|
UN's
Iraq Rep
Ruedas Took
ICC Indicted
Bashir's
Award, ICP
Asked 5 Times,
UN Confirms
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video;
Video
II, Vine
UNITED NATIONS,
May 8 – Inner City Press on 29
January 2018 asked UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' deputy spokesman
Farhan Haq to confirm or deny
that Guterres over the weekend
in Ethiopia met with
International Criminal Court
indictee Omar al Bashir of
Sudan, and if so why Haq
hadn't mentioned Sudan in the
dozen Guterres meetings he
mentioned at the beginning of
the UN noon briefing. Video here, UN transcript here
and below. After it was
belatedly admitted Guterres
met Bashir - without even
informing the ICC in advance -
Guterres named UN Sudan
resident coordinator Marta
Ruedas of Spain to replace
Lise Grande as UN Deputy in
Iraq. But Marta Ruedas
accepted the Order of the Two
Niles from ICC indicted
Bashir, photo here. On April
30, Inner City Press asked
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, who said he was
unaware. From the UN
transcript: Inner City Press:
In Sudan, apparently, just
before she left to become the
Resident Coordinator in Iraq,
Marta Ruedas accepted from
Omar al-Bashir something
called the Order of the Two
Niles. And she's quoted
as saying this is quite an
honour. And so, given
that he's indicted by the ICC
[International Criminal Court]
and given that the UN is
supposed to minimize all
contacts…
Spokesman: I'm not aware
of any of that from…
Inner
City Press: There's
a photograph. There's
quotes.
Spokesman: I'm not
saying it doesn't exist.
I'm just saying I'm not
aware. Thank you.
Inner
City
Press:
Would that violate the
no-contacts policy? If
it did…
Spokesman: I'm not
aware… I'm not familiar…
Inner City Press: Maybe
tomorrow or once you've seen
it…
Spokesman: There's
always hope tomorrow."
But the
next day, nothing was read
out, and it wasn't Dujarric
but his deputy, Farhan Haq.
Inner City Press asked, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press: yesterday,
I'd asked Stéphane about this
award received by Marta Ruedas
in Sudan from Omar al-Bashir,
the Order of the Two
Niles. And he said he
hadn't seen it, but it seems
like the UN probably is aware
of it. How does it meet
the limited-contacts principal
of the ICC (International
Criminal Court) given that
he's indicted for genocide?
Deputy Spokesman: "We
are looking into the matter,
and we're studying to see
whether this falls in within
the parameters we've
set. You're right that
we've set very strict
parameters for any meetings
with Mr. Bashir."
Well, Guterres
met Bashir. But how could
receiving an award from Bashir
be necessary? And how could it
be that two days later, these
was still no answer? On May 3,
Inner City Press asked Haq, UN
transcript here: Inner City
Press: do you have anything on
Sudan? because you'd
said that the UN is checking
why Ms. Marta Ruedas, the
Resident Coordinator, took an
award from… from Omar
al-Bashir.
Deputy Spokesman: "Yes,
we're checking that."
Apparently they are just
hoping the issue goes away, or
that Inner City Press goes
away. On May 7, Inner City
Press asked Haq's boss
Dujarric, transcript here:
Inner City Press: I wanted to
ask, did you get anything back
on… on — it's been a couple of
times now — this award
received or accepted by Marta
Ruedas, who remains a high UN
official now in Iraq, from
Omar al-Bashir and how it
complies…
Spokesman: I have
nothing on that. Thank
you." The UN is corrupt - and
so for now are its Spanish
officials, from Ruedas to the
censor Cristina Gallach, still
angling to return to the UN
where she censors. On May 8,
Inner City Press asked again -
and now Dujarric spun the
award-taking, as he did
Guterres' own receipt of a
golden statue from Cameroon's
36 year president Paul Biya.
From the UN transcript: Inner
City Press: the meeting
that Marta Ruedas, UN
official, had with Omar
al-Bashir, and there's a
picture of her receiving an
award, you'd said you have
nothing on that, but I guess
what I'm asking you is, now,
after more than a week, how
did receiving an award from an
ICC-indicted individual comply
with the minimum contacts…?
