that kind of
meeting. Video here.
They ascended to the second
floor, where Inner City Press
unlike other no-show UN
correspondents was not allow
to follow them. This was
explained to a UN official
later on August 8, and we will
have more on that,
particularly given that the UN
declined to even say who
beyond Mohammed met with
Biya's spinners.
On August 9
Inner City
Press'
question on
Cameroon to UK
Ambassador
Matthew
Rycroft was
cut off by
Reuters'
correspondent,
here.
Inner
City Press asked Rycroft again
on August 10, video here,
UK transcript here: Inner City
Press: Amina Mohammed also on
Tuesday met with this
delegation from Cameroon. I
just wanted to get your
thoughts on whether the UN
should be doing more, could be
doing more? Have you seen a
read out?
Amb Rycroft: Obviously I
wasn’t in the meeting myself
but I was very glad to hear
that the delegation were here
and they had a meeting with
Amina Mohammed. I think that
demonstrates that the UN is
keeping it on their radar as
they should and I support
that.
The day
before on Cameroon, Inner City
Press responded to the UK
request for the cut-off
question with: "Since Amb
Rycroft has previously said
that the UK monitors the
situation in Cameroon's
Anglophone areas, where the
Internet was cut off for 94
days this year and many
leaders still arrested facing
the death penalty, what does
the UK think of the Yaounde
delegation that came to the UN
yesterday? They said that the
continued detention of ex-UN
legal adviser Felix Agbor
Balla did not come up. Should
the UN do more? What is the
UK's position on this
situation in the Anglophone
regions sometimes called
Southern Cameroons?" Hours
later, from the now re-staffed
UK Mission, this: I’m
currently double checking with
our High Commission in
Cameroon overnight and will
get back to you tomorrow."
Watch this site. At the noon
briefing on August 9, Inner
City Press asked asked UN
Spokesman Dujarric, about why
Agbor Balla wasn't raised, if
the Biya government's torture
documented by Amnesty
International came up, and if
anyone from UN Human Rights
was there (seems not). August
9 video here.
From the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: the
individuals that attended from
the Cameroon side, when they
came down, they said that, for
example, the imprisonment of
UN… former UN legal adviser
Felix Agbor Balla did not come
up; it was not that type of
meeting. So, I wanted to
ask you — I mean, I’ve read it
several times, the readout —
if it didn’t come up, if the
imprisonment of a former UN
legal adviser didn’t come up,
can you explain why that would
be? Did it… did…
And just one other thing.
Spokesman: Yeah, go
ahead.
Inner
City Press:
There’s also been a recent,
non-related to the Anglophone
areas but to the country
itself, this Amnesty report of
torture in military bases
related to the fight against…
the Government says Boko
Haram. That seems like a
pretty serious report from a
highly credible organization,
and it just… can you… if you
don’t… can you find out
whether that came and up and
whether Mr. [Andrew] Gilmour
or anyone on the human rights
side of the organization
attended this meeting?
Spokesman: The Deputy
Secretary-General represented
the organization in the
meeting. I think the
readout we gave you was fairly
extensive. We have in
the past and reiterate our
concern of the continuing
detention of Anglophone
leaders, any and all
Anglophone leaders. And I
think the readout was very
clear in the issues that were
discussed. We don’t go
into detail, verbatim detail,
as to what points were
discussed, but I think the
readout gives you a pretty
strong readout of the issues
that were raised and our
concern at these issues.
Inner City Press: It says the
Government… welcomes the steps
taken by the Government, and
given that most… people… at
least, you know, from… from
what it seems from here, many
people in the Anglophone areas
don’t… don’t see those steps
and see their leaders still
imprisoned. [inaudible]
Spokesman: I think we
have seen some steps in the
right direction and as… I
would refer you back to the
readout.
From the
August 8 UN noon briefing transcript:
Spokesman Dujarric: Cameroon
while your… while Periscope is
on.
Inner
City Press:
The meeting's taking place
today at 12:30 p.m. with the
DSG, I wanted to ask you,
apparently, there's not a
photo op, so could you--
Spokesman: There will be
a UN photographer there, and
those photos, as you well
know, are available, free of
charge for your website.
Inner
City
Press:
Sure, but who else is
attending on the UN side?
Spokesman: There will be
a readout, and the Deputy
Secretary-General will be
leading the UN
delegation. If we're
able to release other names,
we shall.
Inner City Press: Can
she… is there some way, either
on the way out in some way,
she can answer questions
But
this did not take place, as
Inner City Press explained.
