UNITED NATIONS
GATE, April
2
– On
Comoros, Inner City
Press on March 29
asked the UN in
writing, "March 29-6:
On Comoros, what is
the SG's comment and
action if any on that
four people died
Thursday in a gunfight
at a military camp in
Comoros where police
had detained an
opposition
presidential
candidate?" Four days
later on April 2,
leaving many UN corruption
questions
unanswered, UN
deputy spokesman
Farhan Haq has
sent a
response to
Inner City
Press' Comoros
question,
which we
publish in
full: "On your
question March
29-6, we have
the
following:
We are very
concerned by
reports of
arrests and
injuries that
occurred since
election
day. We
recall that in
his statement
issued on 22
March, the
Secretary-General
underlined the
importance of
the respect
for human
rights and
fundamental
freedoms as
well as of the
professional
and impartial
conduct of law
enforcement
officials
during the
elections."
Then, some
hours later,
this from
Haq's boss
Stephane
Dujarric who played
a direct role
in the
roughing up
and ongoing
banning
of Inner City
Press: "The
Secretary-General
takes note of
the
announcement
made today by
the Supreme
Court of the
results of the
24 March 2019
presidential
and
gubernatorial
elections in
Comoros. He
expresses his
deep concern
over the
reports of
violence and
fatalities as
well as
arrests of
political
opponents and
restrictions
on media. He
underscores
the imperative
of upholding
the rule of
law and the
respect of
fundamental
rights.
The
Secretary-General
urges the
Comorian
authorities
and other
national
stakeholders
to refrain
from any
action likely
to heighten
the current
tensions.
The
Secretary-General
echoes the
call made by
the African
Union on 29
March,
supported by
the European
Union and by
the Indian
Ocean
Commission,
for an
inclusive
dialogue,
under the
leadership of
the AU. He
reiterates the
UN’s readiness
to support
such efforts
to promote
national
cohesion,
peace,
stability and
development in
the Union of
the
Comoros.
Stephane
Dujarric,
Spokesman for
the
Secretary-General
New York, 2
April 2019." Fine
- but what
about this?
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
1 more
than two
hours
before a
UN noon briefing in
which
Dujarric
claimed,
falsely, that
"everything we
see here is
true,"
Inner
City Press submitted 686 questions: "There
are more than 300+
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
(!) nor March 29. 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
1-1: On China, what is
the SG's comment and
action if any on that
Wei Zhili, an editor of
“New Generation”
(xinshengdai) a website
which monitors and
reports about internall
migrant workers in
China, was taken away by
police officers from his
home in Shenzhen on 20
March 2019?
April
1-2: Given UN
consultants' testimony
to Inner City Press
about being misled by
the UN about their tax
liabilities, and
criticism of the UN for
shirking
responsibilities to its
host countries and
works, what IS the UN
policy ont the (over)
use of consultants to
avoid paying benefits,
specifically at UNOPS in
Geneva about which Inner
City Press has
previously asked without
answer, and now also in
Bonn?
April
1-3: On Zimbabwe, what
is the SG's comment and
action if any on that
alleged supporters of
the ruling Zimbabwe
African Nationalist
Union-Patriotic Front
(ZANU-PF) were denying
some cyclone survivors
emergency aid, including
food, because they were
believed to support the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
political party?
April
1-4: On Comoros, what is
the SG's comment and
action if any on that
four people died
Thursday in a gunfight
at a military camp in
Comoros where police had
detained an opposition
presidential
candidate?
April
1-5: On press freedom
and Nigeria, what are
the comments and actions
if any of the SG and
separately DSG Amina J.
Mohammed to the the
rearrest of Jones Abiri,
a Bayelsa-based
journalist. Abiri
was arrested on
Saturday, months after
he regained his freedom
from illegal detention
by the Department of
State Services
(DSS). According
to his lawyer, the
Federal Ministry of
Justice is set to
arraign him for
treasonable
felony. A
statement by Deji
Adeyanju, Convener of
Concerned Nigerians,
issued on Sunday, noted
that Abiri’s rearrest is
an “assault on press
freedom”? AGAIN,
immediately explain how
it is legitimate to ban
from enter into the UN
the media that has been
asking about these and
other questions, with no
hearing or appeal.