Spokesman: We are aware
of Marta Ruedas had a contact
with President Omar al-Bashir
prior to leaving her post in
Sudan. The United
Nations has informed the
prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court
and the President of the
Assembly of States Parties
that such a contact
occurred. UN officials
are committed to adhering to
the Guidance on contacts with
persons who are subject to
arrest warrants or summonses
issued by the International
Criminal Court, according to
which representatives of the
Organization make every effort
to limit contact with such
persons in what is strictly
required for the performance
of essential United
Nations-mandated activities.
Inner City Press: So was
receipt of the Two Niles award
from Bashir deemed to be
strictly necessary?
Spokesman: I will leave
it to what I've just said."
The UN is corrupt - they were
supposed to tell the ICC in
advance. Did then? After
UN Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres took
three
pre-picked
media
questions on
February 2,
Inner City
Press audibly
asked him if
before he meet
over the
weekend with
Darfur
genocide
indictee Omar
al Bashir, he
informed the
International
Criminal
Court's
Prosecutor
Fatou Bensouda
- in advance,
as required.
Guterres did
not answer. On
February 5, after
more reporting,
Inner City Press
asked
Guterres' lead
spokesman Stephane
Dujarric,
video here,
UN transcript here: Inner
City Press: I
wanted to ask
you first to,
I guess, try
to close out
the meeting
that the
Secretary-General
had with ICC
(International
Criminal
Court)-indicted
Omar
al-Bashir.
You said that
he complied
with all the
rules.
Since you last
said that and
since he
didn't answer
on… on Friday,
I've come to
understand
that the
notice given
to the ICC was
after the fact
and that, in
fact, a notice
was given to
them prior,
last year, for
Amina J.
Mohammed when
she might have
met… met
Bashir, saying
that it might
happen, so
they told it
as they should
have, as they…
under the
guidelines, in
advance.
So, I'm
wondering, how
can you
explain
this?
Since it's
said that he
met with
Bashir about
South Sudan
because he
wanted to meet
with all
countries, it
seems pretty
clear that, at
least as
presented, he
planned it in
advance.
So, why didn't
he tell the
ICC in
advance? Spokesman:
I think the
ICC was
notified of
the meeting,
and I'm going
to leave it at
that. Inner
City Press:
Have you read
the
guidelines?
I mean, I read
them out to
you. It
says in
advance. Spokesman:
I've… I
understand
what you've
read, and I'm
answering your
questions to
the best of my
ability. Inner
City Press:
So, I guess my
question is,
the guidelines
also say that
there should
be a letter to
the I… to the
ICC prosecutor
and to the
head of the
state
assembly…
Assembly of
States
Parties,
stating not
only that the
meeting is
taking place
but the
reasons and
the necessity
for the
meeting.
Can you
release that
letter? Spokesman:
No. Inner
City Press:
Why not? Spokesman:
Because it's a
letter from
the Legal
Counsel to the
Secretary-General
and will not
be released."
That's not true:
it's a letter
from the Legal
Counsel to
the ICC Prosecutor,
and another
to the Assembly of
State Parties.
We'll have
more on this.
Here's
from the UN
Guidelines: "A
procedure has
been
established
whereby OLA
[the
Secretariat's
Office of
Legal Affairs]
informs the
Prosecutor of
the Court and
the President
of the
Assembly of
States Parties
to the Rome
Statute in
advance of
such
meetings. The
letter informs
the Court of
the meeting
and explains
why it is
considered
necessary."
While Guterres
refused to
answer, Inner
City Press is
reliably
informed that
the ICC
Prosecutor was
NOT informed
in advance.
Tellingly,
when in 2017
it was thought
possible that
Guterres'
Deputy SG
Amina J.
Mohammed might
run into
Bashir at a
summit, the
ICC was told
in advance of
that
possibility.
On this and
other matters
such as the
continuing
lack of any
content
neutral rules
for media
accreditation
and access,
Guterres is
more and more
lawless. Now
Radio
Dabanga and AllAfrica
have from afar picked up on
Inner City Press' critique,
and quoted ICC Prosecutor
Bensouda that a number of
States Parties to the Rome
Statute have welcomed Mr Omar
Al Bashir as an ICC suspect to
their territories. These
States Parties have failed to
comply with the Court's
requests for his arrest and
surrender, despite a clear
treaty obligation to do so. In
most cases, a lack of legal
clarity has been claimed to
justify the failure to arrest
and surrender Mr Al Bashir."