Instead for now this read-out
from the UN, with no mention
even of the UN's own Agbor
Balla: "Readout of the Deputy
Secretary-General’s meeting
with a delegation led by Prof.
Paul Ghogomu, Director of
Cabinet of the Prime Minister
of Cameroon: On 8 August, the
Deputy Secretary-General met
with a delegation led by Prof.
Paul Ghogomu, Minister and
Director of Cabinet of the
Prime Minister of the Republic
of Cameroon. They discussed
the internal situation in the
Republic of Cameroon,
particularly in the Anglophone
regions. The Deputy
Secretary-General welcomed the
efforts being undertaken by
the Government to de-escalate
tensions and highlighted the
importance of further
confidence building measures,
including ensuring that
justice is given to all and
that human rights are upheld
and respected, and noting that
those responsible for rule of
law are to be held to a higher
standard. The Deputy
Secretary-General also
reiterated the willingness of
the United Nations, through
the good offices of the
Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Central
Africa and Head of the United
Nations Regional Office for
Central Africa (UNOCA), Mr.
François Louncény Fall, and
the United Nations country
team, to support inclusive
dialogue efforts to address
the outstanding root causes of
the tensions in the affected
regions. The Deputy
Secretary-General commended
Cameroon for its generosity
towards refugees from Central
African Republic and Nigeria
and conveyed that the United
Nations looks forward to
working with Cameroon, Nigeria
and Chad to reintegrate those
affected, especially women,
youth and children. The Deputy
Secretary-General and Prof.
Ghogomu also discussed the
2030 Agenda and the United
Nations development system
reform, as well as the
situation in the Bakassi
Peninsula and the fight
against Boko Haram. "
Previously, Mohammed attended
Biya's long time UN
Ambassador's celebration of
independence day, video here,
which is seen quite
differently in the Anglophone
zone, from which a delegation
met with a representative of
the UN's genocide prevention
office. Inner City Press on
August 7 asked that at least
some coverage of DSG
Mohammed's meeting be allowed,
and a read-out given. Mohammed
and her chief of staff Nelson
Muffuh have been made
aware, repeatedly, of
the UN's restrictions on the
Press, which have yet
to be reversed: Inner City
Press is still Banned.
Their acting head of (partial)
"Global Communications" Maher
Nasser, when asked, would not
explain the restrictions still
on Inner City Press compared
to free access to no-show
sycophants, here.
This has been sent to Mohammed
and Guterres: "Your
Excellency, Amina J. Mohammed,
Sanction the Republic of
Cameroon for Crimes Bordering
on Genocide in Southern
Cameroons
On the occasion of your
meeting today at the UN HQs
with a three-person delegation
from the Republic of
Cameroon, we write on behalf
of the Sovereign People of
Southern Cameroons, to urge
you to: 1. Reject the
campaign of lies that brings
this delegation to the UN HQs.
Their lone objective is to
falsely link organizations
using peaceful, non-violent,
legal and diplomatic means to
restore the independence of
Southern Cameroons to acts of
terror, to acts of violence
and arson perpetrated by
agents of the Republic of
Cameroon in the desperate hope
of giving our movements a bad
name. 2. Remind the Republic
of Cameroon of its obligations
to abide by UN Resolutions,
including notably UNGA 1608
adopted on 21st April 1961 (50
YES votes, 21 NO votes, 6
abstentions) granting
independence to Southern
Cameroons (which should become
effective the 1st of October
1961). 3. End the illegal
military occupation of our
homeland by Colonial Cameroun
which is similar to the
occupation (in 1975) of East
Timor by Indonesia and the
occupation of Spanish Sahara
by Morocco. 4. Reiterate the
inalienable right of Southern
Cameroonians to
self-determination and our
right to peaceful separation
from the Republic of Cameroon
(independent on 1st January
1960) as laid out under
Principles VII & VIII of
UNGA Resolution 1541 of 15th
December 1960.
5. Call for the immediate and
unconditional release of all
our civilian leaders abducted,
held in dungeons and political
prisons of Colonial Cameroun
and facing trial on trumped
charges before a kangaroo
military tribunal in a foreign
language and under a legal
system foreign to theirs. 6.