March
29-1: On Nigeria, what
are the comment and
action of the SG and,
separately, DSG Amina J
Mohammed on that Federal
High Court Thursday
revoked the bail of the
leader of the Indigenous
People of Biafra (IPOB),
Nnamdi Kanu and ordered
his arrest?
March
29-2: On FAO, Mr. Servan
from FAO whom Inner City
Press asked your about
last year has apparently
been subject to
complaints by women
attending an ICSC
meeting in Geneva, with
the issue been raised to
the SG. Please confirm
or deny and state what
if anything the SG has
done.
March
29-3: On China and
Xinjiang / Uighurs, what
is the SG's comment and
action if any on this
account: "The alarm
rings at 5am every
morning in Yerzhan's
overcrowded concrete
cell. He dresses in a
thin blue uniform before
armed guards escort him
to a bathroom, where he
has minutes to wash
under supervision.
At 7am there is
breakfast: tea and a
single steamed bun for
each of the cell’s 18
inmates. For the
rest of the day, Yerzhan
is forced to sit
straight on a stool,
learn Mandarin, sing
patriotic songs and
memorise ruling
Communist Party
ideology. In
order to receive a small
portion of rice at noon
and 6pm he, like all the
others, must praise the
Chinese president and
shout “Long live Xi
Jinping!” Those
who refuse are
electrocuted with a
cattle prod that causes
their limbs to spasm
uncontrollably"?
March
29-5: On the Dominican
Republic, what is the
SG's comment and action
if any on that police in
the Dominican Republic
routinely subject women
sex workers to rape,
beatings and verbal
abuse, a new report has
found?
March
28-1: On
Cameroon, what
is the SG's
comment and
belated action,
if any, on
Biya's Army's
attack on Abuh,
North-West
region, which
burned an entire
neighborhood to
the
ground. A
woman in her 40s
said she spent
three days
hiding in the
surrounding
countryside with
her five
children after
the attack:
“When I came
back to the
village, my
house was gone,
with everything
inside. I am
left with
nothing but my
clothes.” How
does this square
with UNFPA's
current
propaganda trip
to
Yaounde?
March
28-4: On
Pakistan and
press freedom,
what is the SG's
comment and
action on that
Pakistani
authorities are
investigating
five prominent
journalists and
a blogger for
displaying the
photo of slain
Saudi journalist
Jamal
Khashoggi’s on
social media
during Saudi
Crown Prince
Mohammed bin
Salman’s visit
to Pakistan last
month? AGAIN,
immediately
explain how it
is legitimate to
ban from enter
into the UN the
media that has
been asking
about these and
other questions,
with no hearing
or appeal.
March
27-6: On freedom
of thought and
expression and
China, what is
the SG's comment
and action on
the law
professor at
Tsinghua
University who
openly
criticised
Chinese
President Xi
Jinping has been
suspended and
placed under
investigation by
the university,
according to one
of his
colleagues and
several
academics
familiar with
the situation.
Xu Zhangrun, 56,
was suspended
this month after
he wrote several
articles
criticising
Beijing over
political and
social
issues?
AGAIN,
immediately
explain how it
is legitimate to
ban from enter
into the UN the
media that has
been asking
about these and
other questions,
with no hearing
or
appeal.
March
25-5: On your /
Spokesperson
Dujarric's
recent podcast
interview,
please
immediately
explain what was
meant by a
relationship
with journalists
of "mutually
assured
destruction" -
and why the
podcast links
are mostly
404/no longer
online.
March
25-8: On the
SG's March 22
appearance on
96th Street,
please
immediately
provide the name
of the UN DSS
officer who
spoke to NYPD on
96th Street to
get them to
restraint in
advance Inner
City Press while
UN Photo and
others like AP
walked freely,
the basis for
this censorship
and any and all
records
regarding
it.
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