On January 31, Inner City
Press asked Bensouda's
spokesperson, " to be informed
if and WHEN the Office of the
Prosecutor was informed that
UNSG Guterres would be
meeting, as he did, with
indictee Omar al Bashir. To be
clear: was any notification
made before the meeting? What
was the "strict necessity" of
such a meeting? Who attended
the meeting? Does the
Prosecutor believe the meeting
helped or hurt the Court?" On
February 1, Bensouda's
spokesperson wrote to Inner
City Press, "This is to
confirm receipt of your e-mail
and queries. Please allow the
office to revert shortly."
Now, more than a full day
later, no comment from
Bensouda's office. The
February 2 noon briefing was
canceled in exchange for a
stakeout by Guterres. The
questions must be answered.
Watch this site. Starting on
January 29, Inner City Press
asked, But why was it not
disclosed? Haq said it was not
a formal meeting. But then
lead spokesman Dujarric told
Inner City Press that the ICC
*was* told about the meeting,
which to comply with the rules
as he claims would have to
mean, in advance. So how then
was it not a formal meeting?
Could someone be lying? From
the January 31 UN transcript:
Inner City Press: the Foreign
Minister of Sudan, since you
were answering yesterday, has
spoken. And he said, of
the meeting that Omar
al-Bashir held with António
Guterres “it is the most
important meeting held by the
President”. He said,
it's the first between a
Sudanese President and a
top-ranked international
official since Mr. Bashir's
accusation by the ICC
[International Criminal Court]
for war crimes and
genocide. He said, the
Secretary-General praised the
peace process in Sudan and
various other things.
The thing was this. You
said it's not a formal
meeting, and I guess people
are free to disagree. He
said it's the most important
meeting that Omar al-Bashir
had. But I… I still…
given this, it seems like it
should be possible for you to
say whether António Guterres
or his office told the Office
of Legal Affairs prior to the
meeting. Spokesman: Yes,
the Legal Counsel informed the
Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court
that the meeting was taking
place. The receipt of
the information… the ICC
confirmed receipt of the
information. So, the
procedures that are in place
to allow for operational
meetings was followed. Inner
City Press: when you say "was
taking place"… so this was
done in advance of the
meeting? Spokesman: [I
don't know if it was in
advance - omitted from
transcript, see video]
The point is that the ICC was
informed. They accepted
the information, and they said
they were fine with the
notification as it was given.
Inner City Press: because if
it was done before, then I
don't know why it's not a
formal thing, like if you knew
it was taking place…?
Spokesman: "I'm just
saying the rules of the
procedures were followed." The
transcript omits Inner City
Press saying, So in advance.
Video here.
Further inquiry is ongoing in
The Hague, watch this site. On
January 30 Inner City Press
asked Guterres' lead spokesman
Stephane Dujarric if, as
required, Guterres in advance
told the UN Office of Legal
Affairs and the ICC about the
meeting. The requirement is
online on the UN's website here,
at the top of page 10. First
Dujarric did not answer, then
smugly said he is sure all
guidelines were followed.
Inner City Press asked him to
get the answer, yes or no and
he said he had nothing more to
say. But we do: Guterres and
his team are becoming less
transparent and even more
lawless by the day. An hour
after the January 29 noon
briefing, Inner City Press
wrote to the International
Criminal Court, spokesman then
Public Affairs Unit, for their
comment on Guterres' action,
and if Guterres had conferred
with them in advance, or even
afterward. More than 18 hours
later, the spokesman replied
with this: "Dear Mr Lee, Thank
you for your email and query.
As you are aware, the UN
Secretary-General issued
guidelines in April 2013 on
contact between UN officials
and persons who are the
subject of arrest warrants or
summonses to appear issued by
the International Criminal
Court (“ICC”) . The Guidance
was transmitted to the
President of the General
Assembly and to the President
of the Security Council as
document A/67/828 and
S/2013/210, and forms part of
the “Best Practices Manual for
the UN-ICC cooperation”
pursuant to The Relationship
Agreement between the United
Nations and the International
Criminal Court. These
guidelines are in force and
observed in the continued
collaboration between the ICC
and the UN. Kind regards, Fadi
El Abdallah, Spokesperson,
International Criminal Court."