Deploy a UN fact-finding
mission as well as UN
Peacekeepers to put an end to
recolonization (which
violates Article 4(b) of the
African Union Constitutive
Act), to end collective
punishment, prevent crimes
against humanity and acts
bordering on a Rwanda-type
genocide in Southern
Cameroons. 7. Sanction
Colonial Cameroun for
violations of UN Resolutions
against colonization and
external domination of other
people; for violations of
Articles 19-24 of the African
Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Right; and to oblige
them to recognize the gravity
of the ongoing crisis of
sovereignty in the
Cameroons instead of
downplaying it as a mere issue
of linguistic differences and
minority rights." From the
UN's August 7 transcript:
Inner City Press: I'm awaiting
an update, I think, from you
about Cameroon. You'd
said that you would have
something on Monday on this
visit. And I'm asking
because Paul Biya Government
has also sent similar trios to
Brussels, where they were met
with protests, to South
Africa, where they didn't meet
opponents. So, here at
the UN, who are they going to
meet with?
Spokesman: My
understanding is that they
will meet with the Deputy
Secretary-General.
Inner City Press: Do you
know what day?
Spokesman: No. We
can find out.
Inner
City Press:
Will it be on her
schedule? And is there
some way to either get a
readout or…?
Spokesman: We'll see
what… it will be… I mean,
there's no… well…
Clearly, if I'm saying it, if
I'm confirming it publicly, it
will be on her schedule.
And we'll see what comes out
of the meeting.
Inner
City Press:
Can it be a photo op, as well?
Spokesman: We'll see
what comes out.
We'll have
more on this. Amid reports
that the UN is providing
electoral assistance in
Cameroon, where Paul Biya has
ruled for more than 30 years,
Inner City Press on July 27
asked UN Deputy Spokesman
Farhan Haq about the
assistance, and for a read-out
of a reported meeting between
UN Genocide Prevention
official Adama Dieng and a
delegation from Southern
Cameroons. Video here,
from Minute 17:25. Haq claimed
there is UN electorial role -
seemingly false
- and said that Dieng rarely
gives read-outs. In fact, as
Inner City Press learned after
waiting to speak to the
delegation, it was not Dieng
but his assistant Mr. Castro
they met with. Periscope of
interview(s) here,
with Ms.
Caleche Bongo
and others.
Photo here.
Now the Paul Biya government
is sending its own
three-person delegation to the
US from August 3 to 9 to try
to spin how well it is
treating the Anglophones,
despite arrests and abuse. A
similar trio of Biya spinners
sent to Belgium ran in to a
buzz-saw of protest on August
5. Video here.
It was composed of Laurent
Esso, "Keeper of the Seals,"
Lejeune Mbella Mbella,
Minister of External
Relations, and Tanyitiku Enoh
Achuo, PM Office attaché.
Reportedly another team of
spinners is headed to the UK.
In New York, Inner
City Press on
Augut 4 asked
lead UN
Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric,
UN transcript here: Inner
City Press: I'm
asking this
because
there's kind
of a deadline
on it.
The Cameroon
Government is
sending these
three
individuals,
they say,
it's, as their
formal letter
to Tommo
Monthé saying
they're coming
to UN
Headquarters.
You said you'd
check with the
usual
suspects.
Have you
heard…?
Spokesman:
Yes, I will
have probably
more for you,
more on that
for you on
Monday.
We'll be
waiting.
The
delegation will be made up of
Fabien Nkot, Ghogomu Paul
Mingo and Elvis Ngolle Ngolle.
On August 1, after reporting
this, Inner City Press asked
lead UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: on
Cameroon. Last week, I'd
asked Farhan about a meeting
that was held by southern
Cameroonians with, it was
supposed to be with Mr. Adama
Dieng, but it turned out to be
with somebody called Mr.
Castro. I would still
like to ask for a readout on
that and the reason is now the
Paul Biya Government has
announced they are sending a
delegation of three to the UN
between, and I guess to
Washington, so I wanted to
know, I guess, in advance,
since given that this issue
and what you have said from
the podium here, is it
possible to know with whom… I
mean I can give you the names
of the people that are coming,
who they are going to meet
with and what the…?
Spokesman: I can find
out but obviously, hopefully
they will tell you who they
are going to meet with because
there a lot of people they can
meet here, but I will check
the usual suspects.
