UN GATE / SDNY,
April 26 - The United Nations,
its often unaccountable senior
leadership like Fabrizio
Hochschild and always
sychophantic press corps all
seem pleased by the prospect
of increased funding from
Foggy Bottom and ultimately
the American people. But will
the UN administration
belatedly live up to
principles like those of the
First Amendment, for example
content neutral press access?
So far,
no.
On April
26, promoting Secretary
Blinken's April 27 virtual
visit to Nigeria and Kenya,
the State Department Assistant
Secretary for Africa Robert F.
Godec took questions. They
ranged to Tigray to Chad to
COVID-19. But no one asked
about Cameroon. Inner City
Press put itself in queue,
ready to ask the question in
connection with Nigeria's
Buhari and his Foreign
Minister. But apparently there
was no time, just as the US
Mission had no time to
mention, put on the UNSC
agenda in March or answer
Inner City Press' written
questions about Cameroon
since. The Mission knows...
On
February 25 new Ambassador
Linda Thomas-Greenfield held a
stake-out by the UN Security
Council. Inner City Press has
questioned US Ambassadors from
Zalmay
Khalilzad through Susan
Rice and Samantha
Power to Nikki
Haley. But now, due to
critical coverage of and
questions to Antonio Guterres,
it is banned.
So, an
investigative US-based media
is blocked from questioning a
US official. Can this be
legal? And what about the
President of the General
Assembly, and the President of
the UN Security Council - for
now the UK, not yet the US
which will face this - not
even confirming receipt of,
much less circulating, the
letters and C.V.s of opponent
of Guterres? We'll have more
on this.
On the other
hand, on April 22 the US
Mission - whose Ambassador
Jeffrey DeLaurentis now
personally knows of the ban of
Inner City Press from the UN -
sent out this UNSC work
product: "The members of the
Security Council noted with
concern the humanitarian
situation in the Tigray
Region,
Ethiopia.
The members of the Security
Council acknowledged the
efforts by the Government of
Ethiopia to provide
humanitarian assistance and to
provide increased humanitarian
access. The members of the
Security Council recognized,
nevertheless, that,
humanitarian challenges
remain. They called for a
scaled up humanitarian
response and unfettered
humanitarian access to all
people in need, including in
the context of the food
security
situation.
The members of the Security
Council called for a
continuation of international
relief efforts in a manner
consistent with the United
Nations guiding principles of
humanitarian emergency
assistance, including
humanity, neutrality,
impartiality and
independence.
The members of the Security
Council noted that insecurity
in Tigray constitutes an
impediment to the ongoing
humanitarian operations and
called for a restoration of
normalcy.
The members of the Security
Council expressed their deep
concern about allegations of
human rights violations and
abuses, including reports of
sexual violence against women
and girls in the Tigray region
and called for investigations
to find those responsible and
bring them to justice. They
welcomed the joint
investigation by the Office of
the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights
and the Ethiopian Human Rights
Commission into alleged human
rights violations and abuses.
The members of the Security
Council also welcomed the
engagement on this issue of
the African Commission on
Human and People’s
Rights.
The members of the Security
Council stressed the need for
full compliance with
international
law.
The members of the Security
Council reiterated their
strong support to regional and
sub-regional efforts and
organizations, namely the
African Union and IGAD, and
underscored the importance of
their continued
engagement.
The members of the Security
Council reaffirmed their
strong commitment to the
sovereignty, political
independence, territorial
integrity and unity of
Ethiopia."
Here for
now is some the Mission's
read-out of Day 6 - "Previously: " The
below is attributable to
United States Mission
Spokesperson Olivia
Dalton:
Ambassador Linda
Thomas-Greenfield participated
in a series of bilateral
meetings today with UN
Security Council
counterparts. Ambassador
Thomas-Greenfield has now held
meetings with all 14 of the
Permanent Representatives to
the UN on the Security Council
in advance of the U.S.
assuming the Security Council
presidency in March. In
meetings with the Permanent
Representatives to the United
Nations from Estonia, India,
Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Tunisia,
and Vietnam, Ambassador
Thomas-Greenfield discussed
the upcoming U.S. presidency
of the UN Security Council and
conveyed the Biden
administration's commitment to
renewed engagement with the
international community.
In her discussions, Ambassador
Thomas-Greenfield raised
issues of mutual interest and
concern, including U.S. policy
on regional issues,
opportunities for future
cooperation at the UN, shared
priorities in the UN Security
Council, and the humanitarian
crisis in the Tigray region of
Ethiopia." And what about, for
example, the ongoing mass
killing by the government of
Cameroon?
Watch this site.
No discussion of
ensuring that Guterres doesn't
just strong arm a second term
in a way that makes a mockery
of the pronouncement on
democracy by the UN - &
P3?
Revisit the canned Q&A in
the UN noon briefing of
November 23, which again
banned Inner City Press - and
its questions about UN
corruption and sexual abuse, Cameroon,
Honduras
and other UN failures,
here.
Inner City Press
before corrupt UNSG Antonio
Guterres had it thrown
out without due process
or appeal covered not only the
UN and its "Peacekeeping"
missions in Haiti and
elsewhere, but also Antony
Blinken (here,
meeting Prince Zeid) and Linda
Thomas-Greenfield (here,
after a trip to Somalia; Inner
City Press covered the UN
Security Council trip to
Djibouti).
On February 25,
the IMF took Inner City Press'
questions on Sudan and
Cambodia via WebEx, here.
Inner City Press also spoke
for half an hour on Honduras
UNeTV, including about the
Biden Administration,
Secretary Antony Blinken and
Honduras, and SDNY: here.
The UN banned
Inner City Press, including
from the stakeout by the US
Ambassador. Again, can this be
legal? Is it sustainable? Is
it credible? Watch this site.
***
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