But even a quick read of those
documents give rise to more
questions. Inner City Press
has now asked the ICC
spokesperson: "Thanks - even
on a first read of the cited
documents, I have to ask - did
OLA inform the Prosecutor's
office in advance of this
meeting? Separately, does the
Prosecutor view the meeting as
strictly necessary? Were
others present? Does it help
or hurt the ICC?" One of the
provisions says, ""The
Secretariat unit, office, fund
or programme or peace
operation should inform the
Office of Legal
Affairs at the earliest
possible time when a meeting
with a person that is the
subject of an ICC arrest
warrant is scheduled to take
place. A procedure has
been established whereby OLA
informs the Prosecutor of the
Court and the President of the
Assembly of States Parties to
the Rome Statute in advance of
such meetings." Inner City
Press awaits response. Some
might still wonder, does the
ICC share the UN-immunity bug
of being reticent to criticize
Guterres and his team? Are
they conferring to cook up a
response, to downplay Guterres
failure to disclose his Bashir
meeting? At the January 29 UN
noon briefing, after another
correspondent, from Associated
Press, belatedly asked a
follow up for more description
of Guterres' meeting with
Bashir, Inner City Press asked
Haq about Sudan's foreign
minister saying the meeting
was positive and full of
praise from Guterres. Haq
dodged then said, accurately,
that the UN doesn't give many
read-outs today. Inner City
Press asked, Isn't or wasn't
there a UN policy to only meet
with ICC indictees in
absolutely necessary
circumstance? We'll have more
on this, even as Guterres and
his "Global Communicator"
Alison Smale continue to
restrict Inner City Press.
Typically, AP wrote
it up without giving any
credit, and worse making it
look like the UN has
unilaterally disclosed
Guterres meeting with Bashir -
it didn't. AP was the NYT's
"coverage;" tellingly Reuters
and AFP, both
present in the UN on
January 29, don't seem to have
even reported that the UN
Secretary General met with ICC
indicted Bashir. This is now
the UN works, or doesn't.
The UN gives work space and
full access to those who will
twist things to make the UN
look good, or who ask and
write nothing like Akhbar al
Yom. Here's from the UN transcript,
in chronological order with
AP's single belated question
included: Deputy Spokesman
Haq: The Secretary-General is
on his way back from Addis
Ababa, where he met with a
number of Heads of State and
Government and Foreign
Ministers, including those
from Ethiopia, Angola, Libya,
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and
South Sudan. He also had
bilateral meetings with
leaders from Guinea, Somalia,
Liberia, the Central African
Republic, and South Africa....
Inner City Press:did he meet
[Omar al] Bashir? This
reported… I heard your litany
of countries and I couldn't
quite keep up with them, and I
didn't see a readout.
But, the Foreign Minister of
Sudan has said that he met
with Omar al-Bashir, who's
indicted by the ICC
[International Criminal
Court], as you know, for
genocide and war crimes.
Did he meet with him? And
what… what… is this a change
of policy? Deputy
Spokesman: It's not a
change of policy. They
were both at the same
summit. In that context,
they did meet with each other
on the grounds of the sort of
operational necessity that
does allow the
Secretary-General to meet from
time to time with him.
That doesn't obviate the need,
of course, for respect of the
International Criminal Court.
Inner City Press: But, was
Sudan in the list of countries
that you read out just at the
top of the briefing? And
if not, why not? Deputy
Spokesman: It was not,
because it was not a formal
scheduled meeting.... AP:
Thank you, Farhan. On
the Secretary-General's
meeting with President
al-Bashir, could you give us
any more details on what was
discussed? Deputy
Spokesman: No, I don't
have anything further.
Discussions on operational
necessities ultimately involve
the sort of work that we need
to accomplish on the
ground. So, obviously,
as you know, we do have a
presence on the ground with
our various forces, including
the African Union-United
Nations Hybrid Operation in
Darfur (UNAMID), the United
Nations Interim Security Force
for Abyei (UNISFA), and so it
would be about… some of that
would involve the work of
those bodies. Inner City
Press: Follow-up?
Okay. I wanted… because
this is what the Foreign
Minister of Sudan said about
the meeting. He
described the meeting as… as
extremely successful and
positive. He told
reporters on Sunday, the UN
Secretary-General hailed
Sudan's Government's efforts
to achieve peace in Darfur and
its declaration of a ceasefire
in the zones, and he went on…
you know, it… basically, he…
he kind of characterized it,
not so much as operational, as
being one of praise. And
I'm wondering, have you seen
this readout? And if so,
is it true or not true?