The usual
suspects, indeed. 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 UNDP and the UN's
media "partners." While on
July 27 Felix Aghbor Balla and
others Inner City Press has
repeatedly asked the UN about
are hauled back into court, in
the UN a group
which never asked about
Cameroon and actively got
Inner City Press thrown out
and still
restricted says it is
hosting the "Southern
Cameroons Public Affairs
Committee." But this UN
Correspondents Association
UNCA is a group which, when
Inner City Press sought to
covering their event (video here) in the UN Press Briefing
Room to see if they discussed
having taken full page ads
from an entity owned by UN
bribery indictee Ng Lap Seng
got UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric and then DPI Cristina
Gallach to evict Inner
City Press (audio here,
video here)
and restrict it still. Only at
the UN. We'll have more on
this. While in New York the UN
belatedly answered Inner City
Press with another statement
of concern for the Anglophone
areas, it was quietly
conferring with the Yaounde
racket run for more than
thirty years by Paul Biya,
rigger of many elections.
Among the tellingly quiet UN
team: Francis Nadjita - one
step down from UNOCA's
Francois "Failing" Fall - and
Pascale Roussy. They were
told, again, about the abuse
of Anglophones the UN has so
long cooperated in. Yet have
they said anything? We'll have
more on this. The UN at
the highest level is enabling
the abuses. UN Office on West
Africa director Chambas, when
Inner City Press asked him
about Cameroon forces killing
97 Nigerians and abuses of
Anglophones, said to focus on
"bigger ticket items" - Boko
Haram. Video
here
from 8:25. But
in that fight, as exposed in
detailed by Amnesty
International, Paul Biya's
forces engage in torture, in
the Salak base with French
military presence. As to
UNESCO, while its 2015 field report on the Dja
Reserve, where Hevea’s
plantation is having a
negative environmental impact,
is being cited, why has UNESCO
done so little for people in
Cameroon, specifically in
Southern Cameroons about the
scam GCE exam? We'll have more
on this. As to UNDP, its Acting
Resident
Representative
in Cameroon.Jean
Victor Bouri Sanhouid has been
bragging about the agency's
work against poverty in the
country, on this
UNDP entirely French website.
UNDP hosts the website of the
UN's country team in Cameroon,
here
- and see this
Patreon video, the short
interview with Southern
Cameroonians on July 11
outside the UN gates. On July
13 the 97 killed by Cameroon
were dismissed
at the UN in favor of the
"bigger ticket item" of Boko
Haram. Video here
from 8:25. Inner City Press
asked the UN's genocide
adviser, on the margins of a
meeting about religion, about
the murder of Bishop Bala as
well as other topics - on
which he answered, without
mentioning Cameroon. Here,
near end. Paul Biya,
meanwhile, was said to use his
Bastille Day letter to lobby
to meet with French President
Emmanuel Macron, just after
the latter's speech decrying
African women for having
"seven children." Macron video
here,
and here
Inner City Press' question to
the French Mission, the talking
points of which are
passed through by some feting
the Mission in New York. Ah,
la Franco-Phony. On July 10
when Inner City Press asked UN
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric
about these 97 dead, he said
he'd heard nothing of it, and
declined to comment when Inner
City Press asked about the
conditions in prison for
former UN legal adviser Felix
Agbor Balla. Two days later on
July 12, after Inner City
Press interviewed people from
Southern Cameroons in front of
the UN, the full Inner City
Press Periscope interview is here. We'll
have more on this. On July 8
Inner City Press asked, where
is UN Deputy Secretary General
Amina
J. Mohammed, who earlier
said she was working on the
issue of abuse of Anglophones
by Cameroun, on this? And if
beyond the UN there's belated
recognition of the abuses in
Bakassi by Paul Biya's forces,
what about those in Southern
Cameroons? As if in another
parallel Francophone universe,
France's Ambassador to Yaounde
Gilles Thibault blithely
tweets vacation pictures from
l'Alliance Francaise in
Bamenda,
here. Droits de l'homme,
indeed. Meanwhile, the Yaounde
government is cutting itself
further in on gas and oil
profits, this time without
irony with a UK firm:
"Victoria Oil & Gas (VOG),
a British oil and gas operator
who until now fully owned Gaz
du Cameroon (GDC), a company
exploiting the Logbaba gas
field, thus commented on the
alliance VOG recently signed
with Société Nationale des
Hydrocarbures (SNH). Through
this share agreement, the
public company, serving as the
extension of the Cameroonian
State in the oil and gas
sector, now owns a 5%
shareholding. The agreement
stipulates that SNH is now the
beneficiary of 5% of revenues
resulting from the sale of
hydrocarbons of Logbaba, and
should also now cover 5% of
the operating expenses." We'll
have more on this. There is
also 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) didn't work. 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. 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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