And why didn't you do your own
readout? Deputy
Spokesman: We are not
really issuing a lot of
readouts from any of these
meetings. We do provide
certain details, as I've done
here. But, regarding
that, it's typical for Member
States to have their own
characterizations of
meetings. When we talk
about meetings, ultimately,
the point that we give is that
they are designed to achieve
certain ends. We… you
know, we do them to make sure
that crucial bits of work are
achieved. It's not about
praise or about
compliments. It's about
concrete results. Inner City
Press: Was I wrong that there
was… at least under Ban
Ki-moon, there was a policy of
keeping contacts with
ICC-indicted individuals to an
absolute minimum? And
how do you put that meeting in
that context? Deputy
Spokesman: That remains
the case. The policy has
not changed." This is a new
low.
On January 30
Inner City
Press asked
the UN
Ambassadors of
Sweden and
France, video
here.
Sweden's Olof
B. Skoog, who
has been to
Sudan, said
the EU has a
policy on /
against
meeting ICC
indictees. (So
does the UN;
it seems
Guterres
violated it).
France's
Francois
Delattre
refused to
answer, video
here.
We'll continue
to pursue
this. When
Guterres held a "Global Town
Hall Meeting" on January 17,
the meeting was closed but
Inner City Press came in early
to stake it out: to stand in
front and ask the attendees
what they think of Guterres'
performance. Unlike other
correspondents at the UN,
Inner City Press is required
to have a minder to do such
stakeouts on the UN's second
floor - and on January 17 at
the appointed hour, 8:45 am,
there was no minder available.
Periscope video here.
Finally it was possible, after
Guterres passed by and started
his pitch. At his press
conference the day before he
twice said, "there were no
budget cuts in relation to the
regular budget of the United
Nations." This is contrary to
what Inner City Press found
when it, as the only media
present, covered the UN budget
endgame through 2 am on
Christmas Eve. It is also
contradicted by this statement
exclusively to Inner City
Press from staff, edited to
preserve anonymity: "What
I feel the public or even the missions
themselves don't understand, are the
repercussions of the proposed cuts. The Fifth
Committee members slashed the budget left and
right, without thinking for one second what it
actually meant. The first thing to go as a
result, is one of your favorite topics:
transparency. Based on what has been said
internally, they are looking to cut down on
multilingualism and language accessibility
within DPI production, leaving English as a
lingua franca (!).
This means that missions interested in staying
up to date on UN news and events will not be
able to access information in their language,
if that language is indeed French,
Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian. Nor will
the public. As you may imagine, this raises a
serious issue in regards to transparency and
multilingualism. The founding values of the UN
were set in place in order to make the body a
fair playing field for all. By making
information available only in English, what
message will that send? How will it affect the
missions? How will the UN be able to forge a
closer relationship with the public around the
world? The bias will shift heavily in favor of
developed countries, who will have the initial
access to all information due to linguistic
advantages. These talks on cuts are
happening behind closed doors and only
potentially affected employees are being
informed. The missions and the public won't
know until it's too late to do anything
about it, unless somebody holds them
accountable now. But now, you know.
And I hope that disseminating this information
and holding those in power at the higher
echelons of DPI accountable, will help
preserve access to information -- which is
after all, a human right. We hope to see you
there too." But the meeting was closed, and
minder only belatedly available. We'll have
more on this. The day before
on January 16 when Guterres
came to give his speech for
2018 to the UN General
Assembly, the Press was
blocked from staking it out by
the censorship restricts he
has in place. Periscope here,
UNresponded to letter here.
Once inside the Trusteeship
Council Chamber, Guterres said
he had 12 points. One was
Myanmar, although he did not
even mention the mandate on
his to name an envoy
to the country, which he has
not done. Another was North
Korea; he confirmed he will go
to the opening ceremony of the
PyeongChang
Olympics. He lumped all of
Africa into just one of his 12
points, despite the Continent
being 60% of the UN Security
Council's agenda. He did not
mention Cameroon
or other long time family
ruled countries like Togo and
Gabon that his envoys are
propping up. His Deputy Amina
J. Mohammed, who is in “her”
Nigeria silent on the
abductions there, was not
present; her chief staff was,
but as before, no response to
emails or questions about the
4000 rosewood
signature. Guterres hasn't
even started an audit of the
UN bribery indictments
of Patrick Ho and Cheikh Gadio
and regarding China Energy
Fund Committee brought
November 20 in the Southern
District of New York. Guterres
said he has zero tolerance for
sexual harassment but has done
none, and his spokesman
Stephane Dujarric hasn't even
answered Inner City Press on,
the case
of Frank La Rule at UNESCO.
The UN like UNESCO claims it
is for free speech and press
freedom, but no answer on The
Rappler; nor has DPI chief
Alison Smale even answered
Inner City Press' and the Free
UN Coalition for Access'
three petitions
about even handed media access
and content neutral rules, or
this
petition. Guterres is slated
to take, selected by Dujarric,
questions at 12:45. Watch this
site. The spring thaw in
Antonio Guterres' first year
as UN Secretary General, in
March and April, began to
reveal hypocrisy. A small but
telling example was when,
after Guterres called on
people all over the world to
turn off their lights for
Earth Hour, Inner City Press found
the lights on at the
UN-owned mansion on Sutton
Place where Guterres lives.
At first the UN
refused to answer Inner City
Press where Guterres was - Lisbon
- then accused it of “monitoring
the residence.” It's called
journalism: with the UN
refusing to disclose even what
country Guterres is in,
checking the residence is the
only way. The UN also refuses
to disclose how much these
Lisbon trips cost the global
taxpayers, for example how
many UN Security officials are
taken, where they stay and for
how much.
Likewise
Guterres' 2016 financial disclosure
differed significantly from
what he filed as head of UNHCR
in 2013. This has yet to be
explained. In April Guterres
was petitioned to replace the
UN's pro-Saudi Yemen
envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh
Ahmed. But when Inner City
Press asked, Guterres'
spokespeople refused to even
confirm receipt of the letter.
This happened on
a petition by staff
too, about retaliation by
Francis Gurry the head of the
UN World Intellectual Property
Organization, whose assistance
to North Korea's cyanide
patents Guterres did not act
on.
In late April,
Guterres did nothing as
Tanzania expelled
his resident coordinator, a
far cry from his knee-jerk
defense later in the year -
continuing on December
27 - of the 4000
rosewood signatures by his
Deputy SG Amina J. Mohammed.
Sustainable development? Try
hypocrisy, and censorship and
restriction of the Press which
covers it - and Cameroon, here. We'll have more
on this.
In Antonio
Guterres' first two months as
UN Secretary General, the
longstanding Cyprus talks
began to fall apart,
and Guterres stood silent
as Burundi, for example, banned
access by UN officials.
Guterres ignored a protest by
whistleblowers against Francis
Gurry of the UN World
Intellectual Property
Organization, and that UN
agency's work on North Korea's
cyanide patents.
He did
nothing about a UN waste dump
exposed
by Inner City Press in the
Central African Republic,
despite his predecessor Ban
Ki-moon's record with waste in
Haiti and elsewhere. While he
announced that Kenyan troops
would head back to South Sudan
to join UN Peacekeeping, he
appointed the fifth
Frenchman in a row to head
this DPKO, Jean-Pierre
Lacroix.
Meanwhile he was
rebuffed in his attempt to
appoint Fayyad to head the
UN's Libya mission, perhaps
explaining his refusal later
in the year to take a single
press question after reading
out his canned statement on
Jerusalem. In a harbinger of
his approach to UN corruption
and (non) reform, his UN was
named as not providing
requested documents in the first
UN bribery case, of Ng Lap
Seng. (In the second case, of
Patrick Ho and Cheikh Gadio,
Guterres has yet to even
launch an audit).
February 2017
ended with a seeming second
wind, the belated arrival of
Guterres deputy Amina J.
Mohammed. Inner City Press was
throughout constructive;
it would later emerge that
during the delay Mohammed
signed 4000 certificates for
endangered Nigerian and
Cameroonian rosewood already
exported to China, something
Guterres has refused to
investigate despite a petition
with 92,000 requests.
Guterres' first
interaction with UN staff was
a Town Hall meeting on January
9. Even though it was on the
UN's public website, when
Inner City Press live-streamed
it on Periscope
for the impacted public to see
it received a threat that this
violated unspecified
UN's guidelines. This has been
a pattern in Guterres' first
year: threats to Press for
unspecified violations, such
as that of Maher
Nasser on October 20,
and a total failure to respond
or reform by Nasser's boss, Alison
Smale. Ultimately,
Guterres is responsible.
